I got a call to go over and pick up a lady in a trailer park by the Maverik on Redwood Road and 400 south. On the way over to pick her up I got a message from her saying that she wasn’t at the trailer park anymore. Ahhh, a moving target. We get those sometimes and it is an adventure in a normally predictable scenario! She said that she was over by the Maverick but she didn’t have her tracking on. Finally, after a bit more communication, I was able to locate her. It took some effort but felt I compelled to keep looking rather than just cancel so as she got in the car I was wondering why. Why didn’t I just stay where she was supposed to be? That is what we are supposed to do. I knew there was something I needed to do here. There was some reason for the prompting. I though sometimes people just need help,
Sometimes people are running away from something or not wanting to be seen near their house for whatever reason. Sometimes I get to testify but always there is a reason when I feel urgency like that. I became curious. I usually don’t ask questions about it because it’s not permitted but I always have to wonder.
I turned into the confusion that is the crowd at that gas station all of the time. In that crowd is where I found this young lady. She was almost two blocks from where she was supposed to be. She got my car and there was a sense of relief. Given the weird circumstances and what I would consider questionable choices of risky places to be picked up, she seem to be pretty together. The conversation that ensued surprised me quite a bit. As we started swapping stories she happened to mention that she couldn’t find a situation in her life where she could meet a decent guy. I asked her to define a decent guy because I know a bunch of them. She said that she wanted a guy that wouldn’t cheat on her. She said she recently had two boyfriends and both of them had cheated on her.
She said that she was taking the year off of relationships to work on her and to get her life in order. She was going to finish her degree and start a business. She wanted to be able have enough money and get her daughter back from her grandparents.
When someone says something like that it is normally obvious why someone else would have the child. They are clearly struggling with life. This did not seem to be the case here. I asked her if the custody of her child was ordered by the court. She said no.
She said she voluntarily sought out the grandparents of the child to take care of her. Even though the courts were not involved, she clearly had had tremendous problems. The business she wanted to start involved drug rehab and she seemed to have a passion for that.
She talked about how when she got her things together she would go and get her daughter back. She said for now it’s like they are best friends. She said she goes over and sees her every day and that her little girl is the light of her life.
The spirit started helping me to understand that this girl was a member of the church even though she hadn’t indicated it at all. In fact she had indicated a history of behaviors that would not be considered reflections of a member of the church. The spirit then started whispering to me and I said the words that the Lord put into my heart regarding the impressions I had.
I said that I knew that she had been hurt and that because of that she didn’t feel like she deserved to have a quality man in her life. I said that because of this she had settled for guys that didn’t put God first in their lives. I said, unless he does that he will never put you first. I told her that she judged herself very harshly for her mistakes and because of this she didn’t feel like she deserved to have happiness in her life. I said that because of this she didn’t seek out the kind of man that could bring this level of relationship success with him into her life.
I told her that I believed that this was happening both consciously and subconsciously. I looked at her and said, I believe you know exactly what I mean. The thought that you aren’t worthy of a godly relationship comes from Satan. I said that it was a lie told to her by Satan. I told her that Satan is the one who doesn’t want you to be happy. I reflected back on the scene at the Maverik where I picked her up and the horrible state of those around her there. I realized that she had been plucked out from that throng of iniquity and that this was an apt metaphor for this young lady’s situation.
I felt like at some point she had been baptized so I started talking about her relationship with our Heavenly Father. I told her that she was a daughter of her father in heaven and that I knew she had been baptized but hadn’t been to church in a very long time. She said, yes I was baptized almost exactly 3 years ago but I only attended for about six months. How did you know that? I said that I had felt an impression that this was the case. I said, you need to get right with God and start dating returned missionaries and worthy young men who want eternal families. I told her that she needed to go to church with other young people. This girl was only 21 or 22 years old. I told her that she had relegated herself to horrible situations by choosing to surround herself with people that weren’t good people. I said, quit telling yourself that you don’t deserve better.
She said, that’s what everybody told me. They all told me I needed to go to a singles ward. Maybe they’re right. I said definitely they are right! She asked, how did you know all of this?
I told her that through the gift of the Holy Ghost, Heavenly Father whispered to my heart these things about her so that I could say them to her. I told her that she was in a position in her life right now that she needed to know that her father in heaven loved her. She needed to know that he had sent this message to her so that she would know 100% for certain that he loved her. The spirit was in the car and you could feel this daughter of our father in heaven for the first time contemplate being loved by a perfect father.
I asked her what she felt right then. She said, warm, happy and safe. I told her that this is how she feels in the presence of the spirit of God. I said, your father in heaven sent this feeling so you could feel his love. I said that when you feel this you know that the things you are hearing are true. I said, by contrast, when you have thoughts that make you uncomfortable, anxious or angry they don’t come from God.
I felt a prompting telling me that she was using the grandparents of the child, not her parents to care for the child. It occurred to me that there was an issue with her family. I told her that her father in heaven loved her and he prepared a way for her to be happy not just get by. He wanted her to have a loving, righteous and wonderful family. He wanted her to live happily and not in misery. He wanted her to be excelling not doing the bare minimums to get by. I asked her if that isn’t what she wants for her daughter? She said yes. I asked her, with this being the case, doesn’t it make sense that a perfect loving Heavenly Father would want the same for you, his daughter? She had tears in her eyes and nodded her head.
I told her as a daughter of God he expected more. I told her that it’s important that she pray. The spirit prompted me that she hadn’t been praying and I said, it’s been quite some time, hasn’t it? She looked down and then said yes. I told her that she needed to start praying today.
I told her that Jesus Christ had paid for her sins but not just her sins, for all of the embarrassment, angst and pain she felt as a result of the bad things that had happened to her and that she had done. All she had to do was turn to Jesus Christ and he could lift her pain and he could heal her wounds.
I sensed that those wounds had become a very big part of her make up and that Satan was exploiting it to make her feel like she didn’t deserve happiness. He made her feel like she didn’t even deserve to be called a daughter of her father in heaven.
I started talking about the things Satan whispers in our ears by mentioning the promptings I had received. I told her that Satan says God doesn’t love you. Satan says God can’t love you because you’re flawed. Satan says that you shouldn’t pray. Satan says that you shouldn’t go to church and that everyone at church is judging you.
I asked her if she knew that Satan is a liar and she said yes. I asked her if she had heard him whisper these things to her and with tears in her eyes she said, yes all of the time. I asked her why she believed a liar. I told her that Satan is a liar so everything he does is a lie and everything he says is a lie. I asked her, when he whispers those lies, how do you feel? She said, angry, hurt and hopeless.
I told her the opposite is true, her father in heaven loves her more than anything just like she loves her daughter. I asked her again how she felt in the car, she smiled and said awesome. I said that this is how truth feels. I said that she needed to take notice of the difference in the way God and truth make her feel and how Satan’s lies make her feel. I told her that God wants her to go to church and carry a prayer in her heart. I told her that the things that Satan whispers in her ears are put there to keep her from being happy and to keep her from being successful. I told her that she needs to do the opposite.
I told her that the Book of Mormon teaches us that anyone who teaches us not to pray or any feeling we get that we shouldn’t or can’t pray is bad. I asked her if she knew where that kind of thought or prompting would come from and she said, Satan.
I told her that this holds true and works the same way for attending church. Any feeling or thought you have that tells you not to go to church, that you are not wanted there or will be judged there is bad. I asked her, who is it that would put that in your thoughts and in your mind? She said, Satan.
I told her that she was very special to her father in heaven and that for some reason today her father felt like she needed to know that he loved her. He needed her to look to him. I told her he needed her to learn to look to his Son and his atonement to heal her wounds. I told her that she needed to go to church and she needed to pray.
She told me that she had been really struggling today and that this car ride was what she needed. She said, how often do you get a message right from God? I feel special. I said, to your Heavenly Father you are special. You are his daughter.
I have to agree it was special. We made a plan for her to go back to church. We looked up her ward and meeting times. I told her that when she goes there she should feel for the spirit we had felt in the car. That way she would know she was home. She said, yes. This is so different that I felt in that crowd where you picked me up.
We had arrived at her destination. She wiped her tears, smiled and said, thank you for everything. This has been amazing
I know she has a plan and I hope she gets everything together so she can get her daughter back and get her life on track. After our conversation she seemed determined to do just that but this time not all by herself. She knows she has a father who will help her and an older brother who will lift her.
Sometimes God sends you a lift 