Synopsis
When Gail Smith Pierce started this endeavor, it was a tribute to her husband of thirty-two years, Michael. The couple endured misfortune, conflict, and isolation in Alaska. After reading a bible in 1996, more than a year of supernatural events almost drove them mad. They may have each believed the other was the enemy. But God had a plan. Gail kept
a journal.
But when all failed, they thumbed a ride out of Alaska and through five more states. They were always looking for an answer to what had happened to them and why. They both suspected God and the devil were playing with them. But
they might have been witnesses. They wandered like vagabonds, worked like migrants, and caused a big stir wherever they went until settling in Arizona in 2003.
They rebuilt a simple life in Tucson, the mystery continued, and Michael’s
health declined. They never stopped looking for answers. After Michael passed
in 2019, Gail began experiencing the supernatural relationship with God
differently and knew she had to share it. Thanks to Michael and his enduring
faith and character, here is that story.
Believe it or not, The paranormal experiences. They convinced me, as they convinced Michael, that something very powerful and extraordinary was happening to us. I would fully expect this to happen to everyone in this world.
"During this time in the spring, even the animals in the neighborhood began acting strangely. We noticed two very young moose were hanging around the backyard and bawling. We went up to Elsie’s place and called the local wildlife authorities to report the two moose’s appearance. They told Michael they knew of the young moose because the mother had just been killed in an auto incident earlier that week. They said the moose were about two years old and had a better chance of surviving on their own than in captivity.
We continued to watch them from the porch and noticed one day that they appeared with an old, broken-down female moose, who had adopted them. She was steadfast in her vigil to keep these young ones safe. The neighbors to the north had begun to use a colossal landscaping vehicle to turn their undeveloped land into a field. It made so much noise and vibration, it frightened me, much less the moose. That old female would stand between the developing field and the young moose for days, and when the machine was not running, she’d stand between the young moose and our road and house.
One day when Michael walked out onto the porch, he startled the three moose who started to run. He called out to them softly, “Don’t be afraid; you can stay here as long as you like and eat and rest.” They all three stopped, looked at him, and went back to grazing for the rest of the day. They bedded down in the rhubarb patch that night.
We had many more moose come to graze and bed down in the yard that spring of 1997, including a young buck moose who was very tall but very thin. When Michael spoke to him, he snorted and pawed the ground and charged the porch, which was about ten feet above the ground level. The young moose stopped just short of hitting the porch and then pranced away as if he had misjudged his challenger’s height.
There were flying squirrels and owls in the woods if you stood still long enough and watched for them to drop their guard."
"CHAPTER 9
Saturday, March 14, 1998
I’m back to referencing my journal as we headed out hitchhiking again. As we headed west toward Albuquerque, Chemadine
picked us up and took us west through Santa Fe, and Joe, a Christian, drove us to Albuquerque and offered us three dollars. Eric drove us on through Albuquerque, and then Lowber picked us up and drove us to his house in Gallup, New Mexico.
Lowber was a welder and an artist and had his artwork displayed all around in his yard. At home, he introduced us to his wife, Jane, and his daughter, Alicia. These marvelous people invited us to dinner and then offered their daughter’s bed to stay overnight.
Sunday, March 15, 1998
Lowber and his family fed us a great breakfast and took us back to the highway in Gallup in the morning. They had offered only kindness and assistance and a pleasant evening with gentle friends, Quaker Friends. I’ve never met anyone like them before or since.
Randy picked us up in Gallup and took us to Holbrook, AZ. Next, Buck gave us a free shower voucher in a big semi when he
dropped us in Flagstaff. In the evening, Andy, heading for Sedona, took us there and dropped us off at a MacDonald’s. It was very dark out and a bit cold as it was still winter in Sedona. We made a phone call from a phone booth to a church we had read about in a catalog of communes.
We got no answer to the church call, but Michael did manage to reach someone with the Salvation Army. Unfortunately, the man who answered was annoyed that we had called and was driving at the moment. He asked how we ended up in such a bad situation, and Michael told him that we were hitchhiking from Fairbanks, Alaska. The man representing the Salvation Army told him, “Well, you should have planned ahead!” and he hung up on us. Michael looked up and said, “Well, Father, I think you know what the Salvation Army here needs.”
We had just enough money left to buy two coffees and two cherry pies. Then we walked across MacDonald’s parking lot to a
closed restaurant with an outdoor seating area and sat down to our snack. We were startled when a young man stepped up to the dining area wall from out of the dark and asked us if we had left a pair of work gloves in the phone booth. And Michael answered, “Yes, I think we did. Thank you.”
The man asked, “Do you have any place to stay tonight?” We replied, “No, we don’t.” And then the man, very well dressed in a black leather jacket, just snapped his fingers, and a hundred dollar bill appeared. He said, “Well, you could probably use this.” Then he turned and disappeared into the dark. We had called out to him, Thank you!” but he hadn’t answered. We watched as he pulled away in a highly luxurious car. Our Father provides."