Remember to keep the Sabbath Day Holy

So, since I often don't think before I act, and am naturally a klutz, I seem to have many embarrassing moments. But I'm going to share just one today. Most of my embarrassing moments aren't worth remembering because they happen on a regular basis, but this is one of those that hasn't been repeated. It all started with a family trip to Hawaii.

My family loves Hawaii but this one particular year, our Hawaii trip just barely overlapped with Girls' Camp (a camp over the summer put on by my church). I was going to be a Youth Camp Leader and it was my sister Carly's first year. I couldn't miss it! So, arrangements were made for my grandparents to fly home with Carly and I, two days early so we could make it on time to Girls Camp. We left Saturday night and flew over night- I don't think any of us slept on the plane though. When we got home, everyone was tired. My grandparents are not accustomed to all-nighters, so they were going to sleep and miss church that day. Carly, as well, was also tired and chose to go to sleep. But I decided I could take a shower to wake me up and still make it to church on time and then I would just sleep the rest of the afternoon. So I went to church. Now, some of you may not know, but my family is a big part of the ward. And my extended family that is normally there were also on similar vacations and weren't getting back til that afternoon. So needless to say, I felt like I was attending a different ward because it was close to empty and many of my friends were related to me. But I felt proud of myself for making it to church. (I don't however remember if I stayed awake for all 3 hours...)

Well, on my way home from church I realized that I was low on gas. There's a commandment, "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy...." And it talks about not having to work or making anyone work, so generally I do not go to gas stations, because even though I'm filling up my car by myself, I'm spending money, and the gas stations are open, whether because of me or not. So, by my own definition I would be breaking the Sabbath. But I decided it was an emergency. If I didn't fill up today I wouldn't have enough gas to get to the church the following morning for Girls Camp, and it's not like I was in town the day before. Well, as fate would have it, I ended up going to get gas.

I put in my card- credit card denied. So I tried again. Credit card denied. So, I think, no matter, I'll use my other card. I turn around to go get my other card. I realize that the door had shut, so I go to open it, seeing my wallet lying on the passenger's seat. I find, to my dismay that my door is locked. I to this day have no idea how it became locked. At the time I never locked the doors while driving and when I got out of the car I would only lock it using the clicker attached to the keys. But there my door was- locked and I could see my keys lying on the floor on the driver's side. I figured, I should call someone. But my cell phone was also lying in the passenger's seat. At the time I only had a few numbers memorized. I had the phone numbers of my family members, all who weren't home. I had my home number memorized, but for any who knew Carly at the time, they know that she was a VERY sound sleeper. I had my best friend, Anna's phone number memorized, but she went to Poland over the summer. I had no idea who to call. Then I realized that my neighbor, Norma hadn't gone to Hawaii. So I went into the gas station to ask to use a phone book and a phone. I did not at the time have Norma's phone number memorized.

I asked the attendant if I could use the phone book and a phone. He looked at me and said, "That will be $20." At the time I hated confronting people. If I wanted ketchup at a restaurant I couldn't ask for it, someone else had to do it for me, so it was hard enough to ask to use the phone in the first place. But when he said $20 I lost it and started crying. I didn't have any money. I had a credit card that had been denied. I couldn't get to my other card. I didn't have any cash on me- any I would have had was in my car. So, how was I going to be able to pay $20? I felt like all hope was gone. Well, this guy apparently doesn't handle tears very well. He all of a sudden became distraught trying to help. And so he asked, "Is it local?" Meaning the phone call which I understood, but all I could manage in response was, "It's just around the corner." And I pointed the direction. I should've known that he was just trying to figure out if his kind act was going to cost him a long, long distance phone call to China or somewhere....

So I finally was able to call my neighbor, asking her to break into my house (I don't know if she had a spare key or had to crawl through the doggy door) and get my spare keys and bring some spare cash. While waiting however, the missionaries from church, that I had seen just a short time before walked into the gas station- they were not breaking the Sabbath, they had stopped in to get directions to someone's house they were heading to. But I felt humiliated. I had been caught in my act of breaking the Sabbath. It was embarrassing and I will always remember it and the lesson I learned from it.

Norma did come to my rescue shortly afterward. I was able to get gas in my car and drive home, and the rest is history!