One day I got a ride to the hotels just west of the airport. I don’t like those rides and usually when I finish one of them i get back in town really quick. Nothing good can happen out there. The only thing that can happen out there is you get a ride to Toole and that’s not good.
Usually I pause my app so that I won’t get a ride but this time I felt impressed not to pause my app. I felt like I was going to give a nice ride so I left it on. I got a ride clear out in the northwest side of the business park.
That’s about a 3 mile drive so I got going. I couldn’t believe how far out there it seemed but when I finally pulled into the parking lot I could see the young man standing out on the curb. I pulled up close to give him easy access to the backseat. I got the impression that this young man really was the reason I was there.
He got in the car and when he did, I noticed that he had three earrings in his left ear. Two of them were rings and one was a huge dangling crucifix. I said back to the spirit, are you sure? The kid looked a little wild.
I knew he was Polynesian. I started by asking him whether he was Tongan or Samoan. He said he was both so I said that means I can say Malolele or Talofa. He said, yes!
I asked, which language do you speak the best? He said Samoan so I said Talofa and he said Talofalava. I asked him what lava meant and he said it’s like just an add on.
He asked me where I learned to speak and I told him that I had served in the MTC and learned how to say hello in languages to the foreign missionaries. I told him we had lots of missionaries come in from the Polynesian islands. He was excited and asked me if I knew their names. I told him that it had been a lot of years and that would be hard so I did not remember their names.
He said, that’s really cool though. He said that he had learned Spanish from the Mexicans that worked with him and he spoke some of it. I was very impressed with his level of Spanish. He said, I’m trying to teach them to speak English because they help me speak Spanish. I was really impressed with this young man.
I knew by this time that he was a member of the church. He didn’t say it but I just had that prompting. I told him that working with the missionaries was a great blessing because we got to teach people about Jesus.
I told him we got to teach people the importance of going to church and that their Heavenly Father loves them. I asked him if it would be OK if I asked him some personal questions and he said yes.
I asked him, how long has it been since you’ve been to church? I know you’re a member of the church Jesus Christ of latter-day Saints. How long has it been since you’ve been to church?
He said, I haven’t gone in a lot of years. I said, but you’re still a member right? He said, yes, I guess I am. I guess I’m a member of the church.
I came right out and said to him, I said you know, sometimes God puts people in my car and the Holy Ghost whispers things to me to say to them. The few minutes that we have left in our ride there are some things that I need to say.
The first thing is that your Heavenly Father loves you and that you’ve doubted that in your life but it’s true. I told him that there is a God in heaven. I told him that his grandparents and his great grandparents knew it. I told him that God loves him and he is his father. I told him the love of God is greater than the love that you has for your own grandfather.
He seemed a little stunned and then I continued saying the words the Lord was putting into my heart. I said, there was a time in your life when you were abused. I told him that the spirit was telling me that when he was abused he felt helpless, betrayed and abandoned. I told him that because of this he clammed up and shut down with regards to feelings. I told him that he didn’t know how to deal with the guilt and the shame and so he covered it up.
I could see in the mirror that his eyes were watering up when I said this. I said, now you’re wondering how I know this. He had his head bowed and said, yes. He asked, how could you possibly have known that?I said, the answer to that question is, I don’t know this. The Holy Ghost whispered that to me so you could know that the rest of the things I’m saying are true.
I told him that he needed to understand that even though these things happened, God still loved him. I told him that God gave him the atonement of Jesus Christ to help him. I said that when Jesus Christ suffered, he not only suffered for our sins but for our illnesses, injustices and abuses that we would suffer. I told him that Jesus suffered the pain and shame that he had suffered due to his abuse. I told him that Jesus suffered these things so that he could look to Jesus and Jesus could help lift his burden. I told him that when we have something horrible happened to us, Satan points at God and says blame God and that’s what you did.
Then I told him that God points to Jesus and tells us to look to Jesus Christ and live. He tells us to look to Jesus Christ and have our pains and sorrows and injustices lifted as well as our sins.
I told him about how in the Book of Mormon, the people of Alma were slaves and it was a very hard thing. They believed in the atonement of Jesus Christ and called on his name. After applying the atonement their burden was lifted to the point that they could barely feel it.
I told him that it’s about time that he let Jesus lift his burden. I told him to quit hating, quit suffering, quit feeling shame and let Jesus Christ lift him up.
He said, wow the words you’re saying are very powerful, they are touching me. For a big Polynesian kid it takes a bit to make him cry but he sure had tears in his eyes. I asked him what he was feeling. He said he was feeling warm all over. I told him that this was the spirit of God. I told him when he felt this he knew that God was there and that the things he was hearing were true.
I told him, God sent his spirit so that you can know that the things I am saying are true. He said, that’s amazing.
I told him that we need to keep that spirit with us as much as we can because Satan is always coming at us with something. I told him about when I was on my mission and everything was going wrong, my companion didn’t like me, I didn’t speak the language and when I went to church I didn’t even understand a word. I told him that when I took the sacrament, it filled me. I told him it filled my soul and gave me the energy to go on. I told him that it filled my tank.
I asked him again, how long is it been since you filled your tank? He said, a long time. I told him, your father wants you back in church. He needs you to take the sacrament so that you can feel his spirit and have it with you. He needs you to have his spirit to be with you so that he can walk with you and help you do the good that you are trying to do.
I had the impression to tell him that when he was young, after the abuse and subsequent disappointments with some people in the church he had prayed to know if the church was true. He never felt like he got an answer. He put his head down and said, yes, that’s true. I said, this is your answer. This is your father reaching out. He gave me these words to say so that you would have no doubts.
I told him that he was always trying to help people too. I asked him to imagine how much more he could do if he had the power of God with him. I told him that through this power the Holy Ghost had whispered the things for me to say that I had no way of knowing in this car today.
I told him that a lot of times people are judgmental or they say things that are hurtful but he should remember to look to Christ instead of judging and blaming.
He said, I know I said this before but your words are very powerful. I’ve never felt anything like this. I said, God wants you back. God wants you to pray. God wants you in church. God wants you home.
By now some of the tears were escaping his eyes and he said, this is the best ride I’ve ever had. This may be the best thing I’ve ever felt. I asked, don’t you think it’s about time you went to church? He said, yes I do and yes I will.
I asked him what time his church met? He said, my mom goes at nine. I asked him if he would be with her this Sunday and he said yes. We pulled up to the place where I was dropping him off and it was a Polynesian restaurant. He said, my mom is right inside here. She will be so happy to hear about this ride.
He said thank you, shook my hand, got out and walked into the restaurant.
Sometimes God sends you a lift 