One day I was in Salt Lake. I got some rides that had taken me to Salt Lake and usually what I like to do is bump around Salt Lake for a while until I can hit a certain amount of money. At that time I set my directional down to Utah County so that maybe I could catch someone going home after work and have it pay for my gas to go home. This was one such day. I got a ride to downtown Salt Lake City from the airport and then I was setting my directional parameter when I got a ride that went to West Valley City. I thought that this was an amazing ride because it started me south and a lot of times you pick up good rides from the west side going south.
It wasn’t too much money but I was thinking that i didn’t have to make as much, I just had to cover my gas. I drove over and picked the guy up on Main Street between 300 and 400 South. He got in the car and I started the ride.
When I started the ride, I saw that it was going to Park City instead of West Valley City and I was disheartened. It was 3 o’clock and that meant I wouldn’t be home untill seven with traffic. This trip, as previously mentioned, didn’t have very much money in it.
I thought about just canceling the trip and asking him to get out of the car. I’ve never done that for anything other than bad behavior but I was really considering it. I didn’t want to go to Park City at all. The thing with Park City is that going up and over the mountain both ways really costs you more in gas than you make sometimes. This time of year there are no rides back from there.
As I was about to do that, there was a peace that came over me and I had an assurance that I should take this ride. I looked at the guy in the rearview mirror and wondered to myself if maybe I just wasn’t off my game today. I felt the impression again so I decided to just go.
We started driving down the road. I asked him where he was from and he said he was from Los Angeles. I asked him what he was doing and he said he’s looking for work. All of a sudden Park City made sense. This guy seemed like a hard worker. Maybe he’s was a construction worker, or some form of a laborer.
I asked him if that’s the kind of job he was looking for and he said yes. I asked him why he was down in Salt Lake and he said that he had come down to see the town because he had never been there. He said he’d been all over downtown while he was here.
I asked him if he saw the temple. I said, they’re doing a lot of construction there! He said that he did notice it and that it was really cool. I asked him if he went in Temple Square and if he saw the tabernacle. He said that he did and was amazed by the tabernacle. He said that he was going to try to go back on Sunday and listen to the choir. He said that he likes choirs and that he would like to watch the choir sing there.
He told me that the young women there indicated that there was a performance on Sunday morning and that he could come. I confirmed to him that this was the case. I told him that a good friend of mine is one of those that plays the organ for the tabernacle choir. I told him Richard Elliott and I have been friends for years and that he is a fantastic organist and an amazing man. My rider was getting pretty excited.
I said, I take it you’re not a member of our church. He said, well, not yet. If you’ve read my blog for very long, you know that’s my joke. That’s my line. I say you haven’t been baptized “yet“. When he said that I knew that we were on. I knew that a 40 minute ride to Park City was exactly what we needed and that there was a lot of testifying to do. I could feel that he had a genuine interest and almost an excitement to know what it was we believed. That’s an amazing way to start.
I asked him if he knew what we believed and he said no. I asked him how important family was to him and he said really important given the fact that he was Latin by heritage. He said he didn’t have a family. He said he didn’t have kids and he didn’t have a wife. He said he didn’t have an ex-wife either and he laughed. The thing was that he was probably 40 years old and that surprise me a little bit. He said that family was extremely important. I told him, that’s exactly right. We believe that in our church. We are one big family of God.
I told him that we all lived with God before we came to earth. I told him that we lived with him for thousands of years and we are part of his family and he is our father. I told him our spirits recognize his spirit and that when we feel his spirit, what we’re doing is remembering what it was like to be in his presence. I told him that our spirits really love being in the presence of God.
I said that because our spirits love that so much we seek God. We seek to do good things so that we can feel it. We seek truth that is manifest and confirmed by that same spirit. I said, that’s how you know when you’re hearing truth, you feel his spirit because he will not mislead you. He will not send you his spirit in the presence of lies or evil.
I asked, what do you feel right now? He said, I feel like I’m hungry to learn. This excites me to learn more about what you guys believe. I said, that’s the spirit of God and it’s confirming the truthfulness to you of the things I’m teaching and your spirit wants more. Your spirit wants more contact with the spirit of your father in heaven.
I told him that God loves all of his children, no matter where they live and no matter when they were born. I said, we are all God‘s children. I asked him if he believed that and he said yes. I asked him how God shows his love to all of his children. He thought for a minute and said, he gave us the gospel. I said, that’s right!
I told him that God revealed his gospel to his prophets, and they taught us the will of God. I told him that Jesus Christ came and taught us. He gave us commandments just like previous prophets had given us commandments. They were all written down and that’s why we have the Bible.
I told him the Bible is the word of God. They are the words of God to his prophets and they show us the way that we can be happy today. He agreed.
I asked him if God only loved the people in Jerusalem and he said, no he loves everyone. I asked him if God had prophets in places other than Israel and he said he didn’t think so. I asked him if a loving God who loved all of his children and had children all over the world would only give a small portion of his children in one little area his words so only they could be happy. I asked him, what about the rest?
He said, I’ve never thought of it like that. I told him back in the day they didn’t have televisions, satellite or the Internet. The only way to get word from one place to another was for someone to go there. I asked him, what about the people in the rest of the world? He said, that’s a good question. I asked, God have made a way for them to be happy, don’t you think?
He said, yes that makes a lot of sense but I don’t know how he would have done that. It doesn’t say anything like that in the Bible. I said, well, it does! After Jesus had been resurrected before he ascended into heaven, he said, “other sheep I have that are not of this fold” and that 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 asked him, do you think that could have been the rest of the people? Do you think that could’ve been the rest of God‘s children?
He said, I never read that verse like that. I like that! I said, doesn’t it feel right given the fact that you believe that God loves all of his children and not just the ones in Jerusalem. He said, yes.
I said, what about your ancestors here in America? Did God love them? He said, yes! I asked him how would God have blessed them. He was quiet for a minute then I said, we believe that God had prophets here in America and they received revelations and teaching from God just like the prophets in the Bible. I said, they wrote them down. We believe that when Jesus said other sheep he had, he was talking about the people in America and we believe that he came to America to bring them the gospel. He did this so they could be counted among his sheep. He said, oh OK.
I said, Jesus descended from heaven in glory and stood in front of the people here in America, your ancestors, they touched the prints of the nails in his hands and in his feet. They knew this was their God because it had been prophesied to them that he would visit. They had their God standing in front of them and they begged for salvation.
I said, as a direct response to that plea, he called up 12, gave them authority to baptize and commanded that everyone be baptized. He taught them how to baptize and he taught them the gospel so that they could teach the people the gospel of Jesus Christ.
I pointed out to him that all the people in America had previously had baptism and even been baptized, especially those who met Christ. I said, he commanded everyone to be baptized even the people who had previously been baptized because the baptism he brought to them was a new baptism to a new level of discipleship and a new covenant. He wanted them to have the fullness of the gospel. He wanted them to have this new level of discipleship because he loves everyone in the world not just the people in Jerusalem.
I said, the cool thing is that he wanted to teach them and bring them to this new level. He wanted each of them to be baptized with his baptism so he extended that invitation to them. I said, today he is extending that invitation to you. This is the baptism we have in our church. We have that same authority and we do the same baptism that he taught your ancestors. I said, this account is found in the Book of Mormon. It is the religious heritage of your people.
He said, wow, I didn’t expect that. I was kind of drawn down here today and I didn’t know why but I think this may have been the reason. I think God put people in my way to get me here today. He said, this morning before I left I prayed and asked God to give me people who could help me understand his will. Then I go over to Temple Square and feel the spirit like you described. Then we have this discussion. I know this is an answer to my prayer. God sent you here today, he put you on my way so I could learn this.
I said, and now that you have this new knowledge, he’s inviting you to learn more and prepare for the same baptism that he gave your ancestors. He said, I feel the spirit. I feel the spirit in the things that you are saying. I feel like this whole day has been an answer to my prayer.
I told him that the prophets in America wrote down their revelations just like they did in the Bible and they wrote the account of Jesus coming to America on metal plates of gold. I told him that those writings are what we call the Book of Mormon. He said, I’ve heard of the Book of Mormon. I said, that book has the teachings of God to the ancient people there in America. including the visit of Jesus Christ to America, where he blessed them and healed them. He held their children and wept. He said, I can feel that. I want to learn more. He asked, do you have a Book of Mormon. How would I go about getting one?
I reached into my glove box and grabbed one. It’s one of the books prepared by the Secrists and I gave it to him. I said, this is your copy of the Book of Mormon. It contains all of the revelations and prophecies that we’ve talked about. It’s a testament that Jesus Christ loves everyone not just the people in Jerusalem and especially your ancestors.
He grabbed it and said, I’m going to read this book. I just feel strongly that this is what I’ve needed in my life.
I told him that the plates that the Book of Mormon were written on were given to the prophet Joseph Smith. He translated them so that we could have them today. I told them that Joseph Smith was looking for the truth. He read in the Bible that he should pray and ask God. I told him that he went to the forest, he knelt and he prayed. He asked God which church he should join. He said that God the father and Jesus Christ appeared to him. They said that the true church with all of his teachings, was not on the Earth at that time. They called Joseph Smith to be the prophet to restore the church on the Earth.
Later he was given these plates and he translated them by the power of God. I said, God has prophets. God works through prophets . He always has worked through prophets and he always will work through prophets . I said other religions don’t have prophets but the church of Jesus Christ of latter-day Saints has prophets who speak with God for us today.
I said the Bible has good teachings but we see different things today. The world is very different today and God has a prophet on the Earth to lead and guide us. We also got 12 apostles who direct the church and teach the gospel of Jesus Christ just like in his church when he was on the earth. He said, I like that.
I bore testimony of Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. The spirit was palpable in the car. I asked, do you feel that? He said, yes. I asked him, what does that mean? He said, it means that it’s true, it means the things that you said are true. It also means that this is an answer to the prayer I offered this morning.
He asked me if he could go to church and learn more and where should he go. We got on the church tools app and found the church in Park City, the meeting time and sent in the reference right there while he was in the car. Later after he was out of the car, I called the missionaries and spoke with them. They got in touch with him and it had been less than one hour since we had talked. They were excited!
I told my rider what the missionaries would be doing when they come over. I said that they would be preparing him to receive that same baptism that Jesus had invited his ancestors to receive. I told him that it was his turn to take that step up to the next level. He said, I’m ready to do that, I want to do that.
I drove him over to show him where the church house is in Park city that he will be attending. It’s not very far from where he’s living and he was excited to see it. He said that he couldn’t wait to hear from the missionaries. He said, today has been like a miracle to me because I know that God cares for me
One last time I felt prompted to testify to him and identify the spirit. It was strong. It was emotional and he was feeling it. I said, because of the spirit that you’re feeling right now you know that this is the church of Jesus Christ. You know we have a prophet on the Earth today. You know that the Book of Mormon is a word of God and that the baptism the missionaries are going to teach you about is the same baptism that Jesus himself taught to your ancestors. I said, you know that you are invited by Jesus to take that step up. He said, yes I do. I can’t wait to get started.
He shook my hand three times then got out of the car and went into his house.
I want to point out something that I pointed out here before. That is that the passengers usually never want to have contact. They never want to shake hands and they never want to touch you. When I have these missionary experiences in the car with people, they always want to touch my shoulders, my head or shake my hands. They want that contact and I believe that they are not wanting to have contact with me necessarily. They want contact with the spirit that they are feeling that comes from their father in heaven.
I’m glad that Heavenly Father lets me take that spirit with me and share it with the people he puts in my car.
Sometimes God sends you a lift 