One day I was driving out in Herriman when I got a ride to go pick up a guy. When I pulled up, there were three children playing soccer in the driveway and I wondered who was getting in the car.
Finally, a man appeared from the house and made the kids get rid of the soccer ball and get in the car. He grabbed some folding chairs and notebooks. He also had a bag. All of these things together led me to believe that he was actually a coach for these kids. The three kids got in the backseat and the man climbed in the passenger seat. They were headed to an RV rental place downtown.
We started to drive and I asked him about coaching his kids and he said that he did. I mentioned to him that I coached my kids in baseball and football and finally coached several years in high school football. He said he really did like coaching but he only knew about soccer. He was from Brazil.
I started getting a prompting to talk to this guy about the church. I noted that the kids in the backseat were going crazy and they were loud and I could barely hear him talking . We almost had to be shouting to be heard above the kids. When you combine that with the fact that he had a pretty heavy accent on his English, I had every reason to check out of the prompting but I was chastised when I had that thought.
I could tell very quickly speaking with this man that he was a good guy and he loved his family. The way he treated them and the way he acted Impressed me. I asked him what part of Brazil he was from and he said Rio. I mentioned to him that I had been to Rio and a few other cities in Brazil. I even spoke a little of my very poor Portuguese with him.
I thought for a minute, trying to decide how to bring up the church. They looked like they could be members of the church but based on what I was feeling, I didn’t think so.
In my poor Portuguese conversation he laughed and said, everything you say has a Spanish accent. I told him that I served my mission in Argentina. He said he didn’t really like Argentina that much. We decided that had more to do with the rivalry between Argentina and Brazil in soccer than with any other single factor. We laughed about it for a minute.
He asked me how long I was on my mission and we discussed missions. I said, our church is growing really fast in Brazil.
He agreed with me. He said that he knew of many of our church buildings in Brazil. He asked me how I decided to go to Argentina and I told him that I didn’t make that decision. He asked, who makes those decisions? I told him that we have a prophet in our church who speaks with God and makes those decisions. He is the one that calls us to go where we go and we serve where God calls us to serve. He said, that’s kind of cool. Having a prophet could be really helpful these days.
I told him that in our church, we believe in prophets and apostles, and that one of our apostles was from Brazil. He was shocked. I said, he’s one of the most important leaders of our church and he’s from your country. He said, I am Catholic and have several friends that are members of your church but not one of them ever told me that one of the leaders of your church is from Brazil.
I told him that his name was Ulisses Soares and that he was born and raised in Brazil. I told him that you can still hear a little bit of an accent when he speaks and that he goes all over the world to teach the gospel of Jesus Christ.
I told him that the gospel of Jesus Christ has always had prophets that speak with God and speak to us for God. I said, Elder Soares is one of these men. I told him that I had met him on a couple of occasions and that one time I even saved his life. He looked shocked and asked me how that happened, how it was that I saved his life.
I told him that one day I was driving in Salt Lake City on South Temple going west right by the old Hotel Utah now called the Joseph Smith building. I told him that they were doing construction on the front portion of the Hotel Utah clear out to the edge of the road. I said that Elder Soares stepped out into the lane of traffic to get around the construction right in front of me. I told him I was only about 5 feet away from him when he stepped out.
I told him that for some reason I felt like I was supposed to slow down going by that building this time and so I did. I told him that this wasn’t normal because I passed that building a lot but this time I had a prompting to slow down and Elder Soares stepped out in front of me. I was able to swerve and avoid hitting him and that’s how I saved his life. I said, yes, I saved his life by not killing him! We laughed and continued the discussion.
The thing is, that seemed to be kind of a really good icebreaker and he became even more receptive to what I was saying. He asked , so these apostles go all over the world? I said, yes, just like Jesus did. I said in the Bible, it says that the church of Jesus Christ would have apostles and prophets and these are those men and they receive revelation from God just like they did in the Bible.
He said, that’s really cool. how many of them are there? I told him that we have one prophet who is the main prophet and 12 apostles that we sustain as both prophets and apostles. He said, well that sounds just like it was in the Bible. I said, that’s right because this is the same church of Jesus Christ that existed in the Bible.
At this time, the kids were still being loud and rowdy, but it was like there was a divider between us and them and an increased focus on the things that I was saying.
I said, once Peter and the apostles were killed the authority of God was taken from the Earth and people were left to do the best they could. I said, God, however, understood the importance of his children, having commandments so they could be happy.
I said that after a period of time, God called another prophet, his name was Joseph Smith. Joseph Smith was given the authority and the calling to restore the church of Jesus Christ on the Earth. I told him the story of Joseph Smith going to the sacred grove, kneeling and praying and being visited by God the father and Jesus Christ. The spirit came over our conversation even as the brotherly battle raged in the backseat.
I told him that Joseph Smith was given the authority of God to be the prophet and that he restored the church of Jesus Christ on the Earth. I told him that Joseph Smith called the men that God chose to be apostles and passed that authority onto them. I told him, we have a prophet and 12 apostles just like the church of Jesus Christ in ancient days. That’s what we mean by the restored church because it’s the same church with the same authority and the same structure.
I told him that we hear from these prophets and apostles twice a year at what we call General Conference. I showed him how on the LDS app he could look up the general conference from last time and we found an Elder Soares talk. I told him he could listen there to what the Brazilian apostle taught.
He said, I know this is a thing because there is a church by my house and I go running on Sunday mornings and always see lots of cars there. One morning, not too long ago I went running by and there were no cars there. He said, I have a friend at work who is a member of your church and he’s even tried to talk to me about it a couple of times. I asked him why there were no cars at the church that last Sunday and he told me that there was a general conference and everyone either went downtown or stayed home and watched it on TV.
I told him that I stayed home, watched it on TV and ate pancakes. He laughed. I asked him this friend of his was a good friend and he said yes. I asked him how much he talked to him about the church. He said that he thought he was a little gun shy about it because people don’t talk about things like that at work. He said, I think he’s afraid broach a subject like that at work.
He said, mostly he answered my questions and asked me a few things, but we didn’t go very deep. He goes to church every Sunday and they’re really good people. He said, there are a lot of really good people here.
He said, I feel so much peace living here. More peace than anywhere else I’ve ever lived. I told him that this peace comes from following the commandments of God that we receive from his prophets. I told him that because we have a living prophet.in these difficult days we are able to lean on God‘s word and we are blessed with peace.
I told him that it is peace in our hearts, peace in our families and peace in our communities. He said, that’s what we really need right now. The world is crazy. I said, God loves all the world and that’s why he gives us prophets and apostles and that’s why he sent his son Jesus Christ.
I told him that Jesus Christ is really the one who is the head of the church and that’s why it bears his name, The Church of Jesus Christ of latter-day Saints.
I told him that God is a loving Heavenly Father and he gave us his son Jesus Christ, who atoned for us and made it so that we could come home to our father. I said, he organized his church in a perfect way with all the teachings, covenants and authority necessary to bring us back to our father. I said, that’s why the church had to be restored because some of those things were lost.
He said, what are some of the things that were lost? I asked him if people needed to be baptized to go to heaven. He said, absolutely. That’s really important. I started right in on baptism for the dead. I told him the baptism for the dead was mentioned in the New Testament, but it’s not found in any church on earth except for our church. I asked him if God is the father of everyone and he said yes. I asked him if God is a perfect father. He said yes. I asked him if God is a loving father and he said yes.
I said, you’re a loving father. If you had to make a plan to save your boys, how many would you plan to save? He said, all of them. I asked him how many people die without ever hearing about Jesus Christ. He said, I guess in the history of the world most of them. I asked him if they were God‘s children. He said yes. I asked him if a perfect father would make a plan so that they could have the chance to come home. He said yes.
I told him that this plan was baptism for the dead. I told him that we go in temples and are baptized for people who died without receiving a baptism. Then they can accept that baptism and return to live with their father in heaven. I told him that Jesus Christ himself organized the teaching of the gospel to people who have died so that they can be prepared to accept or reject that baptism.
He said that’s really neat. I’d never thought there was an answer for that. I said, and that answer is found in those temples that we talked about. That is why they are building temples in Brazil. The Brazilian people need to be able to be baptized for their ancestors. He said, I like that.
I told him that in those temples, we also use the power that was given to Peter to seal things on earth that would be sealed in heaven. We use it to seal marriages for eternity. I asked him if when he was married, he was married until death and he said yes. I said, in our church we are married for eternity and our families are sealed to us as well. We stay together as a family through eternity.
I said, have you noticed that it’s a very family oriented area around here? He said, yes, very much so. He said, my wife and I comment on that all the time and we love it. I said, it’s because we believe that our families are not just until death, we believe in eternal families. I said, those eternal marriages are also performed in those temples. We are married there and we do these marriages for our ancestors so they can have these same blessings. I said, these are very sacred buildings where very important and sacred things happen.
I told him that because God loves everyone, the people that lived here in America anciently also had prophets who wrote down their revelations. Joseph Smith was given those revelations that had been engraved on golden plates. I said that he translated those revelations. I said, the people that lived here in America anciently had prophets so that they could live in peace because God loves all of his children not just the people in Jerusalem. He said, that’s amazing and it seems to be the right answer. God loves all of his children.
I said, those prophets prophesied and promised that Jesus Christ would come to America. He perked up and said, what? I said, in the Bible Jesus said other sheep I have which are not of this fold and that he was going to visit them. He was talking about the people in America. I said, after he ascended to heaven, he came to America.
I said, he descended from the heavens in glory and stood in front of the people. They touched the prints of the nails in his hands and feet and they asked him to save them. I said, as an answer to that plea, he called up 12, gave them authority to baptize and commanded that they baptize these people, even though they had been previously baptized in their other churches.
I said, he wasn’t discounting the love they demonstrated in their previous baptism. He was just inviting them to a new level of discipleship that included the things that we’ve been talking about. He invited them to partake in the fullness of the gospel that included eternal marriage and baptism for the dead so that they could save all of their ancestors with them.
He said, that sounds like the whole plan. I laughed and said ,that’s exactly right. I said, after the apostle died, the people did the best they could. Until the authority of God was back on earth and there was a prophet it was not possible to have the fullness of the gospel because it requires the same church Christ organized with authority and revelation. I told him, that is our church, the Church of Jesus Christ of latter-day Saints.
He said, I was baptized as a Catholic, does that count? I said, that would be just like the other people in the Book of Mormon who had previously been baptized. Christ invited them to take a step up to a new level of discipleship and new covenant that gave greater blessings and greater peace. I said, he is inviting you to take that step up to that level now.
The spirit was very strong in the car and I could tell he was feeling it. I asked him what he felt and he said, tremendous peace. It’s almost like you can reach out and touch it in the air. I asked him what he thought about the things that I was saying, were they true or not?
He said, they’re true. I know they’re true and I’ve never heard them before today but I just get the feeling that they’re true. I told him that was the spirit of God sent to let him know that the things were true. I told him that the spirit of God, the Holy Ghost, confirms truth to our soul and that is what was happening with him right then. He said, I like that.
I asked him if he had a Book of Mormon and he said no. I reached in and grabbed one of my book of Mormons and held it up. I said, this is the Book of Mormon.It is another testament of Jesus Christ and it teaches that God sent Jesus Christ not just the people of Jerusalem, but to everyone. I said, this book invites you to accept that same baptism that Jesus invited the people of the Book of Mormon to accept. That is the baptism in the Church of Jesus Christ of latter-day Saints. He said, wow that’s powerful. He said, I don’t know that I’ve ever felt this good in my life. It must be true. Would you like to have this book? He said, yes! I would love it, can I have it?
I asked him how often he sees his friend. He said, all the time, we take breaks together. I gave him the Book of Mormon and said, take this with you and go up to him and hold it out to him like this. I held the Book of Mormon up with the title out. I said, then you say to him, did you know that Jesus came to America? Then sit back and see what he says.
He laughed and said, that sounds like fun. I would love to do that. I could tell he has wanted to talk to me about the church and this might be the icebreaker that makes it possible.
By this time we had arrived at the RV rental place that they were going. There were a lot of other families there. He needed to get out of the car and go, but before he did, he looked at me and held up the Book of Mormon and said, this is really important. I will do exactly what you said. I can’t wait to see the look on my friends face.
I wish I could be there to see it.
Sometimes God sends you a lift 