"Many of you may know that basically all of Oregon is on fire. 477 active fires and most of them in our mission have been at 0% containment. I haven't seen the sky or sun in a week now because the smoke has been so thick. We wake up in the morning and the ashes look like snow coming down. The smoke gets worse every day!

My heart ached this week when I woke up to news that my old apartment in Medford had been burned down. The area I was in had been flattened by the fires. There was literally no sign of any building structure other than a few brick chimneys that still stood. All I could think about were my members and people I had taught that had lost everything they owned other than what they could fit in their cars.

On Sunday we had a testimony meeting. Half of our ward was homeless from the fires and showed up wearing jeans and shirts. I could not believe what I was hearing. After being in the same homes for 30-40 years they had just lost everything. However they STILL were expressing gratitude to the Lord for being protected and that everyone made it out alive. I was dumbfounded by their resilience. They had so much faith in God that they knew in the end, this didn't matter. They had their families and the truth of the restored church of Jesus Christ. That was enough for them."

-Elder Tanner Hunter from the Aliso Niguel ward, currently serving in the Oregon Eugene Mission