One day I finished my car wash and I just felt the impression to flip the app on in Orem to see if I could pick up a couple of quick rides. I got a ride and it wasn’t a quick ride. I was picking up at the Starbucks in Spanish Fork. My first impression was, what? My second thought was not to question the impression from the spirit.
As I drove to Spanish Fork, I contemplated what could be the reasoning for this ride. I was sure that it wasn’t an accident. I pulled into the driveway and this guy got in my car. He seemed like a nice kid and we talked about his name which was a little different. One thing about this kid was that he sat in the seat right behind me.
As he sat there, I looked in the mirror, and the spirit told me that we needed to discuss some things regarding this guy. I got the impression that he was taking the discussions, but was struggling.
Usually people don’t get in and sit in the seat behind you because they’re instructed to sit in the seat on the passenger side. This provides, the driver with a view of the person and maximum distance between the two. This rule was instituted during Covid as a safety precaution and was kept following Covid as a security precaution.
He wanted to hear driver stories. I told him about the one time I threw a guy out of the car by his belt and his ponytail. He laughed and thought that was funny. He asked if it was ever really scary. Seeing where he was sitting, I told him the story about the guy I referenced a couple weeks ago that was trying to attack me but was shocked by God. I told him that the guy sat in the seat right where he was sitting.
He apologized and asked if he should move and I said no, you’re OK! As I told the story, I asked him if it would be fine for me to discuss religion with him. He seemed a little standoffish.
We talked for a minute and finally, he said yes. I knew his answer would be yes because I knew that this was why I was sent there. I started by telling him that I bless my car with the power of the priesthood every day, so that the spirit of God will dwell in it and people will feel it. I ask that I will be protected from evil and danger. I then started to retell the story in minute detail, including Book of Mormon references regarding the power of God that Nephi used to shock his brothers. When I finished the story this time, he said, God really did protect you that day. I said yes, he protects me everyday.
He said, that’s amazing. I said, you know we see God’s hand in our life all the time. I told him that I had the feeling that he had heard about the Book of Mormon before. I told him I thought maybe he had been talking to some missionaries.
He said, how did you know?. I told him that the Spirit of God whispered it to my heart so that I could know to say those words. He told me that he was Greek Orthodox, and that he had been very religious his whole life.
I asked him how long the missionaries had been visiting him and he said, about five weeks now. I asked him to tell me what the things were that concerned him and were keeping him from joining the church. . I told him I knew that missionaries had asked him to be baptized and for some reason he hadn’t been baptized. I told him there must be a serious concern he has that makes him unwilling to commit.
He said, well yes, there are a few concerns. He said the Book of Mormon and the Bible contradict each other. He said, I don’t like that. He said, you use the King James Bible and some of the verses are different than the Bible are use. That explains some of it, but not all of it.
He said, missionaries told me that the Book of Mormon was a completion of the Bible. He said, that didn’t make any sense to him, because he didn’t think that the purpose of the Book of Mormon, or any other scripture would be to trump the Bible.
I told him that being a missionary is a difficult thing and trying to explain what you know in your heart can be a challenge. I asked him if I could take a crack at it. He said he would love that.
I told him the Book of Mormon was translated by Joseph Smith using the power of God. I told him that Joseph Smith translated the revelations and writings of the ancient prophets who lived in America. I told him that they wrote down the revelations that they received, and that God gave them revelation so that they could share God‘s will so that they could be happy. I told him God wants all of his children to be happy, and that because the people in America were his children, he wanted them to be happy so he gave them prophets and revelation.
I asked him if that made sense to him and he said yes. I said, does it make sense to you that they would write something so important down. He said yes. I told him that through the power of God, Joseph Smith translated this book, that included the visit of Jesus Christ to America. He had heard about that!
I told him that the Book of Mormon teaches about Jesus Christ all throughout the book, and that the people were looking forward to the arrival of Jesus. I told him that the people were listening to the prophets, reading the scriptures and being baptized.
He said, well, that’s another thing, they want me to get baptized and I just don’t know what’s wrong with my Greek orthodox baptism. It seems perfectly fine to me.
I told him that the people in the Book of Mormon had been all been baptized and that it mentions this in the chapters immediately preceding his arrival. I told him, that when Jesus came, the people came to him and felt the marks of the nails in his hands, and bathed his feet with their tears and they asked him to save them.
His direct response to that was to give them his baptism and teach them his new covenant. I told him that he called 12 and gave them authority to baptize and commanded that everyone be baptized even if they’re already been baptized so that they could take this step up to a new level. He invited them to do this so they could take on this new covenant that would bless their lives.
He invited everyone to be baptized and then receive the gift of the Holy Ghost so that they could walk with God.
The spirit was strong in the car and I could tell he felt it. I could tell that he was polished and trying to act cool, but that veneer was cracking. Talking about Jesus Christ, and the truth of his gospel had an affect on this young man.
I told him it was the same for him. He needed to be baptized, not because God was angry or dismissive of his first baptism. I told him that God loved him for the faith he exhibited along with his family performing that baptism but that God had a higher level and a higher law. He wanted him to accept THAT baptism to take THAT step to THAT new level.
He said, oh, that makes more sense. He said why are there no histories or stories about Jesus coming to America if it happened. I told him about Cortez the Spanish conquistador. I talked about how when he arrived in America, the Aztecs received him as a god and gave him money and gold, because they thought that he was a bearded, white god that had dwelt among their ancestors and said that he would return someday. They thought Cortez was this great white God, and he robbed them blind.
I told him about Tulum that was built in 700 A.D.. I told him that the images carved into the stone reflect God the father, Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost. I showed him my Tulum picture and he agreed. I asked him how in the world they could’ve known this at that time if Jesus hadn’t come to America.
He said that there was no way and that this made sense. I told him as much sense as these things make, the only reason to get baptized is because you know the things you’re hearing are true by the spirit. I testified to him that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God, and that Jesus really did love him. I testified to him that Jesus paid for his sins, and that he could be clean. I testified to him that the Book of Mormon was another testament of Christ not a completion of a former Testament of Christ.
I told him that the Book of Mormon helped give us perspective and then light which gives you an understanding of the Bible, but it didn’t complete it or upstage it in anyway.
I told him that the Book of Mormon teaches that God loves everybody and not just the people in Jerusalem. I told him that God loves everyone everywhere no matter when they lived. I told him that we are even baptized for the people that have died so that everyone can get the chance to return home to their father.
He told me that the missionaries had taught, him this and that he thought that it was one of the most amazing doctrines. It was one of the things the made him believe and that made him seriously consider that our church may be true.
I told him that the spirit made me feel that he was uncomfortable about the Godhead. He said, I see contradictions in the Bible about the Godhead. The missionaries tell me that you believe that God, Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost are three people. The Bible teaches that it’s one person. He said the missionaries say that they’re one in purpose.
He asked me what I thought. I told him that I think that they are three separate people, but that the Godhead is a unit where these three men work as a unit we refer to as God. I told him that when Joseph Smith went to the sacred grove, God the father and Jesus Christ appeared to him. I bore my testimony of that vision, and the spirit testified in the car powerfully that it was true. I told him that they work together to bless the father’s children and carry forward his work. He said, that makes sense, I like that explanation. .
He asked about how in John, it says that Christ was the word. If Christ is the word, how can there be more than one god. I told him that he had to realize that Jesus was Jehovah of the Old Testament who gave them their words, their commandments and laws under the direction of the father. Because of this he was the word, but then he was made flesh as it says a couple of verses later.
He said that makes more sense.
He told me that he didn’t know how it was that he ended up in my car today but this chat had really helped him. He said the missionaries had come over every weekend for the last five weeks. He said they really want him to get baptized but they haven’t had really great answers for these questions. He said today, I got those.
He said the missionaries will be really excited to hear this report. I bore my testimony to him and told him that if he will do the things and make sure he prays, the spirit of God will confirm the truth in his soul. I told him that there’s no reason to be baptized, unless the Spirit of God confirms that it’s true.
I asked him, what have you felt in your heart while we’ve been talking? He said that his heart had been kind of troubled but that as we talked today, it had soothed that angst, and he felt confidence. I told him that this was the spirit of God testifying to him that these things were true. I told him to tell the missionaries that as well. He said that these were private questions that he hadn’t asked them, but now it was all OK.
I asked him what he thought God would have him do now that he had received a witness? He said, follow it!
He said again, I still can’t believe how this ride has gone. He said, drivers never talk to me about these kinds of things. This ride has changed everything. He thanked me and got out of the car.
I can’t wait for those missionaries to find out, that these important questions that have kept him from the waters of baptism now all have answers.
Fill that font
Sometimes God sends you a lift 