In 2019 our family was able to visit Portugal for three weeks. We were so excited! We had been anticipating and preparing for this special experience for six months prior. We practiced Portuguese, learned the history of the country, got passports and bought travel necessities. Finally, our wait came to an end. We traveled on the night of October 1st, with our plane leaving at 10:00pm. We flew to London, getting there at 1:00pm local time. No one slept well. We visited some sights in the city, with a seven-hour layover. Another short flight brought us into Lisbon, arriving about half an hour late, at 11:00pm. Because the plan was a little late, the pilot had to park the plane in the overnight parking, and from there we were transported by bus to the airport baggage claim. It was a long night getting the rental car and all our arrangements, but finally we were on our way to the Airbnb, only about 15 minutes away. We got there at 12:30am.
Before leaving the airport, Todd sent a message to our host, with no response. We weren’t overly concerned, because we had had contact with him previously. We got there and found a parking spot. We walked up to the door, leaving everything in the car, as everyone was tired. The house was completely dark. No key. No way to get in. A neighbor’s door was ajar, and I thought that the host would come out from there, but no luck. Todd got on his phone trying to call the host, but no answer. He sent another message. I began to panic. We went back to the car to wait for a few minutes to see if the host would respond. About 15 minutes later, close to 1:00am, Todd called the Airbnb headquarters. They said they would try to get ahold of the host and give us a call back. We waited some more, about 45 minutes later, around 1:45, we tried calling Airbnb again. I had tried the door again, one more time, just in case of some miracle, of which there was none. The kids were all still awake. I was in absolute panic mode. We had just arrived in Portugal, and now we had no way to get ahold of the host, and no where to stay. And it was the middle of the night. To top it all off, my phone wasn’t working with the sim card we bought in London and Todd’s phone was having troubles too. Todd called Airbnb back, and after some time we were able to get ahold of the same woman from before. She wasn’t able to get in touch with the host either. She talked to her boss, and they would be willing to put us up in a hotel for the night, and reimburse us half, as there were no other airbnb’s available! I was so terrified!
Todd started calling hotels all around the city, and was having very little luck. No where had space, especially not enough for our whole family. And the hotels were so expensive! I was crying, fretting, panicking. Finally, Todd found one hotel that had one room left, and they were willing to put us up for the night, even though it was not supposed to have occupancy over 4 people. We finally made it to the hotel, determined that we would just have to figure out arrangements for the coming days when we slept a little. We finally got into bed around 3:00am. I was so anxious, wondering what we were going to do. I prayed and told Heavenly Father we needed a miracle. And that if it was possible, that the airbnb rental could still work out.
We woke up about 6 ½ hours later. We woke the kids up, and they were so groggy, but they needed to get use to the time change. It was 9:30am. We needed to pay the parking meter where we had left, but it only took coins, of which we had none. Todd came back from trying to feed the meter and said the Airbnb host had sent a message around 6:30am! There was some kind of technical glitch and he didn’t get our messages. He had been at the house until 12:15 (we arrived at 12:30!!). And he would love to have us still stay there, if we would like to! Yes!! Miracle! We quickly packed our stuff and left, heading right to the house. Everything turned out just perfectly, despite the scary trial the night before.
A few days later, the Airbnb host asked us about our faith. We shared about our church, the temple just built, and General Conference. He visited the temple, watched conference, and began meeting with the missionaries!
From this experience we learned that trials and uncertainties are windows to blessings and miracles. Without this experience, we wouldn’t have been able to receive the blessings that came afterward, and possibly not been able to share the gospel with Jose, our host. We learned that the Lord is aware of our needs and our situations. He has the power to make miracles happen. He found us a place to sleep for a few hours and made all the arrangements work for the coming days. He stilled my heart and helped me be able to sleep. He is Lord over all the small details of our lives, and master of miracles and blessings amidst the trials.
Before leaving the airport, Todd sent a message to our host, with no response. We weren’t overly concerned, because we had had contact with him previously. We got there and found a parking spot. We walked up to the door, leaving everything in the car, as everyone was tired. The house was completely dark. No key. No way to get in. A neighbor’s door was ajar, and I thought that the host would come out from there, but no luck. Todd got on his phone trying to call the host, but no answer. He sent another message. I began to panic. We went back to the car to wait for a few minutes to see if the host would respond. About 15 minutes later, close to 1:00am, Todd called the Airbnb headquarters. They said they would try to get ahold of the host and give us a call back. We waited some more, about 45 minutes later, around 1:45, we tried calling Airbnb again. I had tried the door again, one more time, just in case of some miracle, of which there was none. The kids were all still awake. I was in absolute panic mode. We had just arrived in Portugal, and now we had no way to get ahold of the host, and no where to stay. And it was the middle of the night. To top it all off, my phone wasn’t working with the sim card we bought in London and Todd’s phone was having troubles too. Todd called Airbnb back, and after some time we were able to get ahold of the same woman from before. She wasn’t able to get in touch with the host either. She talked to her boss, and they would be willing to put us up in a hotel for the night, and reimburse us half, as there were no other airbnb’s available! I was so terrified!
Todd started calling hotels all around the city, and was having very little luck. No where had space, especially not enough for our whole family. And the hotels were so expensive! I was crying, fretting, panicking. Finally, Todd found one hotel that had one room left, and they were willing to put us up for the night, even though it was not supposed to have occupancy over 4 people. We finally made it to the hotel, determined that we would just have to figure out arrangements for the coming days when we slept a little. We finally got into bed around 3:00am. I was so anxious, wondering what we were going to do. I prayed and told Heavenly Father we needed a miracle. And that if it was possible, that the airbnb rental could still work out.
We woke up about 6 ½ hours later. We woke the kids up, and they were so groggy, but they needed to get use to the time change. It was 9:30am. We needed to pay the parking meter where we had left, but it only took coins, of which we had none. Todd came back from trying to feed the meter and said the Airbnb host had sent a message around 6:30am! There was some kind of technical glitch and he didn’t get our messages. He had been at the house until 12:15 (we arrived at 12:30!!). And he would love to have us still stay there, if we would like to! Yes!! Miracle! We quickly packed our stuff and left, heading right to the house. Everything turned out just perfectly, despite the scary trial the night before.
A few days later, the Airbnb host asked us about our faith. We shared about our church, the temple just built, and General Conference. He visited the temple, watched conference, and began meeting with the missionaries!
From this experience we learned that trials and uncertainties are windows to blessings and miracles. Without this experience, we wouldn’t have been able to receive the blessings that came afterward, and possibly not been able to share the gospel with Jose, our host. We learned that the Lord is aware of our needs and our situations. He has the power to make miracles happen. He found us a place to sleep for a few hours and made all the arrangements work for the coming days. He stilled my heart and helped me be able to sleep. He is Lord over all the small details of our lives, and master of miracles and blessings amidst the trials.
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