Sometimes Having a blog full of parables comes in handy

One Saturday night it was 12:45 and I was getting fired up for the most lucrative 90 minutes of the week. In that time you should make a dollar a minute or more. From 1:00 to 2:30 is gold. Bonuses everywhere and usually short rides around town. That is easy on the gas tank.

I thought I would position myself on West Temple and Main to be ready. I decided to turn on my app at 12:45 to get the early rush and boom! 35 minutes south it wanted me to go. That stunk. There went the vast majority of this time and in exchange for about $.35 a minute. That’s not horrible but we use the big money to make up for the slower times. I was bummed.

I headed over to the club right across the street from the Marriott to pick them up. Three guys got in. Two in the back and one asked if he could sit in front. I can refuse that but I felt like I should let him plus he wasn’t inebriated unlike the back seat boys so I opted to let him sit there and off we went.

We started towards American Fork. I wasn’t pleased. They asked me how my night was and I laughed so I wouldn’t cry. Then the spirit told me to get in the game and shape up. I felt prompted to listen and follow.

At first there was just banter about the kid in the front seat and how his ex-girlfriend’s sister was there that night shooting daggers with her eyes. They laughed at him.

As I looked at him I had the impression that he was less active. The spirit told me that he was a returned missionary that wasn’t making good choices. The spirit said that he wasn’t going to church, he felt judged by members, praying wasn’t happening and for sure he was not reading scriptures. I was looking for an opening to start a discussion so that I could be guided in what to say.

Finally, one of the kids in the back, while talking about a common acquaintance said “didn’t you know him on your mission?” That was my que. I said, a mission? Where did you serve? He said Houston Texas Spanish speaking. I asked where he went to the MTC and he said Mexico. I asked how his Spanish was and he said not good.

I told him that when I was in the MTC Elder Packer told us that if we would say our prayers and read the Book of Mormon in our mission language, we would never lose it. I told him that this was a promise from an apostle and I hadn’t said a personal prayer in English since my third day in the MTC in 1981. I also told him that I speak better today than when I was on my mission.

When I finished saying that the spirit instructed me how to teach him that night, parables! The backseat boys were drunk and rowdy and having a meaningful religious conversation seemed impossible. I think that they would have blown it up.

Teaching with stories or parables however bored them and they stayed out of the conversation. It worked. I introduced him to my blog and told him about how God puts people in my car. I told him about how Ammon perceived the king’s heart and thoughts thus opening his heart to God. I told him that the Lord still works that way.

I then started hitting all of the points the spirit had impressed upon me addressing them by sharing the story of a former rider who had been struggling with that same issue.

One by one, I hit each issue and addressed it with a story. I talked about the atonement and the backseat boys were getting loud as did I. They were trying to drown out the truth. I prayed that they would be silenced and within minutes they sat muted in the back seat.

I continued telling the stories that made the points and he was listening. He was agreeing and had a wide eyed acceptance kind of look. Finally as we were getting close to his stop I felt it was time to let him know that I knew why he was there. I said, this is why you were put in my car tonight. I said, right off the bat the Holy Ghost whispered to me that you weren’t making good choices. The spirit said that you weren’t going to church, that you felt judged by members, and praying wasn’t happening and for sure you are not reading scriptures.

He said that he knew something was up because in every single story I told, he saw himself. He was having the same doubts and questions. He said he was in the same pit. He said every story struck a chord and addressed his issues.

He said that he was at a crossroads in his life and trying to find who he was. I told him that he is a son of God and that the spirit he felt right then and on his mission was a manifestation of his relationship with his father. I told him that he had this relationship for thousands of years and that this feeling is meant to reside in his soul. Without that he feels incomplete and lost. I said that Satan tries to fill that with alcohol, drugs and riotous living but that this won’t fill it. It won’t feed your soul and you will always feel empty.

He said that this explains exactly what he was feeling. I told him that Satan always wants you to double down on the junk but God want to fill your soul with the feeling that is intended to be there.

I said that without this in place you can never find out who you really are. I told him that with God he can find out who he is and become who God wants him to be.

With the back seat boys muzzled I felt able to speak more freely. I said, when the spirit whispered to me the most prominent prompting was that you don’t pray and because you don’t pray everything else is falling away. I told him about a man I met that week who didn’t believe the Joseph Smith story and I told him that he didn’t believe because he didn’t pray and didn’t have a relationship of love with his father. I told him that if he developed that relationship with his heavenly father, the thought of a loving heavenly father visiting Joseph Smith to bless his children wouldn’t be hard to accept.

When I told him this last story he said, you nailed it. I haven’t prayed in 6 years and it has all fallen away since I stopped. He said that this ride had been remarkable and that for sure God sent me because he was at this crossroads. He said, I am going to start praying again. This ride has changed everything for me.

I said, speaking of this ride, did you notice how God quieted the backseat and brought his spirit with power? He said, yes. I said tonight you have seen the hand of the Lord. I told him that I see my role as a guy in a little rowboat going out into the river of filthy water from Lehi’s dream, pulling people out and bringing them to the iron rod. He smiled and said, yep!

The perfect time. The perfect place. The perfect prompting. The perfect amount of time. The perfect back seat control. The perfect teaching strategy and the perfect missionary companion arranged it all. My Heavenly Father through the Holy Ghost.

Some people ask me how I know that these passengers are really sincere. There are different ways, but this man gave me a much appreciated $30 tip. That is more than I made on the ride. It was a blessing to help me that night. I have faith that he will be back soon. He made the right turn at his crossroads.