A simple prayer led to an outpouring of support from neighbors and members of the Clarksville Ward for a family in Clarksville, Maryland.
Amber Spencer said a silent prayer on Oct. 27, 2025, after speaking with the mission children of Elder Sebastian Spencer and Sister Eleanor Spencer, who serve in Mongolia and Temple Square, respectively. Inspired by children’s desire to serve, she asked them to serve in her own way.
The next morning started like any other for her in Clarksville. Spencer got in the car to take her daughter to school, but because her daughter was sleeping, she left later than usual.
“It was a teacher’s day off, so I left the house in my pajamas because no one would see me just walking to and from school,” Spencer later wrote in her diary. “So that’s what I thought.”
Traffic was stopped around 7:30 a.m. Spencer approached the white car with its hazard lights flashing that had caused the delay and asked the driver if he needed help jump starting it. In tears, the man explained that all he was worried about was getting his daughter to school because communications had broken down.
Spencer offers to take the girl. When her daughter got into the car, Spencer noticed tears streaming down her face.
“I could see big tears running down her cheeks,” Spencer said. “I told her I was sorry that life was difficult.”
The girl replied, “It’s our only car. I’m fine. I’m just worried about my dad.”
Spencer, who promised to return to check on his father, said he was heartbroken to see the child wiping away tears as he walked to school.
When Spencer returned to his broken down car, traffic was even more congested. Dressed in pajamas and slippers, she jumped out and tried to help the man push the car off the road.
It didn’t budge.
“I prayed that someone would notice and push me, but no one came,” Spencer said. “So I put on my pajamas and slippers, went to the middle of the road, put my hands up, and stopped the big truck. I wish a big guy would have gotten in there.”
To my surprise, the truck was loaded with five local high school football players. The boys quickly jumped out, drove their cars into a nearby parking lot, and proudly lined them up perfectly between the rows of cars. They patted the man on the back, gave him words of encouragement, and headed off to school.
Spencer asked the man what his next plan was. He was planning on walking the three miles home, so she offered to give him a ride. In the car, he opens up about losing his job, being kicked out of his home, and the difficult layoffs his family is facing.
Spencer was inspired to share the prayers he had said the night before, and explained how he tries to follow the example of the missionary children. The man recognized their names immediately. His eldest daughter was playing in the orchestra with Sebastian and Eleanor.
They clapped their hands and agreed, “God is watching over us. He is very good.”
Spencer knew that while money might help in the short term, it couldn’t solve everything. She considered turning to the people she knew best to help. Her ward family.
She emailed her neighbors, community, and church members to ask if they could see if anyone had a job. “I wrote everything (in an email): how I prayed, how I wore pajamas, how a football player showed up, and how this family needed help. What happened next was unbelievable.”
Within 10 minutes people started responding.
“Someone was going to the hardware store to get some duct tape,” Spencer said. “Someone went to deliver a Chipotle. Someone left $200 in the mailbox with a scripture that said ‘Be Cheer.'” Others brought dinner, gave $50 and went grocery shopping. ”
Within two hours, the man had secured the job and was scheduled to work every day for the rest of the week. Ward members lent the family cars, organized dinner parties, and continued to rally around the family with love and support.
What Spencer saw as an answered prayer, the family also saw as their own answered prayers.
The support didn’t stop there. As the days passed, Spencer’s relationship with his family continued to grow as ward members and missionaries constantly checked in, provided meals, transportation, and encouragement.
Today, this service continues by the Spencers and those who served them.
Looking back, Spencer sees this experience as a reminder that God knows every detail.
“I feel like God is playing chess,” she says. “He moves one part, then another, and at just the right moment it all comes together.”
