Families can be together forever through Heavenly Fathers plan

It was a Monday night and I was going to work and then after work drive up to Idaho to give my dad a blessing. I was going to work until 1:30 am or so but around 12 o’clock I decided to take my last ride and go.

As I drove out of town to the Mavrek with the cheapest gas in the Salt Lake or Utah valleys, I got a ride clear out in the industrial areas by West Valley City.

At first I thought that I wouldn’t take that ride because I wanted to get on the way. I was a little tired and a lot worn out. It’s been a long couple of weeks and I have been working a lot of hours. I just wanted to get to Idaho safely.

As I reached down to touch the cancel button, I received a distinct impression that I should not cancel this one. I needed to take this ride. I pulled my hand back, put it on the steering wheel and away I went.

I pulled into the driveway of the warehouse and waited. He saw me, came out and he jumped in the car. I asked him where he was from, and he said that he was from Samoa. I said “Talofa”, which means hello in Samoan.

He said, how does a white guy know that word? I told him that I used to serve in the missionary training center, and I got to hang out with all of the missionaries from outside the United States. I learned to say some words in a lot of their languages.

He said could you say some of them! Sometimes I try not to be a show off, but this was not one of those times. I said hello to him in Tongan, Samoan, Arabic, Japanese, Korean, Cambodian, Laotian, French Portuguese, Italian, Spanish, and Guarani.

He said, wow, that’s pretty impressive. He said, that’s some kind of a gift. I told him it was exactly that, it was a gift from God. I told him that God gave me the ability to learn those things so that I could connect with and show love to those missionaries when they came into the MTC. He said that’s really cool.

I asked him when was the last time he went to his church. I knew he wasn’t a member of the church but I was trying to figure out how active he was in his own church. He said that he was Pentecostal, but he hadn’t been to church since he was a very young boy.

I told him that it’s important to go to church so that we can have the influence of God in our lives. I told him that when we go to church, we learn that God loves us, and we learn things about ourselves and our relationship with God that we didn’t know before.

He asked, like what? I told him that many of the Polynesians in our church, believe that their ancestors are represented in the Book of Mormon. The look of interest on his face told me everything I needed to know about how ready he was to hear this.

I told him that in the Book of Mormon it mentions that people left in boats from the north west corner of South America. I told him that is where Colombia is today. I told him that I read a National Geographic story last year that said that the Indians of Columbia have genetic markers that are matches to the people in Polynesia. I told him that they assumed it’s because by Polynesians traveled to America but we know that they came from America.

I told him the Book of Mormon, testifies of Jesus Christ. I told him that the people who had lived in America were the ancestors of the Native Americans. They believed in God along with his ancestors. I told him that they had prophets and those prophets spoke with God and he gave them commandments, revelations and blessings.

I told him that Jesus Christ came to America, and then in America said, I still have other sheep, that I am commanded to go to. I told him that if he reads Isaiah he will find that the children of Israel were prophesied to be scattered all over the world, including the isles of the sea. I said, that means America, and that means Polynesia. I told him that God sent his son for all of his children, to save all of his children, because he loves all his children.

As I talked about prophets, his eyes lit up. I could tell he believed in prophecy, and that I was speaking a language that was familiar to him. I told him that the people who lived here in America were taught by the prophets about Jesus Christ and that Jesus Christ would come to America once he had been resurrected in Jerusalem. I told him that God loved all of his children and not just the ones in Jerusalem and that he had promised he would send his son to his other sheep, other places in the world.

He did this through his prophets, both in the Bible, and in the Book of Mormon. I told him that Isaiah prophesied that he would go to Israel, but that Israel would be scattered all over the world, including the islands of the sea.

I told him that when Jesus was resurrected in Jerusalem, he said that he had other sheep, and was commanded to go to them by his father. I told him that in America, he descended from heaven, pure and bright, and stood on the steps of the temple. I told him that the people touched the prints of the nails in his hands, and he taught them and invited them to a new level, a higher level. I told him it was just like a new level in a video game. Once you accomplish the first level, you move up. I told him that’s what Jesus did. I told him all those people had been baptized, and he gave them a new baptizing by his authority and commanded them to be baptized.

I told him that all of these prophecies, along with this account of Jesus Christ were written on plates, metal plates, and given to the Prophet Joseph Smith. I told him that the Prophet Joseph Smith translated them by the power of God so that we would have them today. This is how we know. We have prophets, and they speak with God.

I told him that this translation is the Book of Mormon. I told him that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God, and that he was called to be a prophet by God to restore the church on the Earth.

I told him that he called 12 and gave them this authority and commanded them to baptize the people. This way they could go to that higher level. I told him that Jesus gave them the gift of the Holy Ghost so that God could walk with them, all of the time.

The Holy Ghost was strong in the car and I said, do you feel that? He said oh wow, I really do. I feel so comfortable and loved in my heart right now. I told him that this is the feeling he feels in the presence of God. He said I knew it was the Holy Spirit but I never understood exactly that until you taught me.

I said to him, with the gift of the Holy Ghost we can know the things that God would have us do and we can know the things that God would have us say. I told him, right now, the Holy Ghost is whispering to me that as I’ve talked about Jesus and as I’ve talked about baptism, you felt good about it, but it’s always been really hard for you to be in these kinds of conversations because you feel dirty.

I told him that he had done some things, even some things recently that made him feel unworthy to be in the presence of God. He bowed his head and said, yes, how did you know? I told him that the Spirit of God whispered that to me so that he would know that the words I am saying are true, but that God has hope for him because he sent me to teach him about baptism.

I told him that when he is baptized, he will be cleansed from that sin, and will be pure before God. I told him that the baptism will be the thing that makes him feel like he can stand with confidence and power.

I asked him if he was married and he said yes, and he had a little boy. I asked him if he would like to be pure and clean before his family and with his family so that they could stand together before God. He said yes! That’s exactly what I’d like. I asked him if he would like to have God’s spirit in his home and with his family and he said yes.

I told him this message was for all of them then. I told him that when Jesus was on the Earth, he gave Peter the authority to seal things on earth that would be sealed in heaven. I told him that Peter gave that authority to Joseph Smith and Joseph Smith passed that authority down to the prophet we have today.

I told him that we use that authority to seal marriages and to seal families so that we can always be together. I told him that we do not do ‘“til death do us part” but that we marry for eternity, and that we will always be together.

He said, hold on just a second, are you telling me that we have a prophet on the earth today? I said yes! Yes, we do and he tells us the things that we need to know and the things that we need to do to be holy and serve God. He said I want to learn more about that guy.

He said that is an amazing thought that we can be sealed to our families forever. I told him that it was part of the next level, the higher level the Jesus brought. I told him it truly is a higher level of discipleship and of commitment, but also a higher level of blessings received.

He said he saw that and that a wonderful feeling was burning in his heart. By this time we had been sitting 15 minutes in front of his apartment and I received another ride. I promptly canceled that one so I could continue our conversation. I hadn’t intended on taking any new rides, but I neglected to turn off the machine.

Our conversation continued. I asked him if he would like to have a Book of Mormon and he said yes! I pulled out one of the Book of Mormons prepared by the Secrists for us, and I gave it to him. I explained to him the question’s of the soul. He read each one saying these are the questions I have had. These are the questions everyone has. I told him that the answers to the questions were found by the tabs in the book.

He asked “can I keep this? I said, yes. I said, do you have a friend who is a member of the church? He said yes! I have a cousin who is a member who went on a mission. I don’t know why it didn’t surprise me that a Polynesian had a cousin that was a member of the church! I asked him to read the book, pray to Heavenly Father and ask his cousin to answer his questions.

He said he was going to see his cousin the next day, and that he would do exactly that. I told him that as he reads the book and prays, he would feel the same spirit that we felt in the car and that he would know it’s true by that spirit. I told him that this feeling was kind of like a magnet that Heavenly father uses to bring us in if we allow it to.

He said that’s amazing. I know I’ve been sitting here a long time, but I love this feeling. I said, I love it too and I never get sick of it! I asked him if he had seen missionaries around. He said yes, there are some on bikes that live right in the building next to ours. I asked him if he would talk to them? He said he talked to them all the time.

I told him to tell them what had happened in the car that night, what he had felt, what he had learned and what he now knew to be true. He said that he would love to do that.

I told him my circumstance about going to give my dad a blessing and having my thoughts on spiritual things. I told him about how I believe that God had guided him to my car to receive this message, to receive this book, and to feel the spirit. I told him most of all God put him here in my car so that he could know what that spirit was and know that his father in heaven loved him. I told him that God loves everyone not just the people lived in Jerusalem and that meant him.

There was a silent reverent feeling in the car. Finally, he said, I think I need to go, but I promise that I will do the things I have said that I will do in this car. I want to have my family forever. I want to have the spirit with me all the time and I appreciate God putting me in your car.

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

On a personal note I drove to Idaho Falls after this ride. In the morning I helped my dad give my mom a blessing and then I gave my father a revelatory and powerful blessing releasing him from this life. He passed away less than 48 hours later. What an amazing experience to share at the end of a great life.

My dad read every blog post and told me how much he loved them every week. Now maybe he can ride along.

Love you dad