I was in Park City picking up a woman to take her to the airport. It was snowing like crazy and even getting up to her location was difficult. We were leaving 2 1/2 hours before her flight and we thought we had plenty of time.
I got there early and she decided to come out and we got in the car and started to drive. Once we got on I-80 we saw a problem. There was a tremendous back up and all lanes were at a standstill. No one was moving. All of a sudden that sure arrival at the airport seemed to be in jeopardy. It turns out there was a semi-truck that jackknifed and everything was blocked
I figured we were going to be here for a while and we started telling Ride share stories. I felt impressed to share the story of the man who tried to attack me but was disabled by God. I asked her if she was religious and she said no. I asked her if she believed in God and she said no. I I felt impressed to proceed with the story anyway. Normally if someone says they’re not religious or that they don’t believe in God I don’t proceed with spiritual topics unless indicated by the Holy Ghost.
In that story when the guy tried to cross over to grab me it was like he was tased and started having convulsions. He lost control of his fingers and hands as long as he was in the front seat with them. When I threw him back in the backseat he was fine. I knew God had protected me.
She said, that’s amazing! What a coincidence! I took that opportunity to tell her that it was no coincidence and that there’s no such thing as coincidence. I told her it was the power of God and I testified that we have a loving father in heaven. I told her that he loves each of us.
Right then I received inspiration as to what she needed to hear. There were three things. First, she needed to know that our father in heaven loves her. Having just finished the story I could feel the spirit in the car and I decided to press that advantage. I discussed our relationship with our father in heaven and how he loves us and how our spirits crave his presence.
I thought her about her father in heaven. I could feel his presence. She told me that she was taught about God as a child but had abandoned those beliefs years before. It was very interesting to see her face light up as the spirit of her father in heaven touched her. I could tell she was feeling his presence. I told her that when we feel the spirit of God our spirit is remembering that from before we were on earth. I told her that our spirits thrive in his presence.
I told her that the Spirit of God makes her smarter, and more capable. I told her that I felt the spirit of God right now and that I could tell she was too. I asked her what she felt and she almost choked up. Power and peace are the words she said. I asked, do you know would that is? That is the spirit of God and do you know what that means? It means that God exists. I told her that she can no longer tell people she didn’t believe in God. She looked at me and said, You’re right! She said, this has been a very eye-opening experience.
I told her that our father in heaven loves all of his children, every one. I asked her if she had any friends that were members of our church and she said yes. They had a family that lived by them who were members of the church and were really good people. She said that their son was going to BYU.
She said that they had always admired that family and the way they lived their lives. She asked me if I thought that they were making the boy in that family who was 20 go on a mission. I laughed and said nobody makes him go on a mission but my guess is that if he went to BYU he probably is on a mission right now.
I told her that when I was 19 I went on a mission to Argentina and she thought that was really neat. She asked me what we did on a mission and I said we taught people about their relationship with their father in heaven just like I was teaching her in the car. She said, that’s cool because I’ve always kind of wondered a little bit what you guys believe.
We were still in the traffic jam although we had worked our way off of I-80 on the frontage road at Jeremy Ranch moving toward Summit Park on the south side of the road. There was no traffic there so we were able to bypass about an hour of delay. That said we still had plenty of time.
I asked her if I could pose some questions to her and she said yes. I asked, if God is an all powerful loving father which you know he is, does he love all of his children or just some of them? She said, he loves all of them. The spirit was telling me that this was the second issue that she had. She believed that Christianity was exclusionary of a large portion of the people in the world. She believed that it wasn’t fair and it wasn’t right.
I jumped right in that and said God loves all of his children and he is the God of all of these children. That’s why he sent his son to die for all of his children. I told her that Heavenly Father sent his son to atone for our sins, feel the pains and sufferings of this life and rise above it all. I said that he did this so that we could rely on Christ and his atonement to lift us when we had problems or tragedies in our lives. I pointed out that Jesus suffered for injustice and sickness and every evil that could be inflicted so that our burdens could be lifted by praying to God and asking him to bless us with the benefits of that atonement.
I told her that someone who is sick can still feel lifted even though they still have pain. They can still find joy because the burden seems light. I told her that the other part of this is that God then expects us to be his hands. We can take care of people’s needs while Christ succors them and blesses them spiritually emotionally in a way that no one else can. She said that’s awesome.
I told her that all Satan does is blames God or says there is no God. I told her that’s not useful, it’s not correct but it’s just the kind of lie that Satan tells people to pounce on them when they’re down. She said that’s right.
She mentioned that her aunt who is very religious and believes in Jesus had cancer and even though she was in pain she never quit believing. She told me that when her aunt died it was one of the things that made her not believe in God. She said that after our discussion tonight she knows that her aunt was happy even though she was going through this trial. Her aunt’s family was happy and joyful throughout, even after their mother had died they still expressed love and joy.
She said that before tonight she never realized that it was the power of God. I told her that God isn’t a genie that gives you three wishes or a vending machine where you put your money in and push the button and get your desired effect. I told her that God is there for us so that we can be strengthened and grow. If he just answered all of our questions the way we wanted them answered there would be no growth.
I told her that when we first started talking there were three questions that I felt like she had with regards to God and one was her relationship with God and we had discussed that, the second was what happens when people suffer and why does God allow it. The third was about all of the people everywhere that never get to hear about Jesus. She though this was unjust.
I told her that in the Bible Jesus said other sheep I have which are not of this fold and that he was commanded to go to them. I told her that the normal Christian world is very provincial in its view of Jesus Christ. He came to visit people at a specific place and a specific time and nobody else. I told her that’s not how it was.
I told her Jesus came to America and to the people here. I told her that he descended from heaven and the people touched the prints of the nails in his hands and his feet and they knew that this was their God. I told her that they had prophets who previously prophesied of Jesus. God gave them prophets and sent his son because God loves everyone.
I told her that Jesus taught them and then told them that he still had other sheep and other places and then he went to visit them. I told her that Isaiah indicated he went to many places in the world to visit the house of Israel who have been scattered all over the world. She said, that’s really cool.
The spirit was really strong and I testified that Jesus Christ came to America. I testified that God loves all of his children no matter where they live. I talked to her about the prophets who had written these prophecies and about the visit of Jesus Christ to America and that because of what they wrote we know what Jesus did at all of the other places where he went.
I told her that we knew what he thought and how much he loved everyone. I told her that the prophets wrote these prophecies and they were given to Joseph Smith. I asked her if she had heard of Joseph Smith. She said, I am from Vermont and we learned about him. I said yes, he was born in Vermont.
I told her that when he was 14 years old he was just like her. I told her that he was very confused about which religion he should join and then he knelt and prayed and God the father and Jesus Christ appeared to him. The spirit was so strong in the car and I knew she felt it. I stopped and said do you feel that? She said yes. I asked, what does that mean and she said it means that’s true. I told her that Joseph Smith was called to be the prophet, and then was given this book of revelations from the prophets of America so that he could translate it. I told her that this is the Book of Mormon.
She asked, so do you guys believe in the Bible too? I said yes! We believe in the Bible and we believe in the Book of Mormon and they testify of each other and they both testify of the divinity of Jesus Christ.
I asked her if she had ever heard of baptisms for the dead and she said yes. She said that her friends had talked about it to her. I explained to her that it’s where we are baptized for people who have died. I told her that way every one of God’s children can have a chance to come home. I asked her if every person on earth had received a baptism while on earth or at least an opportunity and she said no.
I said would a fair and just God exclude a large portion of his children just because they didn’t live in the right place at the right time and she said there’s no way. This is a problem that I have had. I couldn’t believe that God would not make a way for them. She said, I am Catholic but that just never sat right with me.
She said I understand that people need to be baptized but it just didn’t seem to me that God had made a way so therefore I didn’t see how that God was the loving God everyone thought about. That just seemed wrong to exclude everybody that wasn’t in a favorable circumstance to be baptized.
I said baptism for the dead is the answer to that and it was practiced in the New Testament and restored to us through Joseph Smith.
I said, as a Catholic you have lots of beliefs that are good but somewhat incomplete. I want you to know that we’re not here to tell you that you need to replace them. We’re here to provide light and understanding.
I told her that when Jesus came to America, everyone had previously been baptized. I told her that Jesus gave them a new baptism. I told her that Jesus gave them authority to perform the baptism and commanded them all to be baptized even though they have been previously baptized. I told her that Jesus offered them a new level. I told her that this level included baptisms for the dead and eternal marriage which she had heard about through her family friends.
I told her Jesus didn’t make them forsake their previous baptism because he appreciated the faith and love embodied in the act but now he had something bigger, now he had something better and now he had something glorious for them to receive. This required that new level.
I told her that her friend that was probably on a mission right now is out baptizing people with this authority so that they can have that new level.
I told her that he is out teaching them these very things, that God loves everyone, that God has a plan for everyone no matter who they are, where they live or when they lived. God, their loving father, has a plan to bring them home. The atonement is there to lift us through our adversities and bring us home by looking to God not blaming him.
I asked her if she had a Book of Mormon and she said no. I reached in my glove box and pulled out one of the copies of the Book of Mormon the Secrists had prepared and gave it to her. I also helped her download the Book of Mormon app. I testified to her that the Book of Mormon was true and when she read it she would feel that same spirit we felt in the car that night.
By this time we were arriving at the airport. It had taken an hour and a half to get from Park City to the airport in Salt Lake. Just enough time to accomplish what God had sent us there to do.
I asked her what she thought about what we had talked about. She said, you answered every question I’ve had about God. All my doubts are gone. There’s no way you could’ve known that those were my questions except for the spirit of God revealing that to you. I know that the things that we have talked about tonight are true and I can’t wait to get started.
She said, I believe in God and I’m going to read this book. I need to study. I told her to seek for that spirit and it will help her learn. She said her roommate has some friends that are members of the church and that she was going to talk to them about the ride. I told her that would be awesome and that I would pray for her.
It really was an extraordinary night in the snowstorm. We were able to reconnect a father with his daughter and answer her unspoken questions.
Sometimes God sends you a lift 