One day I was driving in Salt Lake City. It was later on in the afternoon and I picked up a lady in her 50’s that was living in some apartments where University of Utah students usually live. I’ve never picked up anyone over 30 in this place and was surprised at first when she came out.
I said hello to her and was surprised to hear a very thick Spanish accent come back from her. It turns out she was from Ecuador and she is living here in the United States with her daughter who was attending the University of Utah. She is roommates with her daughter, which is something that I am sure her daughter appreciates. My thought at that time was that it kind of takes helicopter mom to a new level in my opinion.
We started to talk about how much she has enjoyed living here. She said she really liked it and that her daughter was doing really well. She said that they were really worried about having their daughter come to the United States and so she came here with her to protect her . She said that while she’s here she’s taking English classes so that she has more options when she goes home.
I told her I thought that was cool! I said, there are a lot of people here who speak Spanish. She said, yeah, I know. It’s been kind of fun. She looked at me and said, no offense but you’re the last person that I would’ve expected to speak Spanish. She said it blew her away.
I laughed and said, that happens from time to time. I shared some stories with her about people making the mistake of thinking that I didn’t speak Spanish and subsequently embarrassed themselves with the things that they said. She laughed.
She asked how I learned my Spanish and I told her that I learned it on my mission in Argentina. She said, you have an Argentine accent, so I figured that you either were from there, lived there or something. I said, I learned spanish teaching people about Jesus.
She said, I’ve always been a little interested in the Mormon church. Back at home, they brought one of their books by and gave it to me. It’s there in my bookcase in my living room. She said, I never opened it.
Then she turned to me and asked, can you tell me what you guys believe in? We only had about two minutes left in the ride and that’s a lot to pack into two minutes. I took a deep breath and told her that in my opinion, our beliefs center around three things.
The first one is that God is our father and he loves us, everyone of us everywhere in the world no matter where or when we live. He is perfect and he has a perfect plan for each of us.
The second one is that Jesus Christ is God’s son. Jesus came to earth, was crucified and resurrected so that we could all live with his father someday if we are willing. He showed us the path that we need to follow to go home. He taught us the things that we need to do like being baptized.
Third, we believe that God always has and always will work through prophets. We believe that he has his prophets on the earth today and that the Book of Mormon, that she had in her house, was a translation of ancient writings by prophets that lived here in America. It was translated for us by Joseph Smith, who was a modern prophet. I said, we believe in prophets because they speak for God.
I felt the spirit in the car and I could tell she was feeling it. I asked her how she felt. She smiled and said, really good. She said, I like how talking about this makes me feel.
She said, I wish I had my Book of Mormon with me. This has been so much fun, hopefully we can ride together again. I reached into my glove box to grab a Spanish Book of Mormon but I didn’t have any. I was not happy that I hadn’t restocked. I hadn’t done that and an English book would’ve done no good at all. We had arrived at her class and she was late. She jumped out of the car and ran into her class.
The spirit told me that this wasn’t over by a long shot. I had the impression that the following week I would give her a ride another time. That’s kind of strange because it doesn’t happen very often but I started looking forward to it and prepping as to what I would say.
There were a couple of things that I noticed. These were things that I had wanted to say but I didn’t have time. I wanted to talk to her about the spirit we felt. I wanted to help identify the Holy Ghost to her. She had clearly felt the Holy Ghost and her interest was peaked but I hadn’t had time to follow up on that.
I really wanted to give her a Book of Mormon too. It’s just like things didn’t come together smoothly, everything went so fast. I decided to trust that the Lord would put her back in my car. I said a little prayer and went about the rest of my day.
Fast forward to the following week. It was even a different day of the week. I was about ready to bail on Salt Lake City and head to Utah County. I decided to take one more ride and there I was right in front of her apartment. It was a different name on the reservation so I didn’t think it was her but lo and behold, there she was.
She got in the car and said, this is crazy. Clearly this was meant to be. She said, we need to continue that conversation from last week. She said, I’ve got some things I need to ask you.
I said, I’ve got some things I need to say as well. I guess we both have unfinished business. She laughed. I said, why don’t you go first.
She said, all right, I’ve just got a couple of questions. First is,what do you guys think about repentance? Is repentance complete and what are the things that you can be forgiven for?
I said, that’s a great question. When you understand what I said last time about how our father in heaven loves each one of us and he wants us to come home to him, you understand how important it is for him to make a way for us to become clean. I said, that’s repentance.
I said, when Jesus Christ was on earth he paid for our sins so that we can become clean. I said, we call this the atonement. In the atonement, he made it so that he could take upon him our sins and pay that debt that we are not able to pay.
She asked, what kind of sins can be forgiven? I said, God is very forgiving. With the exception of murder or denying him/fighting against him, repentance is something that’s readily accessible to everyone who is willing to take the proper steps. I said, those proper steps include recognizing your sin, confessing your sin, and changing your ways. She said, I love that answer. I said, so do I, we all need repentance every day! She laughed.
I said, another really important part of repentance is baptism. It’s important that we are baptized by the proper authority so that we can be cleansed from our sins.
I told her that in the Book of Mormon, Jesus gave them his baptism and his authority to perform that baptism. I told her that we do that exact baptism in our church so that everyone can be cleansed from their sins. I said, when your baptized in our church, you will be baptized with his baptism by his authority and you will be cleansed from your past sins.
She looked up and smiled. The spirit was bearing witness so I decided to take the opportunity to help identify that to her. I asked her, how do you feel? She said, relieved and happy. She said, sometimes sin makes you worry and I didn’t know if I could ever become totally clean.
I said, you can become clean. When you are baptized, if you’ve repented, your sins will be cleansed and you will not feel that burden. She said, that’s what I want. I said, that feeling you’re feeling right now is the spirit of God. God sent his spirit so that he can confirm truth to our souls.
I said, you’re feeling that right now, correct? She said yes. I asked, what does that mean about the baptism of Jesus Christ and repentance? She said, it means it’s important and that what you are saying is true. I asked her if she would like to have that and receive that remission of her sins and she said more than anything.
Her next question kind of cleared up the reason behind everything regarding her previous questions. She asked, can you be forgiven in your church if you are divorced? I said, yes. I said, it’s more the sin that causes the divorce that is the issue. If we repent of our sin, God will forgive us even if we’ve had a divorce. I said, God‘s purpose is to heal us, not reject us.
She asked, what if somebody has been excommunicated from the Catholic Church for divorce, can they still be baptized and forgiven in your church? I said, yes! Absolutely! God is here to mend our hearts and bring us home, not put up walls and keep us out.
She said, I was excommunicated from the Catholic Church when my ex-husband and I got our divorce. It’s been very painful and hard for me. She said, I’ve been trying to understand repentance and feel God‘s love. I didn’t think I could feel God‘s love in a church that was so unloving about my situation. I didn’t think that I could find Christ in a church that couldn’t try to help me through the pain I had in my life.
I said, the atonement of Jesus Christ is not only there to help you receive forgiveness of your sins but it’s also there to help you through the pain of your situation. God, through the atonement of his son Jesus Christ can bless us in our affliction and lift our burdens. I said, that’s what you need. She said, you don’t even know how much I need that. She said, I feel like I’m starving.
She said, “feeling the spirit in the car with you has fed me and I want more”. I reached in and grabbed the Spanish Book of Mormon that I had this time because I was prepared. It is one of the Book of Mormon’s prepared by the Secrists. I gave it to her and said, here’s some food for you. I said, this book was written by the prophets who lived in America anciently and contains the account of the visit of Jesus Christ to America. I said, this book was translated by Joseph Smith, a modern prophet who saw God and served God. It is another testament of Jesus Christ and his divinity.
I said, this book speaks of faith, repentance, baptism, the gift of the Holy Ghost so that God can walk with us and how we can endure the end. It teaches us these things so that we can come home to him. This book will have the food that you need.
I said, we also go to church on Sunday. She said, there’s a church house around the corner is that where I would go? I asked her if her daughter had friends that were members of the church and she said yes. I said, why don’t you ask them if you can go with them? Are you friends with them as well? She said, yes, I really like those girls.
She said, my daughter is also trying to get a boyfriend and he goes to your church. I said, well, it’s about time you got to church. When you go to church, you should take the sacrament and listen to the sacrament prayers. I said, in those prayers we promise to obey God‘s commandments and in return he will give us his spirit. I said, that will feed you.
She said, I love this feeling. I want it more. If you tell me that I can have it by doing this, I will embrace it.
We had arrived at the classroom again and we were late again. Turns out I talk too much, but she was grateful and said she would follow up with her daughter’s friends. She thanked me for answering her questions and showing her this new path. It should be quite a journey.
Sometimes God sends you a lift 