Lions, Tigers, & Bears, Oh My!

Monday July 11, 2011

My brother Paul is on his mission in Guatemala. He comes home in December.

Today on P-day Paul went to the zoo down in Guatemala with the other missionaries. He decided to have his picture taken in front of the lions cage, so he climbed a tall concrete wall and stood on top of it. The lions cage was behind him. The wall he had to climb from his side was much higher than the wall was from where the lions lived. The lions level was only two feet down on their side, so as he turned his back to the lions cage to have his picture taken the lions crept up behind him. One lion reached through the cage bars and grabbed his right leg causing him to fall back against the cage at which time the other lion grabbed his left upper arm. His companion Elder Lopez, who is from Mexico, scaled the wall and shoved a big, white pole into the lion's mouth and was able to pry the lion's mouth from Paul's left arm. Paul continued to punch the other lion's head and gouge it's eyes with his free hand. The zookeepers arrived on the scene with guns and Paul yelled, "shoot the lion", but instead they fired shots in the air. The sister missionaries were down on the lower level watching and began to pray. As soon as they said "Amen" Paul was released. (Sometimes the shorter prayer is the more prudent prayer.) As he rolled off of the wall his shoe fell off and he said to his zone leader, "get me down, I'm tired". Using his good arm to hang and then fall to the ground he rolled off the wall and was received by his zone leader, Elder Anderson, at the bottom of the wall. Elder Anderson was covered with so much blood afterward that he appeared to be more injured than Paul. Paul lost five pints of blood during this ordeal. When he hit the ground he yelled to the other elders to take some pictures. It took Paul a full two minutes to free himself from the two lions. which he was able to do, but not until after receiving some very severe injuries.