Changing a tire can change your life

I picked up a guy at the orthopedic therapy building at the University of Utah. It’s on the south side of a medical campus and you always pick up people who are struggling from that place. The guy really had a hard time getting into the car.

He was in his late 30’s – early 40’s and seemed like a really nice guy. After he got in and got settled I told him that he needed to quit skateboarding. He laughed and said he wished he could. I asked him where he was from and he said he lived in Utah all of his life.

I said, here comes another $10,000 question. What really happened to you? He said, “I was out on the freeway changing the tire on my work truck. I had been towing our work tailer and the flat was on the drivers side rear wheel. While I was changing the tire on the truck, another truck came along and hit me.”

He said that it broke his back and both legs in the femurs. I decided to be obvious and said, wow that sounds like it hurt really bad. He laughed and said it hurts really bad. He said that he was trying to do this without getting addicted to the drugs and so he was allowing a little bit more pain but he needed something and it was really hard for him.

He said he was married and had three kids ages 17, 15 and eight. He said he needed to go to work because he was only getting 60% pay and that was going to run out. The problem is that he couldn’t move. My heart went out to him.

I asked him what his employer had done to try to help his figure out how he could get back to work. He said he was working with them to see if they could get therapy to train him so that he could do something until he got better.

I asked him if there had been a spiritual component to his recovery. Then I stopped and asked him if it was OK if I asked questions about that. He said yeah, go ahead. I asked him again if there was a spiritual component to his recovery, and he said he didn’t know what I meant.

I talked to him about the atonement of Jesus Christ and how when Jesus suffered for us he not only suffered for our sins, but he suffered for our pain and illnesses and injustices. I told him that he was smack dab in the middle of pain, injustice and illness and that the atonement of Jesus Christ could help.

I had the prompting that he was a member and I said, are you a member of the church? He said, well, I was baptized, and I went to church until I was about 15. I haven’t been back since then. I said ahhh you’ve been on vacation! He laughed. I said, when I started talking about the atonement you were thinking in your mind,”I’ve turned my back on the church. I’ve turned my back on Jesus. I’ve done a few things that are against the commandments and there’s no way he’ll help me.”

I told him, that was exactly what Satan wanted him to think and that Satan had planted those ideas in his head. He said you are right about what I was thinking, how did you know? Talk to me more.

I told him that in the Garden of Gethsemane, and on the cross, Jesus suffered an infinite atonement and not just infinite in time, but infinite in it’s scope where he suffered all of the negative feelings and emotions and conditions that anyone would ever go through. I told him that by doing this, Jesus received the power to be able to lift us and take ease our burdens when we struggle.

I told him about the people of Alma in the Book of Mormon. He remembered Alma, but not the story of when Alma and his people fled from the King but were captured by the Lamanites.

I told him that the Lamanites made them slaves and gave them heavy burdens, but that their faith in Jesus Christ and his atonement was able to lift them through those burdens.

I told him that the burdens they had were not removed, but that they seemed light after Jesus blessed them through his atonement.

I told him that Jesus has the power to help us in our condition, whatever it is, through that power that he earned by performing the atonement. The spirit was in the car and he was feeling it. I asked him what he was feeling and he told me that it was a feeling he hadn’t felt for a long time. He told me that he loved it and that he was calm inside and knew everything would work out.

I told him that being confident in the presence of God is what the atonement is all about. I told him Satan was the one whispering things in his ears about not being worthy or qualifying for Jesus. I told him Jesus spent his life with people that weren’t worthy nor qualified and he healed them and he lifted them.

I told him he can do this for you. The spirit was really strong in the car and I testified to him that we have the atonement because things are hard and that’s God’s way. I told him about the brazen serpent in the wilderness. Moses erected this serpent so that the people bitten by the snakes could look to Christ or to the serpent and be healed. Those who wouldn’t look died.

I told him it’s the same for us today. God wants us to look to him and Jesus Christ when we have a problem so we can live. Satan wants us to blame God, be afraid of God, run from God and we die spiritually.

I said it is the same today just like it was in the time of Moses. Christ is there, all we have to do is look to him and he can help us through our hardest times. He will carry us through our trials if we let him.

He said, the spirit is really strong and I know that what you’re saying is true, but I haven’t been to church in forever. How do I go about doing that?

I said, who is your bishop? He said, “I have no idea who my bishop is!” I said, do you know anyone who would? He said, yeah, my mom.

I told him to call his mom, get the name of the bishop and his phone number and then call him.

I told him to ask the bishop to come over to his house and give him a blessing and to bless his home and his family.

He was quiet in the backseat then he said, do you think he would really do that for me? I said, yes absolutely, 100% without a doubt. I told him that the bishop had the priesthood and the authority to call down the power of heaven and could help him access the atonement.

He said, maybe that’s the part I’ve been missing here. We were coming up to his home and he said, do you think it would be OK if I called him tonight? He said, it’s not Sunday. I assured him bishops are used to getting calls all days of the week. I promised him that his bishop would not be offended and he would be more than happy, even thrilled, to come over and do this for him.

He promised me that he would. He said, as soon as I go in I’m calling my mom and getting that number. He said that probably she’d want to come and I told him that was OK. He grabbed my shoulder and thanked me and said, do you know that this has meant a lot to me. This ride was meant to be. I promise I am going to call my bishop.

He got out of the car and walked into his home in Magna.

Yeah, you’ve heard me complain about driving from the University of Utah to Magna before, but I am struck by the number of times the Lord uses that distance to help me get an opportunity to teach.

I have heard people make fun of people from Magna, but I’ll tell you what, miracles happen in Magna and this week one of His sheep is taking steps to come home in Magna