Coincidence.

Something made me think of this little coincidence that occurred last year and that it might be worth sharing:

Ryan and I came to church one Sunday in Provo, Utah. In this ward, we happened to have Sacrament meeting at the end of the three-hour block, so when The Bishop saw Ryan in Priesthood (the first hour), he casually said, "Hey, Ryan, are you all ready to speak in Sacrament today?"

Bewildered and alarmed, Ryan told the Bishop that he was not at all ready to speak, because no one had told him that he had been assigned to speak. The Bishop, equally confused, said, "What do you mean? We talked about it last week."

Fearing himself amnestic, Ryan nevertheless insisted that he had not spoken to the Bishop about a speaking assignment. The Bishop, ever kind, but adamant, pulled out his phone to prove the point.

"Look right here. I have it in my call log. We spoke last Saturday."

Ryan looked at the Bishop's phone and there read, "Ryan Stapleton: 801-555-1515"

"Bishop, that's my phone number," Ryan said "But that's not my area code. My number is 240-555-1515."

"Huh," the Bishop conceded, "Well, somebody named Ryan with this phone number prepared a talk for today."

To summarize: The Bishop called Ryan's exact 7-digit phone number, but substituted in the Provo area code accidentally and ended up giving a speaking assignment to some other guy named Ryan who lived in Utah and shared the same phone number as my Ryan. I can only imagine the conversation went something like this:

Bishop: "Hi. Is Ryan there? This is the Bishop."
Ryan's wife: "Yes, one second. Let me get him."
Ryan's wife *Ryyaaan! Bishop's on the phone!"
Ryan: "Hi Bishop!
Bishop: "Hi Ryan! I'd like to call on you to give a 10 minute talk next sunday on the topic of [whatever.] "
Ryan: "Sure. I can do that."
Bishop: "Great, Thanks Ryan. I really appreciate all you and your wife do for the ward."
Ryan: "Thanks Bishop! See you on Sunday!"

So, there you go. I believe this qualifies as my life's most pronounced coincidence to date. I wonder what other coincidences like this may have occurred in my life, but were either never revealed or never explained as this one was.

Does anyone else have an interesting coincidence to share?


PS.

In light of what happened with this Utah area code mixup, I am tempted to just go through my contact list and call every number, but replace the area code with 801. Odds are the person who picks up will be a Mormon, and I could take advantage of their good will, and probably con them into doing just about anything if I tell them I'm the Relief Society President.

Free soup! Free Brownies! Rides to the airport! Babysitting!