SPOKANE, Washington — Weeks after three wildfires tore through north Spokane — burning thousands of acres, displacing tens of thousands of people and destroying hundreds of homes — two Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints traveled to the city to minister to members and help them feel the love of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.
President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, acting president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and Elder Neil L. Andersen of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, met with Latter-day Saints from multiple stakes on Sunday, Aug. 23 — 1,300 gathered at the Spokane Washington North Stake center, with others joining by broadcast — offering messages of hope, covenant assurance and God’s abiding presence. They also surveyed burned neighborhoods and spent time with families who lost their homes.
“My dear brothers and sisters, it’s indeed a great honor to be in your presence. We’re all friends in the gospel of Jesus Christ. We’re all brothers and sisters. When we heard about your suffering, your losses, your pain, your uncertainties, our hearts reached out to you,” President Uchtdorf said.
Elder Andersen said: “We grieve with you at what you have lost, especially your personal possessions. ... But we rejoice that lives were saved. That is a miracle.”
President Uchtdorf and Elder Andersen were joined by their wives, Sister Harriet Uchtdorf and Sister Kathy Andersen; and Elder Takashi Wada, a General Authority Seventy and president of the Church’s United States West Area, and his wife, Sister Naomi Wada. Elder Jared M. Spataro, an Area Seventy, and other local leaders also attended.
Aaronic Priesthood holders blessed and passed the sacrament in each building where the meeting was received.
The unique gathering took place just days after the 27th anniversary of the dedication of the Spokane Washington Temple.
President Ronald D. Hardy of the Spokane Washington North Stake said the Apostolic visit carried a simple message: God knows and loves His people.
“To have Him send two of His Apostles and others of His great leaders — that’s just a message that He knows about little Spokane,” he said. “So we’re very blessed.”
Apostolic messages
On Aug. 1, three wildfires raged through north Spokane, burning roughly 10,000 acres, forcing the evacuation of some 67,000 residents and destroying or damaging an estimated 900 homes and structures.
More than half the members of the Spokane Washington North Stake were displaced during the evacuations. Of the roughly 600 primary residences destroyed in the fires, 27 belonged to Latter-day Saint families; 12 other member homes sustained varying degrees of damage.
Both Apostles testified of Jesus Christ and His hand in their lives. They also honored the Spokane residents — members and neighbors alike — who stopped to help others even while fleeing the fires themselves. President Uchtdorf said such compassion reflects the deepest meaning of the two great commandments — to love God and to love one’s neighbor (see Matthew 22:37-39).
“Regardless of who they are, what language they speak, how they look, whether we know them or not,” he said. “That is the deep sense of the gospel of Jesus Christ.”
Elder Andersen echoed the point, pointing to the community’s response as proof.
“We rejoice in the goodness of your lives and what we’ve seen of people taking care of people — independent of whether you’re a member of the Church or not,” he said before sharing the parable of the good Samaritan (see Luke 10:30–37).
President Uchtdorf spoke of the spiritual strength that comes from keeping covenants — something fire cannot destroy. Recalling a story from his wife, who as a child in wartime Germany would climb the stairs after a World War II bombing raid and call back to her mother, “It’s still there,” he said the same is true even when a home is gone: “What is still there are the covenants we make with the Lord.”
He connected the congregation’s experience of taking the sacrament together to the Last Supper, noting that before the Savior went to Gethsemane — “about to take on the heaviest burden there is for anyone” — He sat with the Twelve, broke bread and sang.
“So for us, as we come together, this can bring us strength,” he said.
Recalling his October 2011 general conference address, President Uchtdorf said he had pinned a small “forget-me-not” to his lapel that morning.
“We should not forget Him, but also that we can be sure that He will not forget us,” he said, inviting members to remember their neighbor even after the immediate crisis passes, and to sustain one another through the longer road of recovery.
Elder Andersen made a similar promise.
“I pledge to you that the Church will not forget you, that the Church will be with you as you find your way and as you are strengthened,” he said.
Finding hope in Christ
Before President Uchtdorf and Elder Andersen spoke, the congregation received messages from local members.
President Hardy said ward leaders began tracking members within hours of the fires — some texting about those in their care while fleeing the flames themselves. Within 24 hours, all nine bishops in the stake had reports on the status of their members.
“The Church as an organization has a mighty reach, but Christ’s work is done one phone call, one conversation, one prayer and one relationship at a time,” he said.
Angela Pederson, the Spokane Washington North Stake Relief Society president, said that every time she picked up her phone to coordinate relief — texting, calling, responding — she could feel something beyond the logistics.
“I could sense Jesus Christ’s sustaining strength, His concern and awareness, and His guiding assistance wrapped around me in an embrace,” she said. “It’s like my phone somehow became a conduit of their love and of His love, letting me feel prayers being offered on your behalf.”
Ben Barclay, the local welfare and self-reliance manager, recalled watching a mother and daughter stop hesitantly in the doorway of a meetinghouse that had been turned into a donation center. They had never been to the Church before. A friend had told them supplies were available. They had just lost everything — having moved into a new home they hadn’t even had time to unpack.
Barclay’s wife greeted them, helped them find what they needed and carried a case of water to their car.
“No more a stranger nor a guest, but like a child at home,” Barclay said, referencing the hymn “My Shepherd Will Supply My Need,” No. 1014 in “Hymns for Home and Church.”
Brielle Schaber, a youth in the Shadle Park Ward of the Spokane Washington North Stake whose neighborhood was devastated by the fires, said she found hope in an unlikely place — the ground itself.
“There is hope found through Jesus Christ,” she said, “just like the hope we see in the green grass and plants already growing up through the burnt ground.”
‘Bright spot’ in the chaos
Following the meeting, President Uchtdorf, Elder Andersen and others visited burned neighborhoods and spent time with those who lost their homes, an act of kindness that meant everything to the members.
Peter and Ingrid Martin of the Seven Mile Ward in the Spokane Washington North Stake lost the home they had lived in for 32 years. For Peter Martin, the visit from two Apostles carried a clear message.
“It confirmed that our Savior is with us. We have faith in Him,” Peter Martin said. “We’re comforted that we’ll be OK. Everything will work out.”
Elder Andersen listened as Mark and Claudia Anderson, longtime members of the Spokane 3rd Branch (Spanish) in the Spokane Washington West Stake, described losing their home and nearly everything they owned. But the faith and the kindness of others have carried them forward.
“We’ve had family, our Church family, friends and many strangers reach out to us. It’s been so amazing, all the support, love and prayers,” Mark Anderson said. “It just touches our heart. The Spirit is witnessing that God is at work in our lives. We’re going to get through this, and all’s going to be well.”
Mark and Heidi Schaber’s home survived the fires but sustained damage. They credit the efforts of firefighters with saving it — and see the Lord’s hand in that work. Now, as they repair their own home, they feel a responsibility to help neighbors and friends do the same.
“President Uchtdorf talks about ministering to the one, and when you’re with him, you feel that. You feel as though you’re truly what matters to him,” said Mark Schaber, Brielle Schaber’s father and a member of the Shadle Park Ward in the Spokane north stake.
Heidi Schaber added: “Apostles are a mouthpiece for the Lord, and so I feel like it’s one more way that I feel God’s love for me, my neighbors and my children — strength to overcome a really big trial.”
Cody and Haylee Woodbury lost their home in the fires. While visiting with President Uchtdorf, their 5-year-old son, Cannon, asked the former airline pilot how fast he has flown in a jet?
“Faster than the speed of sound,” President Uchtdorf told him.
“They minister one by one, just how the Savior would,” Cody Woodbury said. “You don’t anticipate that you’re the one that needs to be ministered to, but we all end up there at some point.”
Scott and Geneva Kelley, also members of the Seven Mile Ward, had lived in their north Spokane home for nine years when the wildfire took it from them in minutes. For them, the ministering visit was truly “a bright spot.”
“It was a bright spot in the midst of all the chaos, all the things we have to worry and think about and do, and then to be excited about something was really special. We know that they love us,” Geneva said.
