Hurrah for israel

I picked up a man named Israel one morning about 3:30. It had been busy that day and he had been waiting for about an hour for a ride. He was depressed thinking that no one would be able to take him home. He said that he thought it was a blessing that I was there! I love it when the story starts like that!

He was Latino but he didn’t speak Spanish. His family was from Mexico but he was not raised Catholic, his family was Penecostal. He was very proud and well-versed in his people’s heritage and history. It was kind of a passion of his.

Over the years he had lost touch with his faith a bit because of questions he had that were never answered. Due to of this he quit going to church. I asked him if he was open to hearing another perspective on God. He said, absolutely!

He started by asking me if I wanted to know what the problems were that he found with his religion. I told him I didn’t want to get into talking bad about his religion or what his problems were because I wasn’t there to tear that down. I told him that it’s not what his religion did wrong that was his problem, it’s that his religion didn’t address everything and that left him wanting.

I asked him if God loved everyone in the world that lived now or had ever been born. He said, absolutely, God loves everyone, he is our father. I asked him if God loved his ancestors who lived in Mexico hundreds of years ago and thousands of years ago. He said, yes!

I showed him a picture of Tulum. He was familiar with Mexican archaeology and recognized it right away. I pointed out that there are three doors at the top of the tower in the temple. I also pointed out to him that above those doors there were three spaces for engravings. I showed him that in the first space on the left there is a king God with a crown. The middle space is a descending God, descending from heaven to visit the people. The third space is empty. I asked him why that last one would be empty, he said he didn’t know.

I asked him if he had ever heard of Kulculcan or Quetsacoattle. He said yes, he was familiar with the history of the bearded white God. He knew that’s how Cortez tricked and conquered the Aztec empire. I told him that this descending God on that temple was the same God that they were waiting for when Cortez arrived. He said, that makes sense because the stories of the bearded white God indicate that he descended from heaven.

I asked him what more he knew about that. He said that this great white God came and taught good things, blessed the people and said he would return and that’s why they were caught off guard with Cortez.

I asked him if he would like to know about or read a book that contained an account of the visit of that great white God. He got physically excited and said, yes!

I pulled out a copy of the Book of Mormon. I said, this book has the answers you’re looking for. He was a little shocked and said, I knew you were Mormon, I could feel it but I had no idea that the Book of Mormon would have that information. Can you show me where it is so I can get the book and read it? I handed him the book in my hand and said, this is your copy. It was one of the copies prepared by the Secrists.

I explained the Book of Mormon and its origins. I testified of Joseph Smith and the translation of the Book of Mormon. The spirit fell on the car and his interest increased. I noticed the spirit and said, what is that you’re feeling? He said that he was feeling euphoric and had an assurance that what I was saying was true and that he should listen to me.

I opened the book to third Nephi 11 and talked to him about what had been going on up to that point. I told him that this is where Jesus came to his ancestors, this is where Jesus rescued them and this is where his people saw and touched the Savior of the world. I asked him how that made him feel and he said, amazing!

I went back to talking about the tower at Tulum and said, so if the middle one is Jesus, then who is the king God on the left? He said, God the father. Then I said, given the middle one is Jesus and the one on the left is God the father why is the third one empty with no image? He thought for a minute and said, that must be the Holy Ghost. In his Pentecostal church they talked a lot about the Holy Ghost.

I told him that the Holy Ghost is a very important part of the Godhead. I told him that the Holy Ghost is given to us so that we can discern truth. I told him it also comforts us and teaches us how to walk with God. I told him that a pursuit of the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost will inevitably lead us back to God. I told him that’s why the gift of the Holy Ghost is very important. That way when we’re worthy, we always have the right to have him with us.

I testified to him that the Book of Mormon was true, that Jesus did come to his ancestors, that his father in heaven loves him and that the Holy Ghost bears witness of that. I told him he would never look at Tulum the same ever again. I said, that is evidence that your ancestors saw Jesus Christ and he taught them. I asked him again, is the spirit telling you that’s true or false? He said, I feel it’s true.

I talked to him about Jesus then going amongst the people and instructing them to be baptized even if they had already been baptized. He commanded that they be baptized in the way he taught with the authority he gave them. I asked him if that was important. He said, yes. You can’t go to heaven and be saved unless you are baptized. I told him that this is why Jesus himself was baptized, to set the example that we all needed to be baptized.

I asked him, “given that Jesus gave authority to baptize and indicated a proper baptism, would that be the baptism you would think was the correct baptism?” He said, yes. I asked him if that was the baptism he received in his church. He said no. I asked him if he would be interested in having that baptism and he said yes.

I asked him about the people who had died without receiving this baptism. He said he didn’t know what would happen to them. He said, that’s one of the things that always bothered me. The plan we teach in my church seems incomplete. I told him that the true indication that God loves everyone is not only that he sent his son to them but that he provided a way for them to be baptized. I said that in our temples we are baptized for those people. Then they have the opportunity to accept that baptism and it opens the gates of heaven so that they can enter. I told him that in Ephesians it mentions baptisms for the dead and that this is how God has prepared a way for everyone to come home. It shows God loves everyone. He said, that’s perfect

I said, the Holy Ghost testifies of truth just like it has here tonight. I told him that after the people who lived here in America were baptized, Jesus then gave them authority to confer the gift of the Holy Ghost on the people so they could have its constant companionship.

He said, this is amazing. I love that this is the religion of my ancestors. I asked him if he would read the Book of Mormon and he said that he would. I asked him if he knew any church members and he said yes. He said that his two best friends were Mormons and returned missionaries. He wondered out loud why they never told him these things. I told him to walk up to his friends with that Book of Mormon in his hand and ask them that question.

He seemed like a guy who just found a brand new restaurant and was bursting at the seems to tell everyone about it. He commented out loud on the spirit that had testified that night about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. He had always been taught to look for the spirit. Fortunately the spirit was with us that night.

A testimony of the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith born by that spirit had changed his life. I would have loved to be watching when he talked to his friends the next day! Hurrah for Israel.