If your 90 minutes early you’re right on time

I end up doing a lot of things in my church calling. Currently I’m ward mission leader and I have a Haitian family that we’re trying to get baptized. They speak no English, a little bit of Spanish, no French only Haitian Creole. There is no help for Haitian Creole. They’re not particularly educated and reading is not their thing. We’re working double time on this one.

I had to take this family to Salt Lake City for an immigration court date on their asylum status. We got in the car and started to Salt Lake City and were going to the courthouse at the Decker Lake facility. I was Driving to Salt Lake for free! On the way I wanted to ask them when they planned on getting married and then baptized. So I asked and the dad said that if things went well that day in Imigration court they would get married and be baptized. I was thrilled and quickly started praying for success in court that day.

When we got there I looked at their paper and found out that we were an hour and a half early which shocked me because they never show up anywhere early. I decided that it was OK and that I would try to find something to occupy my time. We went to the gate to talk to the guard and he told us to go in.

At the same time there was another lady there. She was speaking Spanish to the guard and he didn’t understand a word she was saying. He asked me to translate when I started speaking to her because he couldn’t talk to her. She had an appointment set but they closed down early.

So there she was with her daughter. She had taken several buses to arrive and missed the cut off by a half an hour because they closed early. She was in tears and she had no idea how she was going to get home. I told her that I would take her.

I asked her to wait for a second while I took my Haitian family into the court and got them settled and then I came out and took this woman and her daughter to her house.

She told me their story about crossing the border and walking hours in the desert with her little girl. About how they arrived in Utah without even knowing what it was. I asked her what she thought about Utah and she said it’s very peaceful. We’ve never been anywhere like this, we love it!

I felt the spirit prompt me that I needed to get my head in the testifying game here. So I asked her, why do you think God brought you to Utah instead of one of those other areas? She paused for a minute and said, “I hadn’t thought about that, why do you think it is?

I told her it was because of the church. I told her that the peace she felt was because the people of the church follow Jesus and her family was brought here to receive that.

She looked shocked. I asked her what she knew about the church, she said that there were some missionaries that lived in the apartment complex by them and that she had talked to them a little bit. It had been quite a while since they talked.

I asked her if she knew what it was that the church taught that was additional to the things she already believed. She said, I don’t know.

I asked her who does God love? And she said God loves everyone. I asked her if he loved them equally and she said yes. I asked her if he loves everyone in the world and she said yes.

I told her about in the Bible where it says other sheep I have which are not of this fold and she finished the scripture for me. I asked her where those other sheep were if they weren’t in that fold right there in Israel that he was talk to. She said all over the world.

I asked her what does he say in that scripture he was going to do? She said go to those other sheep.

I asked her, does that mean he was going to go visit the people in America, your ancestors? She said, I guess it does but I don’t ever remember hearing about Jesus coming to America. She said I wonder if it happened.

I told her it absolutely happened. I talked about the destruction that happened in America when Jesus was crucified and the three days of darkness and then his descending from heaven to the people. I talked about how they touched the prints of the nails in his hands and worshiped their God. He then called up 12 and gave them the authority to baptize, instructions on how to baptize and commanded them to baptize everyone. The spirit was so strong in the car, she was tearing up and I was emboldened.

I told her that God loved her and her ancestors every bit as much as he loved the people in Jerusalem. She said, for whatever reason I’ve never heard this but I know the words you are saying are true. I told her it was because of the spirit she was feeling.

I told her that Jesus came to America and blessed her ancestors and their posterity, that meant her. She was visibly touched. I told her that this was exactly what she had always known in her heart but that the spirit was helping her understand it better right now. She agreed.

I told her about the Book of Mormon and how it came to be. I testified that God the father and Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph Smith and called him to be the prophet to restore Gods Church. I testified of the Book of Mormon and it’s translation. I held up a Spanish Book of Mormon prepared by Sister Secrist and said this is the word of God directly from your ancestors.

She grabbed the book and was a little bit emotional. The spirit was still very strong and I asked her if she still felt it. She said yes. I asked, what does that mean and she said it means this is true.

I told her how we had arrived at the court way early today and that I should’ve been there much later but God had brought us earlier so that I could help her and I could testify to her. I told her that God wanted me to give her this Book of Mormon and she held it to her chest.

She said, your church is true, it’s Gods church. I said yes that’s why it’s called the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I said, now that you know this what do you need to do? She looked puzzled I said do you remember the invitation that Christ gave for them to be baptized? He invited everyone to be baptized even though they had already been baptized in the church previously.

He invited everyone to be baptized to this new covenant, to this new promise, to this new level and he is extending that same invitation to you.

She said I see that. I can’t do it without asking my husband because I think we need to do this as a family. I said that’s right! I told her to go talk to those missionaries and tell them what happened in the car and that you want to look into being baptized and learning the things you need to know. She said she would and then she said, I can’t believe what has happened today. I missed my appointment because they closed early. I was there without hope and you came in and bring me home and bring me this spirit and message. This was from God and I will do it. I know that she will.

I left her and returned to wait for my Haitian family and found that they had been expedited and were coming out as I arrived. They were done and the court went well for them. All good!

It was a very good day!