There and Back Again: Week 13

I took this picture of the statues of Joseph and Hyrum Smith riding from Nauvoo to Carthage for the last time of their mortal lives. Last Tuesday, at 6:30am in negative 10 degree weather, our beloved Suburban of 20 years and over 300,000 MILES blew it's engine on that VERY corner and when it got towed it got towed to CARTHAGE. I felt it was strangely symbolic somehow. That beautiful old car is burgening with all kinds of memories. It has carried us across country so many times to visit relatives, camp in the mountains and on the beaches, haul students on field trips and all the while kept us safe and protected. It broke down, got banged up, but always in conveinent places and "just in the nick of time" and always came back running great. It was our beloved miracle car that we purchased brand new with the money Elder Cullen received when his parents passed away. It brought us to Nauvoo!

We took that day and the next off work and did a deep dive to research replacement cars. BUT first we read our scriptures and prayed for help finding a new car. Our friends took us to Carthage to rent a car so we could get around until a replacement was found. We really were meticulous and every time we found a car we thought would be good and in our price range I would google."What's wrong with _________________" (fill in the name and year of the car) and BOY everything I read was terrible! Transmission would go within 3 to 5 years, computer fails, wiring of soy based material which attracts rats and mice, group law suits agains Toyota, KIA, FORD. It was very discouraging. ALL I wanted was my old car back, with all its quirks and dents and kid marks inside. I felt wretched. Then I felt impressed to google search, "What's wrong with a 2004 Chevy Suburban?" AND WOW...the worst reviews..all of which were totally untrue for me. Then the thought came gently into my mind. "The Suburban ran beautifully and was easily repaired because you were always praying over it. Pick any car you want and pray over it and I will bless it too." ALL of my stress just washed away. We searched the best car we had found and discovered that there were three of them in Burlington, IA. Off we went. Our salesman was a lovely young man with SIX kids. He was so low pressure, we drove and looked at many cars and settle on a KIA Sportage 2025. It's pearl white...so we dubbed it the "Nauvoo Pearl of Great Price" Our sweet new friend who will take us on more adventures in life.

She's AMAZINGLY high tech, which makes us nervous. We are already including her in our prayers that her computer chips will function properly, that the engine and systems will safely take us where we need to go, just like with The Suburan. We are so grateful for the power of prayer and personal revelation. Heavenly Father can be so humerous as we mortals fret and stew about things that don't really matter in the long run, but matter a lot to us right now. God is GOOD! If things aren't working out in your life, just hold on. It means God's work is still in progress and it will end up Good.