Sorry to repost. Previous post was rough draft. The power of grandparent prayers

One day I was supposed to pick up a young man in Orem. He was going to the Salt Lake City airport. I pulled up in front of the house and sat there for a good long time. At one point I was wondering how long it was going to take him to come out or if he would even come.

Finally, he came out and got in the car. It startled me because I had almost given up and wasn’t looking. I was reading news on my phone. When he got in I looked up and I saw two elderly people waving at him. They had a look of concern on their faces

The spirit told me that this look of concern was more than just them worrying about him flying off from the airport. The spirit indicated to me that they were worried about this young man and that I had a job to do on this ride.

I had been reading the news and listening to a podcast before he got in and he seemed quite closed off. He was listening to his headphones as well. I have learned not to bother people listening to their headphones because they give you bad ratings if you do. Apparently you can get in somebody else’s car and make them guess as to whether or not you’re willing to have a conversation and then punish them with a bad rating if they choose the wrong thing. Ha ha!

I took that hint even though I’d had the prompting and kept listening to the podcast that I had started. I listened to that podcast all the way until I got to point of the mountain and the spirit screamed stop! The spirit said ,it’s time to engage with this young man even though he’s listening to his headphones. You are to do what you were sent here to do.

I turned off the podcast and I said, so where are you going? He said he was going to Seattle. I asked him how long he’d lived in Seattle and he said about six years.

He said that he had lived in Orem and gone to Mountain View High School but had moved out to Seattle for school. After graduating he got a job. He said he worked in the hospital. I said, that’s cool. That’s a good job.

I said, so you went to high school here in Orem. He said, yes, I did. I asked, where did you go on your mission? In asking this I knew the answer already. I knew he hadn’t gone on a mission. The spirit made that clear to me but I saw it as the quickest way to get a gauge as to where he was spiritually and why the spirit had asked me to speak to him.

He said, I didn’t go on a mission. I thought about it and then I decided not to go. Instead of going on a mission I moved to Seattle. My life changed and that’s where I am now. I did have a lot of friends that went on missions though.

This wasn’t news to me because if he went to Mountain View High School, I am sure that the percentage of boys going on missions was very high. The spirit was really forceful with me and I felt that I needed to ask some more probing questions.

I asked, what were the reasons you didn’t go on a mission? I realized that this was a very personal question but it came right from the top. He wasn’t upset. He said, it just never seemed like the thing that I wanted to do. I said, I guess that’s OK. You know, you can be a good missionary now too. I felt very prompted to say, you can be a missionary all throughout your life and you can share the gospel. I said, there are people who baptize more people after their missions than they do during their mission. I said, maybe that’s you.

This is an approach that I’ve never taken with a passenger, but the spirit confirmed that this was the approach I was supposed to take so I pressed forward.

I felt prompted to talk about Nephi‘s bow. This was one of my favorite things to teach missionaries in the MTC. They all doubt themselves and their ability to be a success. The key to being a good missionary, in my opinion, is realizing that you can’t do it and that trusting God and his power, knowledge and wisdom are the key to accomplishing that work. In my mind, this story is about realizing that they were in trouble, they were broken and they were in a situation they couldn’t resolve by this own means.

Nephi went to his father to ask him to go to the Lord and find out where they should go to get food. He realized that God was the one that made mana fall down from heaven for 40 years. He was the one that made animals walk 2 x 2 on to the ark and that God could make their food walk into camp, lay down and put their necks out. He didn’t need no stinking bow. He needed them to have faith in him. They needed to have enough faith to let God fight this battle for them.

I thought this was great for missionaries because once they realized they couldn’t do it, they learned that to get it done they needed to rely on the power of God instead of their own abilities. That’s when they became missionaries. Faith was the key there in the MTC and I felt that a lack faith was a huge issue here in my back seat.

After telling him this story and talking to him about faith in God, his abilities and his strength, I decided to turn to him and work the promptings I had received regarding his situation.

I asked, do you have any of your friends that you are able to help? I said this full well knowing that he was the one that needed help. He said, I talked to some of my friends who are returned missionaries and some of them are big-time partiers. He said that many of those he’s hanging out with are returned missionaries and they party extensively. He said, it seems no one in my group of friends think that strict obedience to the church is that important.

As he was talking the spirit indicated to me that as he talked about his friends, he was thinking about other people but he was also expressing his own opinions. I listened carefully. I wanted to learn as much about him as I could. He talked about some of the things they said and did and how it was a lot different out there in the world than it was in Orem. He said, it is a lot different and it’s a lot better.

I asked him if any of his friends ever had shared the questions they had that were causing their faith crisis. I wanted to know from him. I asked if it was a question about doctrine or a question about God that had separated them from the church. He thought about it for a minute and said, I have one friend who really just can’t understand why if there’s a God and he loves us would he let innocent people suffer. He said, I work in a hospital. I see it all the time, I watch the news and it’s everywhere. Why would God let innocent people suffer?

In the way he asked the question it indicated that his friend was not the one who had the question. I knew and the spirit indicated that this was his question as much or more so than it was the question of a friend. The image of those grandparents standing there with the concerned look on their faces was burning in my mind and I understood that this was the right time and the right place to discuss these things.

I said, you know, because you don’t know me you can ask me these questions and we can speak frankly about it. Let’s see if we can figure some things out? He said, that’s right! Let’s do that.

He asked, well then, why does God allow bad things to happen to good people? He said, if he loves everybody, he wouldn’t let that happen. Because of that, the whole thing about the church and a loving God just kind of falls apart for us.

Now, having totally revealed that it wasn’t only about his friend, we had it all out in the open. I said, first of all I want to let you know that God does love each and every one of us. It’s one of the most beautiful and inspirational doctrines we teach and I know it’s true. I said, it wouldn’t be right for God to stop everyone that was doing something wrong or doing something evil.

I said, we’re here on this earth to learn and grow. We would not be able to learn and grow without our agency. I asked him if he liked having his parents or anyone else walking around telling him everything to do at every second. He said no. I asked him why. He said,because I like to do things on my own. That’s why I moved to Washington. I said, exactly.

That’s exactly how it is with our father in heaven. He sent us here to earth so that we could use our agency. Sometimes we use it for bad and sometimes we use it for good. I said, if your parents were standing over you, you would make less mistakes but you wouldn’t grow. It’s the same with your father in heaven. He put you here so that you can make mistakes, repent of those mistakes, be accountable for your actions and grow from your experiences.

I said, he doesn’t just do that for you, he does that for everyone. I said, sometimes people use this agency to do horrible things. When they do that you hear people say, how could God let that happen. The answer is, if God didn’t allow bad things to happen we would never progress like we need to.

Satan takes advantage of this situation. When bad things happen, Satan whispers in people‘s ear that they need to blame God. God says that we need to look to Christ.

The atonement of Jesus Christ is the remedy that we can use to make all of these things right. I told him that the atonement of Jesus Christ was infinite. It covered all negative situations. I told him that Jesus Christ suffered for our sins, our pains, our infirmities, and any injustice that we would face throughout our lives. I said, he suffered for all of these things so that we could look to him and have our suffering alleviated.

I told him that I was in a meeting where Elder Maxwell taught about having cancer. He said that the little children in the hospital who had cancer seemed to have the best attitudes and smiles on their faces. He said that he was inspired and instructed by these little angels. He could not imagine having to go through this as a child yet they were lifted by Jesus Christ. He said these children in the hospital knew this. They would sing primary songs and they knew Jesus and he blessed them.

I said, no matter what evil happens to us the atonement of Jesus Christ can lift us through our suffering. I said, the atonement of Jesus Christ makes it so that God doesn’t have to worry about how much we have in our cup, he just comes in and fills everyone’s cup, regardless of the amount of need they have or their circumstance, if they will turn to him with faith. If we will do this, he will fill our cup, our hearts and our souls with his love and lift us through our trials.

He said, yes, but there are still lingering effects. I said, this is a really cool part. He then relies on us to be his hands, his voice and his servant to lift the hands that hang down and bless the people who suffer.

I said, it’s a two prong attack where he takes care of them spiritually and lifts their burden so that they can bear it. He gives them strength and hope. He gives us the responsibility to see to it that they are taken care of and treated like the children of God that they are. Together, we are a team and it’s a beautiful thing.

I said, you’ve known this as you’ve worked in the hospital. You’ve seen these children and wondered how they could possibly be happy given their prognosis and their current state, yet they are. He agreed.

I said, I drive parents with children to Primary Children’s Hospital all the time in Salt Lake. When I do, many times, they ask me to stop and pray with them and they always ask me to pray for them. I said, I absolutely do that because I know it works and they do too. He said, that’s amazing. I never thought of it that way.

I summarized things saying, bad things happen to good people so that we can grow closer to God. They can be lifted and strengthened like these little children while other people grow closer to God by serving those who are afflicted. I said, because of this, many tragedies bring people closer to God. When people die in a family, many times it’s one of the most spiritual experiences they have ever had because they have served God and God has lifted the person who was suffering.

He said, this has been a big question for me. He said, I didn’t know the atonement did all of that. I said, you thought it was only about repentance, didn’t you? He said, yes, that’s what I thought. I said, it is about repentance and right now you’re thinking about some things you’ve done that you need to repent of. You are thinking that it would be hard to qualify for the rest of the blessings of the atonement because of the sins that you’re thinking of right now.

I said, I want you to know that Jesus stands there with his arms open for you to give you rest so that you can feel peace. Regardless of the lies Satan tells you, you can be forgiven of your sins and see the hand of God instead of the pain anguish and frustration of the moment. It is the same relief from the pain caused by sin that it is for the people that are passing through these hardships. I said, God wants you to know that he loves you. He has a plan to rescue you in every situation. I told him that the atonement was complete and infinite and covered every aspect of our life, if we will look to Christ and live.

I told him that he lived with God for thousands of years. I told him that he loved God and that his spirit loves God. I told him that this relationship he had with God was the most important relationship in his existence and that he had just forgotten about this.

The spirit was really strong in the car and I asked him if he could feel it. He said yes. I asked him what it felt like and he said, all of these doubts that I had in my head when we first started talking have been erased and I feel happy. I said, that’s the spirit of God. When you feel that you know that he is testifying of the truth to your heart. You know that the things that have been said are from him and are true.

He said, this is a new understanding for me. I never understood the atonement like this but it makes so much more sense. He said, before I just couldn’t see a point to this whole existence or a way that a God who loved us could let people suffered so.

He said, this clears it up for me. I asked him when the last time was that he read the Book of Mormon. He chuckled and asked, does never count as an answer? I said, well it’s an answer. It’s not the answer your Heavenly Father would want you to be giving, but he’s glad that you’re honest.

I asked him if he had a Book of Mormon and he said no, he didn’t take one to Washington with him. I reached into my glove box and grabbed one of my Book of Mormon’s prepared by the Secrists and gave it to him. I said, this is your Book of Mormon. This book teaches more about the atonement than any other book. You can learn more about it here than anywhere or from any person. I said, if you read the Book of Mormon, you will learn to know your Savior and rely on his power. You’ll learn to know your father in heaven and feel his spirit walk with you in your life.

He said, can I have this? I said yes. I said, will you read it? He said yes. I asked, will you read it every day? This time he thought about it for a minute. Then I said, even if you only read a little bit every day, you need to read in this book every day. If you do, you will know that it’s true. If you do, you will know that the church is true. If you do, you’ll know that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God and that President Nelson is a prophet of God today. I said, if you do, you will learn to know your father in heaven and you’ll seek to fulfill the missions he has for you here on the Earth. You will be a light to others and a strength to many. I said, maybe most of all, you will feel the power of his atonement transform your life and your understanding of his love.

He said, wow, I felt that! I could feel that Heavenly Father really wanted him back and that he loved him very much. I told him that regardless of what has happened in the past, he could still be the best missionary. I told him that God would bring the people to him that he needs to serve if he will prepare himself to be that light.

I said, you prepare to be that light by reading the Book of Mormon, saying your prayers multiple times a day, going to church and learning to listen to the spirit of God so that he can walk with you.

I asked, does that sound like something you would like to do? He said, this is something I need to do. He said, this is something I need to go back and talk to my friends about. Even though they’ve been on missions, I think they don’t know this.

By this time we’d been sitting in front of the airport in Salt Lake City for about 15 minutes and he needed to get going but he didn’t want to move. He reached up and grabbed my shoulder and he said, you don’t know how much this has meant to me. I told him that many people have been praying for this, including his grandparents that he left in the front yard when he got in my car. He was emotional and said, they’ll be so happy to hear what happened in this car. They bought this Uber and they will think that it’s the best money they have ever spent.

I said, I know that God put you here in my car today and he gave me the words to say to you. These words astounded you and caught you off guard because they came from God. You knew that they came from God because no one else could’ve said these things to you. He said, you’re right, I was blown away.

I said, think back to the point of the mountain when I started talking to you. I hadn’t said a word up until that time but the spirit commanded me to speak. I said the words the spirit told me to say. God wants you back! Your grandparents want you back! Your friends need you to be back so that you can lift them. Working in medicine with an understanding of the atonement and the role of God in our lives could be a great blessing and asset in your career. God needs you and he needs all of you.

He said, I’m here for it! Thank you so much. He got out of the car and walked in to catch his flight