One night I was driving in Salt Lake and I got a trip down to the south end of the valley. A lot of times if that happens you want to just get right back up to Salt Lake as fast as you can. That particular night there was a Real Salt Lake soccer game and I don’t know if you’ve ever been in that traffic jam, but it can be daunting.
I meant to put my app on pause so that I wouldn’t get one of those soccer game rides. I thought I did anyway but lo and behold a ride popped up that had me picking up at the game and driving down to Draper. This is further away from where I wanted to be and in that massive traffic.
It took me a minute to weave through the cars and the people to get to the spot where I was supposed to meet my passengers. They weren’t there and the time started ticking on the clock. At five minutes I could leave and head back to Salt Lake.
As I sat there contemplating my escape, the spirit impressed upon me that I was not to do that. I didn’t know why but that’s normally all the reason I need. Five minutes came and went and I was onto six minutes when all of a sudden. all three doors on my car flew open and great big huge human beings jumped in my car screaming loudly.
I was a bit startled and quite intimidated. Three of these people were at least 6’3”and over 250 pounds. One was a bit taller and another bigger. The last one was a young lady who herself was probably 6 foot and 200 pounds. It was a big crew. Two of them had University of Utah shirts on. We had quite a collection of large people in the car. We had two Polynesians, a Latino and an African-American along with me.
They did however, seem to have had a really good time. They were enjoying the game and enjoying talking about everything that had gone on that evening. Then the topic turned to religion. They all started talking about how bad they hate our church and the members of the church. This conversation went on for three or four minutes and finally one of them looked at me and said, I’ll bet you’re Mormon, aren’t you? I said, 100%.
Their discussion was loud and spirited. There was anger and mocking in the tone of the conversation. They believed the church to be racist, they thought Joseph Smith was a fraud and they thought that tithing was just ripping the people off. They were very adamant and very forceful with these ideas.
The lady asked, how do you feel about all the things that we said? I said, everyone’s entitled to their own opinion but from what I’ve heard some of your information is incorrect. I was beginning to wonder why the spirit wanted me to take this ride.
One of the guys piped up and said, we all used to be members of that church so we know what’s what. I said, well the information that you guys were sharing just now was incorrect. That’s all I was saying. The tension was thick in the car.
You don’t want to make four people who are all bigger than you angry in an enclosed environment, but I felt like it was important at that moment to stand up. I felt like it was the thing Heavenly Father had wanted me to do. I felt that it was the reason why I had be given the prompting. One of the guy said, do you think you can answer our questions?
I said, look, I have the gift of the Holy Ghost and with the help of the Holy Ghost I can provide truthful answers to your questions. I asked, are you so full of hate that you can’t listen or are you able to be touched by the spirit?
They were shocked. I don’t think they anticipated my opposition and in a way I think they were impressed that I would go against the flow like that. A lot of times people think that everybody will just be quiet and let you run over them and I think that’s what they had expected.
On top of that, them being large people and very loud was a factor. I’m sure in their minds this made it less likely that I would say anything. One thing for sure is that by me standing up like that, it created an environment of respect. They respected me for standing up and started asking questions.
One of the guys in the backseat said, I am black, why doesn’t the church think I’m as good as they think you are? Why would the church discriminate against me? They all chimed in with their little statements of support, like yeah, what about that?
I said, how have you been discriminated against in the church? I said, how have you ever been racially mistreated? He said, well, I haven’t but you do know that back in the day they didn’t think the black people were as important as white people.
I said, I don’t think that’s the truth. We believe that all of God‘s children are important, including both black and white people. I said, for sure there are some people who say or do things that are unkind or out of line, included with that is some racism from time to time. I’m sure of it because we all fall short.
He said, you know that we weren’t able to hold the priesthood. That’s racism. I said, I could see why you would say that. This disarmed him a little bit. He said, what’s your answer? I asked him if he attended a church now. He said that there was a black church that he attended once he left our church.
I asked him, how many people in that congregation hold the priesthood? He thought for a moment and said, I guess just the preacher. I asked, you mean none of the fathers in the homes hold the priesthood? He said, no. I said, the fathers in the home can’t give blessings to their children to heal them when they’re sick. They have to get the preacher. Does he even do that? He thought about it for a moment and said no. I said, so with the exception of the preacher in your church none of the black people in your church hold the priesthood. He was quiet.
I asked, when you attended our church, was the whole congregation black? He said, no there were Hispanic people and white people. I said, that’s right.
I said, the black church was created because of racism. White people didn’t want to worship with black people and black people didn’t want to worship with white people. I said, in fact, since the founding of our church, we’re one of the few churches in the country that didn’t create separate congregations based on race. Everybody worships together.
I said, this was a particular problem for the people in Missouri. When the church was in Missouri there was a lot of racism. Missouri was a slave state and in our congregation you had white people and black people sitting next to each other and worshiping God at the same time. That was an issue.
From that time all the way up until the mid 1960s mixing races at church was not a thing and it still isn’t today in a lot of congregations with the exception of our church. We believe that all of God‘s children are the same and that they should worship together. Since the 1970’s every father in every home who’s worthy has the priesthood and he can give blessings to his children and his family.
That is the power of God in the hands of every father in every home, black, white, Latino, regardless of race. No other church has anything like that.
I asked, are you sure that our church is racist? To me that sounds like the most progressive church with regard to race. I told them that when I was a child my grandma always taught me that the black people who obey the commandments would one day have every blessing of the gospel and that day came long before you were born.
He was quiet for a moment and then said, I’ve never heard anyone talk about it like that. It makes me wonder why I was so angry? I said, me too and then we laughed.
I said, next question. The young lady piped up and said, I’ve heard a lot of things about Joseph Smith and things he did that were kind of bad. I said, so what you’re saying is that Joseph Smith wasn’t perfect. She said, yes!
I said, said, of course he wasn’t perfect. No one in the history of the world except Jesus Christ has ever been perfect. I said, Moses wasn’t perfect. Peter wasn’t perfect. No one is perfect except Christ.
I said, we need Christ because we are saved by his grace. If we don’t look to Christ, we cannot live, there is no other name that can bring us salvation.
I said, Joseph Smith wasn’t even a saint. He was a prophet. I asked, do you know what a prophet is? She said, why don’t you tell me. I said, God calls people who are ordinary people but who have tremendous faith to serve him. He reveals his words to them for the rest of us. That is a prophet. He receives revelation from God and tells us the word of God. It doesn’t mean he’s perfect. He still needs to repent and he still needs to work at being better but by calling weak or insufficient people God shows his power.
We have evidence that some of our prophets have not been perfect. They were fans of the University of Utah! There was a smattering of laughter from the backseat.
I said, look at Joseph Smith, he had no education per se, yet he translated the Book of Mormon and founded the church. I asked, do you think he could have done that on his own? With his limitations and education do you think he could have done that on his own? She said no. I said, that’s where the hand of God comes in. He calls prophets and he makes them more than they are. I said, Joseph Smith was chastised by God and he had to repent but bit by bit he established the kingdom of God on the Earth. He established the church of Jesus Christ under the direction of Jesus Christ.
I bore testimony of the first vision and the divinity of the call that Joseph received that day. I testified of the Book of Mormon and the spirit entered the car. She just sat there in silence. This was noticed by one of her friends who said wow. I have never seen anything shut her up! Everyone laughed but the spirit was working.
At the first of the ride it seemed like a wrestle but now most of the wrestle was done. The spirit was touching all of us in the car.
Then the other guy in the backseat said, what about tithing? The church has so much money and they expect everyone to pay tithing. They even have problems with the government.
I said, tithing is not a penalty or a tax. That’s how you’re looking at it. Tithing is a blessing. I don’t pay tithing because I’m afraid not to or because somebody tells me I have to. I pay tithing because I know if I do, God will bless me. I know it’s something I’m supposed to do because God wants me to do it and that if I do it, I will have his spirit in my heart and his power roundabout me. That’s what I need.
The girl said, we’ve been able to feel his spirit roundabout you in the car tonight.
I said, I don’t care if they burn the money in a furnace. It just doesn’t matter because once I’ve paid my tithing I know that the Lord will bless me. It’s all about faith and obedience. He was quiet.
I said I just want you all to know that I know the church is true. I know that Jesus Christ has a prophet on the Earth today. I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet and he translated the Book of Mormon and I know that God has sent his spirit here tonight to calm your hearts and to chase away the evil thoughts you were previously voicing.
They said, we like you and we could tell you were telling the truth. I said, I like you too! I said, God didn’t put you in my car tonight by accident, he didn’t send his spirit by accident. He wanted you to feel his love. He wanted you to have your questions answered.
They all acknowledged feeling the spirit. I could tell in their eyes and in their countenance that they had been touched. I knew it was time to make a challenge. I challenged them to do something that they thought they would never do again in their lives. I said, God also wants you back. I asked, do your parents still go to church? They said, yes. I said, this week sounds like a good week to go to church with your parents, doesn’t it?
I said, you guys have been afraid to ask your parents these questions you asked me tonight. I’m glad God put you in my car so we could have this talk. He sent his spirit so that you would know the truth was spoken. I said, now you have to do something with that. Now you have to do something and that is go to church.
The guy that started it all said, wow, you just said that! He said, I accept your challenge. Everyone else said me too. They all thanked me and got out of the car. They started walking towards the house.
The guy who’s question I first answered, turned around and came back and tapped on my window. I rolled it down and he said, I think I’ve been deceived over the years by people I trusted. No one made me feel the spirit. I could only feel anger. Thanks for bringing the spirit back. He turned around and went in the house.
These kids had been blinded by Satan but that night we were able to pull the blinders off. I don’t believe God put them in my car on accident and I believe that they will be going to church more often, after all, they loved feeling spirit.
Sometimes God sends you a lift 