In what is being referred to as “an act of divine intervention,” a prospective missionary from Budge Hall was struck by lightning moments after ignoring the introductory paragraphs of his mission call.

Brockson Thornton, 18, was caught up in the fervor of twenty other young men opening their calls in the Budge lobby of Tuesday night. “It was awesome at first,” remarked Thornton’s roommate, Brad Calwallader. “Basically half our hall was lined up in the lobby, going one at a time. People were chanting and hollering, it was nuts.”

Unfortunately, swept up in the excitement of the moment, Thornton neglected the wordy introduction and skipped straight to the location itself. Moments after announcing his service in Idaho, Idaho Falls (speaking English), a bolt of lightning descended from the heavens and struck Thornton in the chest, instantly stopping his heart. 

“It was seriously wack,” Calwallader continued. “I thought smiting was just some Old Testament stuff, but nah, man. It’s real.”

Thornton’s family members were inconsolable after the tragic event. According to his mother, Rachel Thornton, “He was such a sweet boy, and to lose him like this– oh, it’s just awful. And dying in Budge, of all places? What a terrible way to go out.”

Church authorities have remained largely silent on the matter, though one unnamed spokesperson did comment, “It’s kind of inevitable when you pull a stunt like that. Honestly, he was probably a Son of Perdition in disguise or something, because everyone knows that skipping the introduction is a one-way ticket downstairs.”

Let this be a caution to all– read the entire letter. It could be a matter of life and death.