"It Was Just Too Simple"

I once took a leave of absence from my job so my wife and I could travel around the county. We purchased a used camper van and just to ensure we had no serious mechanical problems, I rebuilt the engine. I was very comfortable working on engines and had rebuilt several. The van ran great for over 1,800 miles through Southern California, Nevada, and Utah. Along the barren plains of southern Wyoming, however, the engine seemed to lose power. We pulled into a campground so I could see what might be the problem. For reasons I couldn’t understand, the engine I had just rebuilt and which had run well through a third of the country, had lost compression on all six cylinders.

My wife, who had grown up in a religious home, suggested that we say a prayer. Shortly after that a total stranger walks by our van, sees the engine hood up, and asks me if there is a problem. After explaining everything to him, he says, “Sounds like you may have just glazed your cylinder walls. Try adding some STP and see what happens.” He then walked away.

At that point, I became a modern-day Naaman from the Old Testament. It was just too simple. My wife finally convinced me that we had nothing to lose, so I found a parts store in the next town and poured in a can of STP. After an hour or so the engine started running better and we were able to continue our cross-country adventure. That trip, with all that we experienced, was a pivotal moment in our marriage and has shaped our lives to this day. The Savior said in John 14:13, “whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do”.