Thus sayeth the Lord

I picked up a guy at a warehouse out on 900 W. in West Valley City to take him home clear out by Magna. When he got in the car we talked about his name.

His name sounded Spanish but it was French Polynesian and his family was from Tonga. I said malo le le to him and he said, oh you speak Tongan and I said no but I can say one word and that’s it. I explained to him that when I served in the MTC part of my responsibility was to receive the international missionaries and I tried to learn how to say hello to as many of them as I could.

Right away I felt the impression to play the clip from the missionaries who sang Folofola Mai ʻa Sīsū in the MTC. I have used this song once before but it packs a punch in an inspired circumstance. The prompting let me know that this was one of those. I didn’t know if he was a member or if he was even religious. I had no clue if he spoke or understood Tongan but away we went. here is the link to that song. https://vimeo.com/578265270

(Those Tongan missionaries from back in 2018 are still blessing and teaching. We never know the profundity of our contribution. I’ll bet they thought their mission was over already)

As the song played the spirit burned in the car and you could tell that he was worshiping in the backseat and I was being treated to a spiritual feast. That song always does it for me. When the song finished he said that was amazing. I asked him if he’d ever heard that song before and he said no. He said it was amazing even though he’d never heard that song he loved it.

I mentioned to him that it would be a travesty to play an organ or a piano while the Tongans are singing because their voices are the musical instrument and they carry the spirit with them. He said yes that that was correct. I had the prompting to ask him which church he belonged to.

He said that he was from a mixed family. Half of were Mormon and the other half were Methodist but his father was Methodist and so he was Methodist. He told me about some of his cousins that are members of the church.

You could still feel the reverence in the car from the song and I asked him if he knew much about the Book of Mormon. He said yes, I have one. I asked him if he was aware of Hagoth and how they left to the west in the ocean. He said no. I told him that many Polynesians have taught me that they believe the Hagoth was one of their ancestors and brought those people to the Polynesian islands.

I told him that this is entirely possible. I told him about the National Geographic story that talked about the Columbian people that had the same genetic markers as the Polynesian people and that this surprised people in the scientific world. The Book of Mormon teaches that Hagoth and the people with him left from the north west corner of the land southward which is Columbia.

He said that’s cool. He’d never considered that. I felt very strongly that I needed to bear my testimony of the Book of Mormon and how it was the record of his ancestors and how Jesus had come to America to these people and then to others which would include his ancestors.

I told him this is the story of your ancestors.

I told him of Joseph Smith the 14 year old boy who translated the sacred revelations by the power of God. I told him that Joseph Smith had a second grade education and had no capacity to do this if it hadn’t been for the power of God. I could feel the spirit bearing witness. I asked, what do you feel right now? He said I feel like I’ve been told something that I should’ve known. He said a light has come on all over in my head and in my heart and I feel warm. I said, that’s the spirit of God and when he is here you feel that.

I said, God has sent his spirit to testify to you that the Book of Mormon is true and that Joseph Smith was his prophet. He felt, we felt, the spirit surge as I bore that testimony and I could tell he was deeply impacted. I asked him if he could feel that spirit and he said yes. I said what does that spirit mean? He said, it means that what you’re saying is true.

I said that’s correct! Would God send his spirit if it wasn’t true? He said no. I asked him specifically if the Book of Mormon was true based on the spirit he was feeling and he said yes. I asked him specifically if Joseph Smith was a prophet based on the spirit he was feeling and he said yes. I told him that God would not send his spirit if it wasn’t true because God isn’t trying to trick us.

I told him that God also sent his son, Jesus Christ, to America and he descended down and the people touched the prints of the nails in his hands and then his feet. They cried save us and in response to that plea he gave them baptism. He called up 12, taught them how to do baptisms, gave them authority to baptize and commanded them to baptize everyone even those who had already been baptized which was the majority. I told him that God commanded everyone to be baptized and they were. I told him that when Jesus commanded them to be baptized he didn’t spend any time ripping on their former beliefs or their former churches but he invited them to take a higher step, a higher law, a higher opportunity, a higher authority with more power.

I said, this is the same baptism we have in our church today. I asked him if he wondered why all of his friends and cousins who were members of the church continually asked him to be baptized. He said yes. He said that he always kind of felt a little bit defensive with that because he had already been baptized and they knew that. I told him that what they were doing was the same thing Jesus was doing.

I told him that when Jesus invited the people who had already been baptized to be baptized again to the higher level that became an invitation to everyone to be baptized to that level including him. I looked at him and I said that’s an invitation to you to be baptized. He said I can see that.

He said, this is incredible why didn’t my cousins tell me about this. I said don’t be too hard on them. A lot of times people have that testimony burning so brightly and they don’t know how to express it.

I asked him if he had any feelings about Jesus coming to America. He said it’s awesome. I told him that when Jesus was in America he said that he still had other people in other places, other sheep that he was commanded to visit. I told him that Isaiah said that Israel was found in the isles of the sea. I asked him if he knew any islands in the sea and he laughed and said Tonga.

I said, this is your story. These are your people. The spirit was strong in the car and he said this is incredible, I don’t want to leave. We had already been in front of his house for 10 minutes and his wife was looking out the windows. I said, when you’re in the presence of the spirit of God your spirit is soaking it in because it’s been in the desert and this is like water. He said, oh my goodness I love this.

I said so what do we do now? Where do we go from here? He said, I have to read that book. I said yes! I said, what else? He said I need to go to my cousins and ask them about being baptized.

I said when you talk to your cousins tell them about what you felt in the car. I asked him what that was and he said I feel that what you taught me is true. I feel that the Book of Mormon is true. I feel that there were prophets in America and among my ancestors. I feel that Jesus came to America. I feel that because the Book of Mormon is true and it was translated by Joseph Smith that he has to of been a prophet of God. I feel like I need to be baptized.

I said, will you tell them that? He said yes. I told him that he could probably be baptized relatively quickly but that he needs to read this book and pray so that he can have the spirit with him and he said he would. I asked him if he would promise me and make a commitment to me and God that he would talk to his cousins and tell them these things and he said yes.

I asked him if he understood the song at first and he said yes, every word. He said it brought the spirit into the car and touched our hearts. I said it always does. He said I speak fluent Tongan and that was a treat.

I told him that God puts people in my car and whispers to my heart the things I should say to them and he is here tonight. I told him that God loves him and just like the people in the Book of Mormon pled with Jesus to be saved, God wants to save him as well.

He thanked me, got out of the car, waved and walked away with a knowledge of the truth. The thing is he had heard these things before but this time the spirit bore witness to his soul. He recognized that spirit and what it meant and it all started with a song, Folofola Mai ʻa Sīsū which means thus sayeth the Lord in Tongan…… Amen.