Prayer

August 4, 2008 Journal Entry
We sent Justin Emerson to EFY on a plane and a shuttle bus, which he took because of an afternoon appointment. He got to the Marriot Center at BYU at about 8:30 pm, called his mom and said, "I'm lost! The building is shut down and locked up and no one is here." So she called me in a panic. I got online to check my email for his confirmation number and called the telephone number listed. No answer!

Inspiration struck--"Call BYU info-they know everything!" I called them, got a young man and he gave me a number to try. ANSWERING MACHINE! I called them back and got a young woman who gave me another number to try. ANSWERING MACHINE! All the while Sis. Emerson is on the landline listening to all these failed attempts on my cell phone and each time she is getting more worried. I called BYU info back and was just about to call campus police when another call comes in from one of the ANSWERING MACHINES where I had left a message.

This girl...Cindy (or Linsey)... proceeds to tell me that she doesn't work with EFY, that I got the wrong number, and she has told BYU info several times to stop giving out her number. After a few minutes of hearing how she used to work for EFY, but doesn't any more, I was ready to hang up when all of a sudden she said, "But I do know some numbers of EFY coordinators. Let me try them." She told me to have Justin wait where he was, and we told her that didn't have a way of contacting him. (The boy who lent Justin his phone, grabbed it back and took off after he called to tell his mom he was stranded.) Cindy (or Linsey) told us to not to call the police, because they would take him and call the same numbers. She told us that she would call us right back.

Soon after Sis. Emerson and I started debating about whether to call campus police, Cindy (or Linsey) called us back and said that she didn't find anyone to help, but she was close to the Marriott Center and she would pick up Justin and take him to Helaman Halls where all the EFY students stayed and we could figure out where to go the next day. After hanging up with her I tried to give some words of encouragement to Sis. Emerson about how Justin would laugh and have a great adventure to talk about by the end of the week. Then I knelt down and prayed.

Many of us have experiences that make us face the stark reality that we need more help than just us! This was one of those moments. Here is Justin hundreds and hundreds of miles away from home in a place he has never visited, is not familiar with, and he has no cell phone to make arrangements. And we're sending a total stranger to find him somewhere at the Marriot Center and it has been more than 20 min. since his quick call to his mom so who knew if he had gone someplace else by then. So I prayed that he would be found and his mom would be at peace.

Not even five minutes after I got up, the phone rang and it was Cindy (or Linsey) and she had Justin and they were already at Helaman Halls where all the EFY kids were staying. Bless her! How grateful I was that BYU info had given me the 'wrong number'! And I called back the BYU info operators to tell them we found our lost EFY student and to thank them for their help!
I am so grateful for prayer and a loving Heavenly Father who hears prayers in Reno and sends blessings to Provo!