One night late I took a ride out to West Valley. I forgot to pause or turn off my app and so I got another ride on top on that one. You can’t see where the ride is going when you’re already on a ride, they stack one on top of you. I hoped that it would bring me back into town or take me down south. I didn’t think it would be Herriman and I mean like back up on the mountain southwest Herriman.
It was after 2am so I decided to take the ride. It might not have put me closer to home but it ended my night and it was time. I drove to where I was to pick up this woman and pulled into the cul-de-sac. There she was kissing her boyfriend.
I sat there for a minute while they enjoyed their prolonged goodbye and then she got in the car. As soon as she got in the car the spirit indicated to me that she was someone that I needed to talk about the church with. That was great because we had a 25 minute ride and it would give me something to talk about. I was tired and this would help.
On top of that, when you talk about the church you always get energized or I do anyway. I asked her where she was from and how long she lived here. The usual stuff. I asked her how long she had been with her boyfriend and she said that she had been dating him for about a year.
I asked her how she chose to live in Herriman and she said she lived with her sister and her family. With all of that information I decided to start talking about the church. The spirit led me to know that the family was the key here and so I asked, so do you go to church with your sister‘s family? That is assuming a lot in ride-share late night circles but I felt strongly that the spirit wanted me to ask that direct question.
She said, well, yes, I do. I said, following a prompting, then they are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of latter-day. Saints aren’t they? She said, yes they are. I said, and you haven’t been baptized? She said, no! I said, you mean, no, not yet!
She laughed, and she said, I guess you could say it that way. I asked her if she could tell me what the issues were that kept her from joining the church. She said, yes. I asked her if she would answer my questions about the church and she said yes.
I perceived by the spirit that she was not a terribly religious person, but I assumed or believed that she was Catholic. I asked, do you consider yourself to be a Catholic since you were baptized as a Catholic? She said, no, I don’t consider myself to have a religion, but I was baptized as a Catholic.
I asked her straight up, do you believe in Jesus Christ? Do you believe that he is the son of God!? She said yes, I do. That’s what I believe in but I don’t believe in all the stuff they do in the Catholic church.
I said, do you believe in God the father. She said, yes I do. I told her that we do as well. I asked her if she knew what the major differences were between our church and the Catholic church. She looked at me as if she hadn’t recognized that there were any differences. I asked again, do you know what they are? She said no.
I asked her if it would be OK if I told her what some of the differences were and she said she would love It.
I told her we believe that Heavenly Father is the father of everyone that ever lived no matter when they lived or where they lived. I told her that God was the father of her spirit, and that her spirit knew him personally, intimately and well. I told her that Heavenly Father is our spiritual father and he loves us. He wants us all to come home. I told her that’s what we believe and everything else we believe stems from that.
I told her that in our church we don’t say the word God to refer to Heavenly Father nearly as much as the another religions. She said, you know, I’ve noticed that! That’s true you guys say Heavenly Father. I said that’s correct because that’s who he is, he is our father.
I said, because of that we don’t look at the gospel of Jesus Christ as having happened in Jerusalem and Israel 2000 years ago and we’re just along for the ride. We believe that our Heavenly Father guides and loves us always. He has prepared a way for everyone.
I told her that the people who lived in America anciently we’re also children of our father in heaven. I asked her if that was true, and she said yes. I believe everyone is a child of our father in heaven. I asked her how God blesses his children, and she thought for a moment, and she said, he gives us commandments and his words so that we can follow them.
I told her that’s right, he blesses us for obeying his commandments. I told her he gives us his commandments because he loves us. I told her that the people who lived in America anciently had prophets and God had revealed his will to them so that the people could be blessed through their obedience to him as well. She said, that makes sense. I believe that!
I told her that we believe that God not only loves everyone in the world that ever lived, but he sent Jesus Christ to them also. I explained to her that after his resurrection, Jesus said he was going to go to other places and other people and teach them. I asked her if she thought an all powerful God would want to reach out to all of his children or just some of them. She quickly answered, all of them! I told her that Jesus, after his resurrection descended from heaven, pure and full of light and stood on the steps of the temple. I told her that the people who lived here were expecting him because they had been taught he would come by the prophets.
I told her that they went up and they touched the print of the nails in his hands and they begged him to save them. I told her that in answer to that he taught them that they needed to be baptized to a new level of discipleship even though they had previously been baptized, even those who had been baptized recently. He commanded them to be baptized so that they could have the gift of the Holy Ghost and step up to that next level of discipleship.
She asked, what is that next level of discipleship? I said, well, do you know how long we get married for? She smiled and said for eternity! I said that’s right! Jesus has given the power to people on earth so that they can seal marriages and families on earth and in heaven. We do that in our temples.
She said, oh, I know my sister has been married in the temple and I went to an open house down in Utah county. I asked her what she felt there and she said that she felt amazing in that building. She knew it was a special building. I told her that it was the spirit of God that she felt. It was the love of her father in heaven. I asked her what else we do in those buildings.
She thought for a minute, and I said, we do baptisms for the dead. We are baptized in the name of people who have passed so that they have the opportunity to accept or reject that baptism. She said, oh, that’s right. My sister’s children went and did that. I told her that because of that doctrine every person that ever lived no matter where they were would have the opportunity to be baptized and come home to their father in heaven.
I told her that it’s the only doctrine in the world that teachers that all of God’s children will be treated equally and fairly. She said, that’s amazing. I never looked at it like that. I told her that we also can then go in and seal them to their family so that they can be together forever. She said that was beautiful. The spirit was really powerful in the car. I said, you feel that? She said, yes it’s amazing. She said, I love this feeling.
She asked, did Joseph Smith teach all of this stuff, wasn’t he the one that wrote the Book of Mormon?
I told her that Joseph Smith was a young man who was searching for the truth. He decided he would pray and ask God what church to join. God the father and Jesus Christ appeared to him. They called him to be the prophet. They called him to restore the whole church that Jesus had founded when he was on the earth.
I said part of that restoration was the translation of the Book of Mormon. I told her that an angel, who had been a prophet here in America gave him those plates and the translating equipment so that he could translate that book by the power of God.
I started to bear testimony of the Prophet, Joseph Smith and something that is all too familiar happened. Her boyfriend called. I don’t know about you all but when I was on my mission every time we were testifying of Joseph Smith, we had a car backfire, or a kid drop a plate or someone knock on the door.
I saw this as the same kind of thing. I listened to her. She tried to get rid of him for about five minutes. Finally, she said to him, look, I’m talking to the driver. He is a Mormon and he’s teaching me about the church. I feel like it’s really important that I listen. She said, I feel like this is supposed to be happening right now and I need to pay attention to what he saying, so I will call you when I get home. She hung up on him and apologized.
The spirit was in the car, and I finished sharing my testimony about the prophet Joseph Smith. I told her that God had always worked through men who were not capable of doing the things that he asked them to do. I said, that this way God could show his power. I told her that if God called the richest, most powerful people to do things, people would believe that they did it, not God.
I told her, on the other hand, if God called someone who is incapable, they would know that it had to be the power of God. I told her Joseph Smith had a second grade education and he was a country kid. I told her that because of this, his faith and his belief, he was the perfect person to be called to do this work.
I told her that he translated the Book of Mormon by the power of God and he did it in 90 days. A kid with a second grade education translating a 600 page book in 90 days is astounding. She said, oh my gosh, that’s incredible,
I told her that Joseph Smith was called of God to teach us about God’s love and to show us his power, but most of all to restore his church so that we could return to live with him. I asked her if she felt that spirit still, and she said I do. I told her that people find their way to my car who are needing to hear the gospel.
She said, I believe that I am one of them. She said, I go to church every week with the family but I haven’t known what I should do. Recently, I’ve started zoning out but I think I need to pay more attention.
I asked her what feeling the spirit meant. She said, it means God’s here. I asked her, would God send his spirit if what we were saying was wrong? She said no. I told her that’s exactly right, the spirit of God testifies of truth, and when we feel it, we know that the things we’re hearing are true. I asked her if she felt that in church. She said not as strongly but yes, I do feel it in church. I asked her what it felt like and she said peace and happiness. I feel like my question has been answered.
We were pulling up to the house and I said I think God put you here in my car so that I could help you understand more about the church and help give you that push that you’ve been waiting for.
I told her that she had been coasting along, not wanting to make a decision, not wanting to commit, and kind of wanting to establish her individualism by not being baptized. I told her that now is the time for her to make that decision so that she can serve her father in heaven and follow him. She said, normally I wouldn’t like being called out like that but you were right and I can see that you’ve done it out of love and out of the love of Heavenly Father.
She said, I guess it is all about family and love if it’s done right. Then she said, I will take the challenge. Like I said, I go to church every week now I know that I just need to take the next step. I told her that in the morning she should tell her sister about the ride and what she had felt. She said, oh I plan on it.
I told her that her sister‘s husband could baptize her and she said she knew that because he baptized her nephew.
I told her it’s all out there in front of her for her to do. I said God would have her do and take that next step. She should take that next step up in discipleship and follow God. She said, message delivered and accepted.
I drove off thinking about how she told her boyfriend that she felt something special was going on here, that she was receiving information from me that she was supposed to have and that she was supposed to be in my car. Of this I have no doubt.
What a great way to end the day!!!
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Sometimes God sends you a lift 