And a child will lead them

I picked up a family at the airport in Salt Lake City. They were going to Pleasant Grove. He was a mechanic and she was an office assistant and was pregnant with her second child and his first. The star of the car however was the little blond 8 year old girl.

The little girl who had the biggest mega Minnie Mouse suitcase I’ve ever seen and a little Elsa one too boot. She was bright and cheery. 

We started to drive and they seemed like a family that was happy coming back from their vacation but they were hungry. I gave them some chocolate bars that I carry for my passengers.

While they were eating we started talking about what they were going to do this weekend and the little girl said she was going to go to church with her daddy in Provo. It became immediately clear to me that this happy bright little girl was a product of a divorce but that her father took her to church every single Sunday in Provo.

That was later confirmed to me when I asked if she liked going to church. She said oh yeah I always like going to church and my dad takes me. Her mom explained the situation. She said that her ex husband was really devout and attend church all the time. Her ex husband baptized their daughter.  She said that she hadn’t really wanted to go so she was fine with the arrangement.

I asked the parents if they were members of the church and they said yes but that they weren’t active and then the little girl said “but mom, your pregnant and with the new baby you’ll need to go to church”. There was nervous laughter. 

I talked to them about what a great asset a mechanic can be in a ward. How many disadvantaged and elderly really need help and that a mechanic can sometimes be the literal hand of God to those people. He said he never thought of it that way. I said, it doesn’t matter how much you know about the gospel, you can serve while you’re learning. God has given you a great way to serve other people and help them out.

I told them about Johnny Tanner and how he had no desire to go to church because he didn’t learn anything. But we discussed how there were people there that needed him and how he could bless their lives and that’s when he started coming back.

I asked them if they ever read in the Book of Mormon. She said yes in the past and he said never. I told them that the Book of Mormon is what has kept me on my game and helped me have the spirit with me. I said, look at your daughter how happy she is and the joy she gets from going to church. I said, do you remember when it was like that for you? I told them that it could be that way again. The spirit was strong in the car and I testified about the truthfulness of the gospel and how it gives us a way to serve other people just like Jesus did. I told him as a mechanic he could be a very important part of helping the people who need help. 

They said that with their new baby coming, maybe they should go back to church and were surprised to hear the daughter say that. They said that maybe their new child needed to have the tradition of the church.

I asked how great would it be if you guys weren’t  just going through the motions so that you can help your kid have the experience? If you could lead him, that would be amazing!

I looked in the mirror, I could see tears running down their cheeks and I could see in her eyes that she was feeling the spirit. I asked her if she could feel the presence of God and she said yes

God loves you and he sent me with this message today because of that love and wants you to be with him.  The dad said yeah! Maybe we should get that started now!

The daughter said yeah! and then we can talk about what we learned at church on Sunday. Everybody laughed but God wasn’t laughing. God was smiling and you could feel hearts turning to him because of this little girl who had just been baptized herself and radiated the spirit. She knew who she was. I hope we can all be more like that little girl