First of all I know very little about cars and tires, which this experience shows: we stopped in Kanab to look at the map for the best way to get there. I tried to pull into a driveway to turn around, but the tire slammed into the metal part over the ditch (name?). There was a big bulge on the side of the tire, but it was Saturday and the one tire store in town closed 20 minutes before we got there. We had the option of going home or to keep going, so we slowly continued on, hoping that it would be fine. When we got to a gas station by Lake Powell, I needed a break from the stress, so we got out to get ice cream. There we stood looking at this tire, with a bigger bulge than before, not knowing what to do. We were in the middle of nowhere, on a Saturday evening, with only a doughnut tire in my trunk. We suddenly looked over, and here was this angel in glowing white robes, descending to our car.... not really! Actually we saw a guy (about my age and clean cut, not 50 with a long beard as some have supposed), working on his truck that carries cars. I asked him if he knew anything about tires. He came over, looked at the tire, and said to be honest, we were very lucky to have made it that far. You could see that the tire was starting to peel away, and was going to pop at any moment. He said that because it was a front tire (under the engine, with a lot of weight on it), and the bulge was on the side of the tire instead of on the bottom, it wouldn't have been a little leak but a complete blow out! Right ahead of us there were cliffs, and very steep, windy roads. With the added pressure, we couldn't have controlled the car and most likely would have died. This person who basically saved our lives, got a jack out of one of the cars on his truck (my jack is gone, seriously could it get any more embarrassing?), put the doughnut on the BACK mount, and told us to go only 40 mph. He said he'd be driving behind us to Flagstaff (where we would be able to get a different car), and he'd keep his eyes open for us.
Missionary Moment: He went back to his truck and Annie says, "we should give him a Book of Mormon!" I was already thinking that, but since she said it out loud I told her she needed practice for Europe. I had an extra copy, but it was a little bent up, and the first page said "To Darren, congratulations on your baptism!" I told her to rip it out (sorry Darren), because it was only the front page, and who needs that? We went over and told him we didn't have much else, but we had a book for him. Annie explained that it was about Christ coming to America, and that sounded funny to me, but it turned out well anyway. She told him to look on www.Mormon.org, and he said, "Why don't you write it down?" I went back to the car to get a pen, and he practically ran to the store. Annie says, "great, he's probably hiding from us, trying to get away from these crazy Mormon girls!" But he came back a few minutes later and said, "where's my book?" You have to think of this in a Russian accent, because he's from that area. Actually when asked where he was from, he said, "I don't know," because he's from the border of Russia and Hungary, and they're always fighting over the land. He doesn't know which country he is from, by the day :( We gave him the book (Annie is a great missionary!) , got in our cars, and drove away. Along the road we were of course going slow, so he passed us and almost got hit as he was waving to us. Then when we got down to the dam, he waved us over to the side of the road. We had to get a picture with him, even though he didn't see why. I told him he saved our lives, and he said that it was God, I said yes, but you helped-- we got the picture.
Miracle of miracles, he remembered that there is a Wal-mart, with a tire place, in Paige AZ!!! It was just ahead. Yes! We were thinking we'd have to drive all the way to Flag, which is usually about 2 hours from Paige, but this slow??? The new tire cost $65 (because my tire, that is still under warranty can only be free in Orem uggh.) so this was the money part of the missionary experience. Annie wondered if everything happened the way it did, just so we could meet him?! Possibly. Now she's planning on him getting converted and marrying me, will it never end?
Miracles:
- What if we didn't go towards Page after looking at the map in Kanab? It is the only Walmart of any kind for probably 400 miles, let alone one with a tire place.
- If we went the other way, we would have been in the middle of nowhere, and even if the tire had blown out BEFORE the Vermillion cliffs, we would have at the very least had to pay a lot more money for towing and for someone to come in on a Saturday for a new tire. At worst it could have blown out on the cliffs.
- What if I didn't feel like ice cream at the stop right before the steep windy roads/cliffs?
- If we had gotten there 20 minutes earlier, we could have gotten the new tire in Kanab, and would have never met Joe Daniels (he said to call him Joe, or Daniel or whatever you want)
- What if he was in a normal little truck? ok that's not really a miracle, but I thought it funny that he just went to one of the cars on his truck to get the jack.
- What if he had never been to Paige? We probably would have passed it, because I was so stressed about just staying on the road, that I doubt it would have occurred to me to look for a Wal-mart ( I still hate that chain, but I'm grateful for this one).
- I've been praying for a missionary experience for the last couple of weeks, but with little faith because I've never given away a Book of Mormon in UT. Miracle: missionary work in UT-- FOR ME! I know that it's the highest baptising (English speaking) mission, I just never thought I'd see the day for myself. Of course it all happened right on the border, and on a road trip, but it still counts. I even told a little bit of my religion to my new pen pal in the same week. Prayers are answered.
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