Sunday, May 15, 2016 – Young Single Sister Missionaries: Intruder, Ghost?

There are six YSSM’s (Young Single Sister Missionaries) assigned to work in the Carthage Jail Visitor’s Center during the day. Each night they are assigned to work in the “Teaching Center” on the computers and phones. They field phone calls from around the world (If they are in English) and answer questions about the church, teach lessons over the phone and invite people to accept a visit from missionaries in their home. They also go on line to the LDS website’s “Chat Rooms” and do the same thing. All of the YSSM’s say how much they enjoy teaching the restored gospel of Jesus Christ in this way.

The Carthage Visitor’s Center is very old and some of the doors don’t latch completely when closed. So, sometimes the doors are accidently left unlocked when the regular tours are done at 5:00pm. When the YSSM’s return after their dinner, about 6:30pm, to work in the Teaching Center they discovered one of the doors unlocked.  Later in the evening, while all of the YSSM’s were locked inside, they heard noises from INSIDE of the visitor’s center. They searched the building and found nothing and no one. Then the noises started again. Again a search was conducted and nothing found. This went on for a while and the YSSM’s became very uneasy.

Sis. Johnson and I got a phone call at about 8:30 asking us to come over and help them find the intruder or the “Ghost” that was making the noises. As we listened to their story and description of the noises we went with them to look around the building and at that moment I heard the noise myself right next to me! The sound came from the exit door I was standing by. Then I heard it again from the exit door in the next room over. It sounded like someone was outside pushing or pulling on the door, trying to get in. It was very unsettling to hear someone on the outside of the door trying to get in.

Mystery solved, it was the wind! An occasional strong gust of wind would create a pressure difference between the inside and outside of the building and the old doors would flex out and stick there. Moments later, sometime minutes later, the automatic closing devices on the door would finally re-close the door with a click and a thud at random times and in random locations.  No intruder and no ghosts, just old loose doors that don't seal well.