Things are cooking in the Vinyard

One day, I picked up a young man who was a cook at a restaurant in the mall. He got in the car and he had such a good feeling about him. We started to drive and I got the impression that I needed to invite him to go to church. That is pretty bold even for me.

As we drove, I talked to him about whether or not he liked living in Utah. He said he liked living here very much and that he really liked the people. I asked him what church he went to and he said that he was a baptized Catholic. He said that since his parents had both passed away he had never really been religiously active.

I said, well, since you’re living here, maybe you ought to look at the Church of Jesus Christ of latter-day Saints. Maybe you should start going to our church. I said, the kind of people you’re running into that you like are probably members of the church. There’s probably a reason why they are the way they are and it has to do with the church. He said, I never thought of it like that.

This young man was from Venezuela and he was struggling to find his footing here. He had been a successful businessman in Venezuela yet here he could only get a job as a cook. He said, I guess I could use a lift up.

I told him that I do interpretation of our sacrament meeting into Spanish every Sunday and I invited him to come. That’s what the spirit had told me to do. He reacted very favorably and asked “what time and where?”

I told him where we meet and when we meet. I told him that it was the very next day and we would love to have him come. He told me that he would be moving soon and had an appointment to look at an apartment during that time so he probably would not be able to make it. He said that he would do it another day for sure.

He got out of the car and I thought to give him my phone number. He gratefully accepted it. He said he would be in touch and would go with me another week.

A couple of weeks passed and I hadn’t heard from him. Where I didn’t have HIS phone number, there was nothing I could do about it. One day I got a ride out in Vineyard that was going up to the mall. I didn’t think anything of it, even though that was the place where this young man worked.

My rider came out and got in the car and I hadn’t even seen his face when he got in. Out of the backseat his voice said, hey you’re Bruce right? I said, yes! I looked in the back and I saw his face and I knew it was him. He said, do you remember me? I said yes! He said, I guess I still owe a trip to church with you. I said, yes, you do.

It was Saturday again, and I said, tomorrow we have meetings. What time do you want me to pick you up. He said, whenever you want. He said, I have a new address. When I get home, I’ll text it to you. I told him I would pick him up at 11. He said, I believe Jesus put me in your car twice now. I am supposed to do this.

He asked me what he needed to know. I said, it’s easy. I told him that Heavenly Father is truly the father of our spirit. I said that he loves each of us and we love him. I told him that when we were in the presence of our Heavenly Father, we loved being there and our spirits still remember that. I said, Our spirits still want to go home to their father. He said, I believe that Jesus loves everyone just like you do.

As we said these things, the spirit was very strong in the car and I identified it by asking him what he felt at that moment. He said, I feel energy and warmth. He said, there’s a tremendous peace. I said, that’s how you felt in the presence of your father in heaven and if you seek that feeling, it will guide you home to him.

I said, Heavenly Father loves everyone who was ever born and wants them all to come home. He has a plan that will make it possible for every one of these children to come home if they want to accept his gospel. I said, everyone will have that chance.

He said, I like that. He said, that’s kind of how I believe even though I’ve never heard anyone teach that. I said, the spirit teaches truth and it’s bearing witness of that to you right now. He said he could feel that. He knew it was true.

I told him that Jesus died and was resurrected for us. He made it so that everyone will be resurrected. He made it so those who are baptized and have done the things they need to do will be able to come home to their father in heaven.

He mentioned how the Catholics believe that if children are not baptized, they can’t go to heaven. He asked, is that the same thing? Do they get left out here too? I said, no! They don’t ever get left out. I said, the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and his atonement made it so that every child that dies in innocence comes home to Heavenly Father.

I told him that we need to repent and make ourselves clean so that we can come home to our father in heaven as well. I said, this is why we need baptism.

I told him that Jesus told the people in the Bible that there were other sheep in other places and that he was supposed to go to them because God loves all of his children and not just those in Jerusalem. I said that he went to them, he gave them the power to baptize and invited them to be baptized, I said that he did this even though they had already previously been baptized. I told him that this baptism was the baptism of Jesus Christ and the one that opens the doors to heaven.

I told him that the visit of Jesus was recorded by ancient prophets here in America that might have been his ancestors. I told him that this record was given to Joseph Smith, a modern prophet, who translated them. I said, we have this record today. I told him that it is called the Book of Mormon. He said, I’ve heard of that. I told him that it was the religious heritage passed down to him by his ancestors.

I told him that Jesus Christ held his ancestors in his arms and he blessed them. I said that he loved them and the blessing he pronounced on them and their posterity rings true for him today.

I told him that this was the same baptism we have today and we can perform that same baptism because we have the same authority that Jesus gave to his apostles here in America. I told him that through that baptism he could become clean from his sins and stand clean before God. He said, I want that. He asked, how do I get that?

I told him that he had to go to church, meet with the missionaries and learn the things they wanted him to learn. I told him that once he did this, he could begin to cleanse himself and make himself worthy to stand before God. He said, that’s amazing.

He said, what about my parents? They never had that baptism. Can they be with God? I could tell this was a very sincere question and I was so happy to have the ability to teach him about the temple. I taught him that we go to the temple and are baptized there for the people who have passed. After this baptism they have the opportunity to accept or rejected it.

I told him that seeing what a great young man as he was, I’m sure that his parents would be very happy to accept the baptism of Jesus Christ. He smiled. He said, that’s awesome. He said, how do you go about getting that done? I told him that we have temples and in those temples we performed this ordinance for those who have passed. I said “soon after your baptism you would be able to go and do this”.

I told him that the temple is a very special place where we work together with those who are no longer living so that we can all be together in the kingdom of God. He said, “that is beautiful!”

I told him that in the temple, we also do marriages that are eternal and do not end with death. They are eternal and our families are also eternal. I told him that my wife and I had been married in the temple and so we will be together with our family forever.

I told him that the cool thing about the temple is that not only do we do baptisms for people who have passed but we also perform marriages and sealings for people who are no longer living.

I told him that he would also be able to someday participate in the sealing of his parents to each other and to their family. His smile was huge and he said,that’s what I want.

He asked, how do I do this? I said, we can have missionaries come over. I’ll introduce them to you tomorrow at church. They will teach you about the church. I said, they will teach you about Joseph Smith, and how he saw God the father and Jesus Christ. I said, they called him to be the prophet to restore the church of Jesus Christ. I said that in this restoration he received the proper authority to make all of this happen. I told him that with this authority his family could be brought together forever. He was excited and said, well, I guess I need to go tomorrow for sure. Later that night he sent me his address.

The next morning I was there at 11 and I picked him up. On the way to church we dropped by the chapel where his future ward meets and I introduced him to the bishop and the missionaries. They were really excited!

We went to church and he loved the meeting, but most of all he loved the spirit. After the meeting he said, this is what. I want to be baptized.