Change your airport, change your life

One night I picked up a guy at the airport in Provo. I don’t know if you’ve ever been to that airport but it’s really slick and easy. We started to drive and he talked about how his company usually had him fly out of Salt Lake but he really had enjoyed the Provo Airport.

We started to drive and talk about all of the time he was going to save not driving from Lehi  all the way to the Salt Lake airport and being there so early.

He told me that he had been traveling for business and he absolutely loved his job. He said that he wished he could have been smarter about his life in the last little while but that his job had helped pull him out of his situation.

I asked, what kind of a situation is that? He said, I had a couple of deaths close to me that shook  me up. Before that I owned a couple of companies and was doing really well, but after these people passed, I just shut down for about three years and blew all of my money.

He said, all of a sudden I got lots of stress, and it was hitting me hard. He said that the way the world is going with regards to politics it had also become an obsession for him.  It made it hard for him to see clearly. It made it hard for him to feel like he had a future.

He said that the people are so corrupt, the government is so corrupt, everyone lies, and they’re trying to take what we have. He said, I don’t know how to deal with it and I don’t know what to do.

I asked him if he had ever heard of the Book of Mormon. When I said this, I didn’t say it as a question to garner information. I said it kind of as “well that proves the Book of Mormon true” kind of comment.  In response to this  I received a very distinct prompting that this young man had been IN some churches, but not OF our church for sure! 

He said that of course he heard of the Book of Mormon and that he believes God is really important in our life. He said, that’s why I read the Bible. I want to be close to God. I told him that “close to God” is where he needed to be. 

I told him that in these difficult times we need God our lives. I told him that if he wants to feel the presence of God, the Bible is important but the Book of Mormon brings us closer to God and brings his spirit closer to us than any other book we could read. I told him that’s what he needs.

I told him that Joseph Smith had a lot of turmoil in his life and was looking for the truth. He was looking for the church of God and couldn’t find it. I told him that he read in the Bible that he should pray so he did.  God the father and Jesus Christ appeared to him and called him to be the prophet. I told him that later an angel, who had been a prophet in America, gave him the sacred engravings that contained the writings of the ancient American prophets. He was called by God to interpret those writings from those ancient prophets.

I told him that he did exactly this and that is how we got the Book of Mormon. I told him that the ancient prophets who lived in America saw our day and that this book had been given to us in our day so that people could take advantage of it. It was written so that we could see their mistakes and learn from them.

I told him that when we read that book, we can feel the spirit of God. As I talked about the Book of Mormon, the spirit of God clearly manifested itself in the car. What had been a generic conversation had become very focused. I asked him if he could feel that, and he said, yes. He said, I feel like I should listen to you. I feel like the things you are telling me are true.

I told him that God sends his spirit to testify of truth. He sends his spirit to us so that we can be guided in this life. He said, I felt the Holy Spirit many times in my life. I said, how did it feel? He said, a bit like what we’re feeling right now, but not as intense.

I said, the Holy Ghost testifies of truth wherever it is found and this is how God testifies to us.  I said that this is how God comforts us and this is how God helps us. He sends us the Holy Ghost so that we can be one with him. He said, that’s great!

I said, before you were really worried about the political situation and all of the dishonesty and corruption. He said, yeah, it kind of freaks me out a little bit. I asked, how do you feel right now about that?

He thought for a minute and then said, I feel like it’s still a problem but it’s not freaking me out right now. I feel peace about that. I told him that was because the Holy Ghost brings peace. I asked him if he remembered when Jesus said, my peace I give to you and he emphasized that it wasn’t peace as the world sees peace, but HIS peace .

He said, oh, that makes sense. I said, when you read the Book of Mormon, you’ll feel that peace.

I have to admit that at first I judged this young man as being a member of the church. He certainly was a cultural member of the church. He was from Brigham City. He had worked at Maddox, which makes him awesome.

Everything he said, the way he talked and the way it felt led me to assume that he was a member of the church. The spirit let me know otherwise.

I told him that in the Book of Mormon they had a lot of political upheaval and issues. They had people who wanted to install a king. People who were elitist and thought they were better than the other people, and they thought that they were superior and that should give them the right to rule.

I told him that there were other people who participated in what they called secret combinations. I said, they made and took oaths to protect each other and to help each other commit sin, to steal,, to participate in iniquity, whoredoms and to take the freedoms away from the people.  He said Epstein island? I laughed. 

I told him that these people caused the downfall of their society.  I told him that we are warned in the Book of Mormon to watch out for them in our day and fight them in our day.

I told him, we don’t have to worry if we have the power of God. I said that if we fight with his power, we will always be victorious. He said, that’s amazing. Is that what’s in the Book of Mormon? I said, among other things. I said, the Book of Mormon is principally a testament of Jesus Christ. I said, we have the Old Testament, we have the New Testament, and we have the Book of Mormon another testament of Jesus Christ.

I told him that the Book of Mormon was written by those prophets so that we could learn from their times. The Book of Mormon was written by their prophets so that we could know of God‘s love for us and for everyone.

I said that the Book of Mormon is where we learn that God loves everyone no matter where they live, and he sent his son to his other sheep scattered all around the world. He said, that’s beautiful! I told him, a God that’s all powerful would certainly want to share the good news of his son with all of his children and he said, absolutely.

I said, a God that’s not constrained by geography or proximity would certainly bless all of his children like that. He said, absolutely! He said, I guess I should’ve read that book. He said, even though I grew up in Brigham City I have never been a member of the church.  My father left the church before I was born. He has come back to the church in the last few years and tried to gather all of us children in, but it’s been something I have fought.

He said that he was baptized in the Methodist Church when he was about five years old. He said he still remembers that. I told him that being baptized is important and it’s amazing that he still remembers that!  I told him that parents have their children baptized because they want to show God their love. He said, that’s exactly right. My mom and dad wanted me to believe in Jesus.

I said, when Jesus came to America all of the people had previously been baptized just like you were. They had learned from their prophets that baptism was important and they were baptized to show their love to God.  I told him that when Jesus descended from heaven, he stood in front of them and they felt the prints of the nails in his hands and his feet.  I said that they pled with him to save them. I told him that as a direct response to that plea, he called up 12, gave them the authority to baptize and commanded that they all be baptized, even though they had previously been baptized.

I told him that they were commanded to be baptized to a new level of discipleship, to a new higher covenant, to a new life in the service of their Heavenly Father. I told him that every one of them he did just that. I told him that every one of them was baptized by authority given to them by Jesus, and in the way that Jesus Christ commanded that they be baptized.

He said, that’s so cool. I told him that this is the same baptism we do in our church. I told him that his previous baptism served the purpose of letting his father in heaven know that he loved him but that Heavenly Father expects more of us. I looked at him in the mirror and said, Heaven Father expects more of you.

I told him that once we are baptized, we are given the gift of the Holy Ghost, so that Heavenly Father can be with us always, not just when we’re hearing truth.  We have the right to have the Holy Ghost as a constant companion. I told him, this is how we navigate the world today. This is how we live in the peace of Christ. This is God‘s plan to lift us up and carry us through.

I told him that we get the Holy Ghost right after we are baptized so that we are clean and we remain clean. The Holy Ghost will always be with us as a constant companion.

I could feel the spirit telling me of his desire to be clean and received a prompting that this desire had been very impactful to him and that I should talk about it more. I felt like he thought he was unclean and unworthy to become clean.

I told him that I had this prompting. He said that there’s no way I could’ve known that if God hadn’t told me. He said that he had just been thinking this that very day.  He said he had decided that there was no way he could make it to heaven because he didn’t think God would rescue him because of his sins. He said he was ashamed of them, but he didn’t really see how he could become clean. 

I told him that it happens through the atonement of Jesus Christ. I told him that Jesus paid for our sins and our condition. I told him that Jesus understood who he was and how he felt. I told him that through his baptism he would be cleansed and the Holy Ghost would bear witness of it to him, that he was now clean. He said, that’s what I need.

I told him that Heavenly Father expects him to take that next step and be that new level of disciple. I told him that Heavenly Father put him in my car today so that he could feel the spirit and understand the importance of this.

I said, to this point, you’ve kind of turned a deaf ear to your dad. He has found such joy in taking that step and he wants to share that with you. He said, I never thought of it that way. I asked him what he felt right then in the car. He said, my chest is on fire with the spirit. He said, I love this feeling and I’ve never felt it like this, I’ve never felt it so intensely.  I asked him what that means. I know that was repetitious but I wanted him to say it.

He said, it means that what you are saying is true. It means I need to be baptized by that same baptism if I want to be on that level of peace and discipleship. I asked him, is that something you want? He said, more than anything. He said, if I have that spirit with me, I can see how it would be very easy to know how to walk with God during these troubled times. He said, I’d love to have that.

I said, well, here’s how we start. Do you know where there’s a church close by? He said, yes, right over my back fence. I told him to go on Sunday at 9 AM for the meeting and feel the spirit that was there. He said, I’m going to do that.

He said, maybe I should invite my dad to go with me. I think he would like that!  I told him that I think his dad would love that and that he should absolutely do it.

He said, I’m excited to feel this more often. I’m excited to go to church and I want that baptism. He said, I’ll call my dad first thing in the morning. He got out of the car, waved and walked into his house.