One night in 2022 I picked up a lady going to Layton. I hate going to Layton! Nothing against Layton but you drive up there and then you drive back empty. It’s no way to make money! She got in the car and seemed happy enough so I decided it would at least be a pleasant if not profitable journey.
I drove down 400 south and was headed for the freeway to go north. Before I hit the freeway entrance I knew what I was supposed to tell this woman.
I looked at her in the mirror and the spirit told me that today had been a bad day and that she was feeling down and that she was a member of the church but needed to pray. I felt that she hadn’t prayed or gone to church for quite some time.
None of this made sense, she had just been at the opera, she was all dressed up and she was leaving what would seem to be a friendly interchange with the man who went to the opera with her. She seemed classy and sharp and everything you would expect from someone that has it all together.
I prayed to recognize the opportunity and that I would be given the words to say.
We started talking about families. She said that she had three boys and the oldest was 14. I talked about my three kids and then I thought to tell her about our tradition of going for a car ride.
In our family if we went for a ride what that meant was that between me and the child, whatever was said in that car never left that car. It was like the cone of silence or Switzerland where there was no judgment, no punishment, only listening and strategizing and understanding. A place where advice could be given and received freely.
She was blown away by that idea and she thought it would be really good. Then I saw an opportunity to say that I also prayed for my kids, in front of my kids. I said, there’s something special about a kid hearing their parents pray for them and call down the power of heaven for them. She was silent.
I followed the primping of the spirit and told her she seemed like she was a less active member of the church and I asked her how long it had been since she’d been to church. She said, a few years. I laughed and said, “you’re in good company then, the rest of the church hasn’t gone much for the last two years either!” We laughed and then she proceeded to tell me about her sons and how the oldest would struggle with wanting to go to church.
The spirit prompted me to talk to her about what she had gone through and what her kids were going through and how horrible it was. I told her how in her divorce the oldest son probably felt like he got the short stick. They probably thought that compared to others they had a hard life and that their burdens were great. She agreed. I talked about the importance of Jesus Christ and the atonement. I talked about the analogy of the cups. It is like when a mother puts out 5 cups for her children she makes sure each one is equal. It doesn’t work that way with Jesus everyone’s cup is at a different level. Jesus comes and makes everyone’s cup full regardless of their position or stature or what they have done. I told her that the atonement of Jesus Christ was the answer that could lift her today.
I got the impression that she was especially struggling today and I said, for some reason God needed to give you a hug today. I explained to her about her relationship with God and how he loved her and how he was a perfect parent and he wanted her to feel his love and wanted her to come home. I said he loved her just like she loved her children.
The spirit was strong in the car and I said, that feeling that you’re feeling right now is the Spirit of God and it is the same feeling you felt in his presence for all of eternity. She said, “ I can feel that”. I said, this feeling is your guide. It will lead you home to your father in heaven. If you keep that feeling with you, he can help you make decisions and pull you through.
She said, I always thought I had to cry to feel the spirit. I explained to her that the spirit is a very individual thing and that it is impossible for me to tell her what the spirit feels like but it’s important that we identify it so that she can know what it feels like to her. She said, that makes so much sense. I love this feeling. She said that no one had ever helped her understand this.
I said to her that this is the same feeling she had always felt in the presence of her father in heaven. I said that the fact that he sent me to pick her up and give her this message was intended by him to show her how much he loves her because he sent his spirit to validate what had been said. She said, this is amazing.
I said, furthermore, back when we were getting on the freeway in Salt Lake I had the prompting from God that you haven’t been saying your prayers and that this is something God would love for you to do so that he can bless you with his spirit.
I asked her how long it had been since she had prayed. She said, I haven’t prayed in a very long time. I said, God knew that and he wanted me to tell you this so that you would know that this message comes from him. She was silent for a bit and then said, I know this is from God. There is no other way for you to know this.
She said, this is exactly what I needed today. I am so grateful that God sent you here. We need to start going back to church. Two years is way too long. Her oldest son had started to be a bit rebellious.
I said, if you’ll pray with your son and do these things we have discussed he will feel the spirit and want to know God. I told her that the problem he was having with wanting to attend church was because of the emotions of the unsettled situation in his life which had obscured the spirit to him. I asked if he would go to church if she asked and she said,yes but not happily. I said that as she exposed him to the spirit at church and in prayer he would be touched and feel the truth. I told her she should identify the spirit to him like I had with her. She said that this would be awesome.
As I dropped her off I told her that I got the impression that she needed to have the missionaries over and that they would be instrumental in helping her son. She said, it’s so funny you said that because I’ve been thinking about asking them to come over. I said, you need to do that, you need to have them in your home. You need to feed them and they will feed you and your son. She said, this is the best! I’m so happy! I’m going to go in and pray because I don’t want to lose this feeling of the spirit that we have in the car.
She got out of the car and waived. Heavenly Father knows us so well and it is a blessing to see him move his hand to recover his children.
Sometimes God sends you a lift 