The Hokey Pokey lady

It’s really interesting that when you are doing deliveries you run into the same people. It’s almost a little community or several little communities. Over about a three week period I had noticed a couple doing it together.

Sometimes couples do deliveries together so one can drive and one can deliver. I’ve even taken Heather from time to time. A couple weeks in a row I noticed a man and a woman doing deliveries together. They looked strange like they didn’t belong together.

They didn’t look like they were married but they certainly looked like they were close and involved very much in a physical relationship. There was no light in their eyes.

I would always say hi and be pleasant with them but it just didn’t feel like their relationship was right. It kind of felt forced in a way.

One day he wasn’t there and she was driving and delivering alone. I felt the prompting of the spirit that I needed to turn off my app and pay attention so I did. When she saw me she said hi and we started to chat. I asked where her partner was and she awkwardly said that he wasn’t there today. She said he had other things to do.

As we talked I felt the spirit prompting me with some insight into their situation. I asked her if it would be OK if I mentioned some things that I observed with regards to them and their situation . She said, usually that would be a no but today I would really welcome it.

I started telling her that to me it was clear that they were not married. It was clear that they were living together. I said, bottom line is I t’s a relationship you know you shouldn’t be in. I said, the main reason why you are driving is to make extra money so that you can party, drink, do drugs and all the other things that go along with that.

She said, that’s amazing. How do you know that? I said, you know the answer, you’re a member of the church. You know about the Holy Ghost. She said yes. I said, the Holy Ghost goes whispers to our hearts and tells us the things we need to say and the things we need to do. God put those words in my heart.

She started to tear up and said, I’m speechless. After a minute, she said, I’ve been divorced for about five months and I’ve been seeing this guy for about a year. He is still married and working towards a divorce. It’s been a real messy and ugly situation.

I asked her if she regretted the path she had taken. She said, every day almost constantly. My life before seems like a different lifetime. Given that I’ve been doing all of these things and haven’t been to church in about five years, why would God give you any prompting or information regarding me? I was pretty sure that God didn’t care about me, especially after all of the things that I have done.

This was very interesting to me. I saw that she knew right from wrong and she had purposefully chosen to do wrong. I also saw she had a consciousness of the disaster her life had become due to those decisions.

I said, Heavenly Father really cares about you, he loves you, he’s your father. All he wants is for you to be happy and he knows that the best way to be happy is to do our best to keep the commandments. He gave us his son, Jesus Christ, so that when we make mistakes , we can come back. No sin is permanent and no mistake is fatal. If we look to Jesus Christ we can live. We can be happy.

She said, I feel like there’s a fire inside of me. I feel what you’re saying. I was raised in the church and I knew all the things you said in my brain but right now I’m feeling it in my heart. Do you think he really could save me? I said yes, why else would he send me? Why would he give you that feeling of confirmation of the spirit in your heart?

She asked, how do I do this? I said, first off you have to realize that Satan, who you followed into this hole is the one that makes you question the power of Jesus to save you. As far as things you need to do, you need to dump the guy. He’s no good for you right now. You’re not good for him. Dump the guy and focus on your father in heaven. Focus on doing the things he would have you do. Get back on the path, find comfort in the commandments and in the presence of your father in heaven.

I asked, do you feel comfortable right now? She said yes. I said, that’s the spirit of your father in heaven, have you missed it? She said, I don’t ever remember feeling it this strong. I said, it’s a wonderful thing. She asked, how do I come back? I’ve made a mess of my life. I said, the atonement specializes in cleaning up the mess that people make up their lives. That’s there for you. Christ did that for you.

The first thing you need to do to start is to dump the dude for good, don’t go back for anything. She said that she was already in that process. That is why he wasn’t there with her lately. I said, next you need to start praying every day and more than once. I asked how long it had been since she prayed and she said probably 10 years. I said, your father in heaven wants to hear from you. I asked if she could imagine as a parent how frustrated she would be if her children never talk to her. How frustrated it would make you to do so many things for them yet not have them want to talk to you.

She started to tear up again and through those tears she said that she knows how he feels. Her children don’t ever want to talk to her. She said, they are upset by how things are and how I blew up their lives. I said, through the spirit your Heavenly Father can help you change and can also touch their hearts. This is what he wants to have happen. That’s who your Heavenly Father is. He has given you everything and he has blessed you even when you have chosen not to obey. He wants to hear from you just like you want to hear from your kids. He wants to talk to you. When we pray, we can feel the closeness of our father in heaven and he can be with us just like a good father, the best father. You need to start to pray.

You need to be around the spirit as much as you can and that means you need to go to church. When you go to church, you get a chance to serve other people which is what Heavenly Father would have you do. You can feel the spirit and be blessed by the spirit. People pray for you and you get a chance to pray for others . Going to church helps us find a path and stay on it. One of the things that Jesus commanded us to do was meet together often. He commanded this because we need this association. We need those examples and we need those opportunities to serve. You need to go to church.

When we go to church the most important things we do is take the sacrament. Taking the sacrament helps us renew our covenants with Heavenly Father. It will take you a while to get your life straight but when you do, the sacrament will be a great blessing for you. It will lift you and it will bring the spirit into your heart . You need that spirit and you will need to tap into it every week to maintain your relationship with your father in heaven. If you don’t take the sacrament, it will be like not having gas in the tank. There’s no power. If you want the power of God in your life, you will get worthy to take the sacrament and then take it every week. This way you can walk with God. You will see his path and know the things that he would have you say and do.

You need to read the scriptures, especially the Book of Mormon. This is how you learn what Heavenly Father wants you to know. It’s not just the things that are written in there but it’s the things the spirit teaches you while you are reading it. God will personalize it for your life. Reading the scriptures will allow God to personally instruct you and guide you through the words of his prophets and the promptings of his spirit. You will learn about the covenants that we need to make to stay on his path to happiness.

If you do these things, you will see the path you need to take. You will be able to hold onto the iron rod, you will be able to feel the spirit with you and understand how to work with it. You will learn to let the spirit guide you back to your father in heaven.

She said, I have sure made a mess of things. I didn’t think I could possibly reverse course. I thought I was too far gone. I don’t even know which ward I go to or where we meet. I got on the Meeting house locator and looked up her ward and her meeting time. It was at 11 and she was pretty excited that it was not at 9 o’clock. She said, at least I’ll be rested. I didn’t want the 9 AM. I laughed.

I asked her if she would commit to go to church and she said yes. I asked her if she would commit to read the scriptures and she said yes. I asked her if she would commit to pray and she said yes. I told her that making church a priority and getting worthy so she could take the sacrament should be a central focus of her life right now if she wants this change and those blessings. I told her that it would bless her tremendously. She said that needed that and she agreed to do it.

She said, I’ve never quite felt the spirit this strong. I’ve never had God reach out just for me but I feel like that’s what happened today. After this she had a delivery and had to go. I went about my business as well.

I had seen her almost every other day for a few weeks leading up to this. After that day, I didn’t see her again for about a month.

When I saw her again, she had a light in her eyes. Her countenance had begun to change and she had a smile on her face. I said, you went to church, didn’t you? She smiled and said, yes. How can you tell? I said, I can see it in your eyes. You’ve been touched by the spirit. She said, every day and every week since we met. It’s awesome. The dude is gone and I am changing my life.

You do the Hokey Pokey and you turn your life around. That’s what it’s all about.