Always looking for that white Christmas

One day I was working in Orem over by the Lakeridge area. I really enjoy working in the Lakeridge area because I lived in that stake for quite a while. When they opened their Spanish branch I served for the first several months doing missionary work there. The Lord blessed us with tremendous success and many of the people in that branch are still friends of mine.

I picked up the man I was sent to drive he lived right across the road from one of the apartments where I had one of my most successful missionary experiences ever. I was reminiscing and I had the thought, “this is a good street isn’t it”. I had the distinct impression that lightning was going to strike twice.

I pulled up in front of the house and the man came out. He was a young man with lots of piercings in his ears. I thought that was a bit out of place for the promptings I was receiving. I felt very impressed that this was a good young man and that he was ready for the gospel. I felt the distinct impression that he was seeking for the gospel but didn’t know who to ask or what to say. It felt to me like he was blindfolded and trying to find something.

At the first of our ride I started talking to him. He struggled to answer in English. After a minute of making him speak English I flipped into Spanish and he was greatly relieved. He had a great big smile on his face because he knew that I was clowning him a bit.

He said he was from Columbia by way of New Jersey and that he had only been here in utah two weeks. I asked him how he liked it here and he said he liked it a lot. I said, compared to New Jersey it has to be really different. He said it was very different.

I said, I would imagine that you feel something different here than you felt in New Jersey. He said, I’m glad you said that because I’ve noticed something very different here. He said, it’s a peaceful feeling and I like it. I told him that we have that peaceful feeling here because a lot of people keep the commandments of God.

I told him that when we keep the commandments of God, he gives us peace. I told him that this is not just peace in our hearts but when a community of people are living righteously, you feel the spirit of God amongst them. He said, that’s right! That’s why it’s so important to have a community of God.

He said, back in Columbia I went to church twice a week. I love going to church. I’ve always gone to church. He said, I love to learn about Jesus. I said, that makes two of us!

I told him that I read my scriptures every day and that I love to learn from the scriptures. I also like to learn from the spirit. I asked him if he considered himself to be a strong Catholic and he said, yes! He said that even though he hadn’t been to church very much in New Jersey, he still considered himself to be very Catholic. He then said that what he felt here was different. What he felt here was something that he had never felt and he wanted to know more about it.

I said, do you think maybe you would find that in our church houses here? He said, that’s a good thought, I bet you could. He said, that has to be where it comes from, it comes from the people obeying God. He said, they are teaching the right things in those churches.

I said, do you want to know what we believe that might be a little different than what you believe? He said, yes! I told him that basically we believe a lot of the same things that he believes. I said that it’s Christmas time and we believe that Jesus was born to the Virgin Mary. I said that we believe that he lived his life perfectly and organized his church perfectly . He taught the gospel and then he suffered and died for us.

I said that he suffered for pain, sicknesses, inequities, illnesses, and any other negative thing that could happen to us, including the sins that we have committed. I told him that we don’t need to suffer because he already has. I told him that Jesus Christ was crucified and that after three days in the tomb he was resurrected.

I told him that after Jesus was resurrected he taught some more and prepared the church for his departure. He said other sheep I have, which are not of this fold. He said that he was commanded by his father to go to those people.

I asked him who Jesus could have been talking about. I asked him who were those people that weren’t in that area? He was puzzled. He said, I don’t know.

I asked him if God loved everyone in the world and he said, yes. I asked him why and he said because we are all God’s children. I said, that’s right. I asked him if God favored one child over the other assuming they were both righteous and he said, no. I asked him if God would teach one child and make no provision for teaching the other thus giving him an advantage and he said, no, God is fair and just.

I asked, who are those other people that Jesus talked about? Were there other people in the world? He said, yes. I asked him if those people were God‘s children? He said, of course. I asked him if he thought maybe God would send his son, Jesus Christ, to those other people.

He thought for a moment and said, you know, I’ve never considered that. This sounds right, of course, a loving God that loves all his children would share that knowledge and those blessings with his other children. He said especially the blessings of Jesus because Jesus blessed everyone.

I said, that’s exactly what happened. Jesus came to America. He descended from heaven and stood on the steps of the temple. I said, your ancestors touched the prints of the nails in his hands and he held their babies in his arms. As he held them he blessed them and their posterity.

He said, my ancestors? I said, yes! He said, we were blessed? I said, yes! He said, I’ve always felt blessed by Jesus, maybe that has something to do with it. I told him that it probably did have something to do with it because God loves everyone no matter where they live. I told him that in America, Jesus said, still other sheep I have that are not from here or Jerusalem. He said that he was going to go to them. My passenger said, that makes a lot of sense.

I said, our Heavenly Father is loving and fair and he loves all of his children. We lived with him before we came to earth and we loved him and he loves us. That’s why he gives us prophets.

I told him that in America, just like in Israel, there were prophets. I said that they wrote down their revelations. I told him that those revelations were given to a modern day prophet and translated. I told him that this book is called the Book of Mormon. I said, that book is a religious heritage given to you by your ancestors. I told him that this book talks about God’s blessings to your ancestors and this book talks about the visit of Jesus Christ to America. I told him that the Book of Mormon is a testament of Jesus Christ and his divinity.

He said, that’s amazing. It makes a lot of sense. We don’t teach that as Catholics, he said. I said, that ancient engravings were given to Joseph Smith to translate. I testified to him that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God who was called by God to restore the church of Jesus Christ on the Earth. I told him that Joseph Smith wanted to know truth, and so he went and prayed to ask God. I told him that when he did this God the father and Jesus Christ appeared to him and called him to be the prophet.

I told him that a short while later, a prophet who had lived here in America brought him those records to translate. He did this so that we could know of the love that God had for the people that lived here in this land, his ancestors.

He was touched. I could tell he was feeling the spirit and he was getting into it. I said, how do you feel? He said, I feel an incredible energy in my heart. I feel a compulsion to believe this thing that you are saying and I want to learn more. He said, I feel like I need to learn more.

I told him that right now God was testifying to his heart and that the things he was feeling were true and the things he was hearing were true. He said, it’s strange but I know that. I told him that when he feels the presence of God like this, he knows that the things he is hearing are true. He said, this is right!

I pulled out a Book of Mormon prepared by the Secrists and I said, “would it be OK if I gave you a Book of Mormon?” He said, absolutely, is that all right? I said, yes. I said if you read this book and pray asking God to show you the truth, he will manifest it to you just like he has in the car today. I said, when you get that answer, it will feel just like you feel right now in your heart.

I asked him if he wanted to go to church on Sunday and he said, yes. I told him which chapel it was and he said, I’ve seen that chapel and I feel something special when I walked by it. Now I know why.

I happened to have the phone number handy for the ward mission leader. I arranged for him to go to church on Sunday. I picked him up and took him myself. It was really an incredible time. He met the missionaries and set appointments for later that week.

I told him that the missionaries would talk to him about baptism. He said, well, I’ve already been baptized. I told him that in our church we use the same baptism that Jesus Christ gave to his ancestors. I told him that they had already been baptized before Jesus came just like he had. When Jesus arrived, he invited them to take a step up to a new level of discipleship and a new baptism. I told him that this new level of discipleship requires us to love God with all of our heart and serve him. He said, that sounds just like me. I want to do that!

I told him that when he’s baptized, the spirit of God will cleanse him from the sins that he had committed. I told him that when he comes out of the waters of baptism, he will be clean.

I could see behind his eyes he was seriously contemplating that, and then he said, “I would love to be clean again”. He said, that would be the greatest gift. I told him how appropriate it was to be talking about gifts at Christmas because Jesus Christ keeps giving us the gift of repentance through the power of his atonement. I said, “it’s Christmas time, it’s a time for gifts. It’s a good time to learn about baptism, the baptism of Jesus Christ. The baptism that he gave to your ancestors.

He said, I can’t believe I’ve gone my whole life without knowing this! He said, I’ve never felt like this, and I want to feel like this always. I told him that once he’s baptized, he will get the gift of the Holy Ghost and then God can be with him and he can walk with God. He said, that’s what I want because that’s who I am.

This was actually a pretty quick ride and pretty packed. I fell an urgency to say all of the things that I knew that I needed to say and get him to the ward mission leader. I felt that he was ready and he was brought here for this purpose.

I told him that he was right to want this and that he was here for this purpose. I told him that God had put him in my car to help him, to bring him home. When I said that the spirit just consumed the car, it was unmistakable. He said, that’s true!

We were at the spot where he needed to get out and I reconfirmed everything with him for Sunday and drove off. I’m going to try to keep an eye on this one because I can.

Update: he sent me a text today telling me that he is going to be baptized on Saturday the 30th and asked me to perform the ordinance. The missionaries followed up with a text a little bit later confirming the time and place. Next week after the baptism I will attach a picture to this blog entry.

Tis the Season for a white Christmas

Update #2

He went with me for a tour of the MTC on Thursday and felt the spirit. He made a goal to be back in one year, with a tag

Here is the picture of his baptism. Love baptism days!!!

Hurrah for Israel