One night I was in Orem and trying to drive south. As per usual whenever Heavenly Father has something for you to do, it goes in a direction that doesn’t follow your plan. Of course I got a ride from Orem to up north above the Timpanogos Highway in Traverse Mountain.
The house where I picked this ride up was about four blocks north of where I used to live when we lived in Lakeridge. As I sat there entertaining the circumstances of this ride the spirit told me that I needed to be ready to be engaged. At that point, I knew for a fact that this was an errand for Heavenly Father .
This young man came out of the house and got in my car. He was about 24 or 25 years old and very chatty. That makes it easier to get into a conversation. When people are quiet it’s very difficult. This guy seemed to be something of an open book.
I felt he hadn’t gone on a mission but I felt like I needed to ask him if he had served. It didn’t make sense at the time but I obeyed and asked. He said that he didn’t go on a mission. That’s all he said. He didn’t talk about his religious life at all. I was hoping to get an idea of how to start.
He talked about how 3 of the last five years he had lived in Bethlehem. We talked a little bit about the situation over there and the complexity of the issues. I had the impression from the spirit that he was a member of the church so I asked , did you go to church over there? I told him that I have a friend, Mark, who was the district president in Israel when he worked for the FBI in the embassy.
My passenger said that was cool but he didn’t know my friend Mark. I told him that my friend Mark said that they have lots of interesting rules for the church there in Israel but that it was an amazing experience. My passenger agreed with that. He said that he had attended church in the BYU Jerusalem Center. We talked about the security of the whole situation for a minute and then I got the prompting to ask him the big question.
I got the impression that he had been inactive for a couple years since he got back from Israel. I felt that he didn’t go to church anymore. The impression continued letting me know that tonight he was going to a party where unworthy things were going to be going on. These were things he knew that he shouldn’t be participating in.
I asked him, when did you quit going to church? He was a little surprised and said, how do you know that I quit going to church? I continued telling him that he had been inactive for a while and that he was going to a party tonight that he really knew he shouldn’t be attending.
He was quiet for a moment. He asked, how did you know those things? How did you know about tonight like that? How did you know about my life like that?
I told him that one of the things that the Holy Ghost does is it tells us the things that we should say. I told him that I didn’t know these things but the Holy Ghost did and he whispered them to me to say. I said that he did this so that he would listen to the rest of the things I had to say.
I said that I felt like he had kind of become very casual with the church during Covid and got used to not attending church. Then later he fell into skepticism, indifference and finally questioning his belief. Along with the skepticism and indifference came extended exposure to rough crowds and dabbling in sin. It had become more like rebellion at this point.
I asked him, are you intentionally rebelling against God? That’s pretty serious. He thought about it and said that he didn’t think of it like that. He said that he was just going along with his friends but hadn’t considered the rebellion thing.
I asked him if he wanted to be that guy? I asked if he was ready to be the guy that rebelled against God and he said no. I said, I guess you have to start making a plan to come back then.
He said that he had thought about that a couple of times. Each time he fell short because he had come to the decision to come back he had the feeling that he was already too far down the road. He thought that it would be just too hard for him and it would be embarrassing to him and his family.
I told him, that’s not true! I said, Satan is the one in your ear telling you that you have gone too far. It’s Satan telling you that your family won’t understand. It’s Satan telling you that people will judge you and that you will feel embarrassment instead of relief. Instead of giving you peace, Satan is trying to confuse you.
I told him to tell Satan to get lost. I told him to quit listening to Satan. I told him that it’s time to choose a team and Satan‘s team was going to lose. I told him that we want him back on our team. I told him that Heavenly Father wants him back And that’s why he was in my car tonight.
As I said this, the spirit was really strong. He said, I haven’t felt the spirit like this in a long time. He said, I can’t believe you’ve called me out but you’ve done it with love and your words have touched me.
He asked, how do I come back? I said, these are the same answers you’ve been told your whole life. You have been told to go to church and repent so that you can be ready to take the sacrament. The sacrament will fill your soul with power so that you can withstand temptations from Satan as well as the people around you. It’s very important that you go to church and get ready and worthy to take the sacrament.
I said, you haven’t been praying, have you? You haven’t been talking with Heavenly Father. He quietly whispered, no. I said, you need to say your prayers. I’m not talking about once a day. I’m talking about morning and night. You need to have a conversation with your father in heaven throughout the day. I said, have him walk with you in prayer. If you do that, it will push unworthy things away and you can walk with God back to his presence.
I said, you need to repent every day for the small things and the big things you do. You need to have the atonement in your life to lift you above the errors of your ways. I said, the atonement helps us in so many ways. It can ease the pain and suffering that we go through in life. The atonement of Jesus Christ is God’s plan for us to be able to be happy in a fallen world. Wrap yourself in the atonement and let God lift you.
I said, you need to read the Book of Mormon. That book has a special spirit with it. As you read the Book of Mormon, the Lord will teach you how to come closer to him and show you which parts of your life you need to change. You need to read it every day and regain a testimony of that book that will burn in your soul.
I asked him how he felt right then. He said that he felt amazed, astounded and a tremendous energy. I told him that right now he had a desire in his soul to do the things I had told him to do. He said, that has to be the spirit. I told him that it was the spirit. I said that the spirit is a way we communicate with God. I told him that when he feels that, he knows that the things he is hearing are true.
He said, I know these things are true and this is what I’m supposed to do. He said, I’m blown away that all this has happened on the ride tonight. He asked, do you have a Book of Mormon that I could have? He said, I want to have it with me tonight. I think it will bring me protection.
I reached into my glove box and pulled out a Book of Mormon prepared by the Secrists. I gave him the book and said, there’s a power in this book. That power will touch your soul and help you transform your life back to where you want it to be. It will help bring you into harmony with the spirit and with your father in heaven. He took the book and said thank you.
We were just pulling up to the apartment where I was taking him. He said, I don’t think I’ll be here very long tonight and I’m going to be looking for some new friends. I think that’s one of the changes I need to make.
I asked him how that came into his mind. He thought about it for a moment and said, I think that’s what God wants me to do. I said, that’s right. This is how we change.
He reached up, shook my hand and thanked me for the ride. He thanked me for talking to him in a way that nobody else had. I said, keep in mind that the words were not my words. They came from God because he loves you. He said, I will always remember that and I will always remember this ride. He got out of the car and went in the apartment.
Sometimes God sends you a lift 