One day I was in Provo and I got a ride down at the health department on South University. When I pulled up, I picked up a young lady. She had just come from a doctor’s visit because she was pregnant!
I was excited for her and we talked for a minute about what her husband did for work and then the conversation turned to what she did for work.
She said that she had to quit work because she was really sick in the pregnancy. She said that it was really hard for her because she hated being bored but she hated being sick as well.
I got the impression that I needed to answer a question that this young woman had and so I started paying attention to the spirit, trying to tune in.
I asked her if she liked living here and she said yes! I asked her if the people had treated her well and she said that the people had been very kind. I told her that people here are generally very kind because they are members of the church and have a tremendous desire to do what Jesus would do.
She looked shocked that I talked about religion. She said, you’re the first driver that’s ever talk to me about religion! I said, if we live right, it should be part of everything we do. She agreed. She said she loved to study the Bible. She said that learning about Jesus gave her a lot of hope.
I told her that the people here that are members of the church believed exactly that same thing. Jesus gives tremendous hope in our lives and hope in our future.
I said that hope and the spirit of God that accompanies that hope is the thing that transforms our communities. I asked her if she thought she had felt this in our community compared to other communities where she had lived. She said that it was clearly different here and she attributed it to what I had previously mentioned.
I asked her what her religious affiliation was and she said that she was baptized Catholic, but more recently had been occasionally attending evangelical worship services.
I asked her if they were answering her questions, the questions she had as well as the one she was afraid to ask. She said, no, no one‘s ever answered that question. The spirit was prodding me to talk about the baptism of little children. I started getting this with intensity and I think it was pushed along by the fact that she was pregnant. I think that is a very natural time to be considering this question.
I said, it’s about babies isn’t it? It’s about whether or not a baby is condemned if it dies without baptism. She said, how did you know? I told her that when we’re baptized we get the gift of the Holy Ghost and it whispers to us the things we should say because Heavenly Father knows what’s in our hearts and in everybody’s hearts.
I told her that the Holy Ghost had whispered to me to say this. I told her that the fairness of access to Jesus and his plan, along with the requirement of baptism that we all believe in, have been a concern to her for quite some time. It was amplified now that she was going to have a baby.
She said, that’s so true! I’m not just concerned for my baby but I am concerned for all the other babies that I had previously believed we’re not able to go home to God because they were not baptized. She said, I just don’t know what happens to them! She said, if that principle and aspect of our church is wrong and I believe it is, what else is wrong?
She said, this is why I went to the evangelical church to see if I could find some answers on this question. She said, they didn’t address it. They didn’t address the fairness. Why so many people who never hear the name, Jesus Christ, whether it be because of the situations of their life or their age when they pass seem to be stopped and condemned. She said it was very concerning to her.
I asked her if she went to our church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. She said she went there once but it was when she was starting to be sick with her pregnancy and she had to leave early. She said she hadn’t been back.
I asked her if she knew how our church believed with regards to this subject. She said no, she didn’t because she didn’t get to spend much time there. I told her that I believed it was important for her to understand what we believe on this subject.
I told her that the central point of our belief is that our father in heaven is our father and he loves us. I asked her if God was perfect and she said yes. I asked her if a perfect parent would do everything in their power to save all of their children and she said yes. I could tell she meant that because she said it with enthusiasm. I told her that our perfect father in heaven has a perfect plan to save everyone of his children if they will be saved. She agreed with me.
I asked her if a perfect father with a perfect plan and perfect love would reject a child who was not able to be baptized due to lack of exposure to the teachings of Christ or geographic restrictions that made baptism impossible? She said, not the God I believe in.
I said, first off, I want to put you at ease regarding the fate of these children. I testified to her that we believe that our father loves each one of us. I said that he is our father and that his son, Jesus Christ, paid the price for our sins. I told her, included in that price was the fact that he paid for the original sin so that no one is held accountable for Adam’s transgression. Because of this, every child is innocent and pure before God and has no sin to answer for.
I told her that in the atonement, Jesus Christ paid for that sin so that every single child anywhere who dies goes directly to heaven. I told her that they don’t have anything to prove because Jesus said that we are to become like them to enter into the kingdom of God.
She had a tear in her eye and she said, that sounds right. She said, is right she said, I always believed that they would go to heaven but I didn’t understand its relationship with Jesus Christ. I said, he paid for that sin!
She said, that makes me feel so much better. Where can I learn more about this? I asked her if when she went to our church she was given a Book of Mormon? She said yes, but it’s in English. She said, even though I read English, I don’t read it well enough to read that book.
I told her that the Book of Mormon is a compilation of the prophecies received by the prophets of ancient America. I told her that God spoke to the people here and taught them through prophets. I told her that they recorded these prophecies just like they did in the Bible. I told her that the Book of Mormon was the religious history of her people here in America.
I told her that God loved her ancestors every bit as much as he loved those in Jerusalem. I told her because he was a perfect father, he sent his son Jesus Christ to visit them after his resurrection.
I told her that the account of that visit is recorded in the Book of Mormon. I said, in this book, you can learn about how much God loves your ancestors and loves you.
I told her that at one point, Jesus had them bring all of their little children to him and he loved them and he cried. I told her that angels walked in their midst and these little children were blessed by the hand of Jesus. I told her that these were her ancestors and this was her legacy.
She said, I’m stunned. This seems like something I should know about. I said, more than that it’s something that, you should know inside. I asked her what she felt right then. She said, having the answer to this question that has bothered me for so long has kind of freed my mind. I feel tremendous peace. I told her that this was the power of God confirming to her the truth of what I had said.
I told her that Joseph Smith was called by God and Jesus Christ to be a prophet and later he translated the writing of those ancient American prophets so that nowadays we have them. We are able to read them and learn from them. I said, this is where we learn that baptizing little children is a mockery of God.
She said, that’s exactly right. I pulled out a Book of Mormon in Spanish. It is one of the Book of Mormon’s prepared by the Secrists. Instead of pointing out the questions of the soul and the tabs as I usually do, I took her right to Moroni 8. My experience with Moroni 8 is that I have never read that to a Catholic that didn’t 100% agree with it. Even though it directly contradicts their church’s doctrine and practice.
Knowing that this was her concern and her willingness to believe my words on this subject without even reading it from the scripture made me happy. I knew this would be fun. As we read, we emphasized a couple of parts like the fact that this was a prophet saying that these were the words of Jesus Christ, not words made up by a man.
I emphasized where it says that it was a mockery before God and that those who practiced this needed to repent. I pointed out it emphasized that Jesus came to cleanse the sins of the sinners. I read this phrase. “the whole need no physician, but they that are sick; wherefore, little children are whole, for they are not capable of committing sin; wherefore the curse of Adam is taken from them in me”
I continued reading with these verses
“10 Behold I say unto you that this thing shall ye teach—repentance and baptism unto those who are accountable and capable of committing sin; yea, teach parents that they must repent and be baptized, and humble themselves as their little children, and they shall all be saved with their little children.
11 And their little children need no repentance, neither baptism. Behold, baptism is unto repentance to the fulfilling the commandments unto the remission of sins.
12 But little children are alive in Christ, even from the foundation of the world; if not so, God is a partial God, and also a changeable God, and a respecter to persons; for how many little children have died without baptism!”
She said, this is exactly what my question has been and this is the exact answer to that question. I told her that when I an answer to a question comes from God it makes sense and settles your soul. She said, that’s exactly how I feel.
I said, Jesus Christ was sent to save us all but especially in this case the little children. He also saved those who are not capable of sin due to the fact that they may be mentally challenged or in someway incapable of sin.
I said, God has a plan for all of his children and Jesus always did say to bring the little ones to him.
She said, this is the best thing I’ve ever read. I said, that was awesome of your friend to give you an English Book of Mormon but why don’t you hold onto this Spanish one too! She said, I would love to do that if that’s fine. I said, that’s why we have them. I grabbed one of my business cards to mark the Moroni chapter 8 page.
She said, I’m going to have to call my friend who took me to your church and discuss this with her. It’s amazing to me the way you knew this question and were able to answer it. She said, the answer was there all along. It makes so much sense.
I told her that baptism for those capable of sin is still important and that when Jesus came to America before he attended to the little children, he gave his baptism to their parents. Even though they had previously been baptized he invited them to take a step up in discipleship with this new baptism. I told her that every single one of them were baptized, including her ancestors. I told her this was the same baptism we have today in our church and by that same authority.
I told her that every single one of them were blessed by the hand of God, including her ancestors. I told her that God had answered her question and made her aware of those blessings given to her through her ancestors so that she can claim them. I said, that’s an amazing legacy. She smiled and agreed.
She got out of the car and went in to her home. I imagine that her friend was a little shocked to hear from her. I imagine her friend was a little disappointed when she left early on the day that she attended our services but I think this phone call she was going to get more than made up for it.
Sometimes God sends you a lift 