This was quite the experience for sure... A few days before going on a backpacking trip to Owl Creek with theBRIGADE, I'm sitting in class with plans to meet up with Jeff and Paul in Salt Lake City for some supplies for our trip. I'm texting both of them to set up the meeting place and get everything in order. Jeff was finishing up class and I was to meet him Downtown and then join Paul at the store. I had the distinct feeling that I should probably make sure Paul had Jeff's number, so I sent it to him and waited out the rest of my class to finish. As soon as I walk out of the building, I send Jeff a text saying: "I'm out." and then... BLANK SCREEN. I don't know what happened, but my iPhone just blanked out. I couldn't turn it back on, I couldn't reset it, NOTHING. So I'm out in Taylorsville, Jeff is Downtown, Paul is around 3300 South, and I have absolutely no way to get ahold of them.
I'm frantically trying to think of what to do and finally decide that I'll go to Paul, because he's closer, and we'll call Jeff since I'd listened to my feelings and sent his number to Paul. That was a great plan... but Paul wasn't at the store where I thought he was. Not wanting to waste time, I headed straight to Downtown to pick up Jeff. It's now been quite a while since I had said I was out of class, but I hoped he'd still be at the Burger King waiting. Well, he wasn't. 0 for 2.
This was when I got really frustrated. I'm in SLC, no way to get a hold of those guys, they're probably worried, and my phone is broken. Desperate to reach them, I start asking people in Burger King if I could borrow their cell phone to make a call, but nobody obliged. Looking back, it probably looked really dumb to be asking homeless-looking guys for a cell phone... I finally talked the BK people into letting me use their phone, and then my next problem: I don't remember Jeff's number. I remembered the last 4 digits, but I couldn't get the first 3 correct.
Finally, I gave up. I thought about going back down to 3300 to see if they were at the store, but opted to go to the Apple Store at the Gateway to fix my phone instead. I got to the Apple Store and the place is PACKED. There's also like 20 employees working, which seemed promising, but of course, there's only 3 "geniuses" there to diagnose problems. And so I was told I'd have to wait an hour because I didn't have an appointment. I tried calling Jeff again, but still couldn't get the number right. I was so mad at myself for being so dependant on my iPhone that I didn't even know his number. Stupid. Absolutely stupid.
Finally, an employee came over and asked what I was waiting for. I explained what happened again and she said, "Can I try something that worked for me once?" She took my phone, plugged it into the wall, and told me to wait for a few minutes. She came back, and it turned on! I was in shock because it was working just like normal. She said that nobody taught her that, but she had happened to try it once on her own device. The funny thing was that I had tried plugging my phone into my truck charger, but nothing happened. So I called Jeff, finally, and thankfully Paul had picked him up and they even grabbed some supplies for me as well. We concluded that Paul was at the trax station getting Jeff when I was at the store looking for him. So it all worked out in the end.
I was really frustrated that night because of what happened, being ill-prepared and not knowing Jeff's number, missing my Elders Quorum visits because I was late, and also for praying for inspiration and getting nothing in response. I keep trying to pray to know what I should do and I just didn't feel anything... I explained my feelings to Amber later that night and she just looked me in the eyes and said, "I feel really strongly that this was supposed to happen to you tonight to keep you from doing what you had planned. I don't know why, but for some reason, you weren't supposed to go the way you'd intended." And at that moment, I knew she was right. I have no idea why it happened. It wasn't like I was going into a bad part of town or doing something stupid. But for some reason, my plans needed to change. I'm so grateful for divine intervention and to be able to have a wife who can recognize the Spirit so clearly to help me understand for myself.
No comments:
Post a Comment