This is the right place

One day I was getting ready to go out to work thinking about where to start. I always either go to Salt Lake City or Park City so I was trying to decide which one of those to go to. Lately It’s been Park City a lot because they pay more money per ride. Second is Salt Lake City because you get a lot of rides so therefore you make more money. Since I started driving, you can count on one hand the days I started in Provo/Orem. Sometimes I’ll go out in Provo or Orem at night but that’s when I’ve worked a lot earlier in the day in Park City or Salt Lake.

I don’t see starting in Orem as the way to go financially but nevertheless, I found myself feeling a strong prompting that started the night before while I was saying my prayers. The prompting was to start in Orem on the west side down by Krispy Kreme. I just had the strong feeling that’s where I should start.

I drove there and turned on my app and I got a ride. I picked up a young lady in the parking lot by Swig. She had just got done working out at the gym there and I was giving her a ride home. I wondered to myself if this was the reason why I was out there today.

She had several piercings in her nose., a few tattoos, and a general party girl vibe. The spirit indicated to me that indeed, this was the reason why I was here so I started talking to her.

I asked her if she was from here and she said that she was born here but that her parents were both from Mexico. She said that she understood Spanish but she couldn’t speak it very well.

I told her about a time several weeks ago where I had three girls in my car who spoke Spanish. I told her that they got in the car and started talking about how much they hate white men and that they wished their driver wasn’t a white man. I told her that I didn’t say a thing, I just let them talk in Spanish but that when we were pulling up to the place where I was dropping them off, I said., quieren que los dejo acá o prefieren que haga una vueltita para ponerlos al otro lado de la calle. I told her that the car went silent and then one girl screamed. I told my passenger it was a lot of fun.

I told her that racial profiling was in full effect in the car at that point. She laughed. I said, the thing is, I don’t sweat it and it doesn’t offend me. I told her that I thought it was funny but that what we really need to do is forget about calling people out on racism and forget about calling people racist and not be racist but start loving people like Jesus taught.

I told her that Jesus taught us to love and if we would do that the whole racism thing would disappear and be replaced with love. I told her that every problem we have in society happens because we don’t follow Jesus. She said, I love Jesus and what you said means a lot to me because it’s true. She said, I’m a Christian. I said to her, how awesome is that! As a member of the church of Jesus Christ of latter-day Saints, I am a Christian too.

I never want to concede any ground with regards to branding under the Christian name.

I told her that we believe that Heavenly Father loves us and that he sent his son Jesus Christ to pay for our sins, inequities and problems so that we don’t have to suffer. I told her that he can pick up our burdens and carry us through.

She said, I needed to hear that today. When she said that the spirit prompted me with some additional things to say and the power of the spirit in the car was very noticeable.

I told her that she was a good person and that she had a soft heart but that she was covering her heart to protect it from being damaged by other people. I said that she hoped that other people would not be able to see her distress. She didn’t want people looking into her heart and seeing that. I told her that she had also done some things that she was ashamed of that she held close and didn’t want anyone to know about. I told her that these things weighed heavy on her.

She looked astonished and she said, you’re correct on all three. I’ve never had anyone see right through me. That’s an amazing ability that you have there. I told her that it was not my ability but that I had merely spoken the words that the Holy Ghost put in my heart.

I told her that in our church when we’re baptized, we are given the gift of the Holy Ghost. I told her that through the gift of the Holy Ghost God can whisper things to our hearts and if we say them we will be speaking the words of God. I told her that God put those words in my heart to say so that she would know that the other words I say today are true. She said, I’m all ears, this is what I need because in my life I’ve had so many struggles.

She told me that she had a son. I said, that’s awesome. Do you teach him about God? Do you read the scriptures with him?She said that he was a little young for that. I told her that she could read the stories and then tell those stories to him. She lit up and said, that’s a great idea. I asked how old he was and she said six.

I said, that would be perfect, a six-year-old boy loves to hear stories from his mom. I told her that in the Book of Mormon we find one of my favorite stories. I told her I’ve taught this story a bunch of times. It’s about Nephi and his bow. He breaks his bow and because of that everybody thought they were going to die. No one knew how they were going to get food and they were angry with him. I told her that he prayed and then went to his father and said, you’re the prophet, you pray to God and ask him where I should go go to get food.

I told her that he was told where to go and he went out and got food for the family. I told her that they learned that they didn’t need a bow to get food, they needed faith in God to be delivered from their situation. I told her that this is a lesson we could all take the heart these days. We should trust in God and not our own ability to take care of business.

She said, that’s amazing. I’m always trying to fix everything and I rarely turn to God for help. You hit that right on the head. She said, clearly the spirit hasn’t quit talking to you about me, and she laughed.

I said to her, what the spirit is saying to me right now is that some of the things you are hiding are the fact that multiple times you have been abused. She said, I’m just getting out of a very violent, abusive relationship. I don’t know how you could know that. I smiled and said, God knows. Then I felt prompted to say, it’s not just this relationship, it’s the time you were abused when you were a child. You never talk to anyone about that but you’re Heavenly Father wants you to know that he knows and that he loves you and he’s there for you.

She was clearly emotional and she was tearing up. She said, there’s no way you know that. I said, God gave me those words so that you could know that the rest of the things I say are his truth, so you could know that the things I say are from him. She said, I believe you.

I told her that God loves everyone and that he’s her father. She said, I grew up without a father. I told her that her father in heaven was her father and that he loves her and that he sent me there today to help rescue her. She said, I need that

She said, I have my six year old boy for visitations on weekends and I’m trying to teach him the right things but I need help. She said, he always says that we need to pray right before every meal and I think I need to be the kind of mother he deserves.

I told her that she could tell him the stories like we talked about. I also said that she should pray with him more than just at dinner. I told her that her father in heaven loves her and that he sent his son for her so she can look to him for salvation.

I told her that in the Bible Jesus said other sheep I have that are not of this fold and he had been given a commandment to go to them. I told her that in America they had prophets that were with her ancestors, I told her that they were waiting for Jesus Christ to come. After he had been resurrected, he descended from heaven and her ancestors touched the prints of the nails in his hands and his feet and they begged him for salvation.

I told her that he blessed them, loved them, taught them, gave them baptism and commanded that they be baptized. I told her when we are baptized, we become pure and clean before God.

I asked her how long it had been since she had been in a position where she felt pure and clean before God. She said, I don’t think I’ve ever felt that way or it’s been a long time. I told her that this was the message that her father in heaven had sent me to deliver.

I told her that her father in heaven had sent me there that day. I explained to her that I never go to Orem to start but today I was commanded. I told her that this was the reason. The spirit was surging in the car and I asked her to describe it to me. According to her those three words were love, joy and peace.

I said, you feel those because the spirit of your father in heaven is here and that’s how you feel in his presence. That’s how you feel his spirit. Her eyes were still teary and I said, your father in heaven is inviting you to have that baptism and have that gift of the Holy Ghost and he’s begging you to let him be part of your life.

I said, he wants his son, Jesus Christ, to be able to be there for you to lift your burdens and bring you home. She said, thats crazy! It just seems like this fits for me.

I asked her how long it had been since she had felt that way and she said that she didn’t think she ever had. She said that this is more powerful than in anything she had experienced. I asked her if she would like to live her life with that feeling in her heart and in her home where she lives with her son. I asked her how it would be to have her son grow up with that feeling. She said that would be incredible. She said, when I think about it, I know that what you’re saying is true.

I asked her if she had a Book of Mormon and she said no. I pulled out one of the copies of the Book of Mormon prepared by the Secrists and explained it to her to her and then gave it to her. She said, I love to read, I’m going to read this. I told her that the Book of Mormon did not replace the Bible but it testifies of Jesus Christ and is a companion to the Bible. I told her that the stories are awesome and her son would enjoy them.

She said, I have a new boyfriend and he was recently baptized in your church, he keeps asking me to go. I told her, well, that would be a good start! I told her that when God sends her a messenger, that’s an active action on his part to bless her and help her. I asked her if she thought it would be a good idea to turn away help from God. She said, no, I want this.

I asked her if she knew where she was supposed to go to church. She said no. I asked her if she wanted me to look it up and she said, yes, so I did. I texted the information to her. She asked me if her boyfriend could go to services with her and I said, absolutely. I told her that the ward also has primary for her son. I told her that he would go the first hour with her in the second hour with children his age to be taught. I told her, She said that her boyfriend and her son would be so excited. She said, I had kind of been caught up in a competition about mine versus his, but now I know that this isn’t about mine or his, this is God’s.

I asked her if she would commit to go to church and she said yes. I asked her to reflect on the things that had happened that day. I asked her to reflect on how it made her feel. She said, God let you look into my soul and he sent his spirit. I told her that this is how she knows that the other words I said were true and she said, yes. I said, now you can go to church on Sunday and your boyfriend will probably be able to baptize you when you’re ready.

I told her that he had to go in and talk to his bishop and make sure that he was ready. She said she would have him do that

She said, you know, at any other time in my life I wouldn’t have been receptive to this but God knows when we’re ready I guess. I’m grateful he sent you today because this is going to change everything for me. She got out of the car clutching her Book of Mormon and went inside.

Then I went to Salt Lake City to work.