BIG WHOOPS!

August 28, 2010 Saturday


When we went out to the car this morning, I opened my door first and there were a bunch of our conference CDs on my seat along with pass along cards and Orson’s sunglasses. When he opened his door, I asked him if he’d put that stuff there (once in a while he’ll go out to the car for something after we get home), and then I noticed that his seat was full of more junk we have in the console between us. We realized somebody had been in the car during the night. That’s when I remembered that I hadn’t needed to wait for Orson to click the magic button before I could get in. We had inadvertently left the car unlocked overnight.
We looked through everything and realized we’d lost about $5.00 in coins and the mission vehicle credit card (only good for charging gas). We tried to call the mission financial missionary, Brother Nielsen, but he didn’t answer so we left him a message. We then remembered we could call the phone # on the back of the card and report it missing, but since our card was gone we couldn’t call. So we called Elder Lowe, our district leader in Karratha to get the # from him. Problem was that he didn’t have a card since they ride bikes. Orson asked him if he had his “air card.” The elder didn’t get it so Orson explained that he was joking with him that since they rode bikes they must need an air card to fill up their tires. So much for joking with a kid! We finally got hold of Elder Walker, a senior missionary assigned to Geraldton. He gave us the # to call. We didn’t even know the number on the credit card but finally got the last 4 numbers off one of our receipts that we have.
So Orson called and explained we’d lost the card, didn’t know the account # because we don’t ever see a statement and hardly ever use the card anyway since we only charge gas when we drive to Derby or Port Hedland. The guy on the phone took the name of the church, the car license plate #, and the last 4 #’s on the card. We’re glad we did that because Brother Nielsen never did return our call. Saturday is P-day for the office missionaries, and I guess they get so tired of phone calls during the week that they turn their phones off on Saturdays. We also stopped by the police department to report the theft.
We asked one of the neighborhood kids if he’d noticed anything strange when he passed our place last night. He hadn’t and said it was probably a “Sydney Flamer.” I asked him if that is a gang, and he replied that a Sydney Flamer is someone who goes around at night seeing what he can steal. Who knows how many other times someone has checked the car during the night to see if it was locked? We are really grateful they didn’t find the camera in the glove box! That was a major blessing.