A Coincidence or Not?

Last Wednesday I spent about 90 minutes knocking on apartment doors with Elders Hunter and Calmes in the Wilmington Zone. We were working our way through a medium sized apartment complex that had a mixture of families – single mothers, a few families from Kenya and many others. Many people weren’t at home because it was mid-morning – so we would knock, wait a minute and then move on to the next door. One door opened after we had already moved on. We ran back to the opened door and met Julian, a friendly middle aged man who immediately invited us into his apartment. His wife and daughter were also at home.

Julian and his family had recently moved to Wilmington, Delaware from the inner-city area of Philadelphia. They needed to get out of that environment which is full of danger and violence. Julian was looking for a new job in the Wilmington area, but in the mean time he continued in a job in Philadelphia. He didn’t tell us what the job was, but it did require an hour commute through heavy traffic. Julian has been a church-goer for many years and, in fact, he has received some training as a preacher. But he and his family are currently on a “sabbatical” as he called it. This means they were taking time out from all churches. Julian indicated he was still searching for the right church. At some point in the past Julian has visited with our missionaries, but it had been a long time ago and he didn’t appear to know much about our religion.

We taught him about the Restoration, the First Vision and the Great Apostasy. He was polite, but not overly eager to gobble it up. He gave us cold water to drink – it was an extremely hot day. And throughout the session he cheerfully called me “Prez” because of my missionary nametag. I sensed that he enjoyed the visitors more than he enjoyed our message. I liked this man very much and I was frustrated that I was unable to convey to him the deep feelings of my heart and the pure conviction of my soul.

We encouraged him to pray about the things we discussed and we testified of their truthfulness.

I then had to leave to attend a lunch meeting with the Wilmington Stake President. While driving to the restaurant I had the following inspired thought, “I should have told Julian, in a careful and direct way, that he’s closer than ever to finding what he’s been looking for. And I should have done this with great tenderness and love – not with overzealous excitement nor any sense of a challenging attitude.” The Spirit was teaching me, but unfortunately Julian was gone and I doubted that I would ever again see him. How I wished that the Holy Ghost and I could coordinate our timing a little better! I sensed a lost opportunity. I quickly called Elders Hunter and Calmes and told them of my “lesson learned too late” via the Holy Ghost and asked them to convey this message to Julian, on my behalf, if they ever saw him again.

You might think this is the end of the story – as did I. Until last night.

I was working at my home office, in my comfortable pajamas, when the phone rang. It was the mission president from the Richmond Virginia Mission. One of his missionaries had damaged his back and was flying home to Las Vegas for emergency surgery. His trip required him change planes in Philadelphia. Unfortunately dozens of flights were cancelled at the Philadelphia airport and Elder Rushforth was stranded someplace in the airport with no place to spend the night. His situation was pretty serious. His legs had given out and he was in a wheelchair. He was in great pain and had limited mobility. He had no cell phone and his mission president in Virginia was unable to contact him. All he knew was that Elder Rushforth was stuck someplace in the airport, he was flying on US Airways and his flight home wouldn’t be until 6PM the following night. He asked for help.

I immediately changed clothes and drove to the airport. I knew that he had to be on the “inside” of the airport so I waited in a long line to get a special pass that would allow me to get behind the security gates. The airport was full of tired, angry, frustrated travelers – many facing an uncertain night in the airport. I finally found Elder Rushforth at a US Airways gate. He was emotionally and physically exhausted. I started wheeling him out to the parking garage, negotiating our way through the throngs to weary travelers. About half way there I heard a loud voice behind me shouting, “PREZ!!” I turned around and there was Julian! To my great surprise Julian works as a janitor at the Philadelphia Airport on an evening shift. He was cleanly dressed and very happy. He was heading in one direction and we were going in a different direction when he spotted me. We looked at each other in disbelief – how could this be that we’re seeing each other again? What are the odds of this happening? If I had gone through the security gate just two minutes earlier, I never would have seen Julian. If Julian had taken his evening break at a different time, he never would have been in that exact hallway at that moment. So many unexplained “ifs”, yet here we were face to face in a joyful reunion.

I wasted no time and told Julian that there was something important I needed to tell him – something that I wished I would have told him yesterday. I then told him that he is much closer to finding what he’s been looking for. Closer than he’s ever been in his entire life. And I told him to ask God if there could be “more” that he needs to know and learn. And I assured him there is. And that God would help him find it.

Julian looked thoughtfully at me and said, “This is not a coincidence.”

I agreed.

We looked at each other for a few moments and then time required that we move on.

Did Heavenly Father cause the small tornado that created damage in the Virginia neighborhood where Elder Rushforth was serving? And did he cause Elder Rushforth’s back to suffer a bulging disc when he was helping the neighborhood clean up the mess and debris – thus requiring Elder Rushforth to go home for surgery? And then did He create the massive snarled airline cancellations affecting hundreds of travelers at the Philadelphia Airport last night so that I would be required to pick up Elder Rushforth, even though I was already in my comfortable pajamas and working in my home office after another very long day? And did He guide Julian to rent that apartment in Wilmington so that Elders Hunter and Calmes and I could knock on his door last Wednesday, knowing that I had only 90 minutes available for finding? And did He inspired Elder Hunter and Calmes to go to that apartment complex on that particular day? And finally did he quietly, invisibly guide Julian and me so that we would intersect in that specific hallway in the airport last night?

My sense is that the Lord always knows where Julian is, and He always knows where I am, and He sprinkled some heavenly dust on the airport last night so that we would each be in the exactly right place at the exactly right time. With men such things are impossible. But with God all things are possible.

I hope and pray that Julian meets again with our missionaries and that he will eagerly embrace the restored gospel of Jesus Christ – and that his life and that of his family will be immensely blessed. I hope and pray that Elder Rushforth’s back heals quickly from surgery. I hope and pray that all those tired travelers who were stuck in the airport last night get to their destinations safely.

Most of all I hope and pray that I never, ever forget the tender mercies of the Lord. He knows and loves each of us. He desires that we turn our hearts to Him so that He might lead us, guide us, and walk beside us. He will help us find the way.