One day I was staying down in Provo to work in the morning. I had just been to the dermatologist so I was feeling a little burnt and abused. I was staying in Provo because I was going to pick up some friends and take them to the airport at 1:30 so it didn’t make sense to me to go to Salt Lake.
I turned on the app and immediately got a ride to Salt Lake, a ride to the airport. The one thing I didn’t want to do and the one thing that I wasn’t going to do was go to the airport come back and then go up and back again. it just doesn’t make sense gas wise to do that. They barely pay enough money to cover the gas when you’re driving on the freeway like that so I was going to say no, but I just couldn’t do it.
I felt compelled to take this ride. I’ve been doing this long enough to understand that when you feel that you go with it and so I did. I drove down to South Provo past the cemetery and turned in to the neighborhood where this man lived.
He came out of the house and got in the car. While I was waiting for him to come out I noticed that my tire gauge on my dash was indicating a low tire so I got out and walked around the car really quick and used it as an excuse to open his door and get him in the car. I couldn’t see any deflated tires. They all looked fine.
The spirit told me to forget about tires and get in the car and start teaching. For the record, the guy looked like a member of the church. He was Latino, from Ecuador and he was leaving on a business trip.
I thought about people going on business trips and all the things they have in their head almost as a reason not to start but the spirit once again told me no, this is why he’s in the car. I decided that the spirit was going to be running the show so I shut off my analysis.
I knew we only had about 40 minutes and so I decided to get right to it. I asked him how long he had lived here. He said that he had lived here a couple of years. I asked him if he liked it and he said yes, it’s very peaceful.
I told him that the reason why it’s peaceful is that the people here try to obey God and when we obey God he gives us peace and he sends his spirit. I asked him if it was OK if I talked about religious things and he said yes.
As soon as he said this, the door was open and promptings flooded in. I said, I have a question for you. He said OK. I asked, why haven’t you been baptized yet?
Now I didn’t know he hadn’t been baptized other than the spirit telling me. He looked like a member of the church. He was taken aback a little bit. I asked him again, why haven’t you been baptized yet?
I said, don’t you know that’s the reason why you were brought here? He said, I thought I was here because I wanted to be with some of my friends who live here who are Mormons. I told him that them bringing him to the gospel of Jesus Christ is why he’s here.
I looked down again at my dashboard and the tire light was still on. I started thinking maybe I should pull off in American Fork or Lehi to fill the tire. The spirit said don’t worry about the tire and focus on what you are supposed to be doing. I put the tire light out of my mind, knowing God would take care of it
Right then I decided to open up with the impressions about him and direct my comments to those impressions. I told him that I know that his friend had taught him the gospel and that there were some reasons why he didn’t accept it.
I said, one of the reasons is your family. They are a very traditional and strong Catholic family. I told him that I knew by the spirit that part of his reservation was his fear of them and his fear of disappointing them. I told him that more than anything they wanted him to follow God and that this had created an inner struggle.
I told him that if he showed up having been baptized with the spirit of God around him, they would notice the change and it would open the doors for him to teach the gospel to them. I told him, that’s what you’re here to do, get baptized and receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
I told him that his father might be a little upset at first, but with time, the spirit of God would work on him and he would be baptized. I told him that his parents raised him to be a man of God and what that means is that you follow God. I told him that God brought him here for this purpose and someday they would see that.
I told him that one of the other reasons he didn’t get baptized is that he hadn’t felt like he had received an answer to his questions about the truthfulness of the church sufficient to help him take that huge step. I took that opportunity to stop for a second and ask him what he felt in the car right then. He said he felt incredible peace and joy. I asked him if he doubted the things I was saying right then and he said no, you are spot on so far.
I told him that the peace and joy he was feeling came from God. I told him that this was God‘s way of confirming to him that these things are true and the fact that he had no doubts right then while he was in the presence of the spirit verified this. He said, wow, that’s really cool. I told him, now you’ve had that witness and if you think back at the times you were with missionaries, you felt that same thing. God has been testifying to you all along. He said, I was just thinking that same thing.
I told him that one of the reasons why he was in my car was so that I could help him feel that. I told him that God wanted me to help him understand this.
I asked him what he knew about Jesus coming to America and the Book of Mormon. He said, I have a Book of Mormon, but I don’t remember about Jesus coming to America. I asked him if he’d read the Book of Mormon and he said no.
I talked about how God loves everyone in the world not just the people in Jerusalem therefore he had prophets here in America amongst his ancestors. I told him they wrote their revelations and that was the Book of Mormon. I told him it was the spiritual legacy of his people, left for him to benefit from and enjoy. I told him that part of that book is the account of the visit of Jesus Christ to America.
I told him that after Jesus was resurrected he said, “other sheep I have which are not of this fold” and that he needed to go to them so they could be counted among his sheep and they could hear his voice. I told him, those were your ancestors. Those sheep were your ancestors!
I told him that they had been through three days of earthquakes, tornados, fire coming down from heaven and darkness. I told him that they heard the voice of God introducing his son. I said that Jesus descended from heaven and stood on the steps of the temple in front of them. I told him that Jesus invited all of them, all of his ancestors to touch the prints of the nails in his hands and feet. They came up one by one and did just that.
After they touched the prints of the nails in his hands and his feet, I said that they all knelt and prayed saying hosanna which means “save us now”. I told him that they were praying to their God who was standing in front of them for salvation. They knew he was God and he was right in front of them and this was their plea.
I told him that as a direct response to that he called up 12, Instructed them how to baptize, gave them authority to baptize others, and commanded that everyone be baptized. He did this even though the majority had previously been baptized. He wanted them to have his baptism by his authority.
I told him that this baptism was a baptism to a higher covenant, a higher standard and a higher law. I told him that Christ expects more of his disciples and this baptism was that covenant.
I told him that Christ held the children and blessed them and then he cried. I told him that Jesus Christ gave these 12 the authority to give others the Holy Ghost so that once they had been baptized, they could have God’s spirit to be with them. I told him that we do this same thing today. Once we are baptized we are given the gift of the Holy Ghost. I said that the gift of the Holy Ghost is the thing that had been whispering to me the things to teach him. It’s a way we can have God walk with us.
I told him that the spirit can help us obey the commandments and that God gives us commandments as a way to bless us so that we can be happy. I told him about how my grandfather had been an alcoholic and loved to go out and drink. I told him that this made my grandpa abusive and a distasteful person to be around.
I asked him this question, even though my grandfather had fun drinking do you think that made him happy or would he have been more happy with his family and grandchildren? He quickly said, he would’ve been much more happy with his family and grandchildren. I said, when he disobeyed the commandment of God, he went with fun over happiness and chose poorly. Because of these poor choices he died at a young age from his alcoholism.
I told him that commandments are really important because they help keep us safe and help keep us happy. I told him that this is really important but sometimes we mess up.
I told him that one of the reasons why Jesus commanded his ancestors to be baptized is so that they could repent and come back to him. I said that this is how they could remain clean and become cleansed from their sin.
I told him that I had the impression that he was thinking of one sin in particular that he had committed. I told him that this was bothering him right then as we spoke. I told him that his baptism will cleanse him of that sin. I told him that baptism will make him able to stand before God and that through repentance and baptism that sin can be erased. He said, do you really think so.? I said, yes, I know it’s true.
He said I would love that. I asked, then you want to be baptized? He bowed his head. I told him that when he is baptized, he will be clean from that sin and the spirit will confirm this cleansing to his soul. He said, that would be amazing. I said, that’s why it’s so important. How can we have the spirit with us if we’re not clean? He said, I really don’t think you can.
I told him that it’s the same for our ancestors who have passed on. They need to be baptized so that they can go to the presence of God. They need the same baptism, the baptism of Jesus Christ. I asked him how they were going to get that. He said, I don’t know? I told him that I believe God is a God that loves everyone not just the ones who hear the gospel and he agreed. I said, how can he be a loving father if he doesn’t make a plan for all of his children to come home. He said, I’ve been bothered by this for years. it just doesn’t seem right.
We were passing the Draper exit and I pointed out that you could see three temples from there. I asked him if he knew what those buildings were and he said that they were temples. I asked him if he knew what we did in those buildings and he said no. I told him that we do baptisms for people who have passed.
I told him that when Jesus was in the spirit world, he set up the preaching of the gospel to the people there and many of them have accepted it. I told him that we go to those buildings and we are baptized in behalf of the people who have died. I told him that they have accepted the gospel, then they accept that baptism and want to be clean before God. I told him because of this everyone of God’s children can come home no matter what their circumstances were on this earth.
I told him that God loves everyone not just the people who were Jerusalem or who were in America. He loves everyone and he has a plan for us all. He wants us to come home, if we will.
He said, that’s amazing, that’s how it should be. I told him that he needed to be baptized because that’s one of the reasons why God sent him here to Utah. I told him that he needed to be baptized and then he needed to take the gospel and that baptism to the rest of his family, both on the earth and those who passed away. They are counting on him to save them. I told him it was his mission. His mission was to bring them all the baptism of Jesus Christ. The spirit was really strong in the car and I asked if he felt the spirit confirm that and he said yes.
I was happy and not surprised when he immediately responded with, I’ve always felt that God had a mission for me and today I know what it is.
A lot of times I ask people IF they will be baptized and I was about to say that when the spirit prompted me to ask WHEN he could be baptized. I summoned up the gumption and said, so WHEN will you be baptized? He smiled and said, I had some missionaries teaching me a while back but I got scared and didn’t want to commit. They just didn’t explain things to me in a way that I understood. I just didn’t feel the spirit like this. I didn’t feel the spirit like we are feeling it today. I asked him if he felt that fear today. He said, no! More like peaceful and excited.
I said, let’s do it now! Let’s decide when you’re going to be baptized. We pulled out the calendar and went over some days.
I told him he would have to go to church three times. He told me that he had already done that. He told me that a couple of weeks ago he went to a missionary welcome home of one of his friend’s daughters.
We came up with a date that he wants to be baptized, a goal date to work towards.
I gave him a Book of Mormon and asked him if he had one in Spanish. He said, yes, but I’ve never read it. I showed him the special attention given to these books by the Secrists and he was touched. I bore my testimony of the prophet, Joseph Smith and that he had translated that book. I told him it was written by his ancestors and that it was true. I told him we have a prophet of God today that speaks with God for us.
He said, I’m going to have my friend help me do this in my Spanish Book of Mormon. I want one just like this in Spanish.
He said, I’ve always known that God had a mission for me and that it was the reason why I was in Utah. He said, you hit the nail right on the head. He said, when I came out of my house today I was sad and a little down but the spirit of God in this car has lifted me. I feel peaceful and happy and I need that spirit with me. He said, you knew why I didn’t get baptized, you knew what my questions were and the spirit helped you see into my soul. I know that I needed forgiveness from my sin. You gave me the answers I needed. You helped me feel the spirit here today and I’ve never had an experience like this.
He said he was committed to being baptized and fulfilling the mission that God had given him.
He told me he was going to call his friend tomorrow and tell him that he wanted to be baptized and when. His friend’s daughter just got home from a mission so he should be able to help him out with that.
He got out of the car and went into the airport. As soon as he was gone, I got out of the car and I checked my tires. They were fine. Like my Heavenly Father said, don’t worry about the tires, you take care of him. I’ve got this.
Sometimes God sends you a lift 