Let your gospel light shine bright.

One day I was down in Springville in the business park off of 1400 North. I was going to pick up a ride. A lot of times when you pick up people after work in an industrial park setting, they are dirty and tired. We call it work, haha. When I pulled up, I saw that this guy was very well dressed, clean and he had a smile on his face.

The spirit was bouncing around in my heart and I knew something good was going to happen on this ride. I knew that this young man was prepared and that God had some things he wanted him to know.

He got in the car and the smile on his face matched the cheerful disposition around him. This was a good dude. We started chatting about what he did for work and how long he had been here.

He had just moved here four weeks ago and he lived in Salt Lake. I was taking him to the train station in Provo so he could get on the Front Runner to go home. He said, I really ought to move down here. He said, it’s so pretty down here and all of the people are so nice.

I asked him if there was a huge difference between the people here and the people in Salt Lake. He said, yes, I like the people here.

I felt like I needed to take this opportunity to follow the spirit and do what I was supposed to do. I asked him how familiar he was with the church. He said, all the people at work go to the church but no one has really ever taught me anything about it. He said, I think we’re going to be moving down here to Utah County next month so I can be closer to my job. Is the church the same there as it is here?

I said, yes, the church is the same everywhere. I said, a lot of churches are different from one building or one preacher to the next but all of our churches operate the same way and teach the same things. I said, our church is run by a prophet of God and Jesus Christ is the head of our church. I said, we believe in continuing revelation from God to us and because of this, we are on the same page for the most part.

I said, we have a prophet that receives revelation from God. We have apostles who are also called by God that receive revelation. That revelation blesses our lives. I said, all of our church congregations run under their direction throughout all the world.

I said, we believe that all of the members have the ability to receive revelation as well. I said that we all serve in the church. We give the sermons, we teach classes and we visit other members of the church. I said, when we do this, we try to listen to the spirit for revelation so it can help us know the things that we should teach, know the things that we should say and know the things that we should do.

I said, this is probably why you feel the way you do down here and around the people you work with. They are trying to have this spirit with them so that they can be better disciples of Jesus Christ and have his power. He said, that’s awesome!

I said, to us, it’s all about God‘s love. I said, God is our Heavenly Father and he loves each one of us individually and deeply. I told him that this relationship is the most basic and fundamental relationship in our existence.

I told him that our lives here on earth are a quest to learn how to live in such a way that we can have his spirit to be with us. By living that way, one day we can return to live with him. He said, that’s beautiful.

I said, are you Catholic? I had felt the prompting that this was the case. He said, yes, I am one of those two times a year Catholics. He said that he had done the communion when he was 12 and since then he hadn’t been back to church other than Christmas and Easter. He said, come to think of it, I really miss spirituality in my life.

I said, having the spirit in our lives is very important. I asked, have you realized yet that this is one of the reasons why you like it at your new job? The people around you have that spirit and even though you don’t know them well, you’re attracted to being around them because you are feeding off their light.

He said, I was just thinking that today. He said, I was just thinking how much I enjoy being around them. This is why I was wondering about what your church believes.

I said, we believe that our Heavenly Father loves us so much that he sent his son to pay for our sins. He also suffered for our challenges, burdens, infirmities, pains and the injustice we experience in this life. I said, he suffered these things so that he could lift us through our burdens, trials and depression. He can cleanse us from sin and help us come home to his father.

I said, he did that in the Garden of Gethsemane and on the cross. He sacrificed his life so that we can live with his father forever. I said, we believe because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ everyone will be resurrected. I said, we believe in new beginnings.

I asked him if he’d heard of the Book of Mormon and he said yes. I asked him if he’d ever seen a copy and he said no. I reached into my glove box and grabbed a copy of the Book of Mormon prepared by the Secrists. I told him that this was the Book of Mormon and that it was a very important book. I told him that it was a companion to the Bible and another testament of Jesus Christ.

I told him that the people who had lived here in America anciently had prophets. I said that they had written their prophecies and the things that they taught to the people. I told him that the way God blesses us is through the words he gives his prophets and through the revelation that we receive personally. I told him that the Book of Mormon is chuck full of all of that. I told him that reading the Book of Mormon can bless our lives and help lift us through our challenges because it talks so much about Jesus Christ and his atonement.

I said, that’s why we’re called the Church of Jesus Christ of latter-day Saints. I said, Jesus Christ really is the cornerstone of this religion. I said, that’s why it bears his name.

I asked him if he had ever heard that Jesus Christ came to America. He looked surprised and said, no, I’ve never heard that. I talked about how Jesus Christ came to America after his resurrection and that he descended from heaven then blessed the people. I said, he gave them authority to baptize and commanded them to each be baptized, even though they had already previously been baptized.

I told him that they were baptized to a new covenant and to a new level of discipleship. I told him that this is the same baptism we have and that we perform. We do this so that we can all step up to that level of discipleship.

I told him that part of this is that after we are baptized we get the gift of the Holy Ghost. I said that it can be with us at all times. I told him that the Holy Ghost comforts us, teaches us and guides us. That’s why the gift of the Holy Ghost is so important. When we have this gift we have the right to have the Holy Ghost with us if we are worthy and doing the things that we should do.

I told him that this is what he felt around the people at work. I said that this was where the light he saw in their eyes came from. He said, yeah, I was meaning to ask you about that. I said, It’s a wonderful thing when you’re living your life in such a way that you can have the light of the gospel shine from your face. I told him that this is what he had seen and experienced. He nodded with recognition.

He said, who is Joseph Smith? Wasn’t he the one that wrote the Book of Mormon? I said, no, not quite. I told him that Joseph Smith was a young man that was confused about which religion was the true religion because there were so many professing to be true. He smiled and said “just like all of us”. I told him that Joseph Smith prayed to ask God the father which church he should join.

I told him that as he prayed, God the father and Jesus Christ descended from heaven and stood above him in the air. I told him that they called him to be the prophet to restore the church of Jesus Christ on the Earth. I said that Joseph Smith was a prophet and since that day we have always had prophets on the Earth. I said, today the name of our prophet is President Russell Nelson and he lives in Salt Lake.

He said, that’s so cool, I like that. I could tell that the spirit was really working with this young man. He had readily accepted everything I had said. He seemed to have no doubt. I asked him what he felt, and he said, tremendous peace and it’s like I found a puzzle piece that I didn’t even know I was missing. He said, this makes a lot of sense for some reason. I asked, even though the things I’ve told you are new and you’ve never heard them before, how do they feel? He said, they feel right.

I told him that if he will read that Book of Mormon and pray he will have this feeling in his heart. The things he is reading will make sense. They will fit just like that puzzle piece. I told him that this is the gospel of Jesus Christ and we are here to be his disciples.

He said, well, I certainly have seen that at work. I said, the spirit you felt here today was sent by your father in heaven to help you know that the things you’re hearing are true. I asked him, even though these things are new, do you think they’re true?

He said, yes! I totally believe they’re true. He said, they make too much sense in my mind right now, and the spirit has certainly been here. I said, Heavenly Father isn’t trying to trick us. When he sends his spirit, he does it to help us know truth. It confirms truth to our heart.

We had arrived at the train station about 15 minutes earlier and the spirit had been testifying the whole time. He asked me if he could take that Book of Mormon. He asked if I was sure that it would be fine. I said, yes, that’s why I have them.

I told him that we needed to figure out a way for him to learn more. He said, I figured I’d go to church. There’s one by my house. I said, that’s awesome. I told him that it would also be pretty cool if he could take that Book of Mormon to work tomorrow and show it to his friends. I said that he could tell them about our ride. I told him to ask them to teach him what they know.

He smiled and said, that sounds like a really good idea. I’m sure glad I got this ride today. I think it’s changed my life. He got out of the car and jogged over to get on the train.

It’s very cool to watch the spirit change someone’s life. The spirit can work fast even in a short ride.