A few years back; it was after we moved to Saratoga Springs in 2000; I went for a drive out in the West Desert or at least that is what I usually call it. I took SR 73 west past Cedar Valley, Fairfield etc to Highway 36, the road that goes south out of Tooele and connects with U.S. 6 which comes out of Eureka and continues south to Delta Utah and beyond.
Shortly after I turned south onto Highway 36 I saw an old man walking south on the west side of the road. I don’t remember that he was hitchhiking though it would make sense if this were an ordinary situation.
I stopped and offered him a ride and asked him where he was going. He told me that he left Montana and was heading to the outskirts of Ely, Nevada to herd/tend sheep. I don’t remember his exact words. He said that that was what he had been doing in Montana also.
I asked him when he had eaten last and he said, “A couple of days ago.” I apologized for not having anything for him to eat but handed him a bottle of water I had with me and told him to drink as much as he wanted.
He drank it all down in short order.
At this point I decided to take him all the way to Ely, thinking we would stop in Delta and get something to eat.
At that, I instinctly reached for my wallet. It wasn’t there; or at least I couldn’t feel it. I really believe to this day that it wasn’t there.
I apologized to him explaining my intentions and explained that without my wallet I would have to turn around and go home. I didn’t have enough gas. He said that it was all right.
I told him that I would take him up a little farther to where Highway 36 converges with Highway 6 out of Eureka explaining that there would be a better chance of him getting a ride since there would be cars coming from two directions. (Even at that, it is a lonely stretch of highway and one can go quite a distance without seeing another car.)
I took him a short distance beyond that point and let him out still apologizing.
I turned around and started up Highway 6 intending to go home along the west side of Utah Lake.
I reached around and checked for my wallet again. It was right there.
I immediately turned around to pick him up and do as I was originally intending.
It had only been a minute or so since I left him, but when I reach the place I dropped him off , he wasn’t there. I drove on a ways looking for him but I couldn’t imagine he could have gotten that far walking.
Maybe he quickly got another ride but to this day I have wondered if perhaps God was testing me to see what I would do and when I showed that I would have taking this “angel” or whoever he was to his destination he made my wallet disappear forcing me to let him out and turn around.
