Just a big ol’ sign….. from God

I’d had a rider who took me down to 21st south. Usually I turn off at that point because I want to get right back to downtown but I left it on and they stacked right on top of the one I already had. This ride took me to West Valley City which was not happiness. That’s how it works for us you go to West Valley City then you go to West Jordan next thing you know you’re digging for copper at Kennecott. It is what you get for not turning off your app.

When he got in I said, you have a very biblical name don’t you? (The name is being withheld to avoid problems. Think before Nehemiah and Ester) Do you know where that comes from? He said “teach me”. We talked about the Bible and the prophets. We talked about how prophets talk to God and reveal his word to us so that we can be safe and happy

I asked him if he was religious and he said that he wasn’t. He said that he had never been part of a religion even though he had attended a Christian church and that members of his family were members of our church. I asked him if he had ever been to the Mormon church and he said yes. He went with his brother who is a member.

I bluntly asked him why he hadn’t been baptized and he said he didn’t know. It just hadn’t been important to him and that he needed to learn so much more before he could commit himself. He said he needed to know all about the church and all about it’s doctrines.

I told him that the most important teaching is that God loves all of his children. That he is one of God’s children and that God loves him. I told him that God sent his son Jesus Christ to atone for our sins and make it so that we could return to him. I told him that after Jesus was resurrected he said other sheep I have which are not of this fold and that he would go to them.

I told him that Jesus then appeared to the people in America. I described the scene of three days of darkness that followed tremendous upheavals and calamity. I told him as the people lay there they heard the voice of God say “this is my beloved son”. Later they looked into the heavens and saw Jesus Christ descend, beautiful and dressed in white and stood before them. I told him that they touched the prints of the nails in his hands and realized they were in in the presence of their God. I told him that in that condition they asked him to save them.

Then I asked him what he thought Jesus did as an answer to they plea and he said, “he saved them”. I said that’s right. He called up 12 and gave them the authority to baptize and commanded them to baptize all of these people so that they could be saved with the baptism of Jesus Christ. I told him that Jesus Christ invited everyone of those people to be baptized and then they were given the gift of the Holy Ghost so that they could walk with God and feel his spirit.

I told him that we have that same baptism in the church today. I told him that through that baptism we can be cleansed from our sin and have our guilt removed. I told him that after we are cleansed we can have the gift of the Holy Ghost to walk with us and lift us and comfort us in our times of need. I could tell that he was touched and that considering losing the weight of his sins was an attractive proposition.

I told him that in his life he had done some things that he was ashamed of and that he was thinking about those right now. I told him that Satan was in his ears all the time telling him that he’s not worthy and that he’s not right with God and that there’s no way God would want him. I told him that nothing could be further from the truth. I told him Satan is a liar and that Christ’s invitation to baptism, cleanliness, purity and exaltation was extended to him as well. I told him not to let Satan use those things from the past as a hammer to beat him into submission.

I told him that baptism makes you clean and frees you from your sins. Then when you’re clean you get the gift of the Holy Ghost. I told him that the gift of the Holy Ghost allows God to whisper to you the things you need to do, the things you need to say and give comfort to you but also it teaches you the things you need to know.

I told him that he had been avoiding baptism because he thought he didn’t know enough things but the gift of the Holy Ghost was exactly the thing he needed to be able to learn what he wanted to learn.

Satan really has a way of getting people to focus on what they don’t know instead of what they do know. That way he can negate the importance of faith in conversion.

I asked him what he felt right there in the car, he said he felt a tremendous rush of knowledge and understanding to his soul. I asked him what he physically felt and he said warm and peaceful. I told him that was the spirit of God and that’s how he knew the words I was saying were true and he said I know they’re true.

I told him that the things I had said were brought to my heart to say by God. He said that he had never had more perfect words like this spoken to him and they spoke to his soul. He told me that because of this he knew what he needed to do. He told me that this was a sign from God and that he needed to follow it.

I asked him about his brother that went to church and he said that his brother had served a mission in New Mexico. I asked him if he would call his brother tonight as soon as he got out of the car and tell him about what had happened in the car. He said he would do exactly that as soon as he was out of the car.

Do you remember that when Jesus Christ was in America he invited the people to be baptized? He said yes. I asked what is Jesus Christ invitation to you? He said it’s to be baptized as well. I told him that he needed to tell his brother that one too. He said that he would.

I testified of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon and the power of God‘s love for him. I also testified that his father in heaven loved him and he put people here to help him on his way and that’s what tonight was all about. He said that he couldn’t wait to get started.

I asked him if he had a copy of the Book of Mormon and he said he did. He said that his brother always wanted to read it with him. I asked him what he was going to do and he said he would read the book with his brother. I asked him what he was going to do right now and he said. Right now I am going to call my brother.

He asked me if he could shake my hand and told me that as soon as possible he promised he would be baptized. He called his brother right as he was getting out of the car. Somewhere in South Salt Lake this month there is going to be a baptism!