.One night during the winter it was pretty snowy and I was on one of those runs where they don’t allow you to reject a ride or you forfeit the bonus. I was down in Sandy and I got a ride at the mouth of big Cottonwood Canyon where the buses drop off the skiers. As I pulled in I saw the guy waving at me. He was a young guy and seemed to be a typical skier.
When he got in, I swiped the arrow on the app so I could see where we were going and lo and behold he was going to Provo. When passengers are going to Provo it is a good thing for them but not for you when you’re working. I wasn’t very pleased. I had my mindset on working in Salt Lake where it was snowing and I could making bank. It wasn’t snowing in Utah County.
I decided to just shut up and do it and away we went. I asked him why he was going to Provo and he said that there was a girl who was his friend from high school that was attending BYU. He was going down to see her. He was a student at Arizona State University and a member of the ROTC. He was a Marine in that program and he kind of had his life planned out that way. He obviously liked this girl in Provo because it was worth spending hard earned cash to get three hours with her.
I was concerned about him getting back up to Solitude where he was staying that night. I knew that there weren’t very many drivers that had cars capable of making it to the resort. I did however, know that my car was capable of making it. I also knew the most of the current drivers are immigrants and do not have experience in snow driving. I am however an East Idaho trained snow driver and I have tremendous snow driving skill.
I offered to take him to Provo, hang out at home for the three hours then take him all the way up the mountain back to solitude. He seemed relieved and excitedly accepted the offer. He said that he thought he might have to walk 3 miles up Big Cottonwood Canyon because he didn’t think he would find a driver to take him all the way to the to the resort.
I started to talk to this young man and I could feel that he was a good young man. I could feel his goodness and I could feel his sincerity. I could feel his desire to make good choices and do the right things and I was impressed by how he carried himself.
I asked him about his religious history and he said that he believed in the Bible. He said he believed in God but that he didn’t really have a religious foundation. I asked him about the girl he was going to see. I asked him if he liked her as in would he like to date her. He said yes. I asked him what he liked about her and he said that it was just a feeling he had when he was around her. I told him that I felt that part of this feeling was a peace he felt when he looked in her eyes. He said, wow that’s very specific but exactly right. None of the other girls have that.
He said that at one point she had given him one of our Bibles that he read part of. He said he didn’t have it anymore but that he thought that was nice of her. He said she was thinking about going on a mission but he didn’t know anything about that.
Since he brought up the Book of Mormon I thought we would talk about it for a minute. I asked him if he knew what it was and he said not really, he had only read a little bit. I told him it was an account of God’s spiritual dealings with the ancient people of America. I told him that the people in America had prophets just like the people in Jerusalem because God loved the people in America just like he loved the people in Jerusalem.
I told him that God revealed his word to prophets in America just like he did to the prophets in Jerusalem. I told him that they wrote these words down. This is why we have the Bible from Jerusalem and the Book of Mormon from America. I said that they both teach that Jesus Christ is the son of God and they both testify of his divinity. He said, that’s really cool.
I asked him if he thought God loved everyone and he said yes. I asked him if a loving God would only talk to one of his children if he had 10 of them and he said no. I asked him if he had children in 10 different states, would go to each state to visit them and he said yes.
I told him that he was literally a son of God and that God loved him. I told him that God loves all of his children and he sent his son Jesus Christ to save us all. I told him that Jesus Christ went to all of his sheep to bring them into the fold.
I asked him if he had heard the scripture about “other sheep I have” from the Bible and he said yes. I told him while recounting that scripture, that when he said this he was talking about the people in America and in other places. I told him that in the Book of Mormon he said, still other sheep I have that I need to go see.
I could feel the spirit in the car as I testified of the Book of Mormon and God‘s relationship to each of us but I sensed that he was not recognizing that he was feeling it. I decided to probe. I asked him, what are you thinking when I say these things? He said, it’s like pure knowledge. I’m getting a rush of knowledge. I asked him what he was feeling and he said, I feel peaceful. It’s calm and warm in here he said, I feel good. But mostly I am learning a lot.
I asked him if the things that I had said to him sounded strange. He said no, it felt right. He reiterated that it seemed like pure knowledge downloading into his brain. I told him that this is how he would feel when he heard the word of God. The spirit of God was there and it was helping him learn and understand these things. He said, I know that’s true. That’s exactly what’s going on.
He said he loved this feeling and felt like he wanted to dig in and learn more and more. I asked him if he still had his copy of the Book of Mormon that was given to him by the girl at BYU. He said no. I pulled out one of my copies prepared by the Secrists and gave it to him. I said, I’m giving you this book so that you can have it. He said, it’s all marked and lined out. I said, this is your book you should keep it. I told him that it was a book prepared especially for him and that I wanted him to have it. He asked me if I would keep it in the car and give it to him later and I said yes.
I talked to him about baptism. I mentioned how Jesus Christ had come and asked everyone to be baptized the way he taught and by his authority that he gave them. He commanded them to be baptized even though they had all been previously baptized. He taught them the proper way to baptize as well. My rider asked me what the difference was in this baptism and the one he had. We went through the three points in the baptism; when you’re accountable, in the water by immersion and by the authority that Jesus gave on that day when he came to America.
I asked him if he studied, prayed and found out that this was true, would he be baptized? He said, absolutely. I would love to have the peace in my heart that I feel in the car and in the presence of this girl.
He then looked at me and asked, how do we get this thing started?
I asked him if he had ever gone to our church and he said no, he didn’t think they had any in the part of Arizona where he lived. I told him there are a lot of members everywhere in Arizona. I said that I even have a friend that was a bishop of a ward at ASU. I told him, I know that there is a ward in Arizona that he should attend. He said he’d love to do that. He asked me how he could find out where it is.
I asked him to leave me his address and when I picked him back up I would have the time and place of the meetings. He said he would do that and he gave me his address.
One thing I would love to say here is that his questions were always genuine and very introspective. He was on a search for truth, not a search for a girl even though he found this feeling he wanted to have in his life during his pursuit of that girl. He was genuinely interested and excited for a ride back. He asked me to keep the Book of Mormon in the car and said that he would snag it on the way back.
I dropped him off at BYU at 6 and promised to be back at 9 o’clock.
At 9:00 I came back and there he was with the girl on the sidewalk. They gave each other a hug and he got in the car. We started to drive and talk about his evening.
He said they went bowling at the Wilkinson Center and had a good time. I asked him if he told her about our conversation and he said he tried to once but that she deflected that conversation a bit. I told him not to be discouraged by that because she probably didn’t want to feel like she was pushing him. He said he could see that. He said that she told him that she’s going to go on a mission.
That gave me the opportunity to talk about missions and how we go out to testify of Jesus Christ. I said that we testify about how the gospel has blessed our lives. I told him that it not only blesses our lives as individuals but as families because we are able to be sealed together as families through the power of the priesthood in temples. I pointed out four temples on the way back.
I told him that I had found the bishop and ward in Arizona for him to attend. He said, that’s great. Do I just show up on Sunday morning? I told him that I would have that bishop reach out to him on Saturday. and that someone would meet him at the door on Sunday. He said, that’s great! I’m excited to do it. I want to get started.
I texted him the page from the meeting house locator. He was excited because that was really close to where he lives. He asked if it was OK for members of the church to be in the military. I said, of course. I started listing a bunch of people who are members of the church who have been in the military including general authorities and apostles. He was impressed. He felt like he should ask me what I thought about him. Following the promptings of the spirit I told him that it seemed to me like he was looking for something in his life. I said it seemed like he felt like he was wandering a little bit in his life and was looking for something to fill the void in his soul. I told him that God put him here tonight so that he could feel God’s love and get this information. I said that God wanted him to grab that knowledge so it could get him on the path.
He said, “that’s exactly right. That knowledge was amazing. It was amazing how clear it was and I really have a desire to learn more.” He said, you would think that learning something like that would satisfy your desire to learn but it heightened my interest and that’s really cool.
When we were going back up the canyon he was very impressed with my expertise in snow driving. He said, in my head, there are so many ways that I got the right driver tonight. I laughed and said, it’s amazing how Heavenly Father knows what he’s doing. When I dropped him off I made sure he had his Book of Mormon and I told him for sure the next day I would text him the information I found and that the bishop would be contacting him.
I asked him to commit to read the Book of Mormon and he said he would do it, 100%. I asked him to pray when he read it and he said he would because he wanted to feel the spirit again like he did that night
When I went to call the phone number for the Bishop that was in the meeting house locator, it was the actual phone in the meeting house, a landline. That number is of no use to anyone and should never be published but there it was. I didn’t know what to do because I wanted to talk to the bishop because we needed to reach out to this young man quickly.
I called my brother-in-law whose name is David. He lives in Phoenix and he was able to find the name and the phone number of the bishop of the ward for me.
Using that number I called the Bishop and the Bishop was excited! I couldn’t get the idea through to the bishop that this guy wasn’t a member. At first he thought he was a less active member. I said, no, we’re going to baptize this guy, you, me and the missionaries so he got on board and was excited to make the call.
This is a good young man trying to do the right thing. He and I both believe that he was guided to my car to get things going.
Sometimes God sends you a lift 