A Missionary Opportunity (aka Running Out of Gas on the Side of the Freeway)

This is a story about:

1- Prayers being answered in unexpected ways.

2- Sharing the gospel wherever you go.

3- Getting gas in yer dang car before it runs out.

Happy, go-lucky daytrippers -- I mean, roadtrippers

Once upon a time, Melissa and I embarked on a roadtrip from DC to Utah. We brought snacks for snacking and books for reading. We prayed for safety and for missionary opportunities, and we were off!

And behold, it came to pass that in the middle of Indiana on Day 2, we did runneth out of gas! :-\

Melissa called Roadside Assistance.

I flagged down some nice ladies who tried to help us find the nearest gas station. While we waited for information from them, a highway patroller pulled up to us... and he totally saved the day!

He got us a gas can and put enough gas in our car to get us to the next gas station (20 miles away!! I DID mention we were in the middle of nowhere, right?).

Now, here's the thing. Our car really shouldn't have run out of gas! Melissa was driving, and I had been napping. We pulled over for a brief bathroom/refuel break, but the gas station we both swore we had seen from the freeway wasn't actually there. So we got back on the freeway and figured we'd pull over at the  next station. We switched drivers, and... the "next gas station" never came. Then the gas light came on.

And you know how a gas light normally lasts at least 20 miles? Yeah, this one lasted maybe seven. Then the car died right there in the middle of the freeway. We were SO embarrassed! We didn't want to be the two stereotypical ditzy girls who ran out of gas on the side of the road (for the record, I haven't run out of gas in nearly a decade, and Melissa had NEVER run out of gas before this).

Melissa thinks this was all rigged by a higher power.

Officer Allen was kind and friendly. We enjoyed chatting with him. We also gave him a thank you card and decided to share our Mormon.org profiles. (Mine. Melissa's.) He mentioned he had read the Book of Mormon before ("Nephi is one of your prophets, right?" Woah!) but had stopped reading because he had concerns about the "dark skin curse." We explained to him that skin color doesn't matter to the Lord, and M added that in the end, it was the light-skinned people in the Book of Mormon who were wicked and that really, the Lord looks at our hearts not our race or our skin color. He asked if we allow inter-racial marriage in the church, and we explained that YES! Absolutely! (We even told him about Mia Love.) He said he'd actually considered moving to Utah and that he'd like to read the Book of Mormon again.

Well, we just so happened to have a copy! (Which we gave to him, of course.) We bore our testimonies of the truthfulness and power of the Book of Mormon. After we parted ways, M and I said a prayer of gratitude A- for the gas and the help we'd received, and B- for answering our prayer when we asked for missionary opportunities.

It filled our hearts with joy to be able to share with one of our brothers something that has brought US so much joy. This is why Mormons love sharing the gospel! We've received so many blessings, and our effort to share the gospel with our friends (and even with strangers) is our way of sharing God's love with them.

I know that God answers prayers, and I know that when we make a conscious effort to look for missionary opportunities, He'll help us find them. :)