In times of trouble, listen to your heart

I got a call to pick up a woman in Cottonwood Heights. When I was coming up on the address the road was really screwy on the map and I didn’t know where I would be ending up. I looked up and the road was coming at the bottom of the hill. Looking up I could see a person standing on a rock looking over the road from on top of the hill. It was like she stood out in bold. I knew that was the person I was giving a ride to. It was like there was a light and arrows pointing to her. I knew we would be talking about the church. When I pulled up it indeed was her and she got in my car.

Right away I could tell she was a very kind woman and my heart broke for her as she told her story. She had been in an accident and was in a coma for 7 years that she recently came out of. In those 7 years her husband had moved on and she was truly a forgotten woman adrift in the world in most aspects. I couldn’t imagine how difficult it would be to lose everything like that.

As I started talking to her about that experience and coming out of that experience it became clear that her life had been destroyed by that coma. Her husband moved on and and they were in the process of getting a divorce.

She was fumbling trying to put the pieces back together. There was also a spiritual aspect to the coma and we discussed her belief in God.

She came from a religious family, very many religions are practiced in her family from Buddhism to Catholicism. She said she found joy and comfort in learning about religion. I could feel her heavenly father‘s love for her and felt like what she really needed right now was to know that. I talked to her about the things that God gives us to help us through hard times like these.

I told her that for me one of the most important things is prayer. I told her I love to pray when I am in stressful lost situations. I told her I felt the spirit of God like he was hugging me. The Holy Ghost was in the car and she began to tear up.

I asked her if it would be OK if I prayed for her and she gratefully and enthusiastically said yes.

I told her about the story of the man from California who was in the hospital and woke up in the middle of the night, went to the hall and had a vision of people singing and praying for him. He recognized them but didn’t know or recall their names. He asked the man in charge, who he also recognized who these people were and he was told that these people were people he knew and that they were sent there because others had been praying and thinking about him. I told her that these were angels and when people are praying in faith God sends angels.

She said that she knew 100% that this was the truth. She knew she had been surrounded by angels and that she still was. I asked her what she felt right then and she said that she felt peace and joy hearing those words. It made her think back on her time in her coma when she felt like she was in the hands of God.

I told her that this feeling was the spirit of God and when you felt that you knew he was near. I told her that when you felt this you knew the things you were hearing were true and she said that what I was saying was true.

I told her that in our church we have what we call a bishop. I told her that he’s not just in charge of the members of the church in his boundaries but of all the people in his boundaries. I told her about the Relief Society and how they go about blessing the people in the ward seeing to the physical and spiritual needs of the members, especially the women. I told her that the spirit was telling me that she felt like she had received much from other people but that her greatest desire was to help and give back like those who were giving her so much and had been so kind. I told her that the Relief Society was a great organization through which she could accomplish this service and bless other people who are struggling in their lives.

I mentioned that once a month we fast and we take the money we would have spent on food and we give it to church. That money is 100% used to help the needy and bless those who are less fortunate. She loved this and said that she would love to do that.

I talked to her about the organization of the church and how local leaders, bishops in the wards and stake presidents preside over the ministry of the people just like Jesus would if he were here.

I talked to her about the Book of Mormon, I talked about its origin being from the ancient prophets of America and how it teaches that Jesus loves everyone, not just the people in Jerusalem, and he showed that love by coming to America.

I told her that when Jesus came to America he gave them authority to run the church and to baptize so that everyone could be baptized the way he himself had commanded them. Even if they’ve been baptized before.

The spirit was moving in this woman and she said that she had no doubt that what I was saying was true. She said that she had always believed that Jesus should have gone to other places and this made so much sense. She said I believe that book is true and I’d like to know where to get one. I told her I just happen to have a copy in my bag. It was one of the marked copies given to me by the Secrists. When she grabbed that book she said, are you sure? I said yes! And she said this looks like it’s really valuable to you, I said it is and that it would be valuable to her too.

She had now moved on to a full on crying but they were tears of joy. She said she had never felt this much light and that this is just the thing she needed to lift her right now. She said that the thought she was having right then was that this book would answer so many of the questions she had. I told her that it would and that she should pay attention not only to the words but to the thoughts she had as well while reading the words because the thoughts would come from God.

I told her that these thoughts and impressions along with the ones that she was receiving right now we’re from God and that’s how he guides us. I told her that after we are baptized we get the gift of the Holy Ghost and the right to have that guide with us at all times if we live right.

She said that the only thing she was hearing in her heart right now that was that this was true and she needed to do what I was saying.

By this time we had been sitting out in front of her house for 10 minutes, and we just kept going.

She told me that she had some friends and their child was on a mission. She asked me what he was doing there and I told her that he was doing the same exact thing there that we had been doing in the car for the last 40 minutes.

She told me that they were a great family and that the father was a holy man and she could feel it in the way they acted and a light in their eyes. I said, that light is the light of the gospel. That’s the light Jesus Christ brings into our lives.

I told her a story about a family that I had previously baptized who was brought by the hand of God to receive that message. I told her that God allows us to be his hands and his voice to bring people his truth. I told her that she could be God’s hands in helping others but she could also be his voice proclaiming his gospel. I told her that the reason why these words had impacted her so much was not because I speak well but that the spirit was speaking powerfully to her. I testified to her that God had brought her to my car today by his hand so she could receive his words.

I told her to contact this family who are members of the church and see what she needed to do to learn more. She said that she would absolutely do that.

She took the Book of Mormon and got out of the car and said that this ride had changed her life. She said that she was going to seek and follow that spirit she had felt that day and promised she would read the Book of Mormon.