One day I picked up a lady in Sandy. I picked her up at work and she was headed over to her boyfriend’s house. We talked a minute about what she did for work and what she did for work as we were driving.
She was from Sudan and had been in the country about eight years.. She spoke perfect English and was in her early 20s. I could tell that she had been totally influenced by the culture here because of the huge nose ring she had going on.
I have to admit that there have been many times that the spirit has had to override me with regard to people that seem steeped in the crazy cultural traditions of the day. This was one such occasion. I knew I was supposed to talk to this girl about the gospel but I thought, what could I possibly have in common or how could I start this conversation.
As she talked about her boyfriend and how they were getting ready for Halloween, I felt prompted to ask her when they were going to get married and how many kids they wanted to have. As I have mentioned before, this is kind of forbidden but given the context of the conversation and the fact that I felt prompted to go in this direction, I decided to ask.
She paused for a moment and the smile that had been on her face disappeared. She said, I’m not sure. She said, I think it will take years for us to get to the point where we can get married. I asked her how long they had been dating and she said two years.
I talked to her about the difference between building your life and then performing a corporate merger with another person and calling it a marriage versus meeting someone, starting your life and growing your life together. I told her people successfully do both things but I prefer the latter.
I said, when you can start with nothing and sacrifice together, it brings you together. She said, I had never thought of that. That makes a lot of sense. Maybe we need to revisit this.
By this time we were on I-215 turning onto the 47th south exit. The temple was right there in front of us. It’s a beautiful temple and I’ve used it before to bring up the church. The spirit moved me and I smiled as I realized Heavenly Father is always in charge.
I said, isn’t that a beautiful building? I’m a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of latter-day Saints and that’s one of our temples. I asked, do you know what we do in those temples? She said, no I don’t but they’re beautiful and I’ve always wondered. She said, as I drive by I am always mesmerized by its beauty. I even went on the grounds one time and it felt so peaceful. I can tell it’s an amazing and important building. She said, I can tell that the spirit of God is there. She asked, tell me, what is it that you do in there?
I told her that it’s a very special place where we are married. I said, that goes right along with our conversation. When we are married, we are not just married until death, we are married for time and eternity. I said, because we’re married in the temple, we know that we will never be permanently separated and that in the next life, we will still be married and our families will be with us. For us it’s all about the family.
She said, that’s awesome! How does that work? I said, when Jesus was on the Earth, Peter was given power and authority to seal things on earth that would be sealed in heaven. That authority was given to our prophets who lead our church today. They have this authority and we use it to seal marriages on earth and they are sealed in heaven. We use it to seal children to parents on earth and they are still sealed in heaven as well. We are all sealed to our father in heaven as one big heavenly family. That’s what goes on in that temple.
I said, we also go in there and are sealed or married for our ancestors who have passed away. They are given the opportunity to accept that sealing so that they can have this blessing for themselves and their posterity. Our ancestors made it possible for us to be here and we make it possible for them to be together with us eternally. It’s all a family thing. She said, I like that! That’s why that building feels special.
I told her that in that building we make sure that every person who was ever born anywhere on the Earth has the opportunity to be baptized. She said, what? I said, in the book of Peter it talks about how every person is taught the gospel after they leave this life. The Bible also teaches us that every person needs to be baptized to enter into the kingdom of heaven and be with our Heavenly Father.
I said, in the New Testament, it also mentions baptism for the dead. We do those baptisms in this temple and in all of our temples. We go there and are baptized for a person who has passed away. They then have the opportunity to accept that baptism so that they can enter into the kingdom of God. I said, again, it’s all about family and God being the perfect father of his family wants to provide an opportunity for every one of his children to come home.
I asked her how many people in the history of the world die without hearing the gospel of Jesus Christ. She said, most of them. I asked her if God loved those people and she said yes. I asked her if an all powerful God would give them an opportunity to come home and she said yes. I said, this is the way.
She said, I love that! As you were explaining that, it made chills go up my spine. I’ve always thought it was important to seek out the love of God. I was taught that if babies weren’t baptized, they went to purgatory. She said, my dad is a very strong Catholic but I never believed that. What is your teaching on that? I told her that babies and children who are too young to commit sin are saved through the atonement of Jesus Christ. His sacrifice pays the price and covers them. I said, they all go to heaven.
I told her that God provides baptisms for and teachings of the gospel for every one of his children. Those who pass away before they are accountable, do not need baptism because they are saved by the atonement of Jesus Christ and go directly to heaven.
The purpose of baptism is to cleanse us of our sin and they that have no sin are saved through Jesus Christ. Everyone else will be taught the gospel and have a baptism so that they all get a chance to be saved in the kingdom of God. That’s the importance of that building.
She said, that’s why there was such a great feeling there. It was a very spiritual feeling and if that work is going on there, it would make sense that it would be a building surrounded by the spirit.
I said, you ought to feel inside of it! It’s incredible. She asked, how do you get to go inside? Don’t you have to be a member of your church? I said, yes! I said, the good thing is that it is an easy thing to accomplish! She laughed.
I said, we are all about families and we are all about the love of our father in heaven. We believe he loves everyone, no matter when they were born or where they lived on the earth. He’s got a plan for everyone. We believe that he sent his son, Jesus Christ, to atone for the sins of everyone and to bring them home. That is the promise of the gospel and it’s fulfilled in the temples.
I told her the gospel is about love and that God loves all his children. I told her that the way God shows us his love is through prophets and revelation. This is why we have the Bible. God revealed his word to the prophets in the Bible and they wrote them down. This is why we have the Old and New Testaments. These books are from men of God, writing about their revelations and their interactions with God.
I told her that God had other prophets in the world. He had prophets here in America because he loved those people too. I asked her if she thought God loved the people who had lived in America anciently and she said yes. I told her that they received revelation and waited for the arrival of Jesus Christ. I told her that they were baptized and taught the gospel.
I told her that after Jesus’s resurrection, he told the apostles and people in Jerusalem that he had other sheep that he was going to visit. Then he ascended to heaven.
I said that in America, he descended from heaven in glory. I told her that the people touched the prints of the nails in his hands and begged for salvation. I told her that as a response to this, he called 12 and gave them authority and power to baptize. He gave them authority to teach the gospel. He commanded that they and all of the people be baptized even though they had previously been baptized. He commanded that they be baptized to a new level and a new covenant. I told her that the things we do on our temple are part of that new level and new covenant. She said, that makes sense.
I told her that these prophets wrote down their revelations on metal plates and they were translated by the prophet Joseph Smith. That is how we have the Book of Mormon. I said, it’s the word of God and another testament of Jesus Christ.
As I taught about the Book of Mormon and Jesus coming to America, the spirit was really strong in the car. I could tell that she was moved. Her eyes were fixated on mine through the mirror. It was almost like a trance and it was very intense. I could tell by the look on her face that she was feeling the spirit and I asked her what she felt. She said that she knew the things that I was saying were true and she had a hunger to gain more knowledge.
I told her that this was the spirit of God and that it was revealing to her the truthfulness of the things I was saying. It was also bringing to her mind the recollection of the spirit she felt on the grounds of the temple. I said, this is how he brings us home. We seek and follow that spirit.
She said I feel like everything you’re telling me is true. I said, it’s all about a father bringing his children home. He loves everyone and when Jesus was done in America, he said he still had other places to go. I told her that if you read Isaiah, he was going to Asia, Africa and other places.
I asked her how firm the belief of her family in Africa is regarding Jesus Christ. She said, they love Jesus. She said, many people in Africa are being killed because they will not deny Jesus. They love him so much. She said, we used to have these killings in my country, but not anymore. We love Jesus.
I told her that the Book of Mormon was for her. I told her that I believe Jesus went to Africa. He held their children and he blessed them and their posterity, which includes her and the other people in Africa. I told her that their spirits recognize this blessing and it burns in their souls. That is why they are willing to risk everything for that light.
I said, when you read in the Book of Mormon about Jesus coming to America, that’s exactly what he would have done with your ancestors in Africa. He would have loved them. He would have taught them and he would have given them baptism. He wanted to bring them home. I said, it’s clear to me that this blessing is still burning in the hearts and souls of the descendants of those people who received that blessing. I said, I believe that this book is important to you.
She had a tear in her eye and she said, that makes a lot of sense. Our culture feels a very close relationship with Jesus so this makes so much sense. We know we are children of God and that Jesus loves us.
I told her that once I had had a man in my car that was Buddhist. He said that they believe that they worship the Budda, who is the son of the great Budda. They say that the son of the great Buddha came down and dwelt amongst them. He taught them how to live. I asked, does that sound familiar? She laughed and said, yes, it does, wow yeah!
She said, I’ve heard stories like that all over the world, including Africa. They never made sense to me until today. God loves all of his children.
I asked, would you like me to give you a Book of Mormon? She said, my cousins are members of your church. Last year they gave me a Book of Mormon and it’s sitting on top of my bookcase. I’ve never touched it but I will now. I’m going to read that book.
I said, as you read that book, you should pray and feel for the spirit. I told her that it would feel similar to what she was feeling in the car today. By the presence of that spirit, she would know the truthfulness of the things she was reading. I said, God doesn’t expect us to bump around in the dark. He sends us his spirit to reveal his truth so that we can find the path. Reading the Book of Mormon is an important part of being on that path back to God.
She said, that’s where I want to go. I asked, do you remember when I said that Jesus gave them his baptism? She said yes. I said, do you remember that he gave them the authority to baptize? She said yes. I said, we have that same baptism today and he is extending the invitation to you. He put you in my car today to extend an invitation to you to receive this baptism, to read the Book of Mormon and come home to him.
She said, I got chills up my spine again when you said that. I believe that’s true. She said, there’s no such thing as coincidence and I’ve always been a person who loves seeking out truth. One thing I know is that today I heard a bunch of it.
We were pulling into her neighborhood and I felt like we needed to get her into a situation where she could follow through. I asked her if she was close with her cousins. She said, yes, they are close. They do family get togethers, but they had never talked much about religion. She said, they gave me the Book of Mormon last year and I know they were baptized a few years ago but we usually don’t talk too much about it.
I told her to text her cousins and tell them about our ride and tell them that she wanted to know about being baptized. She said, that’s a great idea! She sent the text right then. Unfortunately they didn’t respond while we were in the car. That would have been cool but I’m sure they will be excited.
I said, you know, I’ve had the feeling that you’re being weighed down by some things that you’ve done that you know weren’t right. I want you to know that when you repent and are baptized, those sins will be washed clean from you as if you had never committed them. This baptism will make you clean and pure. It will lift you to that next level of discipleship.
She had tears in her eyes and said, I don’t know how you knew but I was just thinking about that. I was wondering if I was worthy of this. What you just said came straight from God. I said, his spirit has been here and he wants you home. It all starts with your cousins and with you being baptized.
As we pulled up to her house, she said, no, it all started in this car. God touched my heart and your testimony burned in my soul. I know what I need to do.
She said thank you, got out of the car and walked into the house
Sometimes God sends you a lift 