Look and live

Sometimes after BYU beats Utah or Utah loses to anybody, I like to go to Salt Lake to enjoy the victory. I like the twist knife just a little bit. I’m not really that mean about it but I just like to talk a little. I like to enjoy it with them.

One night BYU volleyball beat Utah and as soon as the game was over I headed to Salt Lake City. I was telling people that I went to the volleyball game tonight and that BYU one of the best teams in the nation.

Sometimes it sparks up a fun conversation and I’ve had a few of those. About 1 AM, I pulled up to a club that is notorious for things being sold there, other than alcohol. It isn’t a sports bar and there isn’t particularly a strong college sports vibe there.

A guy came out and got in my car and we started off. Even though it didn’t seem to be fertile trolling ground, I felt like I should hit him with the BYU-Utah thing, just in fun. No sooner did I get it out of my mouth than he started saying really loudly, I love BYU. I love BYU. I got kicked out of school and I left the church but I can’t quit BYU football.

This took me fully by surprise. I am fully prepared to accept that it was a bit of a prompting that pushed me to tease him. Normally a guy coming out of that place isn’t one I would tease about anything.

His response, however, was great. We started talking about how much we love BYU football and how Kalani Sitake is an amazing guy. He really loved Kalani! We talked about the season and the players at each position and had a lot of fun. He said, I really am a good fan even though I drink.

I said, there are a lot of good fans who drink but I’d like to hear your story. He told me that he was from New York. He came to BYU straight from New York and then went on a mission.

He said that it was on his mission is where everything fell apart. He was African-American and said that many of the people were very biggited and little rude to him while he was on his mission. It made him very sad and put him in depression.

He said that when he returned from his mission he just couldn’t ever look at it the same. He said that this is when he left the church but that he doesn’t hate the church. He said he just can’t deal with it.

I said, seems like you’re holding onto your BYU football fandom like a lifeline. He said, you may have a point. I told him yes I told him that I do missionary work when I can and that working with people, one thing I have found is that people in general are horrible.

I told him people are horrible and they treat other people horribly for no reason sometimes. I told him sometimes we can assign a reason but we are never sure that this is the correct reason. It just seems to make sense in the moment. I told him that I try not to assign motives and just deal with the fact that everybody is horrible sometimes.

I told him that this is why we need the atonement of Jesus Christ. I told him that while he was on his mission, he felt the injustice and the sting of bigotry and it was hard. I told him that he felt alone and that he felt he couldn’t go to his mission president about it.

I told him that he felt like he had been swallowed up and felt like he was almost drowning in this. He said, that’s exactly how it felt! That’s exactly how I felt and that’s exactly why I couldn’t do it anymore.

I told him that what he experienced was understandable but that Heavenly Father knew that there would be days like that. He knew that there would be people like that and that things like this would happen.

I told him that God‘s plan is perfect and that his situation was part of that perfect plan not outside of it. I told him that God anticipated that he would be treated like that and he stood by him as long as he stood by God.

He thought about it and said, I think you’re right! In the end, it was my decision. I told him we make the decision to stand with God all along the way.

I reminded him about the brazen serpent that Moses held up. I told him that when people looked at that serpent they were healed and if they didn’t they died.

I told him that this serpent represented Jesus Christ and that when we look to him we live and when we look away we die. I told him this time it was a spiritual death of sorts, except that he kept a hold of that one glimmer of light, his association with the church through BYU football.

I told him that in life, horrible things happen to everybody. People are horrible and they treat everybody horribly. I told him that when bad things happen, Satan tells us to blame God. I told him that God points to Jesus and asks us to look to him so that we can be healed.

That’s how God makes it all better when people go through things like he had experienced. I told him that Jesus Christ suffered the humiliation that he had felt. on the cross and before that in the Garden of Gethsemane. He had felt all of the pain, anguish injustice, and abuse, ever experienced on earth, including what had happened to him on his mission. Jesus suffered for that, so that he wouldn’t have to suffer himself.

I told him that God’s plan is for him to look to Christ to access the power of the atonement of Jesus Christ and let Christ save him. Let Christ heal him and let Christ bring him home.

He said, that’s beautiful. He said, no one ever taught it to me like that. No one ever taught me about the atonement like that. I told him that Jesus gives us the atonement so that we can look to him and come back to him.

He said, this would’ve made a difference at the time but I have a different life now. I don’t know what to do? I asked him, what do you feel right now? He said, the spirit! I asked him how long is it been since he felt the spirit and he said since his mission.

He said that when he started pushing away the spirit just left. I told him the spirit was there to tell him that his Heavenly Father loved him and that the things I was saying about the atonement were true.

I told him that the atonement of Jesus Christ has the power to heal his heart and take the sword out of his hand. I told him that the atonement of Jesus Christ could make him whole and bring him home to his father.

I perceived by the spirit that he was thinking it was too late, so I jumped right to that. I said, it’s not too late! I told him, you have to understand that God has his timing and it’s not our timing. We look in terms of five or 10 years and he has a bigger game than that. He plays all the way until the end of the fourth quarter.

He said, this is been remarkable and made me rethink my approach to life. I told him that I felt to tell him that someday he would come back and he would remember what I said and he would access this atonement. I told him that the atonement would take him home and grow his relationship with his Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. I told him that he needed to learn to look at the brazen serpent or die.

He said, I can’t believe I got this lesson from God on the way home from the bar. I told him that God comes to you where you are. I told him I would go anywhere to save my son and God loves him so much that he will go anywhere to save him.

I asked him if he felt the love of God in the car and he said yes. I asked him if he felt the spirit and he said yes. I said, could that spirit be here if this wasn’t true and he said no, period.

He said, I’ll do better. I told him to read the Book of Mormon and focus on where it talks about how Heavenly Father’s love for his children and the atonement of Jesus Christ. I told him those are the two things he should study.

He said he would. He said he didn’t have a Book of Mormon right now. I pulled out one of my Book of Mormon’s made by the Secrists and gave it to him. I said the question to the soul in here will give you a good headstart. He grabbed it, he had a tear in his eye and he said, thank you and go cougars!!!