My heart is full

I picked up a lady in Deer Valley who was heading into Park City. I love these runs! It’s like eight minutes and you make $10. When she got in she added a stop. She was going to the airport. My heart sank. That $10 ride became $23 and an hour and a half commitment. When you take out $12 worth of gas it makes you sad.

I had a decision to make and I decided to stick with it. I felt like canceling her and telling her that I was not able to go to Salt Lake but I felt like I should stick with it. As we drove to our first stop, we started talking about people on the road for business and how crazy they get. She was out for business and she said she didn’t recognize some of the people in their office by the way they acted.

I told her that I had traveled extensively in my life and that was some thing I was well aware of. People get away from home and they think they get away from all of their obligations.

I had told her that as a frequent traveler you take precautions when you’re on the road, so not to find yourself in a compromising situation. I told her that I always ate my meals in my room watching TV and not in restaurants. I limited exposure with those people to work hours.

I told her that I’ve been married for 37 years and that, in our religion, we take marriage seriously. She asked me what religion I was and I told him that I was a member of the church. She said, I’ve got one million questions about the Mormon church.

She asked me if I would be offended if she asked ne blunt hard questions. I told her no, and that I might actually give her some blunt hard answers. She laughed as we arrived at her stop.

She told me she had to get out of the car and get her bag and asked me if she could take five minutes to smoke a cigarette. I wanted to scream no because I hate how it stinks up my car. They all think that if they’re done smoking, they’re done stinking and that’s not the truth. But I knew we were going to be talking about the church so I said, yeah I’ll wait.

I went back and loaded her bag while she was smoking her cigarette. The bellman who helped me was from Argentina. The kids come up on J1 visas during their summer and work in the ski resorts. There are literally hundreds of Argentina kids running around Park City in the winter. This was one of them and we spoke in Spanish. He is from Bahía Blanca and I have several friends from that area.

Finally, she finished smoking her cigarette and got in the car. As she did, she said, wow! That was impressive! I chuckled and said, what? Your cigarette tasted good? She said, no, your Spanish was amazing. Where did you learn that?

I said I learned it in Argentina on my mission. She said, it sounded a little bit like Italian, I am Italian. I told her that Argentines are 75% Italian descent and that there is an Italian influence on the way they speak Spanish. I told her that my son says we don’t speak Spanish, we speak Italian, using Spanish words. She laughed and said that’s what it sounded like.

I told her that I served my mission when I was 19 years old for two years. She said, my boy has friends that are planning to go on a mission, so I’m a little familiar with that. I asked her how old her boy was and she said he was a junior in high school. She said, let’s get down to the hard questions.

She said, I don’t want to offend you but I want to find out what’s different between you guys and the Catholic Church. I want to clear up some of the things I’ve heard about your church. I said, where do you want to start?

We had 45 minutes and I knew we could cover a lot in that time. She said, I want to start with what is the difference between your church and the Catholic church.

I told her that the differences between our church and the Catholic church boil down to the fact that we believe that the Saints were wonderful amazing people and that Mary was an amazing woman but that they are not Gods or semi Gods. They don’t have authority to hear our prayers and take our message to God. I told her that in the Bible, Jesus said he was the only mediator between us and God and we believe that.

She said, well, that’s a huge difference! I said that it’s kind of a huge difference, our prayers go to God, it’s just that we believe that Jesus has this power and the authority the Catholic church relegates to the Saints and to Mary. She said, that makes sense, you believe in a more powerful Jesus.

I said, we also believe that God loves everyone not just the people in Jerusalem. I told her that Israel was scattered all over the world and that, according to Isaiah, Jesus was sent to all of the house of Israel not just Jerusalem. I taught her that there were prophets in America because God loves the people everywhere. I told her that the prophets in America taught God‘s word because God‘s words bring light and happiness.

I told her that many people look at commandments as restrictions and prohibitions but that we look at commandments as guard rails to keep us on the path to happiness and true joy. I gave her the example of my grandfather who was addicted to alcohol and tobacco. I told her that he was not happy because he couldn’t be anywhere without those substances. I told her that those substances were more important than anyone or anything.

I told her that if he had listened to the prophet, he would’ve loved his family instead of beating them and he would have served God instead of cursing him. She said, that’s beautiful that makes sense.

I told her that the ancient prophets in America gave commandments to the people so that they could be happy. I told her that they prophesied that Jesus would come and visit them after his crucifixion and resurrection.

I told her that the Book of Mormon was the compilation of the writings of the prophets from ancient America. They compiled their prophecies just like they did in the Bible. They compiled the words of Jesus Christ just like they did in the Bible and this was given to the prophet Joseph Smith.

I told her that Joseph Smith was a young man seeking truth from one religion to another and finally he turned to the Bible. He read that he should ask God, so he went and he prayed. God the father and Jesus Christ appeared and called him to be a prophet. Later a prophet who lived in ancient America appeared to him and gave him those records and he translated them and that’s why we have the Book of Mormon.

I pointed out to her that in the Bible Jesus said that he had other sheep that he would go visit. After his resurrection he did just that. He descended from heaven and stood on the steps of the temple. I told her that the people went up and touched the prints of the nails in his hands and in his feet. They cried in one voice for salvation.

I told her what he gave them was really special. He gave them an invitation to take a step up in their discipleship. He invited them to be baptized with his baptism and by his authority.

I told her that they had all previously been baptized because they had been taught it was important but Jesus invited them all to be baptized again by his authority and the way he prescribed.

I said, we accept that same invitation and are baptized by that same authority. We are baptized in the way, he commanded that we be baptized.

I told her that Jesus loves everyone, no matter where they lived, or when they lived, and he was here to prepare a way for all of us to come home if we want to.

I asked her, “how many people in the world, do you think die without hearing about Jesus?” She said, I have never thought of that question. I asked her how many of those people were God‘s children and she said all of them. I asked her if God loved all of his children and she said yes. I asked her again, how many of them die without hearing about Jesus or being baptized? She said I don’t know?

I said, consider all the people that live in China, all the people that have ever lived in China, consider all the people who live or have ever lived in Africa or the people that live in Saudi Arabia right now. How many of those people go through their lives or have in the history of mankind, gone through their lives without hearing about Jesus?

She said that’s the a huge number, that’s like 90%. I asked does God love all of them just the same as he loves you and me? She said, yes. I asked her if God was perfect and she said yes. I asked her if God‘s plan was perfect and she said yes. I asked her by the doctrine of the Catholic church how many of that 90% can go to heaven and she said none of them.

I said that’s a huge difference between our churches. We believe that God has a plan to save every one of his children if they will be saved. I told her that in the book of 3rd Peter, in the Bible, when Jesus was crucified and his body was in the tomb his spirit went to the spirit prison. He organized the teaching of the gospel to those who died without hearing it or without a good chance of accepting it.

I told her that God has set it up that everyone no matter when they were lived or where they lived will have a chance to be taught the gospel of Jesus Christ.

I asked her if it would be fair to teach them and let them know but not give them the opportunity to be baptized. I told her that our religions agree that you need to be baptized, and she nodded her head. I said, would that be fair? She said, no! I asked if that would be loving, and she said no. I asked her what kind of a perfect father would condemn 90% of his children and not even give them a chance. She said, no father would do that.

She said, I am a mother and that doctrine has bothered me forever. I’ve never believed as a mother that God would condemn a little child. Hearing this brings so much power and peace to my heart. I know that’s true.

I told her I agreed with her.

I asked her if she’d seen the San Diego Temple. She said, yes she had. She said it’s gorgeous, it’s beautiful. I drive by it everyday. I love that building. I told her the temples are very special places and one of the things we do in those temples is we are baptized for a person that has died. She was confused and asked if we have to have the dead person there and I said, no. We are baptized in behalf of the person who has passed on, no matter when they passed on. Then in the spirit world, having been taught the gospel, they have the chance to accept the baptism preformed for them.

I told her that by doing this everyone of God‘s children will have the opportunity to accept the gospel, be baptized, and come home and live with their father in heaven.

The spirit was in the car and I could see that she was feeling it. I said, that makes sense to you doesn’t it? She said, yes it does because a loving father would bring his children home. I asked, her if a little child doesn’t get baptized and dies, should that child be caught in limbo or in hell forever?

She said, my church teaches that but I do not believe it. I told her that I have taught thousands of Catholics in my life and I can count on one hand the number of Catholics that believe that an innocent little baby that dies doesn’t go to heaven. I told her that Jesus said we had to become like children to go to the kingdom of heaven. I told her that we learn in the Book of Mormon that Jesus Christ paves the way for all little children to come home. She said, you don’t believe in the original sin? She said, we believe in the original sin.

I told her that we believe that the original sin was covered and paid for by the atonement, crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I told her that we believe that we are only responsible for our own sins. She said, that makes so much more sense.

I told her that we believe in families and that our families are sealed for eternity, they don’t dissipate at death. I told her in the world people are married until death do us part but we are married for eternity.

She said, this word “sealed” kind of confuses me. What does that mean? I said, it means that it is made permanent. It’s a blessing that is given to us and made permanent through the power of God and endorsed by God. She said, that’s amazing.

I told her that in the temple there in San Diego we do baptisms and we do marriages not just for people who are alive, but people who are dead. I told her of a guy that I baptized whose wife had recently passed. I told her that there was a strong presence of his wife in my car and we had that discussion. I told her that he was baptized four weeks later and has now gone to the temple and his wife has been sealed to him forever. She had a smile and said, that’s great.

We were at North Salt Lake on I-80. Almost to the Redwood Road exit heading out to the airport. I had a strong impression to ask her if she wanted to go down and drive around Temple Square. This never happens, people going to the airport, go to the airport.

She said, yes, yes! Would that be possible? Would that be OK for you to do? I said, absolutely let’s go. I got off of Redwood Road, whipped around on I-80 and we went right back into town. We turned up West Temple and headed to Temple Square. Coming up on Temple Square, I pointed out the family search building on the left.

I told her that in that building is where the majority of the genealogical records in the world are kept. I told her that ancestry.com and all the genealogy websites cross reference and get their material from this place. She said wow. I told her there are missionaries there and every time she comes back, if she wants she can go in there and they will help her learn about her family. I told her that we do this so that we can do baptisms for our family and so that we can seal them and complete their family units with a blessing from God.

She said, that makes a lot of sense. I love that! We went around the corner and we could see the temple. They had the inside lane blocked off, so I pulled over so she could take pictures of the Temple with all the scaffolding and stuff on it. She was very excited to do that. I pointed out the conference center and she wanted to take a picture of that. We then went by the church office building. I told her I had friends that work in there and then we rounded the corner and saw the view of the new gardens leading up to the temple.

She snapped a bunch of pictures there. We continued around the block to the Beehive House and the Lion House which are under construction but I explained their purposes. I told her that the lion House was Brigham Young’s home. She snapped pictures there too.

We passed the administrative office building and I told her that this is where the prophet has his office. I testified that we have a prophet that guides us today that gives us the words of God. He helps us live our lives so that we can be happy. She said, that’s amazing. Can I take a picture of that building too. I said, yes. I stopped so that she could take a picture.

We went around the corner as she marveled at the Assembly Hall and then I pointed out that the tabernacle was built by pioneers without using nails. They use leather straps. I said that the acoustics are amazing in that building. She took a picture of the tabernacle then we got on North Temple and headed towards the airport.

She said, this trip has been an answer to my prayers. My son attends a Catholic school and plays baseball. He has been looking for a school to attend and I had thought about bringing him here to Utah to look at BYU. BYU was on his list because it was a private school, a conservative school, and a religious school. She said she was a little afraid of that but this made her excited to recommend it to him. I discussed with her BYU admissions policy and the honor code. She said, that’s amazing, he has to do that right now. He is used to that. He goes to a very strict religious school.

She asked if they would let a non Mormon into BYU. I said yes! I told her that right now our quarterback is a Jew and our three big men on our basketball team are all Muslim. I told her we’ll take anybody that wants to follow God love, their neighbors and be part of a community like that. She said I’m not only going to recommend that, I will insist on it as an option.

As we were driving, she got a call from her husband. He said, what are you doing? She said I’m talking to my driver about the Mormon church and it’s incredibly interesting. She said I need to hang up with you right now because I need to learn as much as I can. He said, will you tell me when you get back? I’d love to hear. She said that she would.

She hung up and said that her husband loved researching religions and learning about God, so this was going to be fun.

On the way to the airport. I asked her if she had a Book of Mormon and she said no. She said that she had heard about the Book of Mormon but only today did she understood what it was. I asked her if she would like a copy, and she said, do you have one? I said yes! I reached into my glove box and pulled out a copy of the Book of Mormon, prepared by the Secrists and I handed it to her. I said, this copy of the Book of Mormon should help you in your search.

She said, this will be more than a search, me and My Husband are going to read this. I asked her if she had Mormon friends and she said yes. I asked her to give them a heads up that she was going to be reading it and asked them any questions that she had. She said that she would do that. As we approached the airport she said, I want you to know that this ride has been exhilarating. I’ve never felt like this. She said she had peace and joy consuming her soul and her heart was full.

Never wanting to miss an opportunity to teach someone about their relationship with their father in heaven, I told her that she and her Heavenly Father lived with each other for thousands of years. I told her that this feeling was how she felt in his presence. I told her that this feeling was present when she heard the truth because her father was testifying that it was true. I asked her if she would be able to feel like that if what I was saying was not true. She thought for a minute and said no.

I told her that the spirit of God whispered to me the things to talk about and then he sent his spirit to confirm the truthfulness of my words. She said, I know that’s true. My heart is full.

I think she said that like 10 times in the drive up North Temple out to the airport. As she got out of the car, she thanked me and said this ride that started with a cigarette had changed her life.