ashes to ashes

This weekend we took a fun trip to the TriCities to visit Shane's family. It was a couple weeks before our annual ward Halloween party and the mountain passes still didn't have any snow, so we figured it was a good time to get away before fall/winter really hit.

Saturday morning while we were doing crafts at Church, I got an email on my phone about a fire at our Church building at home. What? I almost thought it was a joke. Then, I went to a few news Web sites on my phone... and it wasn't just a fire. Our entire Church building burned down.

According to some of the news sites, it was a "two-alarm" fire, which means when the first set of firefighters showed up, they realized they couldn't handle it, so they called in reinforcements. The fire was first called in at 3 AM, but it could have been set much earlier. Everything inside the building could have been burning for hours -- the books in the library, the chairs in the foyer, my ward newsletters, the lacquer on the gymnasium floor. Then the main structure was ablaze, and the firefighters decided to only act defensively. They did not enter the building. They weren't fighting the fire. They were making sure it didn't spread. The building was a lost cause.

Most of us found out about it Saturday. There was supposed to be a two-part Relief Society service project. I was going to miss the Saturday session, but I was planning to go tonight (Tuesday) to help finish up. They had a phone tree to let most of the sisters know, um, it had been canceled.

A lot of people went to the Church. One friend on her blog said that wasn't a good idea for their kids; her 5-year-old took it really hard. I suppose I would have, too, if I saw the building still smoldering. Firefighters stayed on hand all day, well into the evening, putting out the flames.

Of my Church building.

Where I have felt the Spirit so many times. Where I have laughed -- where I have cried. Where Wesley goes to nursery and has his favorite school bus toys. Where my son was blessed as an infant, in fact. Where we gather to worship.

And, as Saturday progressed, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms investigated and said, in fact, that this fire was deliberately set. Someone burned our building down. I found one video that spoke about "suspicious cans" found near the back entrance of the building, where they believe the fire originated.

We could speculate all day about what this means, and believe me I have, but our stake president gave us as a ward some counsel and said really no good comes of that. We don't need to be angry, we don't need to judge, we don't need to let this drag us down. In fact, we will be looked upon to see if we respond in a Christ-like manner, and we must. We should emphasize the positive and move on.

True, no one was hurt. True, it was "just stuff" that was lost. True, our religion is more than just a building. If someone thinks they can smolder our spirit by burning our building, they are wrong. It doesn't matter where we meet, the Church and the Spirit are the same.

In fact, I heard there have been incredible out-pourings of support from the community. Everyone is incredulous that a church was destroyed, no matter whose church it was. The morning of the fire, when the Mukilteo City Council heard we had to cancel our service project, they made their City Hall available for us to use. Our organist plays professionally for another Church in the area, and they offered their building for our ward to meet in temporarily. You'll see in my pictures below, high-school students (the high school is next door!) have left flowers and notes in front of the ashes.

On Sunday, a Stake Conference was going on in Everett, so our ward was able to use a building left vacant for the day. My friends have reported how wild that experience was. The two scheduled speakers cut it really short, and the Bishop and Stake President spoke for most of Sacrament Meeting. Sunday School and third hour went on as planned. I even heard they had Ward Council in the morning! It was business as usual.

The media was there, and our leadership specifically asked a few people to go and speak with them so we could appear positive and uplifting amid this affliction. Our Bishop called it that -- an affliction. It's not a trial we placed upon ourselves by sin or weakness, it's something that has been afflicted on us for the time being.

In the Bishop's talk, he expressed that he hadn't felt unity of our ward the way he felt it that day. It was true, something like this will totally unify a ward. And indeed, that can be a blessing in this affliction. I was grateful to all my friends who took copious notes for me and reported back! :-)

In this video, you can see basically, um everyone from my ward. I mean, WOW!




We got back from our weekend away late Sunday night, and I finally went by the building Monday afternoon to see it for myself.

I could smell the charred wood. The building was surrounded by a chain-link fence. Our meetinghouse is a total loss. It was disheartening.

(front door)

(flowers from high school students)


(Collapsed roof over the Young Women's Room)

(side door... Bishop's office is to the right; I take photos for the Bishop's photo board and just reorganized it a week and a half ago! He said he loved it! And now? Toast!)

(back door... this is where they say the fire started, and you can really see how it looks worse than the front)

(I did these two since you can see into the Primary Room... you can see the melted clock on the wall, and chairs stacked in the corner ready for a new Sunday. Sigh.)

Our Stake President has said many times that we will rebuild, although it isn't confirmed that it'll be on the same spot, or how long that will take. I imagine the Church has building plans and they can submit and get permits quick. Maybe this will be a boon for some local construction firms -- another blessing in the affliction.

As awful as this is, if it brings us together as a ward and community, if it helps gets people more involved in Church, if we are able to be good examples and shine love through ourselves, it could be considered a blessing. And that is how we have to look at it. We'll get new hymn books and more exciting nursery toys. We'll make new tablecloths for the Young Women's room and flower arrangements for the Chapel.

I'm grateful for my Church and my testimony and the Spirit that is with me, telling me this is all going to be OK.