He didn’t want that beer anyway

I picked up a young man one night that was going on a beer run. He needed me to drive because he had already been drinking therefore the trip would cost him $15. Adding that $15 to the already expensive beer I made the observation that it was very expensive beer. We laughed, went to the store where he went in and purchased the beer.

He seems like a really clean cut well mannered young man and I started to think about how if he wasn’t drinking beer I would think he was a member of the church. Then the spirit prompted me that he was a member of the church.

On the way back from the store the conversation which had previously been geared towards pickup trucks took an abrupt turn. I asked him about his family and if he was married. He said that he wasn’t married but that he had been in a relationship for five years. I said him, so you lived with this girl for five years. He said yes.

I told him that I had been married for 34 years and he was impressed. He said, relationships just don’t last that long anymore. I said, I believe they do, it’s just a matter of the level of commitment.

I told him that I believe that men require an actual commitment made officially to commit to some thing full on. Without that men are not likely at all to stick with a program if they’re not fully committed. He said that he never thought of it that way. I told him that marriage is such a commitment. When you get married you make that commitment and if you want your marriage to succeed you need to make that marriage more important than anything. More important than your friends, more important than winning the arguments, more important than your ego and your wife needs to do the same. I said, if you’ll do that you can be married for as long as you want. Identify the things that are challenging your relationship and stop them before they grow.

He said, wow that’s a really good point, we just kind a let things get out of hand. I asked him why he didn’t get married, I was trying to get him to talk about how he felt, he said that he just didn’t feel it all the way through and when he gets married he wanted to be for eternity. He then corrected himself and said that he never wanted to get a divorce.

That’s all I needed to know. When he said eternity I knew he had been raised in the church and I knew that this is what he was really thinking about so I pressed him on it. I said, I see you are a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of latter-day Saints. He said how could you tell? I told him that I could tell by the spirit in my heart and what it was telling me about him.

He said he had left the church when he was 14 but that, yeah he was a member and for the last 12 years he had been drinking and partying and hadn’t even given a thought to church. He did mention that his parents were both still very active and that they showed him a lot of love.

I told him that the spirit was telling me that the reason why he left the church was that he felt the people were hypocrites and that he had been very disillusioned by some people. I also told him that he felt judged.

At first he said no not really but then he stopped and said you know, you were right on. I had two leaders who I saw steal. He said that there were members of our ward that I saw drink and there were people who talked about how we were supposed to behave who I saw using all kinds of vulgarities during the week. I thought to myself how could these people possibly judge me and how could they have the truth.

He said, I never thought of it that way until now how did you know. I said those words came to my heart to say and I said them. I said I know it because God knows it and he is the one who wanted me to say that.

I told him that there’s one thing I know for sure and that is God wants him back, he expects him to come home and he loves him very much and he sent me this message to give to him. He said, does God really want me?

There was silence in the car for several minutes then he said, well what do you think about my situation. I told him the story of my great grandpa and the horses that the stake President stole from him. I told him how my great grandfather left the church and became an alcoholic all to get back at that stake president. I told him about how all of his children left the church and his grandchildren were not in the church and his great grandchildren were not in the church and over 300 members of his family we’re not in the church. There were very few of us in the church principally my dad and our family.

I told him it was that way because he decided to show the stake President by quitting the church and going against the commandments. I told him in the end it did nothing to that stake president but it destroyed my great grandfathers family and his posterity. I told him that they’re all drunks. I told him that they’re all divorcees. I told him that the kids are not successful and they struggle and the reason is because of the decision he made to show the stake president who was boss. I told him it was a horrible decision and it is to this day destroying his posterity.

I said, do you want that to be your legacy? He thought for a minute and said no. I felt an intense prompting at that point to bear my testimony and I bore my testimony of Joseph Smith and how he went to the sacred Grove and as we were sitting there in the car he saw God the father and Jesus Christ and they appeared to him. I told him that they called him to be the prophet and he restored the church but he wasn’t perfect. I told him that Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon and it was the word of God. I told him that the Book of Mormon gives us power and strength to follow God even when it’s difficult and it’s especially good when we’re not perfect.

I told him that these things are true that we have a prophet that guides our church today and he’s not perfect. I told him that I know these things are true and I’m not perfect. I asked him how he felt? He said that he felt a little bit chastened. I asked him how he felt in his heart and he said comfortable and he said it was a very familiar warm calm feeling. I told him that was the Spirit of God and I told him that the Spirit of God is perfect and God‘s love is perfect and he wants him back. He said, I don’t know if I can go to church in front of all those people. I asked where he lived and he said that he lived with his parents. I told him to go with his parents and draw on their strength and after discussing it for a minute he committed that he would go to church on Sunday with his parents.

Then I had the impression that I acted upon and asked how long is it been since your father gave you a blessing? He said it is been at least 12 years. I asked him if the following day he would go up and ask his father to give him a blessing. I said in that blessing your father will know what to tell you and it will give you the power you need to take the steps you have to take to come back. He committed to me and he committed to God that he would do those two things, get a blessing and go to church this Sunday.

He said I thought my life was all planned out, I was cruising along enjoying myself. Tonight the spirit has shown me that what I did was wrong and that I need to come back. The spirit has shown me that God loves me and he wants me. I told him to always remember that the church is a hospital for sick people and the everyone there is sinning. We all need to lift each other and not disqualify each other.

He told me he would do that. He left the car and left his beer in the car. Then he came back and said “well I guess my friends will have to drink this.” Somewhere on the west side of Salt Lake the following day a father had an amazing experience to lay his hands on his troubled son‘s head and give him a father‘s priesthood blessing. What a great gift our father in heaven gave that father and that is amazing. I trust that he went to church as he said he would.