Sunday, February 28, 2010

Blessings unmeasured.....

Yesterday (Saturday) one of our Elders needed us to take some medication to him down around the Miami area. It was about a 45 minute down and 45 minute back. when we were about 3 exits from getting off of the freeway and 8 minutes from home, the lights went on in our car saying we were losing power. It started to jerk funny but Tim didn't take the exit. Just as we passed the exit, it really started jerking. Fortunately we were able to make it to the next exit and found a shopping center parking lot just off the off ramp so we coasted into it and headed towards a parking stall. Before we got parked, the car died completely and Tim lost all power to drive it. Luckily, we were only 5 minutes from the office and got AAA while on our mission. We have never used them but were glad we had them yesterday. They showed up about one hour later and towed us to the office where we picked up a mission car and headed to Auto Zone to get a new alternator. They wanted over $300 to install one and so Tim said he would do it himself.

The guy putting in a temporary battery to start the engine so we could drive it onto the tow truck.

Tim watches, wondering what we should do.

There she goes for a ride!


We got all hitched up and the guy told us to climb into the truck. There were only 2 seats so he made Tim crawl up between the 2 seats and sit with his legs crossed for the 5-minute ride to the office. We told him we were missionaries for the church and that we had been delivering medicine to a missionary. He said that he used to live by the Fort Lauderdale Chapel and had talked with some of our missionaries several years ago and thought they were very nice young men. When we arrived I asked if we were under our 5 miles. After 5 miles, AAA charges $5 per mile to tow. He said, "Oh, sure." I then asked if he wanted to see our AAA card and my driver's license but he said "No, I'm supposed to but it's okay. Just have a good day and God bless." He never asked any more questions and off he went.

We got the alternator and Tim began installing it about 10 minutes before it started to rain and rain and rain!!! It poured for about 2 hours. He finished in 1 1/4 hours and saved us the $300. About an hour after he finished, the sun came out and the rain stopped.
We were SOOOOOOOOO blessed that it didn't happen in Miami or on the freeway in an unfamilar area. We would NOT have known where to be towed or where to buy a new alternator. We were able to go to our apartment so Tim could change clothes and get his tools which we wouldn't have had if it had happened in Miami. Heavenly Father loves us and we know that! He watches out for his missionaries.

2 comments:

Tasha said...

Way to go Uncle Tim!

the happyhowards said...

Yep! That's Heavenly Father for you! He's always there when we need Him.