I stopped at the apartments just off 1600 S. in Orem to pick up a lady. When she got in the car she seemed stressed and sad. I asked her where we were going and she said we were going to get her boy friend out of jail. Well, that was a first! Apparently he had some warrants for his arrest and they had arrested him the day before. His car had been impounded and she was in a bind. He was the father of her children and I asked her why they hadn’t been married. She told me that she wanted to be married but that he hadn’t wanted to get married until he could afford a really nice ring. I asked her if the ring mattered and she said no. I asked her if she was religious and she said that her family was Catholic and Christian.
She was of Mexican dissent although she didn’t speak Spanish and so I told her that it made sense that much of her family would be Catholic. Then I said, what religion was your family 1500 years ago. She said that she didn’t know, she didn’t have any idea. I showed her the picture of the ruins at Tulum and discussed how it depicted a king God and a descending God and a God without a body. We discussed Jesus Christ and how he came to America and descended from the heavens to visit his other sheep. We talked about the Bible verse that says other sheep I have and that when he came here he said that’s why he was here.
She asked me if she could ask me about a question that had been concerning her, why are there so many churches? I told her that this was exactly the right question to ask. I told her, this was the exact same question that Joseph Smith asked. I told her the Joseph Smith story and testified of the first vision. God the father and Jesus Christ really did appear to Joseph and they called him to be the prophet and they called him to restore the gospel on the earth. I felt those words leave my mouth with power and she was noticeably impacted.
The quickest way to get the Spirit of God in the room is to testify of Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. I asked her what it felt like and she said fire. I told her that this was how she felt the presence of God. He was telling her that this was true. She agreed and said she knew in that moment it was true.
I talked about how the gospel of Jesus Christ found in the Bible was perfect but that it had been fractured and many parts were lost. I told her that Joseph Smith received the power and authority to restore all of it. I told her that we have the exact same church that Jesus organized when he was on the earth.
I told her that Joseph Smith was given the golden plates and translated them into the Book of Mormon and that it was the religious history of the people who lived in America thousands of years ago. I told her that they knew about God and they knew about Jesus and they knew about the Holy Ghost and that’s why they put them on that temple in Tulum.
I asked her that Jesus had come to America and visited the people there. She said she believed that and then it made a lot of sense. I told her that he taught all of the same things that he taught the people in Jerusalem but that the first thing he taught them was that regardless of if they had been baptized before or not they needed to be baptized again. I told her that he gave them authority to baptize and instructed them how it was to be done. I told her that we have that same authority and baptism today in the church.
I asked her what it meant to her to know that Jesus Christ had visited her ancestors and that they had been baptized the same way we are baptized. She said that it was amazing. She started to cry and the spirit bore witness.
She said that she had a stepsister who was a member of the church and who had served a mission but that she hadn’t really ever listened to her when she talked about the church. Her stepsister had not always been a member, she said she got baptized because the Lord spoke to her heart. That’s the perfect reason I said. I asked her if the Lord had spoken to her heart that day in the car and she said yes.
I told her that when I picked her up I could feel that she was scared and angry. She asked how I knew, I said that God knew and that he let me know what she was feeling by the spirit. The spirit was strong in the car and I identified it again and again throughout the conversation. She said that everything I said was exactly right on.
We were almost to the jail and she asked if we could stop and continue talking before she went in. I said yes. She asked if I would pray for her and I said yes. She asked if I would pray for her right then so we bowed our heads and prayed right there in the parking lot of the jail. The spirit of the Lord was flowing through the car and touching our souls.
After the prayer she said that she felt sure the what I was saying was true. The spirit she was feeling really was affecting her all the way through. I asked her if now that she knew this was true was there an obligation that came with that knowledge? She said that she needed to follow through. I asked her what that meant and she said that she needed to learn. I asked her that if she continued learning and felt that spirit would she be baptized? she said yes, she said she would love to follow through and be baptized.
She gave me her sister’s information. Her sister served a mission in Iowa and she said that her sister would be so excited.
I told her the knowledge and this kind of commitment were going to require her to make changes in her life like getting married. She said she knew it and that she would be willing to do it
I told her I would take her a Book of Mormon. She said she would love to read it and learn as much as she could. She said that she wanted to get going right away and that to get through this she needed the help of God. I told her that God would lift her and she smiled.
She was really busy for the next couple of days and I wasn’t able to get a hold of her but several days later she called me and said that she had talked to her aunt and her stepsister. She wanted me to bring by the Book of Mormon so I took her by one of the books that are specially prepared by the Secrists. She said that they had decided that it was important for her to do the things we had discussed. She decided to read the Book of Mormon and start going to church. She decided to talk to the missionaries and that she needed the blessings of being a member. She said her aunt who was not a member had told her that I was sent by God and that she should listen to me.
She also said that her boyfriend who she had gone to bail out of jail, had left her. She was all ripped up about it but I was smiling on the inside. That’s exactly what needed to happen and God was looking out for her already even though she didn’t know it.
It’s amazing to see God‘s hand reach out and touch one of his children in their time of need and bring them home. This young lady and her children need the blessings of God in their life and now thanks to the spirit we felt that day they can have it.
Sometimes God sends you a lift 