One morning I picked up a man from a hotel in Provo and I was supposed to take him down to the Spanish Fork airport. When I pulled up to the hotel he came out and he got in the car. I mentioned to him how I didn’t have very many people going to the Spanish Fork airport. He laughed about the airport and said that he would much rather be flying out of Provo or Salt Lake but today it was Spanish Fork. He was a private pilot and he was just flying to St. George for the day with a client.
He was about 25 years old and a really cool guy. He said that he lived in Ogden but had to stay in a hotel pretty close to his airplane. That is why his company put him in Provo. He said the 12 hours that he was allowed to have by the FAA started the second I picked him up and that he would have to be done flying that night. I asked him what he would do down in St. George and I suggested Croshaw pies.
Crowshaw pies is an amazing place full of delicious things and wonderment. He said that sounded good and took a note. He said that sitting around by the airplane all day gets boring. He said that if those pies were as good as I said they were, they would bring welcome relief. I assured him that it wouldn’t be his last time going.
I asked him what he normally did sitting around waiting for the people who were his passengers. He said that a lot of times he would read or sleep but that it was always low-key and not very much fun.
I asked him if he was from the area and he said that he was from Connecticut. He came out here for this job once he got his pilots license. I asked him how he liked it and he said he really liked it. He said that he liked the feel, especially in Utah County. He said that he loved the mountains and how pretty everything was.
Then I did something I never do, I asked him what he didn’t like about it. He thought about it for a minute and said that his family and good friends were a long way away and so it was pretty lonely for him. I said that could be tough and he agreed.
I said, so I assume you’re not married, right? That is one of the expressly forbidden phrases by the rideshare Gestapo. They don’t want us to start any conversation regarding personal lives or relationships. It’s expressly forbidden and you can get in trouble for it.
On the other hand, sometimes the spirit tells you what to say and you listen to the spirit. This was one of those times. He said, no, I’m not married and I just don’t know how that’s going to happen these days.
He talked about the frustration of dating and how all of the women he met seemed to be after the same guy with huge muscles and huge bank accounts. They want a guy willing to step in, assume there debt and support their expensive habits as well as their children from previous hook ups. He said it was disgusting and it had left a bitter taste in his mouth.
He said, the good thing is that you know really quickly because they’re out with it pretty fast. I asked him where he met these people, these women with a purpose. He said that he met them in clubs and bars around town. He said, I just don’t know where you go to find good girls that aren’t like that.
I said, well, my suggestion would be you go to where the good girls are. I explained to him that here, the bars and clubs are full of people who don’t have their head on straight with regards to life in many cases. I said, many of them are in those bars because they are rebelling against the very standards and life choices that would make them the kind of woman that you was looking for.
I told him that in Utah most of the girl that want to be “that woman” he was looking for ate found in different places. I said, there are women out there who want to be wives, who want to be mothers and want to find a man that loves them. Women to whom it’s not about all of those worldly things as a prerequisite.
He asked, where do I go to find these women? He laughed and said, that sounded kind of desperate, didn’t it? Well I guess I am! I said, here those women are found in church. Those women are in church and following God. He teaches them to want to be better than that and the church provides them a community where the values you are looking for can flourish and grow.
I said, here, especially here, these women are not in bars because they don’t drink due to our religion. The peer pressure is different here for people who have those kind of ideals. I said, you need to go to church.
He laughed and said, I don’t even know where I’d start. I said, what church do you belong to? He said, I’m Catholic but I don’t remember ever going to church. I just remember being Catholic. I was baptized when I was born, I took the communion when I was 12 and that’s about it.
He said, I believe in Jesus Christ and I have read the Bible, at least the New Testament, but other than that I don’t have much religion in me.
I said, fortunately, there is no admission test to most churches. Our church is awesome in that way because we want everybody to come. We tried to make sure everybody has a friend and is included in the community. I said, we take assignments and responsibility to watch out for each other and be there for each other. I said, in our congregations we are kind of like one big family.
I said, you should go to our church. You would find that there are lots of women there. I said, we even have congregations just for single people. People in the same boat that you’re in. You could go there and fit right in. Worship with them, learn with them, hang out with them and maybe meet someone special amongst them.
He said, you know, I thought about that. I’ve got a friend who’s also a pilot. His dad is in charge of one of those congregations that you’re talking about. I don’t remember what he’s called in this assignment but it sounded pretty important. I asked him if his friend’s dad was the bishop of that congregation. He said, yes, Bishop! That’s what he’s called. He’s a bishop.
I told him that the bishop is kind of like the Dad in the group and he’s the one that makes sure everybody is cared for in the way God would have them be cared for. I said, being a bishop is a really hard thing and that’s why they would never ask me to do it! We both laughed.
I asked, how about your friend? Is he a good dude? He said, yeah! He’s the best. He’s married and they have a little kid. His wife is just the kind of person that I would love to marry. What you’re saying is starting to make a lot of sense.
I said, what you were looking for is the peace that comes from obedience to the commandments of God. You’re looking for a woman who has godly attributes and brings that spirit with her into your relationship. That’s the peace you want in your life and you’re having a hard time finding it. It starts with learning, knowing and living the commandments, then seeking to serve God.
I said, when a person has this perspective and does these things, they can have the spirit of God with them and it transforms their life and their relationships. This is what you’ve seen with your friend.
He said, wow, it’s like you know him. I said, I probably don’t know him but I know a lot of people like him. This kind of relationship is out there for you if you’d like to have it. The key is in the immortal words of Meatloaf “But there ain’t no Coupe Deville hiding at the bottom of a Cracker Jack box.” He laughed and said, I love that song.
I said, it just doesn’t make sense to look for someone like that in a place where they don’t hang out. It’s like putting the square peg in the round hole for sure. He said, I see that. I asked, why don’t you have your friend take you to his dad‘s church? He said, he has mentioned that before but his dad‘s church is somewhere down here and I live up in Ogden. I figured that would be putting him out so I’ve never taken him up on it.
I told him that what we try to do is help our friends feel that peace and have it in their lives. We try to bring people Into the church so that they can have this experience with us. I said, if he offered, I promise you 100% that he would be happy to take you. I said, if I were you, I would go to his dad‘s ward once to see what it’s like. Then I would have his dad use your address to look up and tell you where and when the congregation close to you meets. He could even call the Bishop in that ward and tell him that you were coming so that someone there would be expecting you .
He asked, do you think he would do that for me? I said, absolutely! I said, this is exactly what we’re supposed to do. We’re not supposed to have this peace and love and keep it away from people. We’re here to share it!
At this point, I could see that he was very interested and it was genuine. I could tell earlier that he was very frustrated by his situation. In his mind, I could see that he thought that this was a legitimate answer.
He said, I’m going to text my friend right now and ask him if we could do that. He pulled out his phone and started texting. While he was texting, I felt like I needed to talk to him about our Heavenly Father’s love for him. I decided to also prepare him with some information on the church.
I said, this peace that you feel and the love the people share, that you have witnessed, comes from God. When we obey his commandments we feel his spirit, and it surrounds us. When we are around lots of people who obey the commandments the whole community is blessed. This is what you have seen.
I said, the goal is to have that spirit in your life and have it working for you in your life. I said, the goal is to have God walk with you. He said, that would be amazing! How do you do that? I said, first, understanding what that is that you are feeling is important. We are all learning about our relationship with our Heavenly Father . We lived with him in the before we were born and we loved him. That love is what we still feel in his presence. We know when he’s with us because we can feel the love from this relationship manifest through his spirit. It’s a beautiful thing.
I said, knowing God brings peace to your soul and doing what he asks us to do makes us happy. It’s a great father-son relationship. He smiled and said, I can see that. I can see how that would be.
I could feel the spirit in the car
and knew that he was feeling it too. I asked him what he was feeling and he described it as a tingly energy and an incredible interest in everything that I was saying. He said, the words you’re saying are sinking in. I love it!
I said, that feeling is the spirit of God . His spirit is with us because he testifies of truth and the things I’m saying are true. This is how he helps us make good decisions. He gives us his spirit to confirm truth so we can know which way to turn. He said, it’s kind of like having the answers going into the test then. I said yes.
I said, pursuit of that feeling and that peace are the things that bring you close to God and in the end will bring you home to live with him. That’s what we’re all about. It’s about living a life that will take us back to our Heavenly Father and bringing all of the friends we can with us. We want all of our brothers and sisters to come home. I said, that’s why your friend asked you to go to church with him and that’s why he’d be more than happy to go with you now. It’s no good if you don’t share it and if it is good, you want to share it!
He laughed and said, well, if he says yes I’ll go with him and if they can help me find the church near my home, I’ll go. He asked me if there was anything special that he needed to learn or know before he could go. I said, no, we go there to learn. There is no prerequisite to attendance. He said good.
I said, I can give you a little information on some of the things they will teach while you’re there that will help you get a head-start. He said, that sounds great. Is there something I could read? I have lots of time today.
The question here is, how do you ask for a copy of the Book of Mormon without asking for a copy of the Book of Mormon I guess.
I asked him if he had a Book of Mormon and he said no. I pulled out one of the Book of Mormon’s prepared by the Secrists and held it up. I said, this is the Book of Mormon. He said, I’ve heard of that book. I asked him if he knew anything about it and he said no. I said, we believe that God loves everyone in the world, no matter where they’re from. He said, I believe the same. I said, God had prophets in Jerusalem that taught his word to the people so that they could be happy. I said, God is the father of everyone and he wants the same happiness for all of his children. I said, God had prophets in other places as well to help his children that lived there be happy.
I said, here in America he had prophets for that reason. They taught about Jesus Christ and gave God‘s commandments to his children that lived here. I said, they wrote these teachings on metal plates and that is how we have the Book of Mormon.
I said, those plates were given to Joseph Smith, who was a prophet called by God to restore the church of Jesus Christ on the Earth. He was given the power of God to translate the words on those plates and that is what constitutes the Book of Mormon. It’s the teachings of God to the people who lived here in America anciently.
I said, God also loved the people here so much that he wanted his Son to bless them and teach them. I said, after Jesus Christ was resurrected in Jerusalem, he ascended into heaven and descended in America to those people who were awaiting his arrival. They had been taught by their prophets that he would come. He visited them, he taught them and he blessed them.
They had all previously been taught about the church and had been baptized in the church, but he gave them new authority and a new baptism. He said that we should follow him and he invited everyone to be baptized again so that they could come home to their father in heaven. I said, that’s the baptism we have and the invitation that we extend. We want everyone to have that baptism so that they can walk with the spirit back to his presence .
I said, we want to feel his spirit around us. It prepares us to be in his presence in heaven. The gateway to this is that baptism. He said, even though I’ve been baptized in the Catholic Church, they will let me be baptized in your church? I said, yes. He said, that’s awesome.
I said, once we are baptized, we can be cleansed from our sin and worthy to receive his spirit so it can be our constant companion. He said, that sounds like the best friend you could have. I asked him if he wanted the Book of Mormon I had in my hand. He said, that’s your copy. I said, this copy was made for you.
I pointed out to him the questions of the soul inside the front cover and the tabs indicating the location of the answers to those questions. I said, this is your book and you can read it today while you’re sitting there in St. George. He said that’s perfect, and eating a pie! I said, that would be sweet.
Just then his phone dinged. It was his friend! He was texting him back. He said, my friend just answered and said he would love to take me to church. He said we could go this Sunday! He responded affirmatively to his friend saying that he would definitely love to do that and his friend told him he would pick him up at 9 AM on Sunday.
He said, I’m actually really excited about this! He said, this ride has been crazy. I knew something was going to happen when I got in the car. I could just feel that this is where I was supposed to be. Thank you for helping me with this and thank you for the book. He said, I can’t believe God put me in your car today. I’m so glad.
I told him to write down the things that he had learned in the car, but more importantly, I told him to write down the things that he had felt. I told him to tell his friend about it. I told him that it would make a lot of sense to his friend because he’s had the same experience for himself and with other people. I said, that’s what makes him the perfect person to help.
I said, if you’ll remember the spirit you felt in the car today it will change your life. You will feel that same spirit in church on Sunday and you will feel that spirit when you read the Book of Mormon. I said, that spirit will be your guide and seeking to have it with you all the time will be how you find the woman you want to marry. It will keep you in the path so that you can walk back to your father in heaven.
As he got out of the car he said, I only expected to get a ride but God blessed me with so much more here today.
Sometimes God sends you a lift 