One day I was working in Provo and I got a ride to go to Salt Lake. I didn’t know if I wanted to go to Salt Lake right then and I thought about not taking the ride but I got an impression that I needed to, so I did. When I got to the address I found that it was about six houses north of where Heather and I lived when we were first married and on the same side of the street.
I thought this was cool and I was excited to see if I knew the family. I waited for about four minutes and then I started to think, well, maybe he’ll cancel. If he cancels I get the cancellation fee and I don’t have to drive to Salt Lake. Win-win and I started thinking like that, but then I felt chastised.
I felt like there was a purpose for me to be at this home. Finally a kid came out and got in the car. He was a 24 year-old kid so clearly he was born long after we moved out of that house. I found out that their family had only lived in that house for about 10 years.
As we started driving, I wondered why I had a prompting that I needed to take this ride so I decided to start by asking him why he was going to Salt Lake. His answer set the tone for the rest of the ride. He said, my father is dying in the hospital and I need to go up to the hospital and sign a do not resuscitate order.
When he said this, the spirit said, now teach the gospel. Teach him about how much his father in heaven loves him and how Heavenly Father has a plan for each of us. The spirit also gave me a prompting that he was a member of the church but that he was less active. I had the impression that partying and girls were a huge part of his rebellion.
I took that last information and put it aside knowing that at some point, I would want to bring it up. I decided immediately to talk about love. I told him that losing your father can be very difficult. I told him that my father passed away last summer. I told him that one of the things I learned is that Heavenly Father loves us so much and that he is in charge even when we feel like things are spiraling out of control.
I told him about the experience that I had with my father‘s passing. I told him that the spirit had commanded me to go up and give my father a blessing, releasing him from this life and calling him to the next life. I shared with him that before I gave my father that blessing, my father and I gave my mother a blessing. I told him that my dad wasn’t even as sick as my mom but I gave him that blessing and within 48 hours he passed.
I told him that as sad as that was, it was really comforting to know that our Father in Heaven was in charge and that he knew my father individually and personally. I told him how nice it was to know that my Heavenly Father had a job for my father to do.
I told him that it was really hard not to have my dad around. It was really difficult not to be able to call him and talk to him but then I realized something. I told him that I realized that my father in his depleted condition was not able to do the things for me he wanted to do. He was not able to help me like he wanted to but that now, unencumbered by his worn out physical body, he is able to be with me and help me from time to time when I need it.
He said, do you believe that? I said yes. I told him that Heavenly Father says that it’s his work and his glory to bring to pass the eternal life of his children. He said, I remember that.
Then I asked, well, what do you think would be the work that my father would do? Would it not be to help his children? I believe that my father is around and he helps us. I told him that I am sure that Heavenly Father would want that
I told him that for me it’s a little bit like Obi-Wan Kenobi from Star Wars. I asked him if he remembered the scene where Obi-Wan is killed by Darth Vader. He said, yes! He said, I love Star Wars! I said, before Obi-Wan dies, he says, “if you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine”. I said, for me, it’s a little bit like that. My dad can be around me and help me in ways that he was not able to because of his limitations.
He said, that’s really cool, I’d never thought of it like that.
Then I felt the impression to teach him about the atonement. I asked him, what the atonement is. He said, the atonement is how we are forgiven for our sins. I said, yes! That’s a small part of what the atonement is. I asked him, what else the atonement does? He sat there befuddled for a moment and then said, I have no idea. I thought that’s all it did.
I told him that the application of a huge overwhelming portion of the atonement is how our Heavenly Father lifts us through our trials and burdens. It’s how he makes it so that we can get through. I told him that life isn’t fair and the bad things happen to good people. I told him that because of this Jesus Christ suffered during the atonement so that he can help us bear our burdens and lift us through our trials.
I told him about Alma and his people after they escaped King Noah and how they relied on the atonement to lift their burdens. Even though their burdens were never removed, they were so blessed by the power of the atonement of Jesus Christ so that they could barely feel their burdens. I told him, this is how God lifts us through our trials.
As I said this I felt like his father’s condition wasn’t the only burden he carried and that he was blaming God for everything.
I told him that Satan tells us to blame God for our trials and problems in life but God asks us to look to Jesus Christ. I told him that through Jesus Christ and the power of his atonement, all things can be made whole. I told him that God says, look to Christ and live. I told him that if we look to Christ, we will live with our father in heaven forever and we will live spiritually while we’re here on earth. I told him that if we look to Christ, we can live with happiness and joy in our lives regardless of the circumstances .
I asked him it’s like if you have five clear cups with different levels of red punch in them and you needed to make sure everybody had the same amount of punch, what would you do? He said, I would take some from the ones that had more and put in the others so they were all equal. I told him that’s how we think but that’s not how God thinks. I told him that through the atonement of Jesus Christ. It’s like he comes in with a pitcher full of red punch and just fills all of the glasses to overflowing, regardless of what level they were beforehand.
I told him that Jesus Christ makes up all of the difference so that we don’t have to be beaten down and overwhelmed by sadness or events in our lives. I told him that Jesus Christ makes it so that we can all be whole, so that we can all be happy regardless of our circumstance.
I felt the spirit very strongly as I talked about this and I asked him what he was feeling. He said, he’d been feeling very sad all day, sad, distraught, and angry. He said, but now I feel peaceful. He said, I feel so much better.
I told him that what he was feeling was the spirit of God. It was the Holy Ghost! I told him that when he felt this he knew that his Heavenly Father loved him and that he would be there for him if he would just turn to him. I said, look to him and live.
I told him that he had known this feeling for thousands of years and that he had missed being around it as he had become less active in the church. I then realized that I hadn’t shared any of the prompting I had received with him nor had I asked him if he was a member of the church. I just went off of the prompting so I decided to do that now.
I said, you are a member the church, right? He said yes. I said, you are inactive aren’t you? He lowered his eyes and said yes. I asked him how long he had been inactive and he said that he quit going to church when he was a priest.
I said, first you quit going to church and then you started partying with your friends and doing inappropriate things with young ladies. He said yes. He asked how I knew these things and I told him that the spirit whispered them to my heart. He said that this blew his mind. I said, Heavenly Father knows everything and he gave me these things so that you would know that the things I am saying are true. I said, these things that you did have driven a wedge between you and the spirit. It made it harder for you to be close to God and feel the comfort and peace that you are feeling right now.
He said, I love this feeling. I said, that’s great! What do you need to do to make sure that you keep this with you? He thought for a minute and said, I guess I need to do better. I said, let’s come up with a few things that you need to do.
I said, first and foremost, I think you should ask your dad for a father‘s blessing. He said, my dad can’t even get out of bed. He’s in so much pain. I said, can he talk? He said, yes he can. I said, you sit next to the bed and have your dad place his hand on your head while he’s laying in bed and give you a blessing. Have him give you a father‘s blessing.
I asked , what do you think that would mean to your dad? He said, I think he would love it. I asked what would that mean to him and he started to tear up. He said, it would mean the world. I said, today when you go in there, you ask him to do that. He said, I will do that!
I said, the next thing we have to do is work to make sure that you’re worthy to have this spirit with you always. You need to make sure that you’re doing the things you need to do so Heavenly Father can have his arms round about you. You need the Holy Ghost to walk with you. He asked, what do I need to do?
I said, these are the primary answers. You need to go to church, say your prayers and read your scriptures. He kind of smiled and rolled his eyes. I said, you need to do these things because that’s how we bring the spirit into our lives so that it can be with us.
I told him about when I was on my mission and I learned that by taking the sacrament, I could fill my tank spiritually. I told him that becoming worthy to take the sacrament and then taking it worthily, could transform everything else in his life. I told him that he would feel the spirit fill his soul if he would do that.
He said, so do I just start going to church? I said yes. I said, we used to be in your ward. I said, there are a lot of good people in that ward. You need to go to church and feel their strength and have it lift you. I told him to go to the bishop and talk to him about what he’s been through over the last four or five years. I told him to tell the bishop that he wanted to get worthy to take the sacrament so that he could have the spirit with him.
I told him if he would do this the bishop would help him. I said, you could even serve a mission if you wanted to. I said, you might want to ask the bishop about that. He said, my dad would love that! He asked, is that still possible for me? He said, I think I will talk to the bishop about that.
I told him that he had to read the Book of Mormon every day. I told him that even if it’s just a little bit that he reads, he needs to read the Book of Mormon every day because that will bring the spirit into his life. He said, I can do that.
I told him that as he reads the Book of Mormon, he needs to pray and learn to talk with his father in heaven. I told him that he needs to learn to have a relationship with his father in heaven. I told him that he’s just like his earthly father and that he loves him and wants to bless him. He wants to hear from him. I said, that’s why we have prayer so that we can call home.
We were coming up on the hospital and I asked, will you commit to do these things that we’ve talked about? Will you go ask your father for a blessing today? Will you start going to church every week? Will you talk to your bishop about getting ready to take the sacrament? Will you read the scriptures every day and will you say your prayers? I said, that’s what God would have you do.
He said, I’ll try! I looked in the mirror at his eyes. They were still moist from the tears that have been flowing throughout the ride and I said, do you still feel the spirit in the car? He said yes. I asked, what does that mean? Does that mean the things I’m saying are true? He said, yes it means that they are true.
I said, does that mean that you should do the things on this list? He thought about it and said yes. I asked again, will you do these things? He said I’ll try hard.
I said, since you love Star Wars so much, Yoda had a really great saying, it was “do or do not, there is no try”. I said, even Yoda knew that saying you’re going to try is not a commitment and that without a commitment you won’t follow through.
I asked him again, will you do these things? He said, yes, I will. I asked, will you make a commitment to do it? He said, yes. I asked him to imagine how happy his father and his Heavenly Father would be to hear this. He smiled at the thought. I told him that I would pray for him and his family. I told him that I knew that Heavenly Father put him in my car today because he needed help. I told him Heavenly Father knows what we need and that he loves us enough to make sure we get it. I said, now you get to thank him for that.
He said, I feel so much better now than I did before. He said, I’m so glad that God sent you to drive me up here today. I think I can do this now. I pulled up to the door and he walked into the hospital with the peace that the spirit brings to sign the papers that will allow his father to pass away.
Sometimes God sends you a lift 