Car Troubles and Miracles

The van we rented began having troubles not long after we got it.  We drove A LOT and it took a bit of a beating up and down the crazy steep roads, but it became clear that there were some previous issues surfacing with the sounds it was making. We were worried, but didn't really know when it was a problem and when it was just an old car rattling.  (Like Adam's work van at home that sounds like jar lids clanging around in a pan!). We began praying every morning that the van would function properly and saw God's hand answering our prayers over and over.

We love our ward and the missionaries who serve in it.  One of them is from Layton!  The Bishop is from Utah, so it is refreshing to speak English with them each Sunday!  We were so excited to go to the ward Christmas party on Friday night. The members are so friendly!  I began talking to a member named Alberto, who speaks perfect English.  I asked him how he learned it and he said he didn't know!  He can just speak!  He has the gift of tongues.  He told me his amazing conversion story and how the gospel has blessed his life in every way.  He gave up drinking and smoking and has better relations with his wife and kids, plus he has been able to get more education to expand his knowledge as a mechanic.  As soon he said "mechanic," I made a mental note to talk to him about our van's strange noises.

Here's the ward party.  Adam had fun playing ping pong and the kids had fun using Google Translate to play with the other kids.  They are so cute!  They also swung at a pinata that had legitimately good candy in it!  Some ladies in the Relief Society made a yummy rice-veggie-chicken mixture for dinner.

Adam knows a lot things and can fix nearly anything, except cars. What a blessing to us when Alberto offered, "Your van's tire has seized.  I'll take a look at it."  He thought it was probably a serious issue that could take half a day to fix.  He tried to look at it during the party, but the jack that came with the van was too small and he couldn't lift it enough to come to any conclusions.  He was willing to come the next day (Saturday) with his jack and fix it for us!  He said there was no way the van would drive us home, so we would have to leave it in the barbed wire, gated parking lot of the church over night.  Our house is 45 minutes away from the church, so we looked into getting a hotel for the night.  What a miracle that there just "happened" to be a hotel just around the corner from the church!  We only had one diaper for Eliza, Lily had forgotten to bring shoes, and we only had $85 in cash.  The hotel only cost $35 and we had a fun time playing Pass the Pig and Uno on the rock hard beds.

We took the mattresses off the two beds so all 7 of us could spread out on the box springs and mattresses.  In the morning we needed some food, and there just "happened" to be a grocery store right next door to the hotel!  Adam and Lincoln ran to the store to buy breakfast and diapers and then we walked back to the church.  Lily said she felt homeless as we walked through the town with all of our belongings on our backs:). 

The enthusiastic missionaries met us at the church to unlock the gate and Alberto was ready to work.  We planned on wandering around the city all day until he was finished, but once he got into it, he realized the problem wasn't as bad as he originally thought.  He cleaned the brakes and within 20 minutes he was finished!  He charged us $35, leaving two dollars left of the cash we brought.  Miracle.

What a miracle that Alberto is a mechanic who speaks English, AND that he came to the ward Christmas party.  When I told one of the missionaries he was helping us she said, "Who?  Oh, I don't know him.  He hasn't come to church in a while."  Coincidence that he decided to come the very night we needed help?  I don't think so:).

We happily began driving home, amazed at God's goodness in our adventure, when we heard a tire pop.  We pulled over and sure enough, a different tire was flat.  It was almost comical!  Remember how the jack was too small?  Yeah, so Adam had a rough time trying to make it work to replace the tire with the spare.  Flat rocks proved hard to come by.  But miraculously, a nice old man came by with his larger jack and soon we were on our way home again.

Alberto also noticed that 3 of the 4 tires were different sizes. Nice.  He helped Adam buy a new tire for $27!

Our next van adventure was the next week when we were on our way home from Playa Negra.  The dirt road to get there reminded us of Moab with massive ruts and dips, and the tourists guide recommended 4 wheel drive.  We had to drive through two rivers, and our little 2 wheeled van had done well on it the past 3 days of going there and back!  We had spend the evening watching the sun set before we headed home in the pitch black.  There are only fields surrounding the primitive road, so no street lights could help us.  All of of a sudden the back tire (same one the Alberto worked on), started shaking like crazy.  We stopped and said a prayer that the van could make it home and we wouldn't have to walk. (I wasn't excited to ford two rivers on foot with potential crocodiles in the dark carrying a baby! I love an adventure, but....)  Just then we saw a flashlight coming toward us out of the field.  A man asked what was wrong and we told him, "El auto tiene un problema."  He didn't speak any English but we understood that he knew a man who was a mechanic.  He called him and within 10 minutes a guy drove up and was underneath the van assessing the problem.  He spoke English and explained that it would need to be fixed, but we could drive it home.  Yay, just what we had prayed for!  How was it that it started rattling and we stopped right in front of a man in his field?  What was he doing out there anyway?  How did he just "happen" to know a mechanic down the road?  Miracles:).

 
The Quicksilver backpack lives on!  I got this beauty at a boat shop when I was 15 years old.  It's huge and has been with me on every airplane ride to every country I've ever been to.  It faithfully carried all my heavy school books and now carries diapers and snacks for the kiddos.  Adam teases me about it's massive size every time I pull it out, but now that I have 5 kids' stuff to pack around, it's been awesome. This will probably be it's last hurrah though - it's getting pretty worn out.  Not bad for 19 years of wear! 

 

The whole process took about an hour and a half.  After getting eaten alive by mosquitos outside, we all climbed back in the van and played games, but Linc was beat.

We called Alberto and the next day he drove out 45 minutes to figure out the problem, drove 45 minutes back to Santa Cruz to buy some parts, then back again to fix it.  What a blessing to have met him!

He also put a shock absorber in.  The van owner said, "I've driven it for years without one!"  Alberto said, "Yeah, but you drive on city streets.  These guys are in Guanacaste."  This area is far from nice city roads!  We've hit some seriously crazy spots and are always relieved when we make it!

God has answered our prayers so many times and we are grateful that the kids are seeing these miracles!