It’s LGBTQAI pride celebration this month. This weekend is the big kickoff in Salt Lake City. Salt Lake is full of all kinds of people promoting and celebrating sin. Driving in that morass can be difficult because passengers are very crude and combative.
Many of them will take that opportunity to rip on me for being a member of the church. Their hateful words and abusive actions make it hard to feel the spirit sometimes. I rely heavily on the blessing that I put on my car asking that the spirit will be there. That spirit really helps me through. By the end of the night I feel very drained,
I had just dropped off a person and was making my way through a crowd of people cheering with signs filled with vulgarity and mocking God when I got a ride. The ride was very close and so I cruised over to pick him up.
This man stood out from the other people around him. I knew right away that he was different and the spirit prompted me that we would be talking about the gospel of Jesus Christ. Because of this prompting, I immediately started thinking about ways we could bring up the gospel as a topic of discussion.
When he got in the car, I asked him where he was from. He told me where he was from and mentioned that since he moved here, he has really enjoyed living here a lot more than the other places he had lived.
He said, normally there’s a peace living in this city that I’ve never experienced in any other cities around the world that I’ve lived in. He said I like it! Then he said he couldn’t wait for this festival to be over because it doesn’t feel the same today.
I pointed out to him but it’s going to be a whole month so will have to hunker down. We laughed for a minute, and then I said, so why do you think it is that it feels different here.
He said,, it is the people. There’s something about the people! He said that it’s not all the people but a good portion of the people. You can tell they have something and it transforms the area.
I asked him if he wanted me to tell him what that was and he said yes! I told him that people here are members of the church, and that there are a lot of them. I told him that as members of the church we believe in Jesus Christ and we believe in following his commandments.
I told him that as the father who gave those commandments, God gives us peace and those around us feel that peace. I asked him if he felt that in the car? He said yes! It was all crazy out there, but when I got in your car, I could feel that peace and that’s why I’m so excited to talk about it.
I told him that as we live the commandments of God, we as members of the church are allowed to have the companionship of the Holy Ghost. I told him that the Holy Ghost and his influence is what he feels that makes him so peaceful. He said that’s amazing.
I told him that I had lived in some other places too, including Argentina, where I went on my mission. He said, that’s so cool I lived in Buenos Aires for a while as well. He said that he really liked Buenos Aires, but it wasn’t very peaceful.
I asked him what he knew about the church. He said, not really that much. I asked him if he wanted me to tell him a few things, and he said yes
The Holy Ghost whispered to my heart and let me know that he was a Catholic so I approached it so as to answer his Catholic questions. I said, first off your Catholic and the things you believe are important to you. I told him, we believe most of what you believe but then we believe a whole bunch of things that you guys don’t know about yet.
He said, how did you know I was Catholic? I said the Holy Ghost let me know by whispering to my heart that you were Catholic. He said that was amazing and that he would love to hear more.
I told him that we believe that God loves everyone not just the people in Jerusalem. I told him that when Jesus was on the earth, he established his gospel, then he was crucified and later resurrected. After he was resurrected, he told the people that he had other sheep in other places, and that he was going to go to them.
I asked him, where do you think those other sheep were that he was going to go to? He said wow I’ve never thought of that. He said, I wonder where that could be? I told him that Jesus came to America.
The spirit emphasized to me that he had either Latin or Native American heritage, and so I asked him, “does God love your ancestors from here in America, just as much as he loved the people in Jerusalem?“. He thought for about 1/3 of a second and fired back with a fervent yes! God loves everyone. I told him we’re all God’s children and the people in America were God’s children every bit as much as the people in Jerusalem.
I told him that God had called prophets in America to give his commandments and teach his will to them. people who were his ancestors. I told him that God loved them so he gave them his word and his commandments, so that they could be happy.
I told him that as we see here, when you obey the commandments, you feel peace and you are more happy. That’s why God sent his commandments through his prophets to the people in America. I told him that these prophets wrote the prophecies down on metal plates through all of the years.
I told him that those plates also contained the account of the visit of Jesus Christ to America. I told him that Jesus Christ descended from heaven. He descended down until he stood on the steps of the temple. The people marveled. They came and felt the prints of the nails in his hands and bathed his feet with their tears. They knew that this was Jesus Christ. They knew that this was their God. They had been taught by their prophets that Jesus would come and visit them in America and here he stood in front of them. He taught them his doctrine and gave them a higher level of discipleship.
After this they said, with one voice hosanna. I asked him what that meant. He said I think it’s a praise, isn’t it? I said that he was partially right but the actual translation of that word is save us.
He said, oh, it’s a petition for salvation. I said yes. I asked him what he thought Jesus did in response to that, and he said, Jesus Christ would save them. I said that’s exactly what he did. He called up 12, he gave them authority to baptize. Then he commanded everyone there, even though they had previously been baptized, and believed in him to be baptized again by this authority that he had given, and in the way that he had taught.
When they asked to be saved he did exactly that. He gave them the baptism that would make them eligible to go to heaven and live with their father in heaven. He said that’s so cool.
I said Jesus taught them and blessed them, and then he said still other sheep I have, which are not of this fold or the land of Jerusalem or the lands adjacent, and that he had been commanded by his father to go to them so that they could hear his voice and be counted among his sheep.
I asked him, where else do you think Jesus went. We talked about the possibilities. I talked about things i’ve learned about other cultures that seem to fit, and he thought that was great.
I told him that the writings of the prophets, and the account of the visit of Jesus Christ were translated by a prophet of God named Joseph Smith. I told him about Joseph Smith and how he was given these plates. He translated the plates by the power of God so that we have these prophecies today.
I told him that the Book of Mormon really is another testament of Jesus Christ because it testifies about Jesus Christ, his divinity, and witnesses that he is the son of God. I asked him if he’d ever seen a Book of Mormon, and he said no.
I pulled out one of the copies of the Book of Mormon I carry with me prepared by the Secrists, and gave it to him. I explained to him how it works, as well as the questions of the soul in the front. I said, this book is your book. He said I will read it. I love to read, I testified to him of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon and of the prophet Joseph Smith. The spirit was very powerful in the car and I asked him if he could feel it. He said yes.
I asked him what it felt like. He said, a tremendous peace and assurance that the things we were talking about were true, even though they sounded a little bit different than what he had heard before. He said, I like this feeling, I like this!
I told him that we have a prophet today that leads us and guides us because this world is very evil, and there are a lot of people and a lot of things trying to take us away from the path of God. He said, you mean like all of those people downtown.
I said yes, all of those people downtown. He asked me what our prophet had to say regarding, transgenderism, same-sex marriage, and all of the proclivities being celebrated downtown. He said I just can’t believe it’s from God. What does your prophet have to say.
I said, well, being a prophet he and his predecessors foresaw this years ago. They put together a document, called the proclamation on the family that discusses our roles and our purpose in life with regards to our gender and family status. I told him the family is the most important thing for us. I told him that we’re not married until we die, we’re married for eternity and our families are together for eternity.
I told him Peter had the power to seal things on earth that would be sealed in heaven, and we have that same power. I told him our marriages and our families are sealed together by the power of God, it talks about all of this in the proclamation of the family.
I asked him if he’d like a copy of the proclamation on the family as well. He said absolutely! I looked it up on my Internet and I texted it over to him. He said, I can’t wait to read this!
He said, these things have given me such hope. Hope for me, and hope for our world. With all the evil in it, our world needs this help.
The spirit was strong in the car, and I asked him again to identify what he felt. Again, he said he felt an amazing amount of peace. I told him that this was the power of God letting him know that the things I was saying were true. I told him that he was placed in my car by God to receive these things today.
He said, I know I was because this is just what I needed. He said that he had been feeling a little lost and this brought him back. He said that he loves this spirit and that he knows the things that we had discussed were true.
He said, you know I’ve never heard these things before, and you would think they would be a little strange to hear the first time. But they’re not strange they seem right on and perfect. I know that it’s the power of God that confirmed it to my heart that helped me understand that.
He needed to go, but he told me how much he appreciated it and asked me what he should do next. I asked him if he knew any people that were members of the church and he said yes, he worked with one. I told him to go to that person and discuss with him what had happened in the car that day. This person would help him know what to do.
He asked me if he could text me if he has any questions while he’s reading and I said yes. Before he left, I looked him in the eye and I said, remember when Jesus came to America and he invited those people to be baptized to this new level? He is inviting you to be baptized to that same level as well. This is his invitation to you and that’s why I’m here today.
He said I know that’s true. I’m going to follow up with my friend at work. He’s always talking about church. I think he will be glad to help me.
He said that he was glad that Heavenly Father could pull him out of that evil and put him in a holy place to learn his word. Then he got out of my car and went into his appointment.
I guess all that stuff going on in the street can cut both ways, can’t it!?
Sometimes God sends you a lift 