One night I was driving down in Provo and I got a ride to pick someone up in some apartments east of BYU and take them to the airport. This happens a lot on weekends or at the beginning of vacations but this was in the middle of the week and for that reason was a little strange.
I pulled up and waited for what seemed to be forever for them to come out. Finally they appeared. It was a girl who looked like a student age person along with a young man. They seemed to be getting along quite well and I figured I would hear all about it on the ride.
When the young man got in the car, I found out I wasn’t going to learn anything unless I asked him. He was a one word answer kind of guy. I resigned myself to the thought that I wasn’t going to really talk to him that much. I put on a podcast and started listening to it. The funny thing about this is that I listen to this podcast every night and I enjoy it but this time it annoyed me. I wanted to turn it off and felt impressed to do so.
Then the spirit jolted me and clearly said, you’ve got work to do here. I looked in the mirror and this kid seemed to be a member of the church. Sometimes we can be deceived by appearances.
As I was analyzing him, the spirit said, start from the beginning. We were already 20 minutes down the road so I had to rewind almost to an introduction. I started in on the small talk again trying to pry words out of him. I asked him where he was from and he said Maryland. I asked him if that was his girlfriend. He said yes. He must’ve thought I was stupid because that was pretty obvious because of the way they came out together. I asked him if she went to BYU and he said yes.
I asked him where he was going and he said he was going home to Maryland. He said he was a student at the University of Maryland and that he was studying physics and chemistry. I told him that I appreciate having smart people in my car. I told him my wife is one of them but I’m not. I told him that my uncle was a nuclear physicist that wrote textbooks for nuclear physics and had several pattens in that realm. I said that I missed that boat for sure. I said, if it has anything to do with math, I’m out! He laughed.
I asked, what is your girlfriend studying? He said that she was studying psychology and that she really enjoyed it. I asked him if she liked it here and he said yes. I asked him if he liked it here and he also said yes. I asked, why don’t you go here? You would be closer to her. He said, because I’m not a member of your church.
I said, you mean, you’re not a member of our church yet! He laughed and said I guess you could say that. Now I knew why he was in the car.
A vivid scenario prompted by the spirit came to my mind regarding her trying to teach him about the gospel and him not being very open to it. He was not willing to be vulnerable regarding the questions he had his heart. I could feel the prayers that she was offering, and I could feel the prayers from her parents who didn’t know what else to do. I knew that those prayers were behind the commandment I received to get off of my podcast and start talking. I knew that those prayers were a call to testify.
I thought for a second about what I should say and how to say it. As I sat for a second in quiet prayer, I thought that he needed to understand the big picture. After this prompting, I assumed that he had heard things here and there, but that he needed to tie it all together so that it would make sense and the spirit could testify to truth.
I asked him how long he had been with his girlfriend and he said that they had been boyfriend girlfriend since high school. They had met in high school junior ROTC and had been exclusive for quite some time. He said that when they first started dating, they figured that the fact that they were different races would cause trouble but there had been no trouble regarding that. He was African-American and she was Latina. The problem that they had encountered was the mixing of her religious culture with the church and what he was used to.
He said that she had told him some things about the church but that he was still trying to figure things out. I asked him if it would be OK if I tried to help him out a bit and he said he would love that. I asked him if I should start with some of the differences between our church and general Christianity. He said that would be very helpful. He said that he didn’t go to church much, but that his family was Christian and that was his frame of reference.
I told him that we believe we are all children of our father in heaven. I told him that God is a perfect father, a loving father and an all powerful father. He loves us and cares for us. Most of all he wants each one of us to come home. I said, I’m a father and I love it when my kids come home!
I said, God gave us his son Jesus Christ, to show us the way and to make it possible for us to come home. I said, when Jesus was crucified, resurrected, and atoned for our sins, he made that all possible. The kid in the back said “amen”.
I said, one of the things that Jesus said is that everyone needs to be baptized to come home to his father in heaven. He said, “that’s true”. I said, all these things we agree on, right? He said, yes
I asked him if God loves all of his children, no matter where they were born or when they were born. He said, yes, of course he does.
I asked him if God wanted each one of his children to come home and live with him in heaven, he said yes, of course he does.
I said, you believe that because you know it from the fiber of your being. You know that God loves his children. You know that God is perfect and that his plan is perfect. He said, yes. I asked him what percentage of the people in the history of the world had never and would never hear of Jesus Christ. People that don’t know anything about our father in heaven.
He thought for a minute and said, probably a solid 70%. I’m pretty sure that the vast majority of the people in the history of the world would never heard of Jesus.
I asked him, according to what the Bible says and what you have learned in your life can they go back and live with their father in heaven if these people have not been baptized? He thought for a minute and said, I guess not. He said, it is sad to think of it like that.
I asked, would a perfect Heavenly Father accept a plan that excluded 70% of his children right off the top? He said, I guess I would have to say no, no way.
He said, I’m all ears then, I had never considered that question and there seems to be a hole in my understanding. What does your church with its understanding teach about the salvation of this 70%? How are they going to be saved or how are they going to have an opportunity to be saved? He said, I’ve never thought of that. It seems like an important question. The reality is, I just don’t know.
I said with a smile on my face, I thought you’d never ask! Just then we were rounding the point of the mountain and you can see the Jordan River Temple in the valley. I said, the answer is in the temple. Do you know about temples? He said, I know a bit. I live in Chevy Chase, Maryland and the temple is just off of the freeway. What a beautiful building.
I said, it is a beautiful building, but what’s more beautiful is what we do inside. I said, once we have been baptized and we are worthy, we go inside those temple and we save the people who have passed on. I said, in the New Testament it talked about baptism for the dead and that is one of the things we do in this building. We go in the temple and are baptized for someone who has died. Once we are baptized for them, they get the opportunity to choose whether or not to accept that baptism.
I told him that these people have been taught the gospel and once we provide the baptism, they get to choose whether or not to accept that baptism. He said, I like that. I really like how you said that they get to choose. You don’t obligate them to anything they get to choose and that’s how it should be.
I said, when they choose to accept that baptism, it’s like handing them the key so that they can go into the kingdom of God, home to their father. Their baptism allows them to repent so they can be pure before God and they can be happy. I asked, isn’t that what we all want? To be happy? He said yes.
I said, one of the other things we do in that building is something that I get the feeling has been a little bit of a wedge for you and your girlfriend. She wants to be married in the temple. It’s what she has wanted her whole life It’s kind of been a stumbling block in your courtship. He said, that was the discussion we were having just tonight when I came out. He said, I guess I just don’t understand it. Why is it so special and important?
I said, we believe that we are the family of our father in heaven like we discussed. We are his children. We believe that the family is the most important organization on the Earth.
We believe that this is so important that we go into those temples and are married. We are not married until death to us part but instead we are married for eternity. We believe that our children are then sealed to us in our families.
In the Bible, Jesus gave Peter the power to seal things on earth that would be sealed in heaven. We have that same power. We use that power to seal marriages and families on earth and in heaven. It’s very important in our lives and it creates a strong foundation for a family so we can withstand all of the evil in the world today. That’s why she wants to be married in the temple.
I asked, have you heard about Joseph Smith? He said yes. I said, he was the prophet that restored the fullness of the gospel to the Earth. He was called to be prophet when he saw God the father and Jesus Christ. He was the prophet that received these keys and authority from Peter to perform this ordinance. Since that time, this has been the most important part of a family relationship. This power binds us together with our father in heaven and it is exactly what he wants us to do.
I said, we also do these sealings for our ancestors so that they can have this blessing as well. God loves all of his children, no matter where they were born or when they were born.
I told him that prophets had always been important in the church of Jesus Christ. I told him that the Old Testament and the New Testament were full of the writings of prophets because God loved his children and he gave them commandments through his prophets. I told him that obedience to these commandments helped them live happy lives .
I said, those prophets were in Israel, in the Middle East, and they ministered to the people there. They wrote their prophecies and God‘s word. I said, this is why we have the Bible. He said, I love the Bible, I read the Bible a lot.
I asked, did God love your girl friends ancestors who lived here in America any less than he loved the people in Jerusalem? He said, no. He loves all of his children the same. I asked him if the people living in America or the people living in Africa had access to the prophets that were in Jerusalem and their words. He said no. He said, back in the day international communication wasn’t a thing. I laughed and said, you are absolutely correct.
I said, that’s why God had prophets in America. He had prophets here who received revelations and commandments just like they did in the Bible and they wrote them down. They wrote them down so that their people could have them, read them and stay close to God.
I said, these writings were given to Joseph Smith and he translated them by the power of God. Today we have these revelations and prophecies and we call them the Book of Mormon. He said, oh, I have one of those books! My girlfriend gave me one a couple of years ago. I said, it’s a companion to the Bible and it teaches us the word of God. It supports and testifies of the truthfulness taught in the Bible. It testifies of the divinity of Jesus Christ.
I asked him if he’d ever heard the phrase other sheep, I have which are not of this fold. He said that he had heard it but he really didn’t understand what it meant. I said, it meant that after Jesus had been resurrected in Jerusalem, he was telling the people there that he had other sheep in other parts of the world. He was saying that he was going to go visit them. I asked him, do you know where those other sheep were?
He thought for a minute and he said, could you help me, like give me a hint? We were both laughing as I said, yes I can. In Isaiah in the Old Testament, it tells where these people were that Jesus would visit and it includes the Isles of the sea, which is everything out there in the ocean. I also said that they were in Kush. I asked him if he knew where Kush was and he said no.
I told him that it was the ancient empire of Africa. He was silent for a second and said, are you saying that Jesus went to Africa? I said,I personally believe he did. One thing we know for sure is that he came to America and then went to others around the world. Yes I think he went to Africa.
In the Book of Mormon, it talks about this. It has the complete account of his visit here to America. It talks about him descending from heaven in glory. The people knew who he was because they had been waiting for him. Their prophets had said he would come and now he was there.
They worshipped him and asked him to save them. I said, he called up 12, gave them authority to baptize and commanded them to baptize everyone even though they had previously been baptized in their religion. He commanded them to accept his invitation for this new baptism and take a step up in their level of discipleship. I said, he later gave them the gift of the Holy Ghost, so they could walk with the spirit of God. He held their children in his arms. He blessed their children and their posterity because God loves all of his children.
I said, after he did this, he said, still other sheep I have which are not of this land, the land of Jerusalem or the lands roundabout where he had been. He said he had received a commandment from his father to go to them so they could hear his voice and be counted among his sheep. I said, he went to them. I said, I think that’s when he went to Africa. He said, oh that’s cool!
I said, if we want to know what he would have taught the people in Africa and what he would’ve done there we should read the Book of Mormon because it would be pretty similar. I told him, one thing I am pretty sure of is that he blessed their children and loved them.
By this time, the stoic young man had become a little less stoic and a little more emotional. He said, that feels right. I said, it feels right because the spirit of God is touching your heart and letting you know that this is true. He said that the feeling was amazing and that he believed the things I was saying.
I said, this is all found in the Book of Mormon, that book is true! That book is the word of God and as a companion with the Bible, it will bring us home to him.
He said, this all makes more sense now. I had wondered why becoming a member of the your church and being married in the temple were such big things to her, now I get it. You’ve also answered so many questions I had and filled in the blanks on the church with regards to things that I was afraid to ask because I didn’t want to insult her or her beliefs. This makes more sense now.
I told him that he needed to talk to her about this ride and talk to her about the things that were said but most of all he needed to talk to her about the things he felt. He said, I usually don’t talk about my feelings very much. I think that would be a good idea. We have already been texting about what’s been going on here in the car and she’s very happy.
I bore my testimony, one more time. I know he could feel it. I testified that God had revealed things to my mind and that he had put him in my car tonight. I told him there is no such thing as a coincidence and the fact that they had been talking about this stuff right before he got in the car and then our continuing the conversation during the ride had been God’s way of reaching out.
He said, it had to be God because you nailed everything right on. You said things that answered my questions without me even asking them. He asked how I hit everything right on the nose. I said, God gave me the words to say so that you would know that the rest of the things I said were true. He uttered a very eloquent yup!
He thanked me and said this cleared things up so much and his girlfriend would be so happy to hear all about it.
By this time we had been sitting in the parking zone for about 10 minutes and he had to go. He thanked me and got out of the car. It was great to be there that day when his heart was softened. He was ready and all God had to do was tell me to get to it. He was ready to hear and accept the word of God. That’s a win.
Sometimes God sends you a lift 