We have often been the recipients of kindness

I would like to recount a recent experience we had . Recently (Tuesday November 27) Most of Utah saw a very intense snow storm. Melissa had heard that he storm was supposed to hit in the afternoon and was thus we were anxious to leave Provo as soon as possible to head up to her parent's house in North Ogden.

We left as soon as she had completed her last class had ended and she completed the assignment for that class (about 2:00 PM). It just so happened that Tuesday also was the most convenient day for us to visit her cousin Sara's salon to get our haircuts. Sara always does a great job and we enjoy visiting with her, so we always go to her.

When we arrived at her salon in Kearns (about halfway to the Mikhail house), the wind was really picking up and the skies looked dark. We received a call from both of Melissa's parents individually; both with reports of road closures and concerns for our safety. We considered them and talked to other people in the salon about the storm. One lady joked that in the event didn't make it, we would both look really good in our caskets. I actually thought that was pretty funny, but was still apprehensive.

When we got back in the car I told Melissa that I thought we should just go to her brother's house (about 10 miles away) instead of trying to make it to her parents house (still 40 miles or so away). She thought we could make it to her parent's house before the worst of the storm hit. So we prayed and felt ok about it and proceeded on.

When we were driving through North Bountiful the snow, the wind, and the fog all intensified so much that visibility was extremely limited and I told Melissa I didn't feel safe driving in this. So we exited the freeway hoping to find a business or a parking lot where we could wait out the storm. We drove around for awhile as driving conditions got even worse and decided to ask for help.

We stopped on the road and decided that I would knock on the door right there and ask for help. A middle-aged woman answered the door and I explained to her our predicament. She was understandably suspicious and asked me to wait so she could get her husband. Her husband came to the door and I asked him if he knew of a business or parking lot nearby and asked if perhaps we could park in their driveway to wait out the storm.

They invited us to come inside. Once they saw that Melissa was pregnant they felt much more at ease. They were very kind to us; they fed us Pizza, visited with us and we were privileged to have their home teachers come visit while we were there. After some time two of their sons came home from work and told us of the weather conditions on the roads. This kind woman told us if we felt uncomfortable driving that we were welcome to even sleep at their house if we wanted. We were most grateful.

They told us that visibility was good, wind was mild with lots of fresh snow. We decided to get back on the road in 4-wheel drive and drive slowly. We maintained and average speed of 35 miles hour the rest of the way and arrived safely. At one point three snow plows were behind us and prevented other cars from passing us, so we had the whole road to ourselves, it was great!

We are most grateful to this kind couple for extending their hospitality to two strangers.
We have often been the recipients of kindness throughout our lives. Let us not forget these acts of kindness.