Elder MacGyver to the Rescue

One of our senior couples called me Thursday and said the flat they just inspected out in Secunda (two hours away) everything is two hours away - is in such bad shape and so old and awful.   That's not what I needed to hear last week but I went to the phone, called the elders, asked them what they needed fixed, and said we'd be out Saturday morning at 10 a.m.   Your dad didn't question me, he just agreed.   So we loaded up some new mattresses, couch and chair and all of the tools your dad can get into the bakkie and away we went.   We've never been there before but yup it was about two hours out.   Elder Potter and Elder Dauphine were waiting for us at their gate to let us in.   They picked up the mattresses and headed up to their flat.   Elder Potter tried to unlock their front door - nothing.   Your dad tried to unlock it - nothing - it wouldn't budge.   The key could not release the lock.   So they had a kitchen window and "MacGyver" figured out how to get it open and Elder Potter climbed in.   Nope, he couldn't get it unlocked.   So your dad climbed through the window:) and tried to take the door off of it's hinges - nope - so he just used his screwdriver and pried until he got the lock to release.   That door lock was worn out and faulty and was going to get stuck at any time - but it so happened to be when we arrived.   So a new doorknob and a few other repairs later, we left the Secunda Elders with the assurance that we would be finding them a new flat - it is awful.   We know the Lord takes care of his missionaries.   If that would have happened when we weren't there, they would have probably broken the door or window or both and then we really would have a mess.   They didn't really need new furniture - we just needed to be there to fix the bad door knob.   More mini miracles. Then a couple of weeks later Elder Dauphine gave this to Elder Bishop at Zone Conference:  

And this was written on the back

In case you can't read it, it says:

Dear Elder "McGyver," 

Thanks for the repairs you did for our flat.  I admired the talent that God gave you.  You did inspire me.  I now know that before I serve another mission with my wife, I will have to learn how to fix a door handle, door lock, or window, pipes....

I will invite you and your wonderful wife to my wedding.

Kind regards.

Elder Dauphine

He's French Tahitian and will be married in the Tahiti Temple and then move to France to go to school  - Should we plan a trip to Tahiti?  Absolutely!

These are the pay days of our mission.