Those awe inspiring palmyra nights!  Not that palmyra though

One night I was in Utah County and I picked up a lady out in Palmyra. I’ll bet you thought that was in New York, not so fast!

Palmyra is west of south Springville, kind of between Springville and Spanish Fork out towards the lake. It’s out there!  I actually like driving out there because it’s country. There are ditch banks, hay stacks, cows and fields.  It makes me feel like I’m at home in Idaho.

One thing about being in the country is that you see a lot more stars and when there’s a moon, it lights everything up. When there’s not a moon, you can’t see anything.

This night there was no moon and there are no street lights per se to light things up. It took me a bit to get to this young lady. I couldn’t find her. I decided to stop on the indicated spot and wait for five minutes and cancel if she didn’t show up.

I waited for about three minutes and then she just popped in the back of the car behind me. I couldn’t see her, both because she was behind me and because it was so dark back there. I had no idea what she looked like or anything about her. 

Sometimes that’s kind of scary because you just don’t know who’s getting in your car if they get in behind you and when it’s dark like that, it’s pure faith.

We started driving and the first thing out of her mouth was “your Mormon aren’t you?”  Not hello, not good evening.  I said, yes! Of course 100%! She said, I had my daughter baptized in your church. My grandpa baptized her. I told her, that’s so cool!

I asked her if she went to the baptism and she said yes. I felt like I should ask her what she felt at the baptism and she said she felt calm and peace. I said, I’ll bet you don’t feel too much of that in your life. I’ll bet that was something you really enjoyed feeling. She said, absolutely.  There’s not too much peace in my world.

I still hadn’t seen her but I followed the spirit down that road. I said, life’s crazy but that’s so good that you took the time to get your daughter ready to be baptized. I asked, so, you are a member the church too?

She said, I guess you could say that. I was baptized when I was young but it was a bad situation with my parents.   I ended up back here with my grandparents. I haven’t ever really gone to church. I let my daughter get baptized because she goes to church with my grandparents and she seems to really enjoy it. She said, I guess it’s the thing to do around here.

She asked me, do you like it here? She said, I mean here in Utah do you like it here? I said, absolutely. I said, I like it here but I believe I could be happy anywhere because I know my Heavenly Father loves me.

I said, there’s a calm and peace here that I like because the people here obey the commandments of God in large part just like your daughter. The people here get used to that peace and calm, but the cool thing is that you can take that with you when you go other places. Because of this, you can be happy anywhere you go.

I told her I was from Idaho but I had that peace and calm (and cold) in Idaho.  I said that  I was born in Las Vegas and we had that peace in our home in Las Vegas. I told her that God gives us the gift of the Holy Ghost when we are baptized and his spirit can go with us so that we can have that peace and calm.

She said, I don’t believe in God per se. She said, I believe there’s something out there but a person? No way! I don’t believe that. I felt strongly in this case, as I do in most cases when people say something like this, that what she meant was, if there is a God, then there are commandments and if there are commandments, there are restrictions on my unbridled lifestyle that I don’t want to adhere to. Therefore, if I do not recognize God, there is no guilt or responsibility. That’s what I think she was saying and that’s what I think most people with this attitude are saying.  They just don’t want to be told that they are wrong. 

I felt strongly prompted that this was a time to bear a firm testimony of our father in heaven and his love for us. I testified to her that our father in heaven is a real person and that he loves us. We call him father because he is our father and the whole purpose of this life is to learn how to make good decisions and live right so that we can come back to live with him.

I told her that Heavenly Father loves everyone that was ever born because they’re all his children. She said, how can someone love so many people. Most of them don’t even know about the church. I said, God is all knowing and all powerful.

I told her that his son, Jesus Christ, set up the preaching of the gospel to everyone that dies without hearing it so that every one of his children will be taught how to come home. I told her that we go to temples to do baptisms for the people who have died and been taught so that they can choose to accept or reject that baptism. I said, that baptism is the key that unlocks the door so that we can return home to our father.

I told her that when we are baptized, we are clean and able to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. I told her that the Holy Ghost walks with us, protects us, comforts us, teaches us and bears witness of truth to our hearts. I told her that this is why she felt the peace at the baptism because the Holy Ghost was there.

The spirit was in the car and I could tell she was feeling it. I asked, what do you feel right now?  She said that she felt that same peace. I said, that is your father in heaven, testifying to you that the things I’ve said are true and that he loves you. You are his daughter and he wants you to come home just like he wants your daughter to come home.

I said, he is a father. He is a just father and he he has made a way for all of us to be able to come home if we will. I told her in that same temple we can be sealed as families and not be separated permanently by death. She said, I know about that and I think it’s beautiful. My grandparents were sealed in the temple and it’s very important to them.

I said, that should be very important to you as well. God wants all of us to live with him along with our families.

We were heading to American Fork and we were just passing the Orem Temple and I said, here is a temple. That’s where we do these important things. She said, that temple is so beautiful. Every time I go by I this feel same peace.

I said, that peace is your father in heaven inviting you to come home by the influence of his spirit. I said, your daughter knows this, your grandma knows this and now you know it too.

I told her that God puts people in my car so that they can get messages and hear my testimony sometimes. I told her it’s not a lot of times as a percentage, but I’m glad that he gives me the chance to testify because I get to feel the spirit like we were feeling it right then. She said, I love this. I told her a couple of stories of people that had been in my car that came to my mind to share and she liked them.

When I finished the stories, she said, I noticed that you were told by the spirit what to say to those people. I said, yes! Heavenly Father will help us minister to his children and sometimes if we listen, he will put into our hearts the things that we should say.  These are the things that they need to hear and he will give us those words.

She said, that’s cool. I said, the question is, why are you in my car? The question is, what are the things that have kept you from going to church? Clearly your grandparents believe. What has been the thing that’s kept you away?  She said that she had already said that she didn’t believe that God was a person but that now she was wavering on that thought. 

Then she said, it’s kind of one thing that my grandmother says all the time that really kind of frustrates me. She says you’ll never be given a trial that is beyond your ability. You’ll never be given something greater than you can handle.

My rider said, that’s just not true. People have trials all the time that are too much. She said sometimes they commit suicide. I don’t know why my grandma would say something like that to me and it drives me crazy.  It sounds a bit self-righteous.

I said, your problem is that you don’t understand the atonement of Jesus Christ and you don’t have a testimony of the atonement of Jesus Christ. She said, I suppose you are right but I’m not talking about my sins.  I said, in reality that’s only part of what I’m talking about.

I told her that she’s only using a small portion of the atonement and that the atonement of Jesus Christ was all encompassing. I told her that the atonement happened when Jesus Christ suffered in the Garden of Gethsemane, on the cross, and later was resurrected. He not only paid for our sins, but he suffered all of the pain, anguish, unfairness, oppression, and evil that could be inflicted upon us. I told her that because of this, he has the ability to help us and lift us.

I told her that because of this we can do more than we are able to do and be happy. I told her that it had been a rough 4 1/2 years for me since my professional life came crashing down but this said, I had been happy and able to deal with all of the emotions and pressures.  I had relied on the atonement of Jesus Christ.

I told her that it made it so that I was able to not just sit here and focus about how unfair it was or look around and develop hatred for other people who hadn’t been affected and who didn’t understand, but I was able to do like Jesus would do and turn out, bear my testimony and say the things the Lord put into my heart and be his instrument.

I said, in return for me doing that, he has lifted me and blessed me and I have been happy in this trial. I said, God is great and he loves each one of us. He knows who we are individually and he has a plan to save us not just in the end, but all the way through.

She said, you said he gives you things to say like he did in those stories. What has he said to you about me?

I think we all know that’s not how this works. It’s not something that you just do on demand. When the Lord whispers the words to your heart, then you say them, but you don’t try to make it up or do it on demand.

As luck would have it, it just so happens that I’d been receiving a prompting for a while that this girl was in trouble with drugs and had a severe addiction problem. I felt like the reason why I picked her up at her grandparents in Palmyra was that she had taken her daughter there, and she was going to go to rehab.

I said to her, you know, this isn’t really how this works. We don’t ask for signs. This is how God lets you know that he loves you and the rest of the things I’m saying are true.

Then I told her about the impressions that I had about her addiction and everything like I said above. She said, amazing! And then there was silence for about a minute and she said that was just amazing again and then she was silent a third time and again she said, that was amazing. I can’t believe that you knew all of that.

I said, I didn’t know it, but your Heavenly Father knew it and he gave that to me to share with you so that you can know that the rest of the things I say are true. He gave that to you so that you can know you need to go to church, read scriptures and say your prayers.

I told her that Satan had convinced her that God does not exist, but he does exist and so does Satan. Satan is fighting you and God is fighting for you. I told her that God wants her to walk with his spirit just like she feels it right now and that it could help her fight the war that is her addiction.

She said, when I do drugs, there’s a thrill, but it’s not lasting. This seems like such a better path. I told her that if she will bring God into her life, have him there always, if she will read the Book of Mormon and say her prayers multiple times a day God could help find that peace by having his spirit in her soul and she will feel filled.

She said that’s exactly what I need. I think I will do that. I’m going into rehab tomorrow but I don’t have a Book of Mormon. I pulled out one of the Book of Mormon’s I have prepared by the Secrists and gave it to her. I said, read this every day, anytime you feel your addiction cravings. Read the Book of Mormon and pray. She said, I am desperate! My daughter needs me and I need to do this.

She said, I will! She said it’s amazing that you knew to say that thing. Someone had to tell you and I think it was God. I said, he’s your father and he loves you and he wants to have you feel his love and this is how we do it. I said, when you get ready to take the sacrament, that will be a way that you can fill your tank with the spirit as well.

I told her God has given us so many ways to walk with him. We need to reach out and do those things so that we can have the power to overcome the counterfeits that Satan throws in our path, like your addiction.

I asked her, so are you craving your addiction right now? She said, no! You know, I was just thinking that same thing right before you said it. I said, it’s because the spirit is here and that’s why. Satan can’t be here. The spirit is here and satan’s influence is muted.

I said, it’s important for you to know that I don’t need to be here for you to feel this spirit. Read the Book of Mormon, pray and get ready to take the sacrament by going to church. If you do those things, God can help you and God will help you.

By this time we had arrived and she got out of the car and headed inside waving on her way to the door. Right before she went in, she held the Book of Mormon up and waved it like a trophy. I hope that she grows to understand the power of the words and the spirit that accompanies those words that are in her hand. She’ll find out that her grandmother was right. She has a daughter counting on her.