Author Archives: Driveronthewall

I picked up a guy up in the research park by the University of Utah. It was 2 o’clock in the morning and I decided to take this one last run. My goal had been achieved on the previous run and so I had thought that I would go home after I hit my goalContinue reading “If you stand with your father you will never stand alone”

I picked up a guy at the orthopedic therapy building at the University of Utah. It’s on the south side of a medical campus and you always pick up people who are struggling from that place. The guy really had a hard time getting into the car. He was in his late 30’s – earlyContinue reading “Changing a tire can change your life”

I was working in Salt Lake and trying to stay up there to make money. It was 11 o’clock at night and I had three hours left when I got a ride to go to Freedom Boulevard in Provo Utah. That’s about as horrible as it can get because that ends your night. Let’s beContinue reading “Now THAT is how you be your brother’s keeper”

It was a Saturday night and I just finished up my bonus and was feeling pretty good. I decided to take another ride and it took me down to a place called Shades on State. It’s kind of like the new place for college students where they don’t really check their ID and they canContinue reading “Why fake it when you can have the real thing?”

One night late I picked up a young lady who had been working and started to take her home. She seemed a little hard. The way she talked the words she used were just the kind of things that had a little street vibe to them. As we talked I got the impression that sheContinue reading “If you can’t say anything thing nice….”

One day I was in town, trying to make up some extra money early in the day. The ride share companies are tightening down our compensation and it’s making it a little more difficult for us to get by. We are having to tighten our belt and work a little bit more so I wasContinue reading “When you need help call the Elders….but get the right Elders!”

One night, I was in Park City and I was going to pick up one last ride before I went down to Salt Lake to work for the rest of the night. I got a ride to pick up three young guys in their 20s from a restaurant. I pulled up, they got in andContinue reading “What the kingdom of God needs are a few good Volunteers”

One night I had finished up and I was getting gas and preparing to head home. From time to time at the end of the night, I will give a ride to someone who looks like they need it. This was one of those nights. It was cold. it was winter. It was snowing andContinue reading “Heavenly Father, are you really there? Do you hear and answer a lost child’s prayer”

I picked up a lady at an elderly facility one night. While I was waiting for her I had an ominous feeling like this was going to be interesting and maybe not in a good way. When she came out and she got in the car said hi. She was plenty friendly but you couldContinue reading “Satan wants to be stuck in the middle with you”

One Saturday night I picked up a guy right in front of the Holiday Inn on 200 S. That is an area with a lot of clubs and most of the people you pick up there on a Saturday night late are drunk. It’s not your most productive area to find people seeking for theContinue reading “This DJ wants to be a missionary”

I had a timely experience that was a little different this week.The other night I picked up four guys from a bar down in Salt Lake City. They’d been drinking but they weren’t drunk and they had multiple stops in their ride. We dropped one guy off and headed to the other stop and IContinue reading “Windows of heaven”

Wednesday night is when they have college night at some of the nightclubs downtown. Drivers love to be downtown because you get lots of quick rides with bonuses even though it requires the ferrying of drunk College students back-and-forth from the clubs to their apartments. One of the interesting things I’ve learned in taking freshmenContinue reading “There is a reason drivers kept canceling his rides and money had nothing to do with it”

Last summer in June, I think, I picked someone up by the temple in the Avenues. She was headed to a party on 200 S. over by 700 E. As we approached the party I felt prompted to say some things to her. I told her that she was unsure about the people she wasContinue reading “Giving up on us? It’s not Heavenly Fathers style”

I was in Park City picking up a woman to take her to the airport. It was snowing like crazy and even getting up to her location was difficult. We were leaving 2 1/2 hours before her flight and we thought we had plenty of time. I got there early and she decided to comeContinue reading “The spirit in a jam and it’s no coincidence.”

One evening after I’d been working in Park city all day long and it was time to go home. When you’re in Park City you have to make a choice, you can go through Heber and it takes you about 50 minutes or you can go through Salt Lake and it takes you about anContinue reading “Sometimes it’s not about the cheapest gas OR the worth of the soul is greater than the cost of gas and that’s a lot”

I went over to pick up a lady that works at an senior adult care center. She was waiting out front when I got there and very cheerful. When she got in the car we started talking about where we were from. I always ask that question because it seems nobody’s actually from Utah. WhenContinue reading “Just like what you believe only more”

One day I picked up a girl in the Greek sorority section by the University of Utah. Normally when you pick someone up in this area you don’t think missionary work. I do think there’s obviously a lot of missionary work that needs to happen but these people are the very definition of debauchery mostContinue reading “Drawn to the light”

I picked up a lady in Rose Park at about 12:15 one night. Rose Park isn’t exactly the place you want to be at 12:15 but this time it felt OK. It took her a long time to get to the car but finally she came up and knocked on the window. It startled meContinue reading “She loves to see the temple, she’ll go inside someday soon”

It’s interesting to feel the spirit bring to your recollection things that you’ve learned in the past and prompt you to use them in a discussion. Sometimes you’re in uncharted waters, and somehow miraculously you just say the right thing. It’s the spirit! When I’m mowing the lawn I listen to the scriptures. If you’veContinue reading “Child of a prophet”

I picked up a girl at some apartments in Northeast Salt Lake City. She was just getting off a date and she was going home. She came out of the house and got in the car and had an unsettled spirit about her. I asked her how it went and she said it went goodContinue reading “She’s going to pluck that guy right out of her singles ward”

I picked up a girl clear up at the top of the valley. It’s a road called Donner Road. Somehow I think that somebody should put a restaurant there that serves kidney beans and finger sandwiches. (Sorry my wife thinks that this joke is in bad taste haha) but i couldn’t help myself. I pulledContinue reading “Picking up the pieces after covid”

I picked up this girl in Sugarhouse who was doing Christmas shopping. It was October and I admired her early approach to the holiday. She was a student at the University of Utah and I felt like the spirit was prompting me to talk about the church with her. She looked like a member ofContinue reading “A puzzle piece makes a nice christmas gift”

Sometimes you get riders that become regulars. Sometimes it is by coincidence and sometimes it’s not. There is one young lady in particular that I have picked up about seven times. The first time was a night that I had a flat tire. I drove her home with less than 5 pounds of pressure theContinue reading “CPR for the soul”

I picked up a guy at a warehouse out on 900 W. in West Valley City to take him home clear out by Magna. When he got in the car we talked about his name. His name sounded Spanish but it was French Polynesian and his family was from Tonga. I said malo le leContinue reading “Thus sayeth the Lord”

One Friday I was picking up a young man from the Pie Pizzeria up on 13th East not too far from Rice Eccles stadium. I wanted to go by the stadium because Orem High school was playing in the semi finals against Timpview right then and so I was in that area. I got theContinue reading “Make that call to the missionaries, I’ve changed my mind”

One evening I picked up a guy by the capital. He was a landscaper and I was picking him up and taking him clear up by the hill in Centerville. It seemed like a long trip. When I got to the spot where I was supposed to pick him up he wasn’t there. There wasContinue reading “That boy had faith”

I picked up a young woman on 400 west and about 300 North. These are newer apartments and mostly known as areas where people are partying and enjoying their best single life outside the constraints of the gospel. The young lady came out of the apartments and she just didn’t seem to have the sameContinue reading “Hands off my luggage but I need help with my baggage”

I picked up two ladies down in Vineyard from Sri Lanka via London England, who were heading up to Costco. I’ve never given a ride to someone from Sri Lanka before and we began talking about traveling. I didn’t know why but I felt I should find a reason to talk about religion and soContinue reading “Right here in Gods vineyard”

One night I was picking up a guy at a hotel downtown. I picked him up at the Hilton and we were heading into a neighborhood. I asked him if he was going to an Airbnb and he said no, he was visiting friends. I asked her where he was from and he said Cody,Continue reading “If the Book of Mormon is true then..”

I picked up a young lady downtown in Salt Lake City from a bar called London Belle. I was expecting her to come out and be pretty much sloshed like everyone that comes out of that place. I was a little upset to begin with because this was going to be one of those tripsContinue reading “Not anymore”

I picked up a girl on State Street going to Park City. This was really weird because her pick up point was five blocks away from where He indicated pick up point was. I got her on the phone. It took some manipulating and interpreting to get us on the same page. Instead of beingContinue reading “23 and counting on her father in Heaven”

I got called to pick up a lady on Circle Of Hope Drive which is the Huntsman Cancer Institute. I pulled up and she was clearly a disabled lady. She was able to walk very slowly. She walked up and asked if she could get in the front seat. She said she felt better inContinue reading “Satan is spiritual cancer, the atonement of Jesus Christ is the cure”

Sometimes we are a little timid to bring up baptism but other times we need to be bold. Sometimes we need to ask Have you been baptized yet? I picked up a young man at a Vape shop by State and 33rd south. On the way to pick him up I passed a car accidentContinue reading “Have you been baptized yet?”

I picked up a kid at a bakery one night. I love bakeries! Alecia and I have always said the bakeries make people happy and I believe that to be a true principle of happiness. This young man was no exemption. He seemed to be very happy and we were talking about life. We didContinue reading “Bakeries and the spirit make people happy and the poor man’s mission prep class”

I end up doing a lot of things in my church calling. Currently I’m ward mission leader and I have a Haitian family that we’re trying to get baptized. They speak no English, a little bit of Spanish, no French only Haitian Creole. There is no help for Haitian Creole. They’re not particularly educated andContinue reading “If your 90 minutes early you’re right on time”

I picked up a young man downtown by the Union Pacific Depot to take him to his home in West Valley City. I could hear a little bit of an accent on his English so I knew he was Latino but he spoke very well. I spoke to him in English for about five minutesContinue reading “For the temple is a house of God, even under construction”

I picked up this kid on State Street. I say kid because he’s under 35, ha ha. I was a little further south on State Street than I normally would be because I was stupid and didn’t turn off my app during my previous ride and let them stack a ride to take me furtherContinue reading “When God throws you a rope you grab it and hang onto it”

I got a call for a three minute ride north from the Embassy Suites in Salt Lake. I went to pick the guy up and wondered where we would be going in just three minutes. When I arrived he was standing outside waiting for me. He got in the car and said that he wasn’tContinue reading “My ride as a warm-up act for the sister missionaries at Temple Square.”

I picked up a girl downtown who needed to go to Bountiful. It was hard getting to her because Main Street was really full of cars and I couldn’t find her. I was about to cancel the ride but I felt like I shouldn’t and I didn’t. Finally she got there and she got inContinue reading “Let your light shine!!”

I’d had a rider who took me down to 21st south. Usually I turn off at that point because I want to get right back to downtown but I left it on and they stacked right on top of the one I already had. This ride took me to West Valley City which was notContinue reading “Just a big ol’ sign….. from God”

One Friday night late as I was finishing up. I drop someone off in holiday. I was going to make one last pass through town. It was 2:45 and I thought if I could get one last ride it would finish a day off nicely. A three or four minute ride, boom and go home.Continue reading “It wasn’t his typical 8 second ride. Less bumps and more power”

I picked up a lady and her daughter in Heber city and started to take them to Park City. I knew it would be a little bit of a ride and they seemed to be quite quiet but when you’re on longer ride you need to chat a little bit so I tried to getContinue reading “Bless this house”

The other night I picked up a man in northeast Salt Lake at a restaurant. He had been eating dinner with some friends who were moving the next day. I asked him if they were friends from work and he said no, but we all went to school in the same language arts masters program.Continue reading “When he saw our day sometimes he means “THAT” day”

I picked a girl up from a piercing parlor in Salt Lake City and was took her up to the University of Utah. On the way we started talking about names and her name which was pronounced a little bit differently than you would think and the interesting thing about genealogy and names. I pointedContinue reading “She has some questions, God has some answers”

I was downtown by the University of Utah when I got a ride at 45th South by the freeway at a gas station. That should never happen because there are many drivers between me and there. It should always go to the closest driver but it chose me. At first I was going to letContinue reading “Get thee away from the University of Utah and rescue my sheep”

One Friday I was mowing my lawn and thinking about the scriptures I was listening to. I like to listen to the scriptures while I mow my lawn because I can focus on what they’re saying and focus on what the spirit is teaching me. I were in Helaman and it was talking about theContinue reading “Feeling better! Wrong hotel right car”

I picked up a guy at the Brickyard restaurant on a Friday night. He came out and he had been drinking a beer but he wasn’t drunk. He was loud! Loud doesn’t scare me. He got in the car and liked the song I was playing on the radio and started talking about how growingContinue reading “Don’t ask the question unless you are ready for the answer”

One Saturday night it was 12:45 and I was getting fired up for the most lucrative 90 minutes of the week. In that time you should make a dollar a minute or more. From 1:00 to 2:30 is gold. Bonuses everywhere and usually short rides around town. That is easy on the gas tank. IContinue reading “Sometimes Having a blog full of parables comes in handy”

I was in Midvale and I got a ride going 46 minutes north. Clearly I didn’t want to go 46 minutes north but I felt prompted to do it anyway. I picked up a woman outside of the 7-Eleven who was smoking talking to a bunch of ne’er-do-well looking dudes. She had a bunch ofContinue reading “Tell her how much I love her”