One night I went to the Primary Children’s Hospital to pick up a lady who was getting off work. There’s a lot of construction going on up there right now and it’s hard to get in there and it’s even harder to get out. Sometimes you feel like you’re a minnow in the trap.
When she got in the car we started driving down the road and she asked me if it would be ok if she helped me navigate the road construction to get her home the most direct way. Sometimes drivers don’t like this and they get really upset but I never get upset, I love it. I figure if I do what the customer wants then I’m meeting their expectations so away we went.
On the way to make conversation I asked her if she had any crazy stories from her rides in the past. Some people do and some are hair raising. She said she did in a cab one time. She said that the cab driver just started driving a different direction than they were supposed to go and drove for like 20 minutes. She called the police and they had to physically stop the car. When they interviewed him and asked him what he was going to do to her or with her he said,”anything I want to!”.
When she told the story all I could hear is that she was protected and saved and that this woman had angels around her.
I decided to tell her that and when I did she said that she knew she did. I asked her what religion she was and she said that she was Baptist. I asked her what she knew about the Mormon church and she said that she really didn’t know too much.
She told me that the young men in the white shirts had talked to her but then she moved and she had lost track of where they were and they had lost track of her. I asked her if she knew about the Book of Mormon. She said that she knew about the book and that she had a copy at one time but she didn’t have it anymore.
She asked me what the Book of Mormon was. I said it is the religious history of the people who lived in America, it was the writings of their prophets and their dealings with God but the main thing about this book is it testifies that Jesus Christ came to America and by doing so proved that God is a God of everyone not just those in Jerusalem.
She said, “God came here? To America?” I said, “yes he did”! He blessed the children and the people just like he did in Jerusalem. I said that before he left America he said that he still had other sheep he had to go see that weren’t from American and weren’t from Jerusalem. I ask her who she thought Jesus would go visit, she said she thought he would go see everyone.
She asked me where it said that in the Book of Mormon. I pulled out one of the copies of the Book of Mormon and showed her in 3rd Nephi 16 where Jesus said he would go to see the other sheep which had not yet heard his voice. This made her happy. I said to her, your ancestors could have met Jesus Christ as he came to visit them. She asked me if she could keep that book and I said yes. It’s one of the books that are especially marked and prepared by Sister Secrist to answer the questions of life.
I took that opportunity right then to bear my testimony about the Book of Mormon. I told her that I know it’s true and I know it because I felt it was true when I read it and when I finished I prayed and God confirmed the truthfulness of it to me. I told her that if she would do the same, God would confirm that to her as well. The spirit was really strong in the car. I asked her how often she felt those angels around her that protected her in the car that one night. She said quite a bit. I asked her if she felt them now and she said yes. She said somebody wants me to look into this.
She said I will read the book but I don’t need to read it to know that it’s true, based on the spirit I’m feeling right now and the power in your testimony I know this book is true. I asked her what she thought was the first thing Jesus asked people to do when he came to America. She didn’t know. I told her that he asked them to be baptized, even if they had previously been baptized some of them only months before, Jesus asked them to be baptized again. He asked them to be baptized by the authority he gave them and in the way he directed. She thought that made sense and she loved it. I told her that as she starts down this path to learn about the church the goal would be for her to be baptized. I asked her if she would be OK with that and she said yes. She said that if she was prepared she would be baptized. She asked if she could have a certificate that she could frame and put on the wall so she could show people that she had been baptized. I told her we could do that 100%.
I asked her if it would be ok if I had the missionaries come over and help get her ready to be baptized. She said she would love that but that she was moving right now so it might be a little difficult. She wanted to try. I was fired up, the spirit was strong and the tears were falling. This woman had felt the spirit and knew what it was like to be in the presence of God and she had a desire to do what God wanted her to do. That’s all you can ask.
The next day I called the bishop and got the phone number and address of the missionaries. It turns out that there are sister missionaries in that ward and that one of them is African-American which works perfectly. They called me and I told them the whole rundown from how we met to the stories to the fact that she wants to prepare to be baptized and get a certificate. They were thrilled. They called her up and set up her first meeting.
When the day of that meeting arrived she had stress with her move and some problems and asked the sisters not to go over. I felt impressed by the spirit that I needed to go, not knowing that she had canceled on the sisters. When I got there I asked her if I could give her a free ride to work and help her out, she said yes. She wanted me to show her some things in the Book of Mormon and then she explained to me why she canceled on the sisters.
On the way to work we discussed some other gospel topics and the spirit was amazing. It was everywhere and she could feel it. We talked about these verses from Nephi in second Nephi
16 Behold, my soul delighteth in the things of the Lord; and my heart pondereth continually upon the things which I have seen and heard.
17 Nevertheless, notwithstanding the great goodness of the Lord, in showing me his great and marvelous works, my heart exclaimeth: O wretched man that I am! Yea, my heart sorroweth because of my flesh; my soul grieveth because of mine iniquities.
18 I am encompassed about, because of the temptations and the sins which do so easily beset me.
19 And when I desire to rejoice, my heart groaneth because of my sins; nevertheless, I know in whom I have trusted.
20 My God hath been my support; he hath led me through mine afflictions in the wilderness; and he hath preserved me upon the waters of the great deep.
21 He hath filled me with his love, even unto the consuming of my flesh.
22 He hath confounded mine enemies, unto the causing of them to quake before me.
23 Behold, he hath heard my cry by day, and he hath given me knowledge by visions in the night-time.
24 And by day have I waxed bold in mighty prayer before him; yea, my voice have I sent up on high; and angels came down and ministered unto me.
25 And upon the wings of his Spirit hath my body been carried away upon exceedingly high mountains. And mine eyes have beheld great things, yea, even too great for man; therefore I was bidden that I should not write them.
She really identified with that scripture.
We were driving by the Salt Lake Temple on the way to her destination and I said, do you know what that is? She said that’s the temple! That’s the place where my friends go to get married and I can’t go there with them.
She asked about temples. She asked why can’t I go to see my friends get married? We talked about the sacred nature of temples and the things we do there. I had the impression to ask her who was the angel that protected her. I could feel at that point someone else but I didn’t know who it was. She said it was her daughter. She said that her daughter had made very poor choices and have been killed when she was 20 years old. I said to her, so your daughter made some bad decisions. Her daughter had been associated with gang members and killed when she was 20 years old. She said that she knew her daughter had made bad decisions but that she still loved her.
I then felt prompted to look her in the eye and ask, what would it mean to you if you could assure that your daughter could stand pure and clean before God?! She said that it would mean more than anything to her. She asked me, is that possible? I told her that it was possible because of the temple.
I taught her about baptisms for the dead and the work that goes on in the spirit world to prepare people for baptism. I told her it’s our job to go to the temples and be baptized in their name so that they can stand clean and pure before God. At this point she was full on crying. She said that she lost hope for her little girl but she would do anything to save her in the eternities because she couldn’t save her in this life.
I told her that not only could her daughter be saved but all of her ancestors from Africa who had not been baptized, could and would be saved through the work in the temple. I told her that everyone will get a chance even the people who she thought of as forgotten.
I told her baptism for the dead was that perfect way. I told her it just didn’t make sense that the church of Jesus Christ would not account for all of Heavenly Father‘s children, she cheerfully agreed.
I asked her what it would be like if she could go to the temple and be baptized for her daughter, allowing her daughter to stand pure and bright without sin in front of God, she lost it! She said that’s what I want. I told her that within a month of her baptism she could be in the temple being baptized for her daughter so that her daughter could be forgiven of all her sins in the sight of God. She was totally on board
She told me that she heard blacks were discriminated against in our church and couldn’t have the priesthood. I explained at one point in time that was true but that now there was no differentiation. I explained to her the progression over the years of the church and the priesthood and she accepted that answer gladly. I told her that people in Africa were of the lineage of Israel according to Isaiah. In the Book of Mormon quoting Isaiah it refers to the children of Israel who are in Kush and Pathos. It prophesied that they would be visited by the son of God. Kush and Pathos we’re both dominant large African empires of the ancient world. She said that if they were at the center of Kush then they were all over the continent, I said yes
She said, OK cool! She said I have no more questions about that.
The following week I had the impression that I needed to stop by and she was trying to finalize her move and the moving company had forgotten her dressers. These were heavy dressers and they told her for them to come back out they would charge her $2000. She didn’t know what to do and she didn’t want to get charged another month of rent. Then I showed up,I called the sisters, they called the elders which was a Tri-panionship of Spanish-speaking missionaries and we carried her dressers from the one apartment to the other. She said, God sent you just in time again.
This story isn’t over because she’s going to have a certificate on the wall soon and then she’ll be standing in the baptismal font representing her daughter! This is what it’s all about.
Sometimes God sends you a lift 