I was working in Salt Lake and trying to stay up there to make money. It was 11 o’clock at night and I had three hours left when I got a ride to go to Freedom Boulevard in Provo Utah.
That’s about as horrible as it can get because that ends your night. Let’s be clear. I don’t work the app in Utah County because It isn’t profitable. You drive 20 minutes to pick up a person to take them 5 minutes and get paid $4. I was going to cancel the ride and then I thought, no! You need to take this right and so I did
I went over and picked up this girl. She was a Korean girl who was a returned missionary and we had a good talk. It was a lot of fun but in the end it put me right in the middle of Provo. I got got some gas and thought I would go home. When I got up to Orem, I got a new ride. It was for up South Provo all the way down to Saratoga Springs. No one wants to go to Saratoga Springs.
When I picked this guy up, I asked him if it was hard to get a ride and he said nearly impossible. He said, I wonder if this is a bad ride for people. I explained to him that it’s a big money loser but that he seemed like a nice guy so let’s go.
He’s a 21 year old kid that sold solar panels all over the place. He was a salesman and I like that!!!
As we started the drive, I saw a light in his face and I knew why he was in my car. I didn’t know if he was a member of the church or not but I could see he had a light and we were supposed to talk about it.
I asked him, “are you a member of the church? He said no. I said I only ask because you’ve got a light in your face that makes me think that you are. He said, I get that from people sometimes.
I asked him, is it OK if we talk about this? He said yes. I asked him if he has friends that are members of the church, and he said yes, he’s got a lot of them. A lot of the people he works with live in Utah County and are good members of the church.
He said that he grew up partially in Midvale and that his adoptive parents who he lived with are very against the church. Personally he doesn’t know where he stands.
I asked him if he wanted me to talk about what some of the things are that we believe as a church. Things that he might not know. He said yes.
I started with, we believe that we are children of our father in heaven, real spiritual children of our father in heaven, and that he loves us, and we love him. I told him that everything else is based on the fact that he is a loving father.
I told him that because Heavenly Father is a loving father, he loves all of his children. I told him that Heavenly Father is a perfect, loving heavenly father, and he loves all of his children and that’s so important for us to know.
When I said that the spirit was in the car instantly and I could tell that it has been waiting to burst into the car and it was pretty intense.
I told him that our heavenly father sent his son Jesus Christ, to be the savior, and not just of Israel, or the Middle East or the earth but of all of God‘s children. I told him that Jesus Christ paid for the sins and angst and sorrow and injustice and sicknesses and problems of everyone who ever lived. He didn’t just do it for Israel, but he did it for everyone. It was not a provincial sacrifice, but that it was an infinite sacrifice.
I told him that Jesus Christ paid for our sins and was crucified but then he didn’t quit teaching while he was a spirit in the spirit world. He set up the teaching of everyone who has ever passed away without having a good opportunity to accept the gospel so that everyone would have a chance.
I told him that after Jesus was resurrected, he said other sheep I have, which are not of this fold. I asked him what that meant to him. He said people in other places? I said yes.
I told him that Jesus, then came to America, descended from heaven and the people touched the prints of the nails in his feet and his hands and asked him to save them. He gave them baptism and the Holy Ghost. Then he said still other sheep I have who are not of this land or the land roundabout. I received a commandment from my father to go to them so they can hear my voice and be counted. I told him God loves all of his children not just the ones in Jerusalem.
When I was talking about Jesus suffering for our pains and injustices, I noticed that he was a little pensive, and maybe distracted. Finally, he interrupted what I was saying, and he said, how does that work?
The spirit whispered to me that this young man had a rough life. The spirit let me know that he had been abused in unspeakable ways and that he had suffered loss. It was hard for him to bear.
I told him that when he was young and he was being abused he thought no one cared. He felt like he had been abandoned. He felt the dark and evil not only of the acts being perpetrated on him, but of the person that was doing it to him.
I told him that in that moment when he was about to quit and Give up, he felt empowered and lifted from a place he didn’t know. He felt a surge of strength that came from somewhere that he wasn’t aware existed. I told him that strength gave him the power to withstand what was going on.
I told him that power came from God and that God was angry with what was going on but that he had sent his love to carry him through. I told him that this power had stayed with him all these years and that’s part of the light people see in his face.
He said he almost lost his faith, and he had not embraced a religion because he was trying to figure out how God could allow that to happen. How could God allow a child to go through what he and his brother had to go through?
I told him that God gives us our free will to make choices and he can’t take it away but that he has provided a savior for us that we can look to. He can carry our burdens and lift us through.
I told him that Satan would have us blame and hate God and grind on that forever. God wants us to look to Christ so that we can heal and move on. I told him God could take away that sting and God could lift that burden.
I told him that through the atonement of Christ it’s possible for us to forgive people who have wronged us greatly, and let Christ carry that burden for us. I told him that is a very powerful move. It allows us to be strong and happy, instead of weak and victimized.He smiled and I didn’t know why.
As we continued down the road we talked about Jesus in America some more and how he talked about baptism and how it was a new level that everybody is invited to come to.
I told him that he felt dirty and unworthy because of some of the things he had done. I said, you’re thinking about those things right now, the answer is this baptism. Once you are baptized you will be clean. Once you are baptized you will be able to stand before God as if you had never committed those sins..
This is what he offered to the people in America and this is what he offers to you. I told him that this message is why he was put in my car tonight.
We talked about how Jesus said that he was going to go to other places and we discussed what places those might be.
I felt a strong prompting to talk about baptisms for the dead in conjunction with Jesus teaching the spirits in prison so I did just that. I explained baptism for the dead, and about how God has a plan for everyone who’s ever lived even if they didn’t have the opportunity to accept the gospel in this life. They could accept it in the next life and be baptized by proxy through baptism for the dead. I explained to him that this is God‘s perfect plan.
God wants everyone to accept or have the opportunity to accept that baptism this Jesus invited the people in America to have. I told him that the prophets in America wrote down all these things and put them on metal plates. Joseph Smith translated those plates by the power of God and we have the Book of Mormon today.
I bore my testimony of the first vision and Joseph Smith seeking the truth and how in the end he read the Bible, went to the forest, prayed and then saw God the father and Jesus Christ. They called him to be their prophet.
The spirit was incredible in the car and I asked him what it felt like. He told me. Then I asked him to remember that. I told him that’s how he felt with God in the pre-existence and this is how he feels when God’s spirit is present. I told him that God is present in the car with us and that his spirit was there to justify the truth of the things that I was saying. He said he believe that.
I went back to Joseph Smith and told him that Joseph Smith was called to restore the whole church. The way it had existed in the time that Jesus Christ was on the earth and before it had been dismantled and broken apart. The people had left precious parts out. I told him that one of those parts was baptisms for the dead.
That was the second time in a short period that I brought a baptism for the dead and I felt prompted to do it. Then I found out why.
He opened up about his brother who in 2010 had committed suicide. People told him that he was killed in a car wreck, but he knew the truth and it hurt. I got the opportunity to teach him what Elder Holland teaches about mental illness and how it’s the same as having cancer or a heart condition. I told him that dying from a disease is dying from a disease and his brothers,was no different.
I felt prompted very strongly to say that his brother had been taught and accepted the gospel. This is why he was in the car with me tonight and spirit was screaming in our ears. He nodded affirmatively. He said I believe that.
I said your brother has accepted the gospel and now he needs to be baptized and that is your job. When Jesus invited people to be baptized and take that step to the new level, he invited you to take that step also. It’s time for you to do that and then shortly after, go to the temple and be baptized for your brother.
It was quiet in the car but it was hot with the spirit. He said that’s right! I have lots of friends and have had lots of coincidences that have happened. I am not a guy who believes in coincidence but you knowing all these things tonight about me and about what I’m thinking is crazy. I know that it is not a coincidence.
Then he said that his birth mother and father who had abused him had been reaching out to him and trying to make contact. He broke into full tears as he said that he didn’t or hadn’t known what to do but tonight he knows that through the atonement of Christ he can forgive and let God deal with it. He said he knows that he can trust God to take care of it. He said that he will trust Christ and move on. He believes that he can do this without hate in his heart.
I told him that I was given those things to say by God so that he could know that these things are true. He said I know that these things are true. I said, Jesus Christ has invited you to be baptized, and it’s time we get on to that. I reached into my glove box and pulled out a Book of Mormon prepared by the Secrist, and gave it to him. I said, this is the Book of Mormon it’s another testament of Christ. It testifies the Jesus Christ is the savior of everyone not just the people in Jerusalem. It testifies that Joseph Smith was a prophet, and that we have the authority of God on the earth.
I gave it to him and asked him to read it and he said he would. We talked about his schedule and how he could work this out. He said he works every day with guys that go to church and went on missions. They would be so excited to hear what happened. I told him to go to them and tell them exactly what happened in our car tonight.
I told him to tell them that he wants to be baptized this month and he said he would. I said, you can tell by the spirit that it is the right decision and he said I know. It was time for him to get out of the car because we had been in the car on this last ride of the day for an extra half an hour. I had not been charging him during that time by the way.
He asked me if it would be OK if he gave me a hug and I said you betcha. I got out, walked around and gave him a big hug. He promised me again that this was what he needed to do and that he would follow through. He has missionary and temple work to do
I know he will do it too.
When I think about this experience and the number of miracles, it took to put me in that place at that time. I am blown away. The ride that I didn’t want to take that brought me from Salt Lake to put me in a position that I could get this ride that I didn’t want, where I had work to do. God is great and his plan is flawless
Sometimes God sends you a lift 