The Spirit World

Compiled By Glen W. Chapman -January 1999

Joseph Smith
All men know that they must die. And it is important that we should understand the reasons and
causes of our exposure to the vicissitudes of life and of death, and the designs and purposes of God in our
coming into the world, our sufferings here, and our departure hence.... It is but reasonable to suppose that
God would reveal something in reference to the matter, and it is a subject we ought to study more than any
other. We ought to study it day and night, for the world is ignorant in reference to their true condition and
relation. If we have any claim on our Heavenly Father for anything it is for knowledge on this important
subject." Joseph Smith (History of the Church, 6:50.)
The Lord takes many away, even in infancy, that they may escape the envy of man, and the
sorrows and evils of this present world; they were too pure, too lovely, to live on earth; therefore, if rightly
considered, instead of mourning we would have reason to rejoice as they are delivered from evil, and we
shall soon have them again.. .The only difference between the old and young dying is, one lives longer in
heaven and eternal light and glory than the other, and is freed a little sooner from this miserable wicked
world. Joseph Smith (History of the Church, 4:553.)
Spencer W. Kimball
I am confident that there is a time to die, but I believe also that many people die before "their
time" because they are careless, abuse their bodies, take unnecessary chances, or expose themselves to
hazards, accidents, and sickness. In Ecclesiastes 7:17 we find this statement, "Be not over much wicked,
neither be thou foolish: why shouldest thou die before thy time?" . . God controls our lives, guides and
blesses us, but gives us our agency. We may live our lives in accordance with His plan for us or we may
foolishly shorten or terminate them.
Tragedy or Destiny p. 9

Orson Pratt
For instance, how do you suppose that spirits after they leave these bodies, communicate one
with another? Do they communicate their ideas by the actual vibrations of the atmosphere the same as we
do? I think not. I think if we could be made acquainted with the kind of language by which spirits converse
with spirits, we would find that . . they have. . . a more refined system among them of communicating their
ideas. This system will be so constructed that they can not only communicate at the same moment upon
one subject, as we have to do by making sounds in the atmosphere, but communicate vast numbers of ideas,
all at the same time, on a great variety of subjects; and the mind will be capable of perceiving them.... If the
mind has such faculty as this, then there must necessarily be a language adapted to such a capacity of the
mind....
Well, inquires one, "can you imagine up any such system, or language in this world?" I can
imagine up one, but it cannot be made practicable here, from the fact that the mind of man is unable to use
it. For instance, the Book of Mormon tells us, that the angels speak by the power of the Holy Ghost, and
man when under the influence of it, speaks the language of angels. Why does he speak in this language?
Because the Holy Ghost suggests the ideas which he speaks; and it gives him utterance to convey them to
the people. . . . Suppose, instead of having arbitrary sounds, such as we have here, to communicate these
ideas, that the Holy Ghost itself, through a certain process and power, should enable him to unfold that
knowledge to another spirit, all in an instant. Orson Pratt (In Journal of Discourses, 3:100-101.)

Brigham Young
They move with ease and like lightning. If we want to visit Jerusalem, or this, that, or the other place-and I
presume we will be permitted if we desire-there we are, looking at its streets. If we want to behold
Jerusalem as it was in the days of the Savior; or if we want to see the Garden of Eden as it was when
created, there we are, and we see it as it existed spiritually, for it was created first spiritually and then
temporally, and spiritually it still remains. And when there we may behold the earth as at the dawn of
creation, or we may visit any city we please that exists upon its surface. If we wish to understand how they
are living here on these western islands, or in China, we are there; in fact, we are like the light of the
morning, or, I will not say the electric fluid, but its operations on the wires. God has revealed some little
things with regard to His movements and power, and the operation and motion of the lightning furnish a
fine illustration of the ability and power of the Almighty. If you could stretch a wire from this room around
the world until the two ends nearly met here again and were to apply a battery to one end, if the electrical
conditions were perfect, the effect of the touch would pass with such inconceivable velocity that it would
be felt at the other end of the wire at the same moment....
When we pass into the spirit world we shall possess a measure of this power. Brigham Young (In Journal
of Discourses, 4:231.)

Elder Orson Pratt contemplated the possibilities of spiritual senses. "We shall learn many more things
there; we need not suppose our five senses connect us with all the things of heaven, and earth, and eternity,
and space; we need not think that we are conversant with all the elements of nature, through the medium of
the senses God has given us here. Suppose He should give us a sixth sense, a seventh, an eighth, a ninth, or
a fiftieth. All these different senses would convey to us new ideas, as much so as the senses of tasting,
smelling, or seeing communicate different ideas from that of hearing." (In Journal of Discourses, 2:247.)
If we, by looking through these little eyes of ours, can see objects some thousands of millions of miles
distant; if we can see objects that are existing at that immense distance through the medium of these little
inlets; suppose that the whole spirit were uncovered and exposed to all the rays of light, can it be supposed
that light would not affect the spirit if it were thus unshielded, uncovered, and unclothed? Do you suppose
that it would not be susceptible of any impressions made by the elements of light? The spirit is inherently
capable of experiencing the sensations of light; if it were not so, we could not see. You might form as fine
an eye as ever was made, but if the spirit, in and of itself, were not capable of being acted upon by the rays
of light, an eye would be of no benefit. Then unclothe the spirit, and in stead of exposing a small portion of
it about the size of a pea to the action of the rays of light, the whole of it would be exposed. I think we
could then see in different directions at once, instead of looking in one particular direction; we could then
look all around us at the same instant. (In Journal of Discourses, 2:243.)
"When the Lord imparts to us a principles by which we can look upon the past and future, as well as the
present-by which we can look upon many intricate objects of nature which are now hidden from our view-
we shall find our capacity for obtaining and retaining knowledge to be greatly enlarged" (in Journal of
Discourses, 2:247;.
Here, then, is a new faculty of knowledge, very extended in its nature, that is calculated to throw
a vast amount of information upon the mind of man, almost in the twinkling of an eye. How long a time
would it take a man in the next world, if he had to gain knowledge as we do here, to find out the simplest
things in nature? He might reason, and reason for thousands of years, and then hardly have got started. But
when this Spirit of God, this great telescope that is used in the celestial heavens, is given to man, and he,
through the aid of it, gazes upon eternal things, what does he behold? Not one object at a time, but a vast
multitude of objects rush before his vision, and are present before his mind, filling him in a moment with
the knowledge of worlds more numerous than the sands of the sea shore. Will he be able to bear it? Yes, his
mind is strengthened in proportion to the amount of information imparted. It is this tabernacle, in its present
condition, that prevents us from a more enlarged understanding.
There is a faculty mentioned in the word of God, which we are not in possession of here, but we
shall possess it hereafter; that is not only to see a vast number of things in the same moment, looking in all
directions by the aid of the Spirit, but also to obtain a vast number of ideas at the same instant....
I believe we shall be freed in the next world, in a great measure, from these narrow, contracted
methods of thinking. Instead of thinking in one channel, and following up one certain course of reasoning
to find a certain truth, knowledge will rush in from all quarters; it will come in like the light which flows
from the sun, penetrating every part, informing the spirit, and giving understanding concerning ten
thousand things at the same time; and the mind will be capable of receiving and retaining all. (In Journal of
Discourses, 2:246.)
We read or learn a thing by observation yesterday, and to-day, or tomorrow it is gone.... Some of
the knowledge we receive here at one time becomes so completely obliterated, through the weakness of the
animal system, that we cannot call it to mind, no association of ideas will again suggest it to our minds; it is
gone, erased, eradicated from the tablet of our memories. This is not owing to the want of capacity in the
spirit; no, but the spirit has a full capacity to remember. . . . It is not the want of capacity in the spirit of
man that causes him to forget the knowledge he may have learned yesterday; but it is because of the
imperfection of the tabernacle in which the spirit dwells; because there is imperfection in the organization
of the flesh and bones, and in things pertaining to the tabernacle; it is this that erases from our memory
many things that would be useful; we cannot retain them in our minds, they are gone into oblivion. It is not
so with the spirit when it is released from this tabernacle.... Wait until these mortal bodies are laid in the
tomb; when we return home to God who gave us life; then is the time we shall have the most vivid
knowledge of all the past acts of our lives during our probationary state. (In Journal of Discourses, 2:239.)
And do not forget to look forward to those joys ahead, if we do [forget], we will become careless,
dormant, and sluggish, and we will think we do not see much ahead to be anticipated, but if we keep our
minds upon the prize that lays ahead-upon the vast fields of knowledge to be poured out upon the righteous,
and the glories that are to be revealed, and the heavenly things in the future state, we shall be continually
upon the alert. . . . Let these things sink down in our minds continually, and they will make us joyful, and
careful to do unto our neighbors as we would they should do unto us. Lest we should come short of some of
these things is the reason I have touched upon the future state of man the two Sabbaths past, to stir up the
pure minds of the Saints that we may prepare for the things that are not far ahead, and let all the actions of
our lives have a bearing in relation to the future. (In Journal of Discourses, 3:105.)

Elder George Q. Cannon also added his witness of this perfect memory of the eternal spirit.

Memory will be quickened to a wonderful extent. Every deed that we have done will be brought to
our recollection. Every acquaintance made will be remembered. There will be no scenes or incidents in our
lives that will be forgotten by us in the world to come. You have heard of men who have been drowning or
have fallen from a great height describe that in about a second or two every event of their lives passed
before them like a panorama with the rapidity of lightning. This shows what power there is latent in the
human mind, which, when quickened by the power of God, will make men and women recall not only that
which pertains to this life, but our memories will stretch back to the life we had before we came here, with
the associations we had with our Father and God and with those bright spirits that stand around His throne
and with the righteous and holy ones. (Gospel Truth, pp. 60-1.)


President Brigham Young spoke often of the joyous state of the "next apartment." "Here, we are
continually troubled with ills and ailments of various kinds," taught that great prophet, "and our ears are
saluted with the expressions, 'My head aches,' 'My shoulders ache,' 'My back aches,' 'I am hungry, dry, or
tired;' but in the spirit world we are free from all this and enjoy life, glory, and intelligence; and we have
the Father to speak to us, Jesus to speak to us, and angels to speak to us, and we shall enjoy the society of
the just and the pure who are in the spirit world until the resurrection" (in Journal of Discourses, 14:231).
On another occasion he remarked:
If we could see things as they are, and as we shall see and understand them, this dark shadow and valley
[of death] is so trifling that we shall turn round and look upon it and think, when we have crossed it, why
this is the greatest advantage of my whole existence, for I have passed from a state of sorrow, grief,
mourning, woe, misery, pain, anguish and disappointment into a state of existence, where I can enjoy life to
the fullest extent as far as that can be done without a body. My spirit is set free, I thirst no more, I want to
sleep no more, I hunger no more, I tire no more, I run, I walk, I labor, I go, I come, I do this, I do that,
whatever is required of me, nothing like pain or weariness, I am full of life, full of vigor, and I enjoy the
presence of my heavenly Father, by the power of his Spirit. (In Journal of Discourses, 17:142.)
As "unearthly" as the conditions of the spirit world may seem to us, President Brigham Young and
others of the latter-day prophets and Apostles have instructed us that the spirit world is here on this earth.
"Where is the spirit world? It is right here. Do the good and evil spirits go together? Yes, they do. . . . Do
they go to the sun? No. Do they go beyond the boundaries of this organized earth? No, they do not. They
are brought forth upon this earth, for the express purpose of inhabiting it to all eternity. Where else are you
going? No where else, only as you may be permitted." (Brigham Young, in Journal of Discourses, 3:369.)
. "I can say with regard to parting with our friends, and going ourselves, that I have been near enough to
understand eternity so that I have had to exercise a great deal more faith to desire to live than I ever
exercised in my whole life to live. The brightness and glory of the next apartment is inexpressible." (In
Journal of Discourses, 14:231.)
"Every good and perfect gift cometh from God. Every discovery in science and art, that is really
true and useful to mankind, has been given by direct revelation from God, though but few acknowledge it."
President Young went on to admonish the Saints to make use of these discoveries and prepare to do their
part in the elevation of humanity through these means, as well. "It [the inspiration] has been given with a
view to prepare the way for the ultimate triumph of truth, and the redemption of the earth from the power of
sin and Satan. We should take advantage of all these great discoveries, the accumulated wisdom of ages,
and give to our children the benefit of every branch of useful knowledge, to prepare them to step forward
and efficiently do their part in the great work." (In Journal of Discourses, 9:369.)
Spirits are just as familiar with spirits as bodies are with bodies, though spirits are composed of
matter so refined as not to be tangible to this coarser organization. They walk, converse, and have their
meetings.

(JD Vol. 3 p. 371)

Elder Parley P. Pratt wrote that the spirit world "is here on the very planet where we were born, or, in
other words, the earth and other planets of a like sphere have their inward or spiritual spheres as well as
their outward, or temporal. The one is peopled by temporal tabernacles and the other by spirits. A veil is
drawn between the one sphere and the other whereby all the objects in the spiritual sphere are rendered
invisible to those in the temporal." (Key to the Science of Theology, p. 80.)

Elder Benjamin E Cummings:

There is reason to believe that if too much knowledge concerning the world to come were given to us here
in mortality, before we are better prepared than we now are to receive it, and conform our lives to it, it
would interfere with the purposes for which our probation on earth was designed, and place us under
condemnation that might be our utter ruin. . . . From certain sayings of President Brigham Young we are
led to infer that one reason why the next world in so closely guarded from our eyes is that a knowledge of
it, and of the joy, glory and happiness it holds in store for us, would so increase our discontent with this life
as to make us wretched and impatient for it to end. . . . (In "Editorial," Liahona: The Elders' Journal,
vol.6, November 14, 1908, p.519.)

Heber C. Kimball
Some may think the Almighty does not see their doings, but if He does not, the angels and
ministering spirits do. They see you and your works, and I have no doubt but that they occasionally
communicate your conduct to the Father, or to the Son, or to Joseph, or to Peter, or to someone who holds
the keys in connection with them. Perhaps there are some who do not believe in spirits, but I know that they
exist and visit the earth. JD 3:228-9
Wilford Woodruff
The same priesthood exists on the other side of the veil. Every man who is faithful is in his quorum there.
When a man dies and his body is laid in the tomb, he does not lose his position. The prophet Joseph Smith
held the keys of this dispensation on this side of the veil, and he will hold them throughout the countless
ages of eternity. He went into the spirit world to unlock the prison doors and to preach the gospel to the
millions of spirits who are in darkness, and every apostle, every seventy, every elder, etc., who has died in
the faith, as soon as he passes to the other side of the veil, enters into the work of the ministry, and there is
a thousand times more to preach there than there is here. (Discourses of Wilford Woodruff, p. 77.)

Parley Pratt
The question naturally arises-Do all the people who die without the Gospel hear it as soon as they arrive in
the world of spirits? To illustrate this, let us look at the dealings of God with the people of this world.
"What can we reason but from what we know?" We know and understand the things of this world, in some
degree, because they are visible, and we are daily conversant with them. Do all the people in this world
hear the Gospel as soon as they are capable of understanding? No, indeed, but very few in comparison have
heard it at all....
I have not the least doubt but there are spirits there who have dwelt there a thousand years, who, if we
could converse with them face to face, would be found ... ignorant of the truths, the ordinances, powers,
keys, Priesthood, resurrection, and eternal life of the body....
And why this ignorance in the spirit world? Because a portion of the inhabitants thereof are found
unworthy of the consolations of the Gospel until the fullness of time, until they have suffered in hell, in the
dungeons of darkness, or the prisons of the condemned, amid the buffetings of fiends, and malicious and
lying spirits.
As in earth, so in the spirit world. No person can enter into the privileges of the Gospel, until the
keys are turned, and the Gospel opened by those in authority, for all which there is a time, according to the
wise dispensations of justice and mercy.
(In Journal of Discourses, 1:10-11.)


Parley P. Pratt
Elder Parley P. Pratt likewise alluded to these precepts in his doctrinal treatise Key to the Science of
Theology. "Those who are habitually given to vice, immorality and abomination; . who would sacrifice
every finer feeling at the shrine of lawless pleasure and brutal desires-those persons will not understand and
appreciate these views, because their good angels, their kindred spirits, have long since departed and ceased
to attend them, being grieved and disgusted with their conduct" (p.76). And, speaking of evil spirits, he
further explained, "If permitted, they will often cause death. Some of these spirits are adulterous, and
suggest to the mind all manner of lasciviousness, all kinds of evil thoughts and temptations." (p.72.) The
witness of one female experiencer sums it up well. "There was a war going on between good and evil. The
evil face came into view from time to time, but the Being of Light was stronger." (As quoted in
Transformed by the Light, p.160.)


Brigham Young
Let the people bring out their talents, and have the variety within them brought forth and made manifest so
that we can behold it, like the variety in the works of nature. See the variety God has created-no two trees
alike, no two leaves, no two spears of grass alike. The same variety that we see in all the works of God, that
we see in the features, visages and forms, exists in the spirits of men. Now let us develop the variety within
us, and show to the world that we have talent and taste, and prove to the heavens that our minds are set on
beauty and true excellence, so that we can become worthy to enjoy the society of angels, and raise our-
selves above the level of the wicked world and begin to increase in faith, and the power that God has given
us, and so show to the world an example worthy of imitation. (In Journal of Discourses, 11:305.)


President John Taylor
President John Taylor declared:
The spirit lives where the record of his deeds is kept-that does not die-man cannot kill it; there is no decay
associated with it, and it still retains in all its vividness the remembrance of that which transpired before the
separation by death of the body and the ever-living spirit.... It would be in vain for a man to say then, I did
not do so-and-so; the command would be, Unravel and read the record which he has made of himself, and
let it testify in relation to these things, and all could gaze upon it.... That record will stare him in the face,
he tells the story himself, and bears witness against himself. . . . When we get into the eternal world into the
presence of God our Heavenly Father, his eye can penetrate every one of us, and our own record of our
lives here shall develop all. (In Journal of Discourses, 11:78-79.)

Joseph F. Smith
The spirits of our children are immortal before they come to us, and their spirits, after bodily death, are
like they were before they came. They are as they would have appeared if they had lived in the flesh, to
grow to maturity, or to develop their physical bodies to the full stature of their spirits If you see one of your
children that has passed away it may appear to you in the form in which you would recognize it the form of
childhood; but if it came to you as a messenger bearing some important truth, it would perhaps come as the
spirit of Bishop Edward Hunter's son (who died when a little child) came to him, in the stature of full-
grown man hood, and revealed himself to his father, and said: "I am your son."
Bishop Hunter did not understand it. He went to my father and said: "Hyrum, what does that mean? I
buried my son when he was only a little boy, but he has come to me as a full-grown man-a noble, glorious,
young man, and declared himself my son. What does it mean?"
Father (Hyrum Smith, the Patriarch) told him that the Spirit of Jesus Christ was full-grown before he was
born into the world; and so our children were full-grown and possessed their full stature in the spirit, before
they entered mortality, and as they will also appear after the resurrection, when they shall have completed
their mission. (Joseph F Smith, Gospel Doctrine, p. 455.)

Joseph Smith taught: There are no angels who minister to this earth but those who do belong or have
belonged to it. Hence when messengers are sent to minister to the inhabitants of this earth, they are not
strangers, but from the ranks of our kindred, friends, and brothers and sisters and friends who have passed
away from this earth, having been faithful, and worthy to enjoy these rights and privileges, may have a
mission given them to visit their relatives and friends upon the earth again, bringing from the divine
Presence messages of love, of warning, or reproof and instruction to those whom they had learned to love
in the flesh. (Joseph F Smith, Gospel Doctrine p. 435)

President Joseph F. Smith gave the following account of his experience with individuals who had all passed
away.:
I knocked and the door opened, and the man who stood there was the Prophet Joseph Smith... He
clasped my hand and drew me in, then closed the great door. I felt his hand just as tangibly as I ever felt the
hand of a man. I knew him, and when J entered I saw my father, and Brigham, and Heber, and Willard, and
other good men that I had known standing in a row... My mother was there, and she sat with a child in her
lap... I went to my mother and picked up the child and thought it was a fine baby boy. I carried it to the
Prophet, and as I handed it to him I purposely thrust my hands up against his breast. I felt the warmth...
Now, I suppose that this is only a dream? To me it is a reality. There never could be anything more real to
me. I felt the hand of Joseph Smith.
(
Joseph F Smith, Gospel Doctrine p. 542)

Erastus Snow
How does Brother Snow's spirit look when it is disembodied? Why, you just look at me now, and you can
answer the question. How does the spirit of my wife look? Why, just look at her and see. And if we are
disembodied at the same instant, we should scarcely know that we were changed any more than we would
if we both started out the door at the same instant and found ourselves outside, looking at each other. ( JD
vol. 19, 273)

Mevin J. Ballard
It is my judgment that any man or woman can do more to conform to the laws of God in one year
in this life than they could do in ten years when they are dead. The spirit only can repent and change, and
then the battle has to go forward with the flesh afterwards. It is much easier to overcome and serve the Lord
when both flesh and spirit are combined as one. This is the time when men are more pliable and sus-
ceptible. We will find when we are dead every desire, every feeling will be greatly intensified. When clay
is pliable it is much easier to change than when it gets hard and sets.
Then, every man and woman who is putting off until the next life the task of correcting and
overcoming the weakness of the flesh are sentencing themselves to years of bondage, for no man or woman
will come forth in the resurrection until they have completed their work, until they have overcome, until
they have done as much as they can do... those who are complying in this life with these conditions are
shortening their sentences, for every one of us will have a matter of years in that spirit state to complete and
finish our salvation. ("The Three Degrees of Glory," sermon delivered in Ogden, Utah, on 22 September
1922, quoted in Life Everlasting, pp.21-22.)

The dead know where their records are, so you are to search until you have gone as far as you can. But of
course, there are hosts of men and women in the spirit world whose records don't exist anywhere on the
earth, but whose record is in the spirit world.. When you have done all you can do and have reached the
limit what will happen? As always in the past, man's extremity is God's opportunity... When we have done
our utmost, then will come the day when the authorities that preside on the other side will come and make
known all who have received the gospel in the spirit world and everyone entitled to have their work done.
That is the simplest thing in the world. When the Lord is ready, it will be very simple and very easy. We
can speed that day by doing now the work that we can do (Melvin J. Ballard, Genelogical and Historical
Magazine Vol 23: 148-149) quoted ( in The Journey Beyond Life, p. 189 )

Brigham Young
When this portion of the school is out, the one in which we descend below all things and
commence upon this earth to learn the first lessons for an eternal exaltation, if you have been a faithful
scholar, and have overcome, if you have brought the flesh into subjection by the power of the Priesthood, if
you have honored the body, when it crumbles to the earth and your spirit is freed from this home of clay,
has the devil any power over it? Not a particle.
This is an advantage which the faithful will gain; but while they live on earth they are subject to the
buffetings of Satan. Joseph and those who have died in the faith of the Gospel are free from this; . . . Joseph
and the faithful who have died have gained a victory over the power of the devil, which you and I have not
yet gained.... When we lay [our bodies] down, if we have been faithful, we have gained the victory so far.
(In Journal of Discourses, 3:371.)
George Q. Cannon
"But we shall find that knowledge and power will not come to us there as the rain that falls upon
us, without any effort of ours to acquire them. We shall have to exercise ourselves and exert our powers
there just as we have to here. We shall be rewarded according to our diligence and faithfulness in the ex-
ercise of our agency." (Gospel Truth, p.60.)

Joseph F. Smith
It will be alright when our time comes, when we have finished our work and accomplished what
the Lord required of us. If we are prepared, we need not be afraid to go, for it will be one of the most
pleasant sensations that ever comes to the soul of man, whenever he departs, if he can go with a clear
conscience into the presence of the Lord. . . . We will be full of joy and happiness, and we will enter into a
place of rest, of peace, of joy, rest from every sorrow. What a blessed thing that will be! We will never be
fired any more. We will not get tired, for we will be in a condition that we can endure and enjoy our work;
for we shall be occupied and employed on the other side as we are on this side; we shall have plenty to
occupy our attention right along. (In Conference Report, October 1909, pp.18-19.)

George Albert Smith
A number of years ago I was seriously ill; in fact, I think everyone gave me up but my wife...
One day under these conditions, I lost consciousness of my surroundings and thought I had passed
to the Other Side. I found myself standing with my back to a large and beautiful lake, facing a great forest
of trees. There was no one in sight, and there was no boat upon the lake or any other visible means to
indicate how I might have arrived there. I realized, or seemed to realize, that I had finished my work in
mortality and had gone home. I began to look around, to see if I could not find someone. There was no
evidence of anyone living there, just those great, beautiful trees in front of me and the wonderful lake
behind me.
I began to explore, and soon I found a trail through the woods which seemed to have been used
very little, and which was almost obscured by grass. I followed this trail, and after I had walked for some
time and traveled a considerable distance through the forest, I saw a man coming towards me.
I hurried my steps to reach him because I recognized him as my grandfather. In mortality he
weighed over three hundred pounds, so you may know he was a large man. I remember how happy I was to
see him coming. I had been given his name and had always been proud of it.
When Grandfather came within a few feet of me, he stopped. His stopping was an invitation for me to stop.
Then and this I would like the boys and girls and young people never to forget
- he looked at me very earnestly and said,
"I would like to know what you have done with my name."
Everything I had ever done passed before me as though it were a flying picture on a screen -
everything I had done. Quickly this vivid retrospect came down to the very time I was standing there. My
whole life passed before me. I smiled and looked at my grandfather and said, "I have never done anything
with your name of which you need be ashamed."
He stepped forward and took me in his arms... (Peston Nibley, Sharing The Gospel With Others
pp. 111-112)




Jedediah M. Grant as told to Heber C. Kimball

I went to see him [Jedediah M. Grant] one day last week. ... he could not speak, but he shook
hands warmly with me...
I laid my hands upon him and blessed him, and asked God to strengthen his lungs that he might [breathe]
easier, and in two or three mmutes he raised himself up and talked for about an hour as busily as he could,
telling me what he had seen and what he understood, until I was afraid he would weary himself when I
arose and left him.
He said to me, Brother Heber, I have been into the spirit world two nights in succession and, of all
the dreads that ever came across me, the worst was to have to again return to my body, though I had to do
it. But 0, says he, the order of righteous men and women; I beheld them organized in their several grades,
and there appeared to be no obstruction to my vision.. .1 looked to see whether there was any disorder
there, but there was none; neither could I see any death nor any darkness, disorder or confusion. He said
that the people he there saw were organized in family capacities; and when he looked at them he saw grade
after grade, and all were organized and in harmony. He would mention one item after another and say,
"Why, it is just as Brother Brigham says it is; it is just as he has told us many a time..."
He saw the righteous gathered together in the spirit world and there were not wicked spirits among
them. He saw his wife; she was the first person that came to him. He saw many that he knew, but did not
have conversation with any except his wife Caroline. She came to him, and he said that she looked
beautiful and had their little child, that died on the Plains, in her arms and said, "Mr. Grant, here is little
Margaret; you know that the wolves ate her up, but it did not hurt her; here she is all right."
"To my astonishment," he said, "when I looked at families there was a deficiency in some, there
was a lack, for I saw families that would not be permitted to come and dwell together, because they had not
honored their calling here...
He also spoke of the buildings he saw there, remarking that the Lord gave Solomon wisdom and
poured gold and silver into his hands that he might display his skill and ability, and said that the temple
erected by Solomon was much inferior to the most ordinary buildings he saw in the spirit world.
In regard to gardens, says Brother Grant, "I have seen good gardens on this earth, but I never saw
any to compare with those that were there. I saw flowers of numerous kinds, and some with from fifty to a
hundred different colored flowers growing upon one stalk." We have many kinds of flowers on the earth,
and I suppose those very articles came from heaven, or they would not be here. After mentioning the things
that he had seen, he spoke of how much he disliked to return and resume his body, after having seen the
beauty and glory of the spirit world, where the righteous spirits are gathered together.
Some may marvel at my speaking about these things, for many profess to believe that we have no
spiritual existence. But do you not believe that my spirit was organized before it came to my body here?
And do you not think there can be houses and gardens, fruit trees, and every other thing there? The spirits
of those things were made, as well as our spirits, and it follows that they can exist upon the same principle
After speaking of the gardens and the beauty of everything there, Brother Grant said that he felt
extremely sorrowful at having to leave so beautiful a place and come back to earth, for he looked upon his
body with loathing, but was obliged to enter it again.
He said that after he came back he could look upon his family and see the spirit that was in them,
and the darkness that was in them; and that he conversed with them about the gospel, and what they should
do, and they replied, "Well, Brother Grant, perhaps it is so, and perhaps it is not," and said that was the
state of this people to a great extent, for many are full of darkness and will not believe me.
(
Burton. For
They Shall Be Comforted pp. 82-88 )


From Return From Silence
"Dear Momma, I do wish you could see Allie [a son who had died seven months previously]; he's standing
beside you."... I then asked her further, "Daisy, how does Allie appear to you? Does he seem to wear
clothes?" She answered, "Oh, no, not clothes such as we wear. There seems to be about him a white,
beautiful something, so fine and thin and glistening, and oh, so white, and yet there is not a fold, or a sign
of a thread in it, so it cannot be cloth. But it makes him look so lovely." Her father then quoted from the
Psalmist:
"He is clothed with light as a garment." "Oh yes, that's it," she replied. (As quoted in The Return from
Silence, p.48.)

From Other World Journeys
And now I saw that she was in the possession of exterior and physical proportions, which were identical,
in every possible particular-improved and beautified-with those proportions which characterized her earthly
organization. That is to say, she possessed a heart, a stomach, a liver, lungs, etc., just as her natural body
did previous to . . . its death. This is a wonderful and consoling truth! But I saw that the improvements. . .
were not so particular and thorough as to destroy or transcend her personality; nor did they materially alter
her natural appearance or earthly characteristics. So much like her former self was she, that, had her friends
beheld her (as I did) they certainly would have exclaimed . . . "Why how well you look! How improved
you are!" (As quoted in Otherworid Journeys, p.118.)


Journal of Near-Death Studies
Next, this man was taken to visit an angelic choir and then an art gallery "It contained the work of the
great masters of all time and all places. .. . Some of the great works seemed familiar. Others were unlike
anything I had ever seen, indescribable." Then he found himself in a computer room, where he perceived
that he met a spirit being whom he recognized as Albert Einstein, a man whom he had always admired.
This great man took time away from his duties to encourage me. He asked me if I would care to operate the
computer, which was very complex and beautiful... .1 was flattered, but felt incompetent and unsure of
myself in the presence of such greatness. I told him I would like to try, but I was afraid of making a
mistake. He laughed gently, and reassured me, saying that error was not possible in this place. Encouraged,
I seemed instinctively to know how to operate this unusual machine. .. .1 knew instantly that the task had
been performed perfectly, and it had somehow been of great benefit to someone. I was suffused with the
joy of a job well done. I would gladly spend eternity here at this rewarding work if only for the tremendous
feeling of well-being I had experienced as a result. (As quoted in "Amazing Grace: The Near-Death
Experience as a Compensatory Gift," Journal of Near-Death Studies, vol.10, no.1, Fall 1991, pp.3031.)

Dr. George Ritchie,
"Why is it that inventors in different parts of the earth come up with the same ideas about the same time,
Ford in America, Bentley in England, Peugeot in France? I believe I was shown the place where those who
have already gone before us are doing research and want to help us when we begin to seriously search and
turn deep within for answers. I think this is true regardless of our fields of interest." (My Life After Dying,
p.27.)

[Note *: George G. Ritchie, Jr., M.D., had a life after life experience, or a "near death experience" = NDE
in 1943, for about 9 minutes or more. During his NDE he says that he saw spirits working on scientific
inventions which were beyond anything that he had seen on earth in 1943. After he had returned from the
after life, & later on during his life, in 1952 he says that he saw some of the same instruments he had seen
in the other-world realm of peace & great learning, while looking through the Dec. 1952 issue of Life
Magazine. He believes therefore, that we are inspired by these other-realm beings to come up with the
different inventions in order to help the human race to advance in knowledge, & to gain good benefits there
by. (Return From Tomorrow, 1978, pp.68-74, & 119-121; Radio interview on KTKK 630 AM Radio, K-
Talk's "Religion on the Line." Martin Tanner, (as Host), Nov. 12, 1989, with Dr. Ritchie by phone, &:
Ritchie's My Life After Dying, 1991, pp.25-30.) Howard Storm says, (based on his own NDE), that the good
angelic & divine beings in the universe have given & inspired different ones here on this earth &
throughout history to invent different things for originally good purposes. But each good gift from them has
eventually been perverted for evil purposes by different ones. So until this world can learn to stop
perverting what little bits of knowledge & gifts that we do have. These beings will not make themselves
totally known to our world. Perhaps then, even greater higher gifts of knowledge, that we might have
received, has been with held for our own good! Until, we have shown that we are worthy, ready, & able to
show some responsibility with such higher & more advanced gifts of knowledge. (Near-Death Experience
of Howard Storm, typed by JBB, Silverdale, WA, from a 1988 cassette tape from N.D.E. Research
Institute, 702 N. Ft. Thomas Ave., Ft. Thomas, KY 41075; An Experience of Howard Storm, copied from a
taped recording made in 1989 at the NDE Research Institute. Also: Dec. 1992--Jan. 1993, Salt Lake City,
Utah Chap. of The International Association for Near-Death Studies = IANDS, News Letter #5, by DaRell
D. Thorpe, pp.2-3; 1 Cor.1:19-31; 2:6-16; 3:1-3, 18-20; chap.13; & 2 Cor.12:1-4; Pre-Existence, Wisdom
& The Son Of Man, by R.G. Hammerton-Kelly, 1973, Cambridge Un., pp.1-3, 9-13, & 74-5, etc.)]

From Book After the Beyond
It's a dusky, dark, dreary area, and you realize that the area is filled with a lot of lost souls, or beings, that
could go the same way I'm going [to the Light] if they would just look up. The feeling I got was that they
were all looking downward, and they were kind of shuffling, and there was a kind of moaning. There were
hundreds of them, looking very dejected. The amount of confusion I felt coming off of it was tremendous.
When I went through this, I felt there was a lot of pain, a lot of confusion, a lot of fear, all meshed into one.
It was a very heavy feeling. They weren't turning toward the Light. In fact, they didn't even know the Light
existed. (As quoted in After the Beyond, pp.82-83.)
Heber Q. Hale
"The people I met there, did not think of [themselves] as spirit but as men and women, self-thinking and
self-acting individuals, going about important business in a most orderly manner. There was perfect order
there, and every body had something to do and seemed to be about their business.

(As quoted in Life
Everlasting, p.79.)

Heber Q. Hale, the stake president from Boise who had a near-death experience, returned with a report on
the activities of evil spirits which appears very much in harmony with the scriptures and teachings of the
prophets.
I passed but a short distance from my body through a film in the world of spirits, this was my
first experience after going to sleep. I seemed to realize I had passed through the change called death and so
referred to it in my conversation with the immortal beings with whom I became immediately in contact. I
readily observed their displeasure of the use of the word 'death' and the fear which we attach to it, they use
there another word in referring to the transition from mortality, which word I do not now recall. I can only
approach its meaning as the impression was left upon my mind, by calling it the New Birth.
My first visual impression was the nearness of the world of spirits to the world of mortality. The
vastness of this heavenly sphere was bewildering to the eyes of a spirit. Many enjoyed unrestricted freedom
as to both vision and action. The vegetation or landscape was beautiful beyond description, not all green,
but gold and various shades of pink, orange, and lavender as the rainbow. A sweet calmness pervaded
everything. The people I met there I did not think of as spirits, but as men and women, self-thinking, self-
acting individuals going about important business in a most orderly manner. There was perfect order and
everyone had something to do and seemed to be about their business.
That the inhabitants of the spirit world are classified according to their lives of purity and their
obedience to the Father's will was subsequently made apparent. Particularly was it observed that the wicked
and unrepentant are confined to a certain district by themselves, the confines of which are so definitely
determined and impassible as the line marking the vision of the physical and spiritual world, a mere film
but impassible until the person himself has changed. The world of spirits is the temporary abode of all
spirits, pending the resurrection from the dead and the judgment.
There was much activity within the different spheres and appointed ministers of salvation were
soon coming from the higher to the lower in pursuit of their missionary appointments. I had a very
pronounced desire to meet certain of my kinfolk and friends, but I was at once impressed with the fact that I
had entered a tremendously great and extensive world, even greater than our earth and more numerously
inhabited. I could be in only one place at a time, could look in only one direction at a time and accordingly
it would require many, many years to search out and converse with all those I had known and those whom I
desired to meet, unless they were especially summoned to receive me.
All worthy men and women were appointed to special and regular work, under a well- organized
plan of action, directed principally toward preaching the gospel to the unconverted, teaching those who
seek knowledge and establishing family relationships and gathering genealogies for the use and benefit of
mortal survivors of their respective families, that the work of baptism and sealing ordinances may be
vicariously performed for the departed in the temples of God on earth.
The authorized representatives of families in the world of spirits have access to our temple records
and are kept fully advised to the work therein, but the vicarious work done here does not become
automatically effective there. The recipients must first repent and accept baptism and confirmation. Then
certain consummating ordinances are performed effectualizing these same principles in the lives of those
regenerated beings. So the great work is going on - they are doing a work there which we cannot do here,
and we are doing a work here which they cannot do, both necessary, each the compliment of the other.
Thus, it is bringing about the salvation of all Cod's children, who will be saved.
I was surprised to find there no babes in arms I met the infant son of Arson W. Rawlins, my first
counselor, and immediately recognized him as the baby who died a few years ago. Yet he seemed to have
the intelligence and in certain respects the appearance of an adult and was engaged in matters pertaining to
his family and its genealogy. My mind was quite contented on the point that mothers will again receive into
their arms their children who die in infancy and will _ be fully satisfied, but the fact remains that en-trance
into the world of spirits is not an inhibition of growth but a great opportunity for development. Babies are
adult spirits in infant bodies.
I presently beheld a mighty multitude of men-the largest I had ever seen gathered in one place, whom
I immediately recognized as soldiers; the millions who had been slaughtered and rushed so savagely into
the world of spirits during the World War.
Among them moved calmly and majestically a great general in supreme command. As I drew near, I
received the kindly smile and generous welcome of the great living General, Richard W. Young. Then
came the positive conviction to my soul that of all men living or dead, there is not one who is so perfectly
fitted for the great mission into which he had been called. He commands immediately the attention and
respect of all soldiers. He is at once a great general and a High Priest of God, no earthly field of labor to
which he could have been assigned can compare with it in importance and extent.
I passed from this scene to return later, when I found General Young had this vast army of men
completely organized with officers over successive divisions and all were seated and he was preaching the
Gospel in great earnestness to them.
As I passed on, I met my beloved mother. She greeted me most affectionately and expressed
surprise at seeing me there and reminded me that I had not completed my allotted mission on earth. She
seemed to be going somewhere and was in a hurry and accordingly took leave, saying she would see me
again.
I moved forward covering an appreciable distance and consuming considerable time viewing the
wonderful landscapes, parks, trees, and flowers, and meeting people, some of whom I knew but many
thousands whom I did not recognize. I presently approached a small group of men standing in a path lined
with spacious stretches of flowers, grasses and shrubbery, all of a golden hue, marking the approach to a
beautiful building. The group was engaged in earnest conversation. One of their number parted from the
rest and came walking down the path. I at once recognized my esteemed President Joseph F. Smith. He
embraced me as a father would a son and after a few words of greeting quickly remarked, "You have not
come to stay," which remark I understood more as a declaration than an interrogation.
For the first time I became fully aware of my incomplete mission on earth and as much as I would
have liked to remain, I at once asked President Smith if I might return. "You have expressed a righteous
desire," he replied, "and I shall take the matter up with the authorities and let you know later." He then
turned and led me toward the little group of men from whom he was just separated. I immediately
recognized Brigham Young and the Prophet Joseph Smith, and was surprised to find the former of shorter
and heavier build than I expected to find him. All three of these men were in possession of a calm and holy
majesty, which was at once kind and kingly. President Smith, introduced me to the others, who greeted me
warmly. We then returned our steps and President Smith took his leave, saying he would see me again.
From a certain point of vantage, I was permitted to view this earth and what was going on here.
There were no limitations to my vision and I was astonished at this. I saw my wife and children at home; I
saw President Heber I. Grant at the head of the Church and Kingdom of God, and felt the divine power that
radiated from God giving it light and truth, guiding its destiny. I beheld this nation founded as it is upon
correct principles and designed to endure and beset by evil and sinister forces that seek to lead men astray
and thwart the purpose of God. I saw towns and cities, the sin and wickedness of men and women. I saw
vessels sailing upon the ocean and scanned the battle-scarred fields of Prance and Belgium. In a word I saw
the whole world as if it were a panorama passing before my eyes.
Then there came to me the unmistakable impression that this earth and persons upon it are open to
the visions of the spirits only when special permission is given or when they are assigned to special service
here. This is particularly true of the righteous who are busily engaged in the service of the Lord and cannot
be engaged in two fields of activity at the same time.
The wicked and unrepentant spirits having still their free agency and applying themselves to no
useful or wholesome undertaking, seek pleasure about their old haunts to this extent they are still tools of
Satan. It is idle, mischievous, and deceptive spirits who appear as miserable counterfeits at spiritualistic
scenes, table dancing, and other such things. The noble and great men do not respond at the call of the
mediums and every curious group of meddlesome inquiries. They would not do it in mortality, certainly
they would not do it in their increased state of knowledge in the world of immortality. These wicked and
unrepentant spirits are allies of Satan and his hosts operating through willing mediums in the flesh. These
three forces constitute an unholy trinity upon the earth and are responsible for all the wickedness among
men and nations.
I moved forward, feasting my eyes upon the beauty, everything about me was glorying in the
indescribable peace and happiness which abounded in everybody and through everything. The farther I
went the more glorious things appeared.
While standing at a certain vantage point I beheld a short distance away a wonderfully beautiful
temple, capped with golden domes, from which emerged a small group of men dressed in robes, who
paused for a brief conversation. These were the first I had seen thus clad. The millions I had previously
seen were dressed of course, but dressed variously, the soldiers for instance were in uniform. In this little
group of holy men my eyes rested upon one more splendid and holy
than all the rest. While thus I gazed, President Smith parted from the others and came to my side.
"Do you know Him?" he inquired. I quickly answered, "Yes, I know Him." My eyes beheld my
Lord and Savior. "It is true," said President Joseph F. Smith. 0 how my soul filled with rapture and
unspeakable joy. President Smith informed me that I had been given permission to return and complete my
mission upon the earth which the Lord had appointed me to fill, and then with his hand upon my shoulder
uttered those memorable and significant words:
"Brother Heber, you have a great work to do, go forward with all your heart and you shall be
blessed in your ministry. From this time on never doubt that God lives, that Jesus Christ is His Son, the
Redeemer of the world, that the Holy Ghost is a God of spirit and the messenger of the Father and the Son.
Never doubt the resurrection of the dead and the immortality of the soul. The mission of Latter-day Saints
is to all the world, both living and dead. The great work in the Holy Temple for the salvation of the dead is
only begun. Know that Joseph Smith was a Son of God, to usher in the Gospel dispensation of the fullness
of times which is the last unto mortals on this earth. His successors have all been called and approved by
God. President Heber J. Grant is at this time the recognized and ordained head of the Church of Jesus
Christ upon the earth. Give him your confidence and support. Much you have seen and heard here you will
not be permitted to repeat when you return." Thus saying, he bade me good-by and God bless you.
Quite a distance through various scenes and passing innumerable people, I traveled before I
reached this sphere which I had first entered on my way. I was greeted by many friends and relatives,
certain of whom sent words of greetings and counsel to dear ones here, my brother being one of them.
One other I will mention, I met Brother John Adamson, his wife, son James, and daughter Isabelle,
all of whom were killed by the hand of a foul assassin at Carey, Idaho on the evening of October 29, 1915.
They seemed to define that I was on my way back to mortality and immediately said: (Brother Adamson
speaking) "Tell the children we are very happy and that they should not mourn our departure nor worry
their minds over the manner by which we were taken. There is a purpose in it and we have work here to do
which requires our collective efforts and which we could not do individually."
I was made to know that the work referred to was that of genealogy in which they were working in
England and Scotland. One of the greatest and most sacred things of heaven is family relationships, the
establishment of a complete chain without a broken link. The unholy and bad will be dropped out and other
new links put in, or two adjoining links welded together. Men and women throughout the world are moved
upon by their dead ancestors to gather genealogy. These are the links of the chains, and the ordinances of
baptism, endowments and sealings performed in the Temple of God by the living for the dead are the
welding of the links.
Ordinances are performed in the spirit world effectualizing in the individual recipients, the saving
principles of the gospel vicariously performed here. As I was approaching the place where I had entered,
my attention was attracted to a small group of women preparing what appeared to be wearing apparel.
Observing my inquiring countenance, one of the women remarked, "We are preparing to receive Brother
Philip Worthington soon." (I was advised by telegram that he died January 22, and I returned to Boise to
preach the funeral sermon January 23.)
As I gasped his name in repetition, I was admonished, "If you knew the joy and glorious mission that
awaits him you would not ask to have him longer detained on earth."
Then flooding through my consciousness came this truth, that the will of the Lord can be done on earth
as it is in heaven, only when we resign completely to His will and let His will be done in innocence and
peace. Many have passed a life of suffering and misery and are full of debauchery and crime and have lived
to their own peril. Men and women and children are often called to missions of great importance on the
other side and some respond gladly while others refuse to go and their loved ones will not give them up.
Also many die because they have not faith to be healed. Others yet live long and pass out of this world of
mortality without any special manifestations or actions of the divine will.
When a man is stricken ill, the prime importance is not whether he lives or dies, so long as the Father's will
be done. Surely we can trust him with God. Herein lies the special duty and privilege of administration by
the Holy Priesthood - namely, it is given the elders of the Church, to divine the will of the Father concern-
ing the one upon whose head their hands are laid. If for any reason they are unable to presage the Father's
will, then they shall continue to pray in faith for the afflicted, humbly conceding supremacy to the will of
God, that His will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Birth into the world of spirits is a glorious privilege and blessing, the greatest spirits in the family of the
Father have not usually been permitted to tarry longer in the flesh than to perform a certain mission. They
are then called to the world of spirit where the field is greater and workers fewer. This earthly career, then,
may be long or short.
At that time I left the world of spirits, and immediately my body was quickened, and I arose to
ponder over and now declare to the world, that irrespective of what others may say or think, I do know of
my own positive knowledge and from my own personal experiences that Jesus Christ is His son and Savior
of the world.
I also bear witness to these things: That the spirit of man does not die, but survives this change
called death and goes to the world of spirit. That the world of spirit is upon or near this world, that man's
individuality is not lost by death nor his progress inhibited. The spirits will literally take up their bodies
again in the resurrection. That the principles of salvation are now being taught to the spirits and the great
work of saving the Father's family among the living and dead is in progress, and but comparatively few will
be lost. That the Gospel of Jesus Christ has again been established upon the earth with all the keys, powers,
authority and blessings through the instrumentality of the Prophet Joseph Smith. That this is not only the
power which will save and exalt everyone obedient, but will ultimately save the world, that the burden of
our mission is to save souls unto God. And that the work for the dead is no less important than the work for
the living.
Heber Q. Hale , A Heavenly Manefestation
( in The Journey Beyond Life, pp.206-217 )
From Book Beyond Deaths Door
I was standing some distance from this burning, turbulent, rolling mass of blue fire. As far as my eyes
could see it was just the same. A lake of fire and brimstone....
The scene was so awesome that words simply fail. . . There is no way to escape, no way out. You don't
even try to look for one. This is the prison out of which no one can escape except by Divine intervention. I
said to myself in an audible voice, "If I had known about this I would have done anything that was required
of me to escape coming to a place like this." But I had not known.
As these thoughts were racing through my mind, I saw another man coming by in front of us. I
knew immediately who He was. He had a strong, kind, compassionate face, composed and unafraid, Master
of all He saw. It was Jesus Himself.
A great hope took hold of me and I knew the answer to my problem was this great and wonderful
Person who was moving by me in this prison of the lost, confused judgment-bound souls. I did not do
anything to attract His attention. I said again to myself, "If He would only look my way and see me, He
could rescue me from this place because He would know what to do." He passed on by and it seemed as
though He would not look my way, but just before He passed out of sight He turned His head and looked
directly at me. That is all it took. His look was enough.
In seconds I was back entering into my body again. (As quoted in Maurice Rawlings, Beyond Death's
Door, pp. 87-88.)
From Book Glimpses of Eternity
I lay there for a long time. I was in such a state of hopelessness, and blackness, and despair, that I
have no way of measuring the time. I was just lying there in an unknown place all torn and ripped. And I
had no strength; it was all gone. I felt as if I were sort of fading out, that any effort on my part would
expend the last energy I had. My conscious sense was that I was perishing, or just sinking into the darkness.
Then a most unusual thing happened. I heard, very clearly, once again in my own voice,
something that I had learned in nursery Sunday School. It was the little song:
"Jesus loves me, yes I know, . . ." and it kept repeating. I don't know why, but all of a sudden I wanted to
believe that. I didn't have anything left, and I wanted to cling to that thought. And . . . I, inside, screamed:
"Jesus, please save me." I screamed that with every ounce of strength and feeling left in me.
When I did that, I saw, off in the darkness somewhere, the tiniest little star. . . . Then I realized it
was coming toward me. It was getting very bright, rapidly.
As it came up to me, and its radiance was all over me, I just rose up-not with my effort-I just lifted
up. Then I saw... and I saw this very plainly, I saw all my wounds, all my torn spots, all my brokenness just
melt away. And I became whole in this radiance. (As quoted in Arvin S. Gibson, Glimpses of Eternity,
pp.255-56.)

From The Book Recollections of Death
This [experience] has taken a lot of the load off me. But I still have struggles in living the faith, but I
realize the grace of God takes care of all that. But in my life I have discounted a lot of trivial things I used
to worry about. The Lord has allowed me through this experience to separate what is important from what
is not important. That has been a terrific boon to me.... He made me through this experience to be able to
completely put myself in the hands of the Lord and totally believe. . . . You can imagine what a boon that is
to my life to be able to totally commit myself 100 percent without any reservation. . . . Most men have
trouble with their pride. This has ceased to be a problem, to a great extent anyway. At least it doesn't
trouble me, because I understand the Lord's grace. Also, I was born into a farm family with very, very
modest circumstances, and I've always had a great desire to be real prosperous. Well, I don't think anybody
would mind being prosperous, but I see how little it really does mean to my faith. I found out that some of
these things are really laughable as far as importance [is concerned]. (As quoted in Recollections of Death,
pp.131-32.)



Duane S. Crowther
It took weeks for us to wrestle with our emotions, to reconcile the nature of our faith in God, and
to learn to accept His will concerning the imminent loss of the sweet young spirit whom we loved so
deeply. We observed Laura's courage and inner strength as she, without complaint or fear, underwent
chemotherapy, repeated blood transfusions, and frightening hospital stays.
She passed away in the car while we were traveling together. As we approached Cascade, Idaho,
her spirit slipped from her body. She had been lying in a makeshift bed on the back seat. Shortly before she
left us she sat up, looked at me and said, "Daddy, I'm going to wake up soon." At that moment I lacked the
eternal perspective to fully grasp what she was saying to me.
A kind physician at the small Cascade hospital could only say, "She's gone-there's nothing I can do for her:'
We were told there were no mortician's facilities there, so we took her small body and headed back to
McCall.
As we drove northward, Laura suddenly appeared to my wife. I didn't see her-but Jean did, and
that was enough. Jean said, "She's not a little girl now." She described her as being tall and slender, with
long blond hair, and dressed in white. She appeared as if in her mid4wenties. Laura didn't speak. She didn't
need to. Jean could see from the serene expression on her face that all was well with her, and she was given
to understand that Laura had successfully entered the next phase of her eternal progress. With this
knowledge we were buoyed up, strengthened, and able to respond to the emotional demands of her funeral
and burial. From Glimpsees of Eternity p. 11



Katrina
Attempted Suicide
"Last August, after a divorce from my husband, I made a decision to end it ~l. I got a medical journal and
figured out what pills, coupled with my anti-depressant, would be fatal. I took them. I felt like I was human
garbage.
"I told my ex-husband, who was there at the time, to take my son to work with him. He didn't know I had
taken the pills. I told him I wanted to be cremated and flushed down the toilet if I should die. I felt that was
where I belonged. I laid down on the bed to die.
"I first became aware of a blackness, a void. It felt very peaceful. No earthly problem or care followed me
there. I was aware I existed, but I felt no pain. For the first time since being a child I felt free from
emotional pain. I knew what was meant when the Lord said that the earth would be cursed for our sakes.
This felt so natural in comparison to earth life. I came to the conclusion that our earth experience was the
unnatural state and this one, the spiritual state, was the correct state of being.

A Marvelous Experience and a Message
"I remember leaving the void and entering a garden. The garden was similar to a wooded or forest
area, but it had plants that were tropical in nature, sort of like you would find in Florida.
"There was the most beautiful music. It was not something I heard with my ears. Rather, it was
something I felt with my soul.
"There were animals; birds, butterflies and small furry creatures, one resembling a fawn. I could
communicate with these animals. It wasn't a verbal exchange or a question and answer scenario. It was,
instead, as if I were a part of them. They seemed to receive their life force from the same source I did. We
were part of a collective consciousness, part of a universal whole.
"It was like I had increased awareness. On earth our body has five senses, but over there I had
more than the five senses. Part of the expanded awareness was the ability to perceive thoughts, to peer into
the souls of all living things, and to communicate with them.
"In this manner it was communicated to me by a person whom I understood
to be my 'guardian angel,' the person who was assigned to work with and:
help me, that I was not supposed to be there. I was going to be sent back, because I had not yet learned
what I was supposed to learn on earth
'And it's like I asked: 'What is that?'
"Trust in God, came the reply. Allow yourself to receive the beautiful body he intended to bestow on
you-and to glorify God with. "Stop abusing and defiling your body. Let your body be worthy of the spirit
which inhabits it and trust in God to protect you. Let go of the fat which you were using to keep men away;
trust in God.
"Additionally, I was told I had been trying to get my self-worth, my satisfaction, my reward from the
wrong place. I had been trying to get them from flesh, from my husband, from my family, and from my
friends. I was told that I was looking in the wrong direction. I should have been connecting with Christ and
with God, not with man, for my identity.
"Something told me to look, and I turned and looked. I saw a beautiful girl, a young child of about
eight or nine years with long brown hair. There was a small boy standing next to her who resembled my
brother. I understood that these were the two children I had lost. The girl was the one I had lost from the
beating, and the boy was lost from the abortion. They were beautiful children and I . . . I had a feeling of
remorse and a great sense of loss.
"Then another message was communicated to my soul. I understood this person to be Christ speaking
to me. The message was: Oh precious child of God, I will restore that which the locust has eaten. I knew it
meant that those children would be mine.
"I was amazed at the mercy, understanding and love given to me while in the Savior's presence. There
was such total acceptance and love-no condemnation whatsoever.
"Standing in His presence I received a new perception of myself and of my worth. I had left the earth
thinking of myself as human garbage. In a few moments in His presence, and feeling for myself what he
felt for me, I totally reevaluated my worth. I did matter; He did care. Even more than that-he loved me, he
forgave me.
"I was so overwhelmed by the utter love and peace and mercy that I did not want to leave. I wanted to
dance to that beautiful music. Even though I knew that someday I would hear the music and feel the love
again, I begged not to be sent back."

Return-A New Understanding of Life
"Then I was back. The nurse was saying to me: 'You're in Holy Cross Hospital. You are in critical
condition, and we don't know if we can save you. Even if we do you'll have heart problems the rest of your
life.'
'Since that experience I haven't felt suicidal at all. Everything has changed. I'm not interested in
money anymore. I wanted money to buy security, to be safe, in a nice house, with an education. I used to
think if I could be a lawyer I could bring people who hurt women and children into court, and ... and those
things don't matter now.
"The only thing that is important to me now is doing right by the people I love. All I want is to do the
best I can for those that I love. I now feel that God loves me. I had never felt such an overwhelming sense
of peace, and acceptance, and total love, total .. . there was no judgment. Just mercy and acceptance.
"I certainly don't feel suicidal anymore. Yes, I would like to be back in His presence, but I wouldn't
want to kill myself to get there. I want to do what I'm supposed to do, to do right by my son, and to have
those two children that were promised to be sent back.
"I thought for sure I was going to hell. You know, I had an abortion, and I tried to kill myself. But I
know when my time comes I will go to that beautiful place, and it will be just as peaceful and lovely as it
was when I was there."..
"When I went into the garden I was in a different body than the one I had left. I was not overweight, I
was maybe even a little on the thin side. I seemed to be a young woman; not adolescent, but not the 35
years old that I was at the time. I had long black hair and my body was perfect. Just as beautiful as it could
be. And I had more senses than the five senses we have on this earth. I had more perception. My body
wasn't heavy, it wasn't cumbersome, it wasn't burdensome. It was beautiful and I didn't want to leave it."
"What do you mean by more perception?"
"Well, we perceive things here in three dimensions. It seemed like on the other side there was more than the
three. You have ... you can do more things. It's really hard to describe."
"What about knowledge?"
"Oh, anything I wanted to know I understood before I could even formulate the question.
"So what sort of things did you feel you wanted to know?"
"Well, I wanted to know why I had been through the things that I had been through. I wondered about
others, people I loved who had hurt me, and ... and I felt like those things didn't matter. That was their
problem. All those things were old and would fall away, and they would be as dust in the dirt.
"I understood that I was looking in the wrong place, I was looking down, I was looking in the dirt. I should,
instead, look up. I should Took up to Christ. From Glimpsees of Eternity pp. 145-148

Jean

Illness; Then a World of Knowledge
Jean came to our home in June, 1991. She was a cheerful, dark-haired lady and she seemed anxious to tell
us her story. She explained that, after being born in Utah in 1946, she had been raised as a Mormon. She
began her story:
"In 1986,1 was a student at Weber State College, and my daughter brought a little girl she had
been baby-sitting home. The girl had hepatitis, and I caught it immediately. On top of that, I'm diabetic, and
I became extremely ill. I couldn't even get out of bed.
"One day I was lying in bed, terribly sick, and . . and I know this wasn't a dream it wasn't like other dreams.
It was more than a dream. It's hard to explain exactly what it was, but I suddenly found myself in this
beautiful patio garden area. There were a group of buildings around, and the buildings were -I just knew
they were libraries. They were educational buildings.
"The garden areas were so gorgeous. I had never seen such a well kept-garden. And the colors of
the flowers were so vivid. I can remember exactly, and even the cement was pure white. The sidewalks,
and the benches, and the patios were beautiful. There were people all over the place, and I just stood there
in the middle of the garden looking around.
"As I looked, groups of children came running across the lawn with a teacher. There were other
people walking around, and sitting on the benches, and leaning against the trees; they were all reading
books and studying.
"I got so excited, because I recognized the buildings as 'The Libraries.' That's what I called them:
'The Libraries.' I knew that every single building was a different subject. All the knowledge in the universe
was stored in those libraries. I was excited because I wanted to go and study and read everything. Since I
had just been in college it made it all the more exciting; to be where all that knowledge was available.
"I was really surprised to see groups of children there. Another thing that surprised me was that everybody
I saw was dressed in a different time period. They were dressed, I guess, in the time period that they had
lived on earth.
"While I was standing there looking around, a group of men in dark suits, white shirts, and ties-they looked
like Mormon Priesthood holders-came up to me and told me to follow them. I followed them into one of
the buildings. It was beautiful inside, with mahogany, and cherry wood, and ... just a beautiful interior."

A Courtroom and a Trial
"We walked up a winding staircase which was crowded with people. At the top of the staircase we entered
a room that was similar to a courtroom, or a high-council room. In the center of the room there was a large
elongated oval table with chairs all around it. In the corner there was a fenced off area with a beautifully
engraved fence. There was a platform behind the fence in a sort of closed circle. I was asked to stand there.
"These men then went and sat around the table. As they sat there they began discus sing whether or not I
should be allowed to stay or to go back. Some of them were for me staying, and others were saying that I
had to go back. The ones saying that I had to return were very determined. The ones who said I could stay,
they just sort of said it was okay for me to stay; they weren't as adamant as the others.
"They started asking me questions. One of the questions was: 'Is there anyone to take care of your children
if you stay?' I told them that there wasn't anyone else. They then agreed, unanimously, that I had to return,
and they told me so.
"I didn't want to return. I wanted to stay and read those books in the library. I was so excited about the
library, and I really wanted to stay and to study. They reiterated that I had to go back.
"They all gathered around me in a circle, put their hands on my head, and said a prayer ... I guess. Anyway,
I felt a downward pulling sensation. Then I was in my own bed.
"As soon as I woke up I knew I had to get to the doctor. I called him immediately and he put me in the
hospital."
Questions and Responses
"Okay, Jean, let me ask you a few questions. When you first became aware that you were in a different
place, did you have a feeling of where it was?"
"Yes. There wasn't any fear involved. It was peaceful, and I knew exactly what those buildings were. I
knew I was in a garden area in the spirit world. I knew what it was and what the purposes of the buildings
were-I recognized them.
"Everything was so calm and quiet. There were so many people around, yet there was no conflict. Everyone
was happy and busy everyone was so busy. And I felt at peace and excited."
"Those almost sound like contradictions, to be at peace, yet excited."
"I was excited because I wanted to read those books. I can't portray to you how excited I was thinking
about all the knowledge that was stored in those libraries. I had this great desire to study and learn
everything I could. In fact, I still have that desire."
"You mentioned the beautiful scenery. Was it similar to what we have here?"
"Yes, there were trees, beautiful trees, and flowers, and shrubs, but ... but everything was enhanced. The
colors were so much brighter. And everything was perfect. There wasn't a single weed in the place."
"You said that you didn't want to return to this earth. Why did you want to stay?"
"Because I was so excited about the libraries and about getting to study there."
"When it was decided that you were to come back, did you agree with that decision?"
"No. I went yelling!"
"Is that right?"
"Yes. When they had their hands on my heads and when there was the downward pulling-the whole time, I
was yelling that I wanted to stay."
"So it was not your choice to come back?"
"No, it was not."
"Yet, you recognized that if you didn't come back there would be no one to care for your children?"
"That's right. There would be no one to take care of them nor to raise them as I knew they should be raised.
Also, if I didn't return, they wouldn't have the love to give them.

"Under those circumstances, it appears that you at least partially agreed that you should come back."
"Yes. I guess so-but I left yelling."

Recognition of People-Other Experiences
"Is there anything else about the experience that you remember?"
"Well this sounds silly, sol wasn't going to say it. But walking up the staircase I recognized one
person.
"Who was that?"
"Benjamin Franklin. I recognized him from his pictures. As I passed him -I thought: Wow! But where
else would he be? What more natural place for such a man than the libraries where all the knowledge
was."
"Did you recognize anyone else?"
"There was one General Authority."
"That's a General Authority from the LDS Church?"
"Yes. I don't remember his name. He was going down the stairs while I was going up."
-"Did you have any feeling of who the people were who conducted the trial?"

"No .I knew they were Authorities, and I knew they were in charge of making the decision, but that's
all."
-"You didn't feel that they were your relatives?"
"No. But I had some other experiences in which relatives were involved."
''All right, why don't you tell me about them.''
"My husband died when he was relatively young, and I was pregnant with my third child. I was three
months along, and I was really sick with morning sickness and other problems. It was the night before the
funeral, I was so sick, and I couldn't sleep. I was throwing up, non-stop, and I was sitting on the edge of
my bed thinking that if I didn't get some sleep I wouldn't be able to make it to the funeral.
'At that moment, I was wide awake, and I became aware of two people standing in the corner of my
room. One was my husband. The other was a personage, a male, wearing a long white robe. I couldn't see
the face of this personage-I wasn't allowed to see his face. They were about two feet
- off the ground, and they were standing there looking at me.
"My husband turned to him and said: 'Does she have to suffer like that?' The personage in the robe
raised his right arm to the square. Then they disappeared and I lay down. The next thing I knew it was
morning and I felt wonderful."
"How did your husband look?"
"He was dressed in the dark suit that he was buried in. He looked like he always did, but healthy."
"Was there any light associated with either individual?"
"Yes, around the messenger there was light; that's why I couldn't see his -face. It was a bright glow."
"That was an interesting experience. Is there anything else?"
"Well, there was another incident."
"What sort of incident?"
"It was a different kind of experience. I'm not sure you would be interested in it."
"Tell us about it."
"In the 1980s my youngest sister was called to go on a mission for the LDS Church to Bolivia, and she
asked me to give the main talk at her farewell. I was excited about it; I'm a speech and drama teacher, and I
was sure I could do a good job.
"Her farewell was at her ward in Salt Lake City, and I was sitting on the stand waiting for the Sacrament
Meeting to start. As I sat there I became aware of a whole group of people standing in the back of the
chapel. They were all dressed in temple clothes.
"As I looked at the people, all of whom had previously died, I saw my father, my grandparents, and my
aunts and uncles. My husband was not there. While I watched them my father came forward. He told me
that he was pleased with the talk I was going to give.
"Several months later I wrote my sister and told her what I had seen. She wrote back and thanked me for
telling her. She said that for months prior to her mission she had prayed and invited each of these deceased
relatives to be at her missionary farewell." ( Glimpses of Eternity, pp. 176-180)





From the book, The Journey Behond Life

When I am pregnant, I have a hormone imbalance that affects my entire glandular system.
although I have sought the best medical advice available, when I am expecting I become seriously ill, and
have lost nine out of my eleven pregnancies.
During one of these pregnancies, I became so weak and tired that I could not walk across the room to call
on the phone for help. I was having very heavy contractions and knew that I was not going to make it
through that pregnancy. But I also knew that my own life was endangered, and I prayed to Heavenly Father
that someone would come to help me. As I lay for hours in this condition, I began to ponder the events of
my life. I thought about some of the things I had done that I liked and others that I did not. Suddenly I
began to pray with fervent desire that I might know how I stood with the Lord. I had tried all my life to
repent. Had I been forgiven?
In an instant, my position changed. Although I was lying upon my bed, I was also seeing a play
before me on stage that looked like the book of life, and I was the main character. In it, I saw some things
for which I felt sorry. I had been seeking forgiveness, and seeing these things made me ask the Lord more
fervently, "Hast Thou truly forgiven me of this?" Then a huge page of the book-of-life came right over the
top of the scene I was worried about and I heard the words, "Thy sins are forgiven thee; remember them no
more."
Only a few moments later, my husband came in to check on me. I was unspeakably relieved that
he had come home, and as I tried to ask him for help, I started to miscarry. The physical labor was too
much for my body because of my weakened condition. My body stayed right there, but my spirit started
leaving. My husband began slapping my face, yet I couldn't respond. I knew that I was passing on, and I
watched myself leaving.
Suddenly I started going through dimensions. There is no way to describe what happened. I was
moving through our physical dimension into another one. The dimension did not stay in one shape or size,
and I was aware that I was moving through circles and triangles and squares toward a bright light. I was so
taken in by the sizes of things that I don't remember any colors.
Before I reached the light, I recalled my life in a sudden flash. It was the most totally exciting,
fantastic thing I have ever seen. I saw the time I was brought from heaven to the earth by angels to a body,
how I was received at the hospital, and how my parents loved me. From that day until the present, I saw
everything that ever happened to me in my life. It was all in an instant, at fantastic speeds and rates, and it
was not like a day-by-day procedure. What I saw was like a concept to learn or a trial, experience by
experience. My life was arranged systematically so that everything related to one subject or trial was
grouped together. At the end of each experience I was judged. There was no voice of judgment, but I knew
instantly how the Lord felt about each thing I had done in my life. I was also able to perceive how my
actions affected everyone around me. I had never even thought about my influence on others as part of my
judgment before, only what I had done.
The entire experience is almost overwhelming, but it was not too much for me because my mind
was capable of great acceleration. I could comprehend many things quickly and vividly. It is impossible to
explain. Here, we are just like turtles - everything we do is so SLOW. I had instant recall about every
incident I was ever involved in, as if I were living my life again in its entirety, but I was understanding it
this time, and how it affected others.
For example, my brother wasn't even a year older than I was. As a child I could not understand
why he would beat me up and not treat me like a best friend. From this experience, I learned that he
disliked being physically smaller than I was. Everyone treated us like I was older because I grew faster. I
had never thought of this until that moment. Then I knew how he felt, and what's more, I knew how I could
have helped him. I was deeply disappointed that I had not understood his anxiety.
This realization bothered me and, as I sorrowed over the breach in my relationship with my
brother, I was told I would not be judged on what I did not know. I was to be judged on what I did know in
life and on what I would have done had I known more. I knew in that instant what I would have done if I
had possessed more knowledge and the judgment on that as well as on my actions. I was told that this
experience had been one of his trials. My brother had already died, and I asked how he was doing and how
he perceived this. I was given the knowledge that he had already had the same experience and that he was
very happy in the spirit world.
The most wonderful part of this experience was that all the things I had done wrong were gone as
if they had never existed. For the first time, I truly understood the beauty of the Atonement. If I had not just
had the experience of having my sins forgiven, this would still have been glorious beyond description, but
guilt and sorrow would have weighed my soul down with pain.
Instead, I was filled with supreme joy. There were things I had forgotten about entirely that I was
able to enjoy again in the fullest sense. I felt the sweetest joy in realizing that trials really do stack up like
stairs, the way we are taught in church. Each trial prepares you for the next one, bringing you a blessing of
knowledge or wisdom or experience. A sudden, inspiring recognition of how carefully our own individual
tests are planned burst over me, and I was filled with gratitude.
I will never be afraid of death. I want to experience the exhilaration of that judgment scene again,
the feeling of God's love and compassion sweeping through me. It was awesome - in the true meaning of
the word. As the review ended, I was given my judgment. I knew exactly how I stood, and I was very
pleased with it and its fair-ness.
I experienced this judgment as I was nearing the bright light. Then I saw someone coming toward
me, with many other people behind him. He was an angel who had come to get me. I don't know who he
was, but he was someone who had always helped me. We had been familiar with one another for a very
long time, and it would have been ridiculous to make an introduction at this point. I was excited and wanted
to express my happiness at the relief I felt from the cares of the world, but I was told that I had made some
promises and commitments and had been set apart to do some work before this world was. I had accepted a
responsibility that would have a great missionary effect.
I was shown another child that I would have if I returned, but I was also shown what would
happen to my children if I did not. I was given the choice and knew that either way, all would go well. At
that moment, I was most caught up in the fact that I had made a commitment that I had not even begun to
fulfill.
As I marveled on how this work was to be done, I was shown that the Savior was in charge of the
work, and that He would lead me. It was clear that the Lord would provide everything that would be
necessary for the work.
Then, I knew that I had to choose at that instant or my physical body would be too far gone. I was
asked to return, but at the same time I was promised a complete reward for what I had done if I remained.
At that moment, I made a full oath and commitment to do the work that the Lord had for me to do. It is my
witness that everything necessary to the work has been provided, and I have been sustained in every
situation.
As soon as I chose to return, my ability to communicate vanished. I shot back through the
dimensions and was aware of my husband still slapping my face.
Returning was an awful thing. There was incredible anguish in coming back to the imperfections,
sorrows, and pains of this world. I felt great sadness and a sense of incompleteness as my abilities were
again limited. No longer could I know other's thoughts as they pertained to me in the complete way I had
experienced. Everything felt slow in this 'turtle' world.
My husband rushed me to the hospital where I was hooked up to a lot of machinery. They said that
I was beyond medical help. My temperature was ten degrees low, and didn't rise to a normal level for days.
My pulse was gone. However, my mind was keen, and I had the ability to communicate. Over time I have
recovered and had that last child, but it did not happen right away. My recovery took years.
My experience did not leave me unchanged. I have enjoyed a quickening of my abilities. I can
read, think, and comprehend things four times as fast as I could before. My perceptions of others and the
'entire scope' of things has broadened, my spiritual and intellectual abilities have been increased, and I can
perceive the degree of light or darkness within individuals that I meet.
2
Above all, I have a heightened
awareness of the value of _ the Atonement, repentance, and the plan of salvation. The only way we can be
saved from total, devastating hell is through Christ. My love for the Savior is virtually impossible to put
into words. I am entirely committed to serving Him. (The Journey Beyond Life pp. 89-94 )


James S. LeSuer
In January 1898 I left for a mission to Great Britain. On my way I called at the Brigham Young
Academy to visit my brother Frank LeSueur. We spent some pleasant hours together, for we loved each
other dearly. Just before parting, we held each other's hands and made a covenant that we would follow the
Lord's bidding and do anything he desired of us, thus bringing honor to our father's name. I was to go into
the Jersey and Guernsey Islands, where our ancestors had come from, and during my spare time as a
missionary, I would gather genealogical information regarding them. We discussed this and decided that
we would do our part in the redemption of our dead. Now I admit that these are rather strange covenants for
two lads - as he was but seventeen, and I only nineteen years old - but thus it was. And then we parted,
unaware that we were never to see one another again in mortality.
After twenty-six months service in the mission field, and after having also secured the pedigrees of
hundreds of dead in my father's ancestry over many centuries, I received this cablegram from the President
of the European Mission:
'
6
Released. Outlaws killed Frank. Can you call Anchonie, Glasgow, Thursday?"
Prank had been called on a mission by the First Presidency but had not been assigned a field, and was to
leave after my return home. What a shock this was for me! I had so looked forward to the few months we
would be together after my mission and before he left, and now our plans were shattered. For a short time, I
felt that being deprived of his company like this was poor pay for my diligent service, but then I
remembered having found relief in prayer before. So, I called on the four elders laboring in Guernsey to
kneel with me in prayer. Each of them prayed for my comfort and consolation, and then I prayed. After
pleading for the comforting spirit of the Lord, I asked why my brother had been taken in this way, and
whether or not it was the Lord's will. After pleading earnestly, I heard a voice from above which penetrated
my very soul. Clear, _
sweet, and wonderful, it said,
"Your brother is called for a similar purpose as President Woodruff's son."
I recalled immediately how President Woodruff's son, one on whom he had laid a great hope of an
eventual earthly career, had been drowned in Idaho. President Woodruff had gone to the temple and asked
the Lord why this son was taken, when an angel of the Lord stood be-fore him and asked this question,

"Which of all your sons would you prefer to --have charge of the missionary work of preaching the
gospel to your kindred in the spirit world?"
President Woodruff spoke the name of the son who was drowned and the angel passed out of his
sight.
So then I knew that my brother, Frank, had been called to take charge of the missionary work among my
kindred who had passed on. He had been a faithful student at BY Academy and after his return home was
called to be a missionary. Therefore he was judged, prepared, and worthy to be the ideal one to take charge
of my family's missionary work in the next life. My heart

s cries were assuaged and I felt to praise the Lord

for I knew of no relative who would fill that important post in a better way. Frank had a wonderful
personality, was interested in everyone and a friend of all, especially the downtrodden and weak. He was
very sympathetic and had a keen sense of right and duty. This was apparent in his insistence on going to the
call of his country when the sheriff asked him to go with a posse after five outlaws. His last words heard by
living witnesses a few hours prior to his being ambushed and shot down by those outlaws were, "The
sheriff's ahead and will need our help." He was no deserter and to the last fearlessly did his duty. Here was
a real leader to guide kindred in the spirit world into the way of salvation. I rejoiced in this knowledge.
When I returned home to Arizona, I had a feeling I would see him. I sought for this privilege at his
grave side but was not favored. A week or more after my return, my father and I went up to the sheep
camps Frank had been in charge of at the time of his death. As we drove from camp to camp, the Mexican
herders could talk of nothing else but Frank and how they liked him. At night when my father retired under
the pines I went a short distance away, and kneeling in prayer, asked that I might see Frank and get an idea
of the work he was doing. I felt that my prayer would be answered.
Returning to the camp bed, I retired, and my spirit left my body. Looking down, I saw my body on
the bed beside my father. Then I saw a personage standing a few feet from my spirit, dressed in white and I
knew he was my Guardian Angel. He said,
"Come, go with me."
We passed into space above a great distance, and then out over the forest, the plain, over hills,
dales, water, cities, and in an incredibly short time came into a large city which I knew to be a city where
the spirits of those who had passed away were detained while awaiting preparing for the resurrection
morning. A beautiful city it was, passing all description with its tall, white buildings, its clean flower-
bordered streets, its peace and loveliness, its perfection. We passed through the streets with people going
here and there and then came before a four-story building which covered an entire block.
"We will go in here, said the angel.
A door opened and a young lady beckoned us to enter. I looked at her wondering who she was, for
I did not recall having seen her before. The personage accompanying me said,
This young lady is a relative of yours, who while living in mortality was killed. She is now
assisting in missionary work among your relatives who have died without a knowledge of the gospel, and
are assembled to hear the gospel preached."
I looked over the audience, estimating that there were about ten thousand present by comparing
the congregation with the assembly at conference time in the Salt Lake Tabernacle. There was a look of
expectancy upon their faces as though they were awaiting something to begin just like I have seen at our
great conference.
Presently, I heard a person begin speaking and I looked toward the speaker and listened to a ser-
mon on the first principles of the gospel. The speaker explained the principles just as I had heard
missionaries present them, excepting baptism, which he said was an earthly covenant that should be
attended to while in mortality. However, inasmuch as they had died without being baptized, the ordinance
could be attended to for them by proxy, someone living in mortality could take their name and act for
them. He explained that there were temples erected upon the earth where kinsmen and friends were being
baptized vicariously for the dead; and that if they accepted the baptism and confirmation that was done for
them, it would be as valid as if they had attended to it in person while in mortality.

When the speaker had finished he turned around and looked up at me, and I saw that it was my
brother, Frank. He looked supremely happy and I felt that I would be willing to go through any sacrifice if I
could live to be worthy of such happiness. Then he bowed and smiled at me so joyously that a wonderful
thrill passed through me. I shall never forget it.
A young lady was standing beside him, also dressed in white. She bowed and smiled at me in recognition
of my visit, and I looked at her very carefully, wondering who she was. The angel said,
"The young lady standing by and assisting your brother is to be his wife."
I looked at her once more, realizing that if I ever saw her again, I would know her.
Then the angel said, "We will pass into the other rooms."
There was a room in which there were many thousands of spirits, arranged in classes with teachers
instructing and preparing them with sufficient knowledge to later be instructed like the first group that had
seemed so interested and eager to receive the information given to them. Faithful relatives of mine who had
died were instructors here, and the listeners, too, were relatives who had died without a knowledge of the
gospel.
After this, we passed into a third hall where there was confusion and disorder, quarrelling, and
loud talking, and it seemed that force was required to control some of those gathered. There were also
relatives of still darker times, even darker than the age known as the Dark Ages, when there was so much
sin and wickedness and ignorance among the inhabitants of the earth. These required a still more difficult
training and long schooling before they could even come to the state of the second group, who were willing
to be taught.
Then the angel said, "We will now go back to your body," and at that we passed out of the
building along the streets of the city, and with the speed which seemed like lightening over the great
expanse of mountains, plains, seas, and in almost the speed of light came down into the mountain camp. I
looked around and saw the sheep bedded a short distance away at the great pines, my father lying asleep,
and my own body there in bed with no spirit within it. Then I looked at the angel, standing near. He bowed,
smiled and bid me adieu, and my spirit re-entered my body. I sat up immediately and told my father of my
experience.
Lest you suggest that this was only a dream, let me give you some proof of the actuality of my
visit beyond.
Patriarch Charles D. Evans, in Provo, Utah, on the 26th of February, 1896, had promised me that
"The Lord shall give thee the gift of prophecy thou shall look beyond this world of flesh into the world of
spirits and behold its beauty and order and commune with the dead for their redemption" He also went on
to say that "At thy hands shall be the power to bind on earth and in heaven."
3
Both these prophecies were
fulfilled, for I did in actuality leave my body to visit the spirit world, and I have served in the temples.
At the time of this experience, I knew of no kindred of mine that had been killed, save my brother,
and could not identify the young lady at the entrance of the building in the spirit world. However, when I
described her to my mother, she said,
"I know who she was. That was Nellie Cdekirk, your cousin who was killed on the fourth of July
by being thrown off a horse she was riding. She was acting as the Goddess of Liberty in Vernal, Utah, and
her foot caught in the stirrup so that when she was thrown, she did not fall away, but was drug several
blocks before the horse could be stopped. When they freed her from the stirrup she was dead. Nellie was
the loveliest and best of all of our relatives."
So it was Nellie who was helping Frank and hundreds of other relatives of mine to teach and help
our dead kindred come to an understanding of the truth.
And who was the young lady with Frank that the angel said was to become his wife? A few weeks
after this manifestation, a Sister Kempe came from an adjoining town and told my parents that her daughter
had died a short time before. On her deathbed she had told her mother that Frank LeSueur had come to visit
her in his spirit form and asked her if she would become his wife. She had agreed to do so. Then he told her
to tell her mother that she was going to die and that after she did, her mother was to come and ask my
parents for consent to having her daughter, Jennie, sealed to Frank. I was called into the consultation, and
when I heard it I asked for a photo of the young lady. As soon as I saw it, I recognized the likeness of the
young lady with my brother in the spirit world. The sealing was taken care of and those two happy souls are
now working together in that most joyous work of soul-saving.
My life has been changed by this experience, for it has been my utmost desire to do all I can for
the redemption of my dead, and to help others throughout the church in genealogical and temple work. To
me this effort is vital, actual, and without supposition, for I know that the work we are doing for the saving
of souls in the spirit world is indeed moving forward. I have seen the great work that is going on in the
temples of Utah and Arizona and know from the monthly reports of the work in these temples that I am
involved in completing the missionary work being done in came from an adjoining town and told my par-
ents that her daughter had died a short time before. On her deathbed she had told her mother that Frank
LeSueur had come to visit her in his spirit form and asked her if she would become his wife. She had
agreed to do so. Then he told her to tell her mother that she was going to die and that after she did, her
mother was to come and ask my parents for consent to having her daughter, Jennie, sealed to Frank. I was
called into the consultation, and when I heard it I asked for a photo of the young lady. As soon as I saw it, I
recognized the likeness of the young lady with my brother in the spirit world. The sealing was taken care of
and those two happy souls are now working together in that most joyous work of soul-saving.
My life has been changed by this experience, for it has been my utmost desire to do all I can for
the redemption of my dead, and to help others throughout the church in genealogical and temple work. To
me this effort is vital, actual, and without supposition, for I know that the work we are doing for the saving
of souls in the spirit world is indeed moving forward. I have seen the great work that is going on in the
temples of Utah and Arizona and know from the monthly reports of the work in these temples that I am
involved in completing the missionary work being done in the spirit prison. To me this is no longer a matter
of belief, but a positive knowledge. (James A. LeSueur, A Peep Into The Spirit World, in The Journey
Beyond Life, pp.147-157 )

Brother Carr
In the block where I lived was a family by the name of Southgate. They were an average family
who worked hard to support seven children. Every day I went to the Southgate home to play with their
children or they were at our home. I also saw them faithfully at church every Sunday.
One day Sister Southgate discovered that she had a lump in her breast, so they drove by team to
Provo and she had both breasts removed. But the cancer had spread and nothing more could be done for
her. There were no drugs in those days to relieve the pain, which was constantly with her. The bishopric
administered to her many times, but only temporary relief was obtained. The membership of the ward
called a fast on her behalf, and prayed for her. They asked the Lord to let her pass on, that they could not
stand to see Sister Southgate suffer any longer.
After the fasting and prayer meeting, Sister Southgate died. They had no mortuary in those days.
A homemade casket was made, and the Relief Society dressed Sister Southgate for burial. The funeral
services were arranged, and her body was placed carefully in a casket.
Just prior to the time of the services and when a number of people were present, they heard Sister
Southgate call out from where she lay in the casket. She asked her husband then if he were sure that she
had been sealed to her parents. She said there was something wrong, as her mother and father and other
members of her family were together, but she did not seem to belong to them.
Her husband got out the family record and found that his wife's family had gone to the St. George
Temple years before, and had been sealed. An elderly lady who had traveled to the community for the
funeral remembered that when the Southgate family had gone to the St. George Temple to have their
family sealed, there was an epidemic of measles among the children and perhaps Sister Southgate had not
been able to go with the others. Sister Southgate later wrote to the temple for information, and when she re-
ceived an answer she found that all her family except herself were listed on the temple sealing.
She discussed her experiences in the spirit world with the many friends and relatives that had gathered for
her funeral. She had visited with many who had departed this life and she told of schools for children who
had died, and of the peaceful conditions of paradise. While she was there, some messengers had asked her
to return and finish her work in mortality. She explained that she told them she had suffered terribly for
many months, and could not bear to go back and endure the pain. They told her that Satan had such great
power on the earth that her children needed their mother to build strong faith. They promised her that
because she had not complained of her suffering, nor had bitterness in her heart, she would never have to
suffer mortal pain again.
Sister Southgate had good health from then on. She had been unable to raise her arm, but after that she
could hold it high above her head. She was sealed in the temple to her family and lived to see all her
children married in the temple for time and for eternity. Her children remained true in the faith and valiant
in helping build up the kingdom of God on the earth.
When Sister Southgate was threescore and ten she asked her husband if he would feel very lonesome if she
were to pass over. He answered that he would, but perhaps he would be called over first. The next morning
Brother Southgate found that his wife had gone over to her beloved parents, and without struggle or pain.
She had just gone to sleep.
( in The Journey Beyond Life, pp.172-174 )

Antone H. Lund President of the Manti Temple 1891-1893

I remember one day. a brother from Mount Pleasant rode down to the temple to take part in the
work, and as he passed the cemetery in Ephraim, he looked ahead (it was early in the morning), and there
was a large multitude all dressed in white, and he wondered how that could be. Why should there be so
many up here; it was too early for a funeral, he thought; but as he drove up several of them stepped to the
front of him... They said, "Are you going to the temple?" "Yes." "Well these that you see here are your
relatives and they want you to do work for them." "Yes," he said, "but I am going down today to finish my
work. I have no more names and I do not know the names of those who say they are related to me." "But
when you go down to the temple today you will find there are records that give our names." He was
surprised. He looked until they all disappeared, and drove
on.
As he came into the temple, Recorder Farnsworth came up to him and said, "I have just received
records from England and they all belong to you." There were hundreds of names that had just arrived, and
what was told him by these persons that he saw was fulfilled. You can imagine what joy came to his heart,
and what a testimony it was to him that the Lord wants His work done.

N. B. Lundwall, Temples of the
Most High p. 124





I Was Floating through Space
by Arthur Ford

I was critically ill. The doctors said I could not live
1
but being the good doctors they were, they
continued doing what they could. I was in a hospital in Coral Cables, Florida, and my friends had been told
that I could not live through the night.
As from a distance, with no feeling except a mild curiosity, I heard a doctor say to a nurse, "Give
him the needle; he might as well be comfortable." This I seemed to sense was "it," but I was not afraid. I
was simply wondering how long it would take to die.
Next, I was floating in the air above my bed. I could see my body but had no interest in it. There
was a feeling of peace, a sense that all was well.
Now I lapsed into a timeless blank. When I recovered consciousness, I found myself floating
through space, without effort, without any sense that I possessed a body as I had known my body. Yet I was
myself.
Now there appeared a green valley with mountains on all sides, illuminated everywhere by a
brilliance of light and color impossible to describe. People were coming toward me from all around, people
I had known and thought of as "dead." I knew them all. Many I had not thought of for years, but it seemed
that everyone I had ever cared about was there to greet me.
Recognition was more by personality than by physical attributes. They had changed ages. Some
who had passed on in old age were now young, and some who had passed on while children had now
matured.
I have often had the experience of traveling to a foreign country, being met by friends and
introduced to the local customs and taken to places of interest any visitor to the country would want to see.
It was like that now. Never have I been so royally greeted. I was shown all the things they seemed
to think I should see. My memory of these
places is as clear as my impression of the countries I have visited in this life. The beauty of a sunrise
viewed from a peak in the Swiss Alps, the Blue Grotto of Capri, the hot, dusty roads of India are no more
powerfully etched in my memory than the spirit world in which I knew myself to be. Time has never
dimmed the memory of it. It is as vivid and real as anything I have ever known.
There was one surprise. Some people I would have expected to see were not present. I asked about
them. In the instant of asking, a thin transparent film seemed to fall over my eyes. The light grew dimmer,
and colors lost their brilliance. I could no longer see those to whom I had been speaking, but through a haze
I saw those for whom I had asked. They, too, were real, but as I looked at them, I felt my own body become
heavy. Earthly thoughts crowded into my mind. It was evident to me that I was being shown a lower
sphere. I called to them; they seemed to hear me, but I could not hear a reply. Then it was over. A gentle
being who looked like a symbol of eternal youth, but radiated power and wisdom, stood by me.
"Don't worry about them," he said. "They can come here whenever they want to if they desire it
more than anything else."
Everyone here was busy. They were continually occupied with mysterious errands and seemed to be very
happy. Several of those to whom I had been bound by close ties in the past did not seem to be much
interested in me. Others I had known only slightly became my companions. I understood that this was right
and natural. The law of affinity determined our relationships here.
At some point-I had no awareness of time-I found myself standing before a dazzling white
building. Entering, I was told to wait in an enormous anteroom. They said I was to remain here until some
sort of disposition had been made of my case. Through wide doors I could glimpse two long tables with
people sitting at them and talking-about me.
Guiltily I began an inventory of my life. It did not make a pretty picture. The people at the long
tables were also reviewing the record, but the things that worried me did not seem to have much interest for
them.
The conventional sins I was warned about as a child were hardly mentioned. But there was sober
concern over such matters as selfishness, egotism, stupidity. The word "dissipation" occurred over and
over-not in the usual sense of intemperance but as waste of energies, gifts, and opportunities. On the other
side of the scale were some simple, kindly things such as we all do from time to time without thinking them
of much consequence.

The "judges" were trying to make out the main trend of my life. They mentioned my having failed
to accomplish "what he knew he had to finish." There was a purpose for me, it seemed, and I had not
fulfilled it. There was a plan for my life, and I had misread the blueprint.
"They're going to send me back," I thought, and I didn't like it. Never did I discover who these
people were. They repeatedly used the word "record, perhaps the Akashic Record of the ancient mystic
schools-the great universal spiritual sound track on which all events are recorded.
When I was told I had to return to my body, I fought having to go back into that beaten, diseased
hulk I had left behind in a Coral Cables hospital. I was standing before a door. I knew if I passed through it,
I would be back where I had been. I decided I wouldn't go. Like a spoiled child in a tantrum, I pushed my
feet against the wall and fought.
There was a sudden sense of hurtling through space. I opened my eyes and looked into the face of
a nurse. I had been in a coma for more than two weeks.
(From Beyond the Veil Vol. 1 pp. 77-82) by Lee Nelson

Sharon McQueen

The last time I saw her alive was July 3rd, almost a year after the tumor was first discovered. She
had gone blind, had a stroke that crippled the right side of her body, and had wasted away to virtually
nothing. We knew it would be a bitter-sweet blessing when she died. She hung on through the 4th and died
on the morning of the 5th, a fast Sunday.
Before she died she asked me to attend her funeral, which was going to be held in the state of
Washington, where her home was. So, the next morning I was vacuuming my car, getting ready for the trip;
I was taking Mara's husband and kids with me. As I was vacuuming with our noisy shop-vac, I heard a
voice, clearer than any I have ever heard, ask me,
"Why are you cleaning the car when my kids will only mess it up?" It was Mara's voice.
"I always clean my car when I go on a trip," I answered.
"You can hear me!" she exclaimed.
I think she was more surprised that I heard her, than I was that she was talking to me. She told me
she had been trying to talk to her husband but he couldn't hear her. She had me call him and tell him to go
downstairs so she could talk to him, which he did. I then felt her presence leave.
Two hours later I was fixing lunch for my husband who was home on a lunch break, when I felt
Mara s presence enter the room. What followed was our longest and most interesting conversation.
Although my husband couldn't hear her, he still participated in the discussion as I spoke the words. I was
hearing Mara on a different level of communication, possibly through my thoughts. She, on the other hand,
only heard me when I spoke out loud, she could not read my thoughts.
I asked her where she was and she responded, "I'm up." When she said that, I knew she meant
between 18 and 24 inches above the ground. I asked her how she got around and she said she just moved.
She didn't walk or fly or anything we could imagine, she just moved.
My next question was, "What is it like there?" In answer to this she began talking and talking,
describing in every detail the new world she was in.
She said there were two levels; the one she was on, above the ground, and the one on the ground
level with us. The spirits on the ground level wander aimlessly, not knowing where to go or what to do
until they accept the gospel, at which point they move to the upper level. The people on the upper level
could see us mortals as well as the spirits on the lower level of their world. But, the spirits on the lower
level could only see their level.
She described to us how all the men on her level were teaching those on the level below. Everyone
had a job to do and kept very busy, even she had already been given a calling, though she didn't mention to
me what it was. She also said that everyone speaks the same language where she was.
Mara then began telling us how you know everyone when you get there. She said she had met all
the latter-day prophets, from Joseph Smith down to Spencer W. Kimball who had just died. Then she made
a statement that really made me realize what sort of atmosphere Mara was actually in.
Softly she said, "Sharon, Jesus' eyes really are blue." Then she went on to describe what it was like
to be around Him and feel His love.

She said that where she was there were thousands upon thousands of bookshelves stuffed with
books. There were books on every topic imaginable. But you didn't read them, all you had to do was open
up a book and you would immediately absorb all the knowledge it contained. You could just sit down and
learn anything you ever wanted to know. To learn everything would take an incredibly long time, though,
because there were so many of them.
When we asked her if the people there wore white clothing, she responded that you could if you
wanted to, but you didn't have to.
"I'm wearing peach," she said. This became an important statement because a day or so later Mara
appeared to one of her daughters. When I asked the girl what she was wearing she said she had on a peach-
colored dress-I had not mentioned to her that Mara told me what she was wearing.
Mara then told me there was a boy up there waiting to come down and join my family. I had not
had any children for eight years and wasn't expecting any more, but sure enough, about a year later I gave
birth to my third child, a precious little boy.
She said there were other babies too, from time to time, but they didn't stay long.
I asked her if she was going to her viewing, and to my surprise she said no. When I asked her why,
she said that she didn't want to see a bunch of people crying over her shell (body).
"That's not me," she said. "I don't even look like that." That sounded like a good enough reason to me.
Sometimes during our conversation I couldn't understand her because she was talking faster than I
could think. I had to ask her a number of times to slow down so I could hear what she was saying.
Although she was talking rapidly, it seemed like she was talking to me as slow as she possibly could. I
know I missed a lot of what she was telling me because of this.
We talked for about an hour, enjoying each other's company once more. Finally, she had to leave
to visit her husband again and I felt her presence leave.
Mara talked to me two more times during the next couple of days; she became more and more
difficult to understand each time. The first of these visits occurred while we were driving up to
Washington. She spoke to both her husband and me at the same time. Her last visit was at the funeral and
only lasted for a few minutes.
The reason she came back was to comfort those of us who desperately needed to know she was
fine and that everything was going to be all right. Now, because of this experience, I no longer fear death. I
consider this to be a great spiritual blessing, for now I know a little more of what to expect when I die. I
remember vividly how happy and serene Mara seemed during our visits, and I know that I will experience
the same thing when it is my turn to pass beyond the veil. ( Beyond the Veil Vol. 3 pp. 138-142 by Lee
Nelson)

Samuel Tumbow, an early Mormon pioneer, had such an experience when he was permitted to go into the
spirit world and while there received over one hundred names of deceased relatives who were desirous of
having their work done for them:
His [Tumbow's! spirit left his body and went into the spirit world. The first person that he met was his
old friend, Jonathan Pugmire, who greeted him and said: "Well, old friend, you have come but not to stay
this time," and then he saw his wife that had been dead for years; and in great joy he threw open his arms
and said, "Sylvia, come to me." She did not move. There was a person standing by her; and they seemed to
understand each other at a glance. He said again more earnestly, "Sylvia, won't you come to me;" and still
she did not move. Both of them looked at him and smiled. Just like a flash he thought of another name and
called by that name. She rushed to his arms and greeted him. Just at that moment there came a man
dressed in a beautiful suit of gray clothes. He told him [Tumbow] the names of over one hundred of his
relatives and then told him that he must return to his body' and do the work for them. As soon as he came to
himself he called his son, Franklin, and told him to get his pen and ink and write down the names as he told
them to hum. He did so and after he was better. He learned by writing to his cousin, Pleasant C. Tumbow,
in the South that the names and relationship were correct.
from Spirit World Manifestations By Joseph Heinerman pp. 60-61


One Latter-day Saint sister named Lerona A. Wilson received instructions from her dead father concerning
doing temple work for those in the spirit world:

During November 1914, my grandmother Lerona A. Wilson was suffering from blood poison caused by a
rusty needle which due to her weakened condition caused a fear of death to come over her.
While in that condition she prayed with all the faith she could exercise. While praying at about midday she
noticed a soft bright light filling her room.
Immediately her father who had been dead seven years came into her room accompanied by her mother
who had been dead thirty years, and by her sister and her daughter-in-law who had both been dead two
years, and two men whom her father introduced as Dr. Robiou and Dr. Trabue, his ancestors of the
French Hugenot people of Virginia.
Her father addressed her saying, "We have come to talk to you about the temple work for our people who
are now in the spirit world."
Her father told about her ancestors. They were a worthy people, he said and had accepted the Gospel in
large numbers and were waiting with anxious hope for the ordinance of baptism to be performed for them.
He then said the time had come for these ordinances to be performed and he desired her to take up the
work. She promised she would.
After she had made the promise, her father required her to repeat it and then he warned her in these words:
"If you do not, I will move you out of the way and raise up some one who will."
He used great emphasis in urging that baptisms be performed at once for all the people she had records of
"The time is short," he said, "our people can not be put off Their work must be done so they can be ready
for the coming of the Savior."
He promised her she would get what money she needed.
The two doctors who were with her father manifested interest in her sickness, they examined her afflicted
hand and told her what to do for it, but her father said: "Do what you will, your hand will not get better
until you have proved your faithfulness."
While asleep, as she believed, though it seemed real and natural, the visitors came again and took her with
them to a place where there was a large congregation of people, shut up within walls, there were so many
that it seemed like there were millions of them.
As they stood on an elevated stand where they could be seen, her father introduced her to the people and
told them that she had promised to have the temple work done for them.
She wondered how she was to obtain records of the numerous people to whom her father had introduced
her and was told that people would furnish her the information willingly and gladly, which has been
fulfilled in a manner surprising to her.
Through the blessings of the Lord, help has come to her through books published and the assistance of
willing friends which had enabled her to get the records and do the temple work for several thousand of her
dead ancestors. (Spirit World Manifestations By Joseph Heinerman pp. 65-67 )




John Peterson
I will say I was born eleven Swedish miles of Gottenberg, Sweden, and when I was about 22 years old I
had consumption very bad. I had joined the Church in the early part of 1857, and was ordained an Elder
the same spring. Through the summer and fall I was very sick with the disease. I think about October, for
five weeks, I could partake of no food, only drink. I lost my speech for three days. On the third day, in the
afternoon, my attendants said the pulse in wrists had stopped, and they could feel a slight pulsation in the
head. My father and mother had concluded in their minds that I should die; that I was too far gone to be
restored. Father told mother he would remain with me during the night. Mother therefore retired to her
room, being fatigued and worn out.
To while away the lonely hours, father sat reading to himself (Orson Pratt's Works). It was
between then and eleven o'clock that a visitor suddenly made his appearance in the room, and standing by
the couch on which I lay, placed his hand on my head and asked if! was ready to go? I answered, "Yes;"
and just at that instant I seemed to stand upon the floor, my body lying on the bed. I looked around to see if
my father could see us, but he seemed to have been too interested in reading to have noticed us. We started
off on our journey through space, seemingly with the rapidity of lightning (for I can make no other
comparison).! asked my guide who he was. He answered he was one of the guardian angels sent to bring
the dead. We soon reached a place where was congregated a great number of people - something similar to
a market day in the old country. They seemed to have gathered for some purpose. I asked my guide what
place this was, and he answered, "That is the place where all your forefathers have gathered together, and
are waiting for two missionaries." There seemed to be a stand erected close by for the missionaries to
preach in. They came as it were directly; part of the congregation were noisy and inclined to be
troublesome. I asked my guide who these missionaries were, and he merely answered, "The old man is the
Apostle Matthias." I understood by this it was the Apostle Matthias who had filled the place of Judas
Iscariot who betrayed the Savior, and the young man, he further said, was an apostle from America who
had lately been killed there," but he did not tell his name, and which I subsequently learned to be Parley P.
Pratt.
It is some years since I happened to be in the company of one of Parley '5 wives, and was relating the
incident to her, when she asked me to describe the kind of personage the young missionary was.! gave as
near a description of him as I could recollect, for be assured I had never even heard his name, but his
height, his being broad across the shoulders, the color of his hair, his eyes and gestures, that she instantly
said it was Parley. But to return: The elder apostle stood up in the stand (for we were all seated there) and
said to the people, "Stop right there!" Then he sat down and perfect stillness prevailed, when the young
apostle rose up to preach to the congregation, taking his text from the fourth chapter of Malachi, fifth and
sixth verses, which he spoke upon at some length, as also upon temple building and the ordinances to be
performed therein in redeeming the dead which to me at that time was strange doctrine, for as I said, I had
been in the Church but about six months. He further said. "If they would receive the Gospel they should be
redeemed by their children on the earth, and if they did not receive it they could not." He then took his seat,
when the elder apostle arose and told the people they could now retire, which they did, some of them in a
noisy and boisterous manner, so that I thought they were as disorderly in the spirit world as here. A lithe
form of meeting that I could observe was when the apostle told them to "stop right there," they did so,
seeming to be held as it were spellbound till the services were ended, and he told them they "could retire."
My guide then introduced me to the apostles by bowing his head, which was returned by them. No
hand shaking took place; the elder apostle said to me, "Would you as soon go back, for it seems
to fall to redeem your forefathers?"
I answered, "Yes, but my lungs are gone."
He replied, "It is easy to grow new lungs in a man; if you will go your guide will attend to this."
I answered, "I will go."
With a bow we started to return and, seeming ly, but a short space of time elapsed ere we reached my
home, and standing by the bed, where my body lay, my guide touched my hands, the spirit entered the body
at that instant, the blood commenced to circulate warmly through my veins, and in a few minutes I felt my
lungs expanding. As I stood upon the floor I noticed the clock; the hands pointed to four o'clock in the
morning, so I had been absent between five and six hours. My father was still reading. I spoke to him. Said
he, "My boy, I thought you were dead."
I said, "I was, father."
He called my mother, and I then related to them where I had been, and that I should soon recover and be
strong again, though I was but skin and bones, the consumption had so reduced me; and during the
previous five weeks I had partaken of no solid food. I was weak, very weak. I asked my parents for
something to eat, much to their surprise, and to this day I can well recollect the sensation I experienced in
that sweet morsel of food. My mother, with unbounded joy and gratitude to God, provided for me. I felt no
sickness after my return; the pain had left me.! was only weak. It was four weeks before I was able to walk
around the house, which was on the Christmas day of 1857... 16
Juvenile Instructor, Vol.4, October 15, 1906, No.20, pp.609-10.

Frederick William Hurst received visits from his two dead brothers who were desirous of having him
perform vicarious work on their behalf in the temple:

In the fall and winter of 1892-3, I worked at painting in the Salt Lake Temple. Although sick, I felt
strongly impressed to go and do my very best..
Along about the 1st of March, 1893, I found myself alone in the dining room, all had gone to bed. I was
sitting at the table when to my great surprise my elder Brother Alfred walked in and sat down opposite me
at the table and smiled. I said to him (he looked so natural). "When did you arrive in Utah?"
He said: "I have just come from the Spirit World, this is not my body that you see, it is lying in the tomb. I
want to tell you that when you were on your mission you told me many things about the Gospel, and the
hereafter, and about the Spirit World being as real and tangible as the earth. I could not believe you, but
when I died and went there and saw for myself I realized that you had told the truth. I attended the Mormon
meetings." He raised his hand and said with much warmth: "I believe in the Lord Jesus Christ with all my
heart. I believe in faith, and repentance and baptism for the remission of sins, but that is as far as I can go.
I look to you to do the work for me in the temple." He continued: "You can go to any kind of sectarian
meeting in the Spirit World. All our kindred there knew when you were trying to make up your mind to
come and work on the temple. You are watched closely, every move you make is known there, and we were
glad you came. We are all looking to you as our head in this great work. I want to tell you that there are a
great many spirits who weep and mourn because they have relatives in the Church here who are careless
and are doing nothing for them."
Three different times during our conversation I leaned over the table and said: "Alfred, you look, talk and
act perfectly natural, it doesn't seem possible that you are dead," and every time he replied: 'It is just my
SPIRIT you see, my body is in the grave." There was a great deal more that he told me but these are the
important items as I remember them. He arose and went out through the door that he had entered.
As I sat pondering upon what I had seen and heard, with my heart filled with thanks and gratitude to God,
the door opened again and my brother Alexander walked in and sat down in the chair that Alfred had
occupied. He had died in 1852 in New England. I did the work for both he and Father in April 1885. He
had come from a different Sphere, he looked more like an angel as his countenance was beautiful to look
upon. With a very pleasant smile he said: "Fred, I have come to thank you for doing my work for me, but
you did not go quite far enough," and he paused. Suddenly it was shown to me in large characters, "NO
MAN WITHOUT THE WOMAN, AND NO WOMAN WITHOUT THE MAN IN THE LORD."
I looked at him and said: "I think I understand, you want some person sealed to you."
He said. "You are right, I don't need to interpret the scriptures to you, but until that work is done I cannot
advance another step."
I replied that the Temple would be completed and dedicated in about four weeks, and then I would
attend to it as quickly as possible.
"I know you will," he said, and then got up and left the room, leaving me full of joy, peace, and happiness
beyond description.

Diary of Frederick William Hurst and . (Spirit World Manifestations By Joseph
Heinerman pp. 127-129 )

From Liahona The Elders Journal
The following experience occurred while the writer was laboring as a missionary in the state of
Wisconsin, in 1899.
On the 22nd of October of that year my father died in Salt Lake City, surrounded by some of the
members of his family. Word was sent to me next day, but owing to my having changed my place of
residence, I did not receive the message until the day of the funeral, too late to have gone home to be in
attendance. My mind naturally reverted to my last visit with him and the pleasant parting as he bade me
God-speed on my mission, and to what I would find when I returned home.
A week passed by after his death and I was at the home of a family of saints in Milwaukee. I had not been
troubled in the least during the day and went to bed at a seasonable hour and was soon asleep.
During the night, which was very cloudy and dark, my father's spirit came to me and remained
with me for some time. Everything seemed to be perfectly natural and did not partake of the complexities
which usually attend dreams. My father greeted me with a very pleasant smile, and seated himself in a
chair near me. I asked him a great many questions which he answered freely, but told me I would not be
able to record the answers in my journal, nor be able to give them to others. Among other things I asked
him if he had experienced any unpleasantness at the time his spirit left the body. He stated that he had not;
but on the contrary had simply gone from his body while asleep.
I asked him what he had been doing since going to the spirit world, and his answer was that he
had been visiting with many of his old friends who had preceded him to the great beyond. He then told me
of different persons he had met there and what their condition was, saying some had changed but little in
their general disposition and that it would take time for them to rid themselves of some of their habits that
had been contracted in life.
I inquired what he expected to do on his return to the spirit world, and he replied that he would be
very busy preaching the gospel to those who had died without a knowledge of it.
Many of his statements I cannot recall, for, as he said, I should not be able to record them but
would be satisfied in my mind as to the principles involved in his statements. When he arose to leave me. I
followed him as far as the door and asked him to come again soon, as I had many things I desired to say to
him and many questions to ask. He said "I will come as often as I can get permission," thereby settling in
my mind the question of spirits coming and going at pleasure, and with no regard to law and order in the
realm where they reside. It confirmed my belief that the spirits who answer to the call of so-called mediums
are not from the courts on high, but from among that great throng that were cast out of heaven because of
their rebellion.
When my father reached the platform outside the door he turned to me with a smile and bade me good by,
and became invisible before me. I could see the change take place as it was not done instantly. He did not
change inform in the least; but the density of his form, or body became less until! could see nothing of him.
The principle of making things visible or invisible was demonstrated on that occasion. Liahona The
Elders Journal, Vol. 6, November 14, 1908 pp.519-521 and . (Spirit World Manifestations By Joseph
Heinerman pp. 189-191 )



Edward James Wood
This occurrence took place in Canada in 1921 following an agreement between Alberta Stake President
Edward J. Wood and Stake Patriarch Henry L. Hinman They had promised that whichever of the two died
first would return and tell the other about the work being performed in the spirit world:

Another of the memorable occasions in the life of President Wood occurred in 1921. Uncle" Henry
L. Hinman, Stake Patriarch and last living personal witness of Joseph Smith the Prophet among the
Canadian Saints, half-jokingly made an agreement with Edward Wood. The two men, while speaking of the
spirit world, agreed that the first to die should return and tell the other about the work going on there.
Uncle" Henry died shortly thereafter.
President Wood later told of an incredible experience wherein Henry L. Hinman actually kept his promise
and returned for a final visit with his friend. He woke up one night and saw Uncle Henry standing in the
doorway of his bedroom. His first thought was that the departed Patriarch had come for him, so he got up
and greeted his spirit visitor. President Wood recalled noticing his own body still in bed and wondered
what his wife would think when she found out he had left his body. Mr. Wood asked Uncle Henry if he had
seen his favorite Bible prophet, Elijah, yet. The answer was that he had been too busy
and had not had time to go where Elijah was. In explaining the nature of his busy life in the spirit world, he
told President Wood that he was engaged in missionary work. He told of six men who had just been ca/led
to assist in the work there. Three of the six were still living and acting on the Alberta Stake High Council.
This puzzled President Wood very much, and he thought he had better try to write down the names of the
three lest he forget them. He went to his bedside table and, although he remembered the names, he could
not write them. This he said he could not understand, but as he turned to speak further with his visitor he
saw him pass through the door and leave. Upon 're-entering his body' he woke his wife and told her of his
visitor, but he could not then remember which three of his High Council had been called.
Soon after this experience, the Stake President was called to administer to one of his High
Councilmen, Willard G. Smith. Near the sick mans bed he said he saw written the words This is one of
the men. Mr. Smith said to him, 'You know all about this-that I am going to pass on-I want you to get my
children together to finish my temple work.' He died the next day. Nearly two weeks later, as the Stake
President entered the home of Ephraim Harker, another of his High Councilmen, he said he heard a voice
say--This is another of those three men. He died soon thereafter. Another week passed and President Wood
went to the hospital to visit another High Councilman, John Heninger. He said he knew by inspiration that
this man was the last of the three. President Wood hesitated as he was about to administer to him. Mr.
Heninger said, 'I am going to leave right away and you already know it, don't you?' President Wood blessed
him, but not that he would recover. He died during the same week. Said President Wood of these
experiences, 'It is a wonderful vision and assurance of the identity of the spirit apart from the body.
(Melvin S. Tagg, The Life of Edward James Wood also in Life Everlasting, pp 54-55 By Duane S.
Crowther)

Several of the couples of the mission had been married for years and had never been blessed with children.
I admonished them to join in this great movement (excursion to the temple ) and they would receive the
blessing they had hoped for and prayed for. Two such couples were with the caravan. In one of the sessions
in the temple, President Wood saw two spirits hovering over the congregation. He told a/i present that they
were from the Spirit World and were anxious to come to the earth and take mortal bodies. He promised the
sisters in the room who had come for that special blessing would have their hearts' desires granted. All had
the experience of witnessing spirits from the unseen world come and stand in their very presence and even
the angels choir sang with joy. In less than one year from that date, those two homes were blessed with
babies. ( Life Everlasting p. 39)

David Lynn Brooks
The wife of David Lynn Brooks, who returned to visit her bereaved husband two years after her death
which occurred May 26, 1945. Elder Brooks recorded,

I went in the house, turned Out the lights and lay down on the studio couch to relax for a few minutes. I
had no sooner relaxed when I heard a voice, the voice of my wife, she was praying. Oh! how wonderful to
hear that beautiful voice which I recognized the minute she spoke. At the close of the prayer I was so tense
I hardly dared breathe for fear of disturbing this beautiful experience. Immediately I saw a dim light filling
the room, it was not a brilliant light but a soft light, then it began to part in the center like a curtain. As it
parted, I saw in the opening the most beautiful sight in all the world, my lovely wife. She stood about four
or five feet away from me and made no attempt to come closer. She spoke to me and said, 'Lynn, I have
seen your sorrow and grief but it won't be long until you will be with me, that we might again enjoy each
others' companionship and love; I have wanted to come to you before this, but only tonight was I given
permission by the priesthood to visit with you. She told me that my grief had made her sad and that I should
try to be happy and whenever I needed her, I should knock or pray and she would be with me, although I
may never see her again until I come into the world of spirits. She then invited me to look into the spirit
world, and asked what I could see. I told her I could see a group of people seated in a room or hall at a
table or at desks with note pads and pencils. She then asked, Do you know who these people are?' I told
her I didn't recognize any of them. She then asked me if I remembered the people we had done the temple
work for in 1929 and 1930. She and I have worked the entire winter gathering genealogy of her people and
then we did the temple work for them. She then told me she had been called by the priesthood to teach the
gospel to those people and that she was very happy doing that work. She then told me not to mourn, that
she was always close by. She bade me goodbye. The light gathered from the two sides and was then gone.
As soon as the vision closed, I was on my feet, tears streaming down my cheeks in torrents. This time, they
were tears of joy; no sorrow now.
(
Life Everlasting pp. 59-60)

YOUR PROGENITORS WILL BE PLEASED

Peter B. Johnson

I was called on a mission to the Southern States in the spring of 1898. I reached Mississippi the twenty-
second of June, 1898. On the eighth of August I was taken down with the chills and fever, which turned to
malaria. I became so low that the president sent his counselor and two elders to see me in relation to being
released and sent home. The yellow fever quarantine came on; I was not able to leave; and then I had the
following experience:
I was lying on a bed, burning up with fever, and the elders who had been sent to ascertain my condition
were very much alarmed. They stepped out of the room and held whispered consultations. They were so far
away that under ordinary conditions I could not have heard what was said; but in some manner my hearing
was made so keen that I heard their conversation as well as if they had been at my bedside. They said it was
impossible to think of my recovering, and that I never would go home unless I went in a box. They
therefore decided they might just as well notify the president and make necessary arrangements.
The following day I asked to be removed into the hall, where it was cooler. I was lying on a pallet
(or bed). There was an attendant with me, the others having gone to Sunday School which was being held
about one hundred yards away. Soon after they had left, I was apparently in a dying condition, and my
attendant became so fearful of my appearance and condition that he left me. I desired a drink of water but
of course was unable to get it myself. I became discouraged, and wondered why it was that I was sent to
Mississippi and whether it was simply to die in the field. I felt that I would prefer death, rather than live and
endure the fever and the agony through which I was passing. I thought of my people at home and of the
conditions then surrounding me, and decided that I might just as well pass from this life. Just as I reached
that conclusion, this thought came to me'. "You will not die unless you choose death." This was a new
thought, and I hesitated to consider the question; then I made the choice that I would rather die.
Soon after that, my spirit left the body; just how I cannot tell, but I perceived myself standing
some four or five feet in the air, and saw my body lying on the bed. I felt perfectly natural, but as this was a
new condition, I began to make observations. I turned my head, shrugged my shoulders, felt with my
hands, and realized that it was myself. I also knew that my body was lying lifeless on the bed. While I was
in a new environment, it did not seem strange, for I realized everything that was going on, and perceived
that I was the same in the spirit as I had been in the body. While contemplating this new condition, some
thing attracted my attention, and on turning around I beheld a personage, who said, "You did not know that
I was here." I replied, "No, but I see you are. Who are you?" "I am your guardian angel; I have been
following you constantly while on earth." I asked, "What will you do now?" He replied, "I am to report
your presence, and you will remain here until I return." He informed me, on returning, that we should wait
there, as my sister desired to see me, but was busy just at that time. Presently she came. She was glad to see
me and asked if I was offended because she kept me waiting. She explained that she was doing some work
that she wished to finish.
Just before my eldest sister died she asked me to enter into this agreement: That if she died first,
she was to watch over me, protect me from those who might seek my downfall, and that she would be the
first to meet me after death. If I happened to die first, she wished me to do the same for her. We made this
agreement, and this was the reason that my sister was the first one of my relatives to meet me. After she
arrived, my mother and other sisters and friends came to see me and we discussed various topics, as we
would do here on meeting friends. After we had spent some little time in conversation, the guide came to
me with a message that I was wanted by some of the apostles who had lived on the earth in this
dispensation.
As soon as I came into their presence, I was asked if I desired to remain there. This seemed
strange, for it had never occurred to me that we would have any choice there in the spirit world as to
whether we should remain or return to the earth life. I was asked if I felt satisfied with conditions there. I
informed them that I was, and had no desire to return to the fever and misery from which I had been
suffering while in the body. After some little conversation this question was repeated with the same answer.
Then I asked, "If I remain, what will I be asked to do?" I was informed that I would preach the gospel to the
spirits there, as I had been preaching it to the people here, and that I would do so under the immediate
direction of the Prophet Joseph. This remark brought to my mind a question which has been much
discussed here, as to whether or not the Prophet Joseph is now a resurrected being. While I did not ask the
question, they read it in my mind, and immediately said, "You wish to know whether the Prophet has his
body or not?" I replied, "Yes, I would like to know." I was told that the Prophet Joseph Smith has his body,
as also his brother Hyrum, and that as soon as I could do more with my body than I could do without it, my
body would be resurrected.
I was again asked if I desired to remain. This bothered me considerably, for I had already
expressed myself as being satisfied. I then inquired why it was that I was asked so often if I was satisfied
and if I desired to remain. I was then informed that my progenitors had made a request that if I chose, I
might be granted the privilege of returning to again take up my mortal body, in order that I might gather my
father's genealogy and do the necessary work in the temple for my ancestors. As I was still undecided, one
of the apostles said, "We will now show you what will take place if you remain here in the spirit world,
after which you can decide.
When we returned to the place where my body was lying, I was informed with emphasis that my first duty
would be to watch the body until after it had been disposed of, as that was necessary knowledge for me to
have in the resurrection. I then saw the elders send a message to President Rich, at Chattanooga, and in due
time all preparations were made for the shipment of my body to Utah. One thing seemed peculiar to me,
that I was able to read the telegram as it ran along the wires, as easily as I could read the pages of a book. I
could see President Rich when he received the telegram in Chattanooga. He walked the floor, wringing his
hands, with the thought in his mind, "How can I send a message to his father?"
The message was finally sent, and I could follow it on the wire. I saw the station and the telegraph operator
at Price, Utah. I heard the instrument click as the message was received, and saw the operator write out the
message and send it by phone from Price to Huntington. I also saw clearly the Huntington office and the
man who received the message. I could see clearly and distinctly the people on the street. I did not have to
hear what was said, for I was able to read their thoughts from their countenances. The message was
delivered to my aunt, who went out with others to find my father. In due time he received the message. He
did not seem to be overcome by the news, but began to make preparations to meet the body.
I then saw my father at the railroad station in Price, waiting for my body to arrive. Apparently he was
unaffected, but when he heard the whistle of the train which was carrying my body, he went behind the
depot and cried as if his heart would break. While I had been accompanying the body en route, I was still
able to see what was going on at home. The distance apparently did not affect my vision. As the train
approached the station, I went to my father's side and, seeing his great anguish, I informed my companion
that I would return. He expressed his approval of my decision and said he was pleased with the choice I had
made.
By some spiritual power, all these things had been shown to me as they would occur if I did not return to
the body. Immediately upon making this choice or decision, my companion said, "Good. Your progenitors
will be pleased with your decision." I asked the question why, and I was told that it was their desire that I
should return to the body, hunt up my father's genealogies, and do their work in the temple.
Just how my spirit entered the body I cannot tell, but I saw the apostle place his hands upon the head of my
prostrate body, and almost instantly realized that the change had come and I was again in the body. The
first thing that I knew, I felt a warm life-giving spot on the crown of my head, which passed through my
entire body, going out to the tips of mv fingers and toes. I then heard distinctly the same words that had
been pronounced by Elder Grant when I was set apart for my mission, "Go in peace and return in safety."
After entering the body, I saw no more of the messengers who had been accompanying me, but I had a
vivid recollection of all that had taken place.
Relief Society Magazine, August 1920, pp. 449-455.

Near Death Experience of Lorenzo Dow Young (1828) brother of Brigham Young

While at Watertown, I married, and afterwards removed to Mendon, Monroe County. At this
place I had a remarkable dream or vision. I fancied that I died. In a moment I was out of the body, and
fully conscious that I had made the change. At once, a heavenly messenger, or guide, was by me. I
thought and acted as naturally as I had done in the body, and all my sensations seemed as complete without
as with it. The personage with me was dressed in the purest white. For a short time I remained in the room
where my body lay. My sister Fanny (who was living with me when I had this dream and my wife were
weeping bitterly over my death. I sympathized with them deeply in their sorrow, and desired to comfort
them. I realized that I was under the control of the man who was by me. I begged of him the privilege of
speaking to them, but he said he could not grant it. My guide, for so I will call him, said "Now let us go."
Space seemed annihilated. Apparently we went up, and almost instantly were in another world. It
was of such magnitude that I formed no conception of its size. It was filled with innumerable hosts of
beings, who seemed as naturally human as those among whom I had lived. With some I had been
acquainted in the world I had just left. My guide informed me that those I saw had not yet arrived at their
final abiding place. All kinds of people seemed mixed up promiscuously, as they are in this world. Their
surroundings and manner indicated that they were in a state of expectation, and awaiting some event of
considerable moment to them.
As we went on from this place, my guide said, "I will now show you the condition of the damned."
Pointing with his hand, he said, "Look!"
I looked down a distance which appeared incomprehensible to me. I gazed on a vast region filled
with multitudes of beings. I could see everything with the most minute distinctness. The multitude of
people I saw were miserable in the extreme. "These," said my guide, "are they who have rejected the
means of salvation, that were placed within their reach, and have brought upon themselves the
condemnation you behold."
The expression of the countenances of these sufferers was clear and distinct. They indicated extreme
remorse, sorrow and dejection. They appeared conscious that none but themselves were to blame for their
forlorn condition.
This scene affected me much, and I could not refrain from weeping.
Again my guide said, "Now let us go."
In a moment we were at the gate of a beautiful city. A porter opened it and we passed in. The city
was grand and beautiful beyond anything that I can describe. It was clothed in the purest light, brilliant but
not glaring or unpleasant.
The people, men and women, in their employments and surroundings, seemed contented and happy. I
knew those I met without being told who they were. Jesus and the ancient apostles were there. I saw and
spoke with the apostle Paul.
My guide would not permit me to pause much by the way, but rather hurried me on through this place
to another still higher but connected with it. It was still more beautiful and glorious than anything I had
before seen. To me its extent and magnificence were incomprehensible.
My guide pointed to a mansion which excelled everything else in perfection and beauty. It was
clothed with fire and intense light. It appeared a fountain of light, throwing brilliant scintillation's of glory
all around it, and I could conceive of no limit to which these emanations extended. Said my guide, "That is
where God resides." He permitted me to enter this glorious city but a short distance. Without speaking, he
motioned that we would retrace our steps.
We were soon in the adjoining city. There I met my mother, and a sister who died when six or seven
years old. These I knew at sight without an introduction.
After mingling with the pure and happy beings of this place a short time, my guide said again, "Let us
go."
We were soon through the gate by which we had entered the city. My guide then said, "Now we will
return."
I could distinctly see the world from which we had first come. It appeared to be a vast distance below
us. To me, it looked cloudy, dreary and dark. I was filled with sad disappointment, I might say horror, at
the idea of returning there. I supposed I had come to stay in that heavenly place, which I bad so long
desired to see; up to this time, the thought had not occurred to me that I would be required to return.
I plead with my guide to let me remain. He replied that 1 was permitted to only visit these heavenly
cities, for I had not filled my mission in yonder world; therefore I must return and take my body. If I was
faithful to the grace of' God which would be imparted to me, if I would bear a faithful testimony to the
inhabitants of the earth of a sacrificed and risen Savior, and His atonement for man, in a little time I should
be permitted to return and remain.
These words gave me comfort and inspired my bosom with the principle of faith. To me, these
things were real. I felt that a great mission had been given me, and I accepted it in my heart. The
responsibility of that mission has rested on me from that time until now.
We returned to my house. There I found my body, and it appeared to me dressed for burial. I was
with great reluctance that I took possession of it to resume the ordinary avocations of life, and endeavor to
fill the important mission I had received. I awoke and found myself in my bed. I lay and meditated the
remainder of the night on what had been shown me.
Call it a dream, or vision, or what I may, what I saw was as real to every sense of my being as anything I
have passed through. The memory of it is clear and distinct with me today, after the lapse of fifty years
with its many changes.
From that time, although belonging to no church, the Spirit was with me to testify to the sufferings
and atonement of the Savior. As I had opportunity, I continual]y exhorted the people, in public and private,
to exercise faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, to repent of their sins and live a life of righteousness and good
works.
( from book Four Faith Promoting Classics Help From The Lord pp. 27-30, Bookcraft S.L.C. Utah, 1968 )






RAISED FROM THE DEAD

By LeRoi C. Snow

INTRODUCTION: These are the people who participated most prominently in the following
remarkable experience, now published for the first time:
Lorenzo Snow was the fifth president of the Church.
Ella Jensen, now Mrs. Henry Wight, living in Juniper, Idaho. She is fifty-eight years of age, the
mother of eight children, six of whom are now living, and has six grandchildren.
Jacob and Althea Jensen, Ella's parents, and her Uncle Hans Jensen, all of Brigham City, Utah, and
all now dead.
Rudger Clawson, of Salt Lake City and president of the Council of Twelve.
Leah Rees, now Mrs. Wilford Reeder, of Brigham City. Mrs. Hattie Critchlow Jensen, of Salt
Lake City and Los Angeles, now on a visit to Palestine.
A lphonzo H. Snow, of Salt Lake City, father of little Alphie, who died the morning of Ella's
restoration to life.(dated 1929)

This story, true in every particular, shows the fulfillment of a prophecy made upon the
head of Lorenzo Snow when he was a young man, twenty-two years of age At that time he received a
patriarchal blessing, under the hands of the Prophet's father, Joseph Smith, Sen. This blessing was given in
the Kirtland Temple. Among other things were these promises:

Thou shalt become a mighty man. Thy faith shall increase and grow stronger until it shall become like
Peter's-thou shalt restore the sick; the diseased shall send to thee their aprons and handkerchiefs and
by thy touch their owners shall be made whole. The dea4 shall rise and come forth at thy bidding.

For several long weeks Ella Jensen had lingered, almost between life and death, with scarlet fever. In
order to relieve the tired parents from their weary hours of loving care, kind neighbors took turns in staying
at the Jensen home overnight to help look after the sick girl.
Among these thoughtful friends was Leah Rees (now Mrs. Willord Reeder of Brigham City). She
occasionally played the little, old-fashioned harmonium and sang for Ella's entertainment. This particular
evening the sick girl became very much worse. Leah had come about eight o'clock to remain until about
eight the next morning. Ella was so weak that she could hardly speak above a whisper.
"Ella asked her to sing and play for her," Leah says, "but, goodness, I was so worried about her
condition, I felt more like crying. I sat down at the organ and began to play and sing but broke down and
had to quit."
After Ella had gone to sleep, Leah lay down on a couch in the room, and also dropped off to sleep.

MAKES PREPARA TIONS TO DIE

Leah continues with her own story: "About three or four o'clock in the morning I was suddenly
awakened by Ella calling me. I hurried to her bed. She was all excited and asked me to get the comb, brush
and scissors, explaining that she wanted to brush her hair and trim her fingernails and get all ready, 'for,'
she said, 'they are coming to get me at ten o'clock in the morning.'
"I asked who was coming to get her Uncle Hans Jensen,' she replied, 'and the messengers. I am going
to die and they are coming at ten o'clock to get me and take me away.' I tried to quiet her, saying that she
would feel better -in the morning if she would try to sleep. 'No she said I am not going to sleep any more,
but spend all the time getting ready.' She insisted that I get the comb hairbrush and scissors, which I did,
but she was so weak that she could not use them.
"As I was brushing her hair, she asked me to call her parents. I explained that they were tired and
asleep and that it would be better not to disturb them. 'Yes Ella replied you must call them. I want to tell
them now.
"The parents were called and as they entered the room the daughter told them that her Uncle Hans,
who was dead had suddenly appeared in the room, while she was awake with her eyes open, and told her
that messengers would be there at ten o'clock to conduct her into the spirit world The father and mother
feared that the girl was delirious and tried to get her to be quiet and go to sleep. She knew their thoughts
and said: 'I know what I am talking about No I am not going to sleep any more. I know I am going to die
and that they are coming to get me.'
At about eight o'clock Leah left the house realizing that the sick girl was gradually sinking. The father
and mother remained at the bedside. Relatives and friends who had heard of Ella's sudden relapse came to
see her.

PRONOUNCED DEAD

Towards ten o'clock, Uncle Jake, the father, who was holding his daughter's hand, felt the pulse
become very weak. A few moments later he turned to his wife saying:
"Althea, she is dead, her pulse has stopped." The heart-broken parents wept and grieved at the loss
of their beautiful daughter.
Jacob Jensen, Ella's father, and uncle of the writer of this article, was familiarly known to the people of
Brigham City as "Uncle Jake."
Here are his own words to me:
"Ella had been sick for several weeks. She awoke one morning with the idea that she was about to die, and
told us that her Uncle Hans had appeared in her room and said he was coming for her that morning. We
kind of put her off and told her we thought she must have been dreaming and not to pay much attention to
it, to go. to sleep and she would feel better in the morning; but she said: 'No, I know I am going, because he
told me he would be here for me at ten o'clock in the morning.'
"She wanted to see all the folks and bid them good-bye. All who were near came in, all but Grandma
Jensen. She was in town and I sent for her. She arrived just when the others of us had said good-bye. Ella
put her arms around her grandmother's neck and kissed her good-bye. It was not more than a minute after
that when her pulse stopped and she passed away. I was holding her hand and felt her pulse stop.
"We talked the matter over and wondered what we should do. I told my wife that I would go to town, more
than a mile from home, and see President Snow, tell him about her death and have him arrange for the
funeral.
"I went out to the barn, hitched up, and drove to the tabernacle where your father, President Lorenzo Snow,
whom we all

loved so much, was in meeting. I went into the vestry, behind the main hall, wrote a note and
had it sent to your father, who was speaking to the congregation. When the note was placed upon the pulpit,
President Snow stopped his talking, read the note and then explained to the Saints that it was a call to visit
some people who were in deep sorrow and asked to be excused.
"President Snow came into the vestry and after I told him what had happened he meditated a
moment or two and then said: 'I will go down with you.' Just as we were about to leave, President Snow
stopped me, saying: 'Wait a moment, I wish you would go into the meeting and get Brother Clawson, I
want him to go also.' President Clawson was then president of the Box Elder stake."

PRIESTHOOD OF GOD STEPS IN

"I went in and got him and took them both down to my home, about a mile and a half south of
Brigham City. We went into the house. My wife and children were there. After standing at Ella's bedside
for a minute or two, President Snow asked if we had any consecrated oil in the house. I was greatly
surprised, but told him yes and got it for him. He handed the bottle of oil to Brother Clawson and asked him
to anoint Ella. Your father was then mouth in confirming the anointing.
"During the administration I was particularly impressed with some of the words which he used and
can well remember them now. He said: 'Dear Ella, I command you, in the name of the Lord, Jesus Christ, to
come back and live, your mission is not ended. You shall yet live to perform a great mission.
"He said she should yet live to rear a large family and be a comfort to her parents and friends. I well
remember these words."

President Rudger Clawson relates his experiences and after telling of Brother Jensen's coming to
the meeting house toward the close of the morning session and being invited by President Snow to go
along, says:
"As we entered the home we met Sister Jensen, who was very much agitated and alarmed. We
came to Ella's bedside and were impressed by the thought that her spirit had passed out of the body and
gone beyond."
A CALL HEARD BEYOND THE VEIL
"Turning to me President Snow said: 'Brother Clawson, will you anoint her,' which I did. We then
laid our hands upon her head and the anointing was confirmed by President Snow, who blessed her and
among other things, used this very extraordinary expression, in a commanding tone of voice, 'Come back,
Ella, come back. Your work upon the earth is not yet completed, come back.' Shortly afterward we left the
home."

Uncle Jake, Ella's father, continues his account:
"After President Snow had finished the blessing, he turned to my wife and me and said; 'Now do not
mourn or grieve any more. It will be all right. Brother Clawson and I are busy and must go, we cannot stay,
but you just be patient and wait, and do not mourn, because it will be all right.'
As already stated, it was ten o'clock in the morning when Ella died. It was towards noon when
Jacob Jensen reported to President Snow at the tabernacle service, and not long after twelve o'clock, noon,
when President Snow and President Clawson left the home after the administration.
Uncle Jake says that he and his wife remained at the bedside. The news of the death spread about
the city. Friends continued to call at the home, express their sympathy to the sorrowing parents and leave.
Continuing in Uncle Jake's words:
"Ella remained in this condition for more than an hour after President Snow administered to her, or
more than three hours in all after she died. We were sitting there watching by the bedside, her mother and
myself, when all at once she opened her eyes. She looked about the room, saw us sitting there, but still
looked for someone else, and the first thing she said was: 'Where is he? Where is he?' We asked, 'Who?
Where is who?' 'Why, Brother Snow,' she replied. 'He called me back.'

UNWILLING TO COME BACK
"We explained that Brother Snow and Brother Clawson were very busy and could not remain, that
they had gone. Ella dropped her head back on the pillow, saying:
'Why did he call me back? I was so happy and did not want to come back.'
Then Ella Jensen began to relate her marvelous experiences, marvelous both as to the incidents
themselves, and as to the great number of them that occurred in the short space of between three and four
hours.
Hattie Critchlow (now Aunt Hattie Jensen, who is visiting Europe and the Holy Land as a birthday
present from her lawyer sons in Los Angeles) was a young lady at the time of this story. She and a group of
girl friends were on the street in Brigham City when word came to them of Ella's death. Ella was one of
their associates. They decided immediately to go to the home to express their sympathy and to offer their
help to the bereaved parents.
As they reached the home they saw a lot of people in the house, but instead of expressions of
sorrow and grief, they saw surprise and happiness in their faces. They entered the house and were
astonished to hear Ella's voice. They had arrived just after Ella had returned to life and had begun the
wondrous story of her visit to the eternal world.
Regarding the more than three hours that Ella spent in the Spirit world she says:
"I could see people from the other world and hear the most delightful music and singing that I ever heard.
This singing lasted for six hours, during which time I was Preparing to leave this earth, and I could hear it
all through the house. At ten o'clock my spirit left my body. It took me some time to make up my mind to
go, as I could hear and see the folks crying and mourning over me. It was very hard for me to leave them,
but as soon as I had a glimpse of the other world I was anxious to go and all care and worry left me.

COMMANDED TO COME BACK

President Clawson continues: "Ella passed on down through the building and met many others,
some of whom we shall speak of later. Finally she came into a very large room that was completely filled
with small children, all dressed in white, with Eliza R. Snow Smith presiding. She sat and listened to the
Sunday School songs which they sang, being songs which are now sung in Sunday Schools among us, and
she was perfectly contented and happy. It was a heavenly place, she said. She felt that she never wanted to
leave it.
"While sitting there a very strange thing happened. She heard a voice coming to her in
commanding tones, apparently from a long distance, which said: 'Come back, Ella, come back! Your work
on earth is not yet completed.'
"She had no desire to come back and felt determined not to leave the beautiful place. But this
voice was so authoritative in manner that it seemed to draw, yes actually did draw, her spirit out of that
room. She was compelled to follow it, and so she turned her face earthward on the return journey. She kept
going and going, apparently a long distance until, all at once, she found herself in the room at home, where
her body was lying.
"Then she realized that her spirit must again enter the body which was lying there, to all intents
and purposes, a lifeless one. Her spirit entered and the next moment her eyes opened and her lips moved.
Then it was her parents realized that she was no longer dead. They spoke to her and she to them."

PROVES THAT SHE WAS RATIONAL

"She began to tell them of her wonderful experience in the other world, what she had done and
seen. Her father whispered to the mother: 'Do you hear what she is saying? Why, the girl is certainly
delirious. She is out of her mind.' Ella looked up and said: 'Father, you think then that I am out of my mind,
do you? I will very soon prove to you that I am perfectly rational.'
"She turned to her mother: 'While in this large building in the spirit world, I met a woman who
greeted me and said she was Aunt Mary and told me that she died while I was a baby.' The mother asked:
'Can you describe her?' The answer was: 'Yes, she was a tall woman with black hair and dark eyes and thin
features.' 'Yes,' the mother answered, 'surely you have described your Aunt Mary.'
'I also met another woman there, who said she was my Aunt Sarah and had died just before I was
born.' 'Will you describe her?' the mother asked. 'Yes, she was rather short and somewhat fleshy, with
round features, light hair and blue eyes.' 'Why, yes, Ella, that is your Aunt Sarah. You have described her
perfectly.' Ella turned to her father saying: 'Do you now think that I am out of my mind?' 'No,' he answered,
'you have had a very wonderful experience.'
(It may well be thought that Ella Jensen's work on earth was not yet completed, as indicated by
President Snow, for she afterwards became president of the Young Ladies' Mutual Improvement
Association in Brigham City. Afterwards she married and became a mother in Israel, and surely a woman
can do no greater work in the world than to become a mother of men.
Ella Jensen was born August 3, 1871. The experience related in this article occurred March 3,
1891, in her twentieth year. She married Henry Wight, March 20, 1895. They are now living in juniper,
Idaho. Of their eight children six are living and they have six grandchildren.)
"I entered a large hall. It was so long that I could not see the end of it. It was filled with people. As I went
through the throng, the first person I recognized was my grandpa, H. P. Jensen, who was sitting in one end
of the room, writing. He looked up, seemed surprised to see me and said:
'Why! There is my granddaughter, Ella.' He was very much pleased, greeted me and, as he continued with
his writing, I passed on through the room and met a great many of my relatives and friends. It was like
going along the crowded street of a large city where you meet many people, only a very few of whom you
recognize.
"The next one I knew was Uncle Hans Jensen with his wife, Mary Ellen. They had two small children with
them. On inquiring who they were, he told me one was his own and the other was Uncle Will's little girl.
Some seemed to be in family groups. As there were only a few whom I could recognize and who knew me,
I kept moving on.
"Some inquired about their friends and relatives on the earth. Among the number was my cousin. He asked
me how the folks were getting along and said it grieved him to hear that some of the boys were using
tobacco, liquor and many things that were injurious to them.
'This proved to me that the people in the other world know to a great extent what happens here on the earth.
"The people were all dressed in white or cream, excepting Uncle Hans Jensen, who had on his dark clothes
and long rubber boots, the things he wore when he was drowned in the Snake River in Idaho.
"Everybody appeared to be perfectly happy. I was having a very pleasant visit with each one that I knew.
Finally I reached the end of that long room. I opened a door and went into another room filled with
children. They were all arranged in perfect order, the smallest ones first, then larger ones, according to age
and size, the largest ones in the back rows all around the room. They seemed to be convened in a sort of
Primary or Sunday School presided over by Aunt Eliza R. Snow. There were hundreds of small children."
HEARS THE COMMAND TO RETURN

"It was while I was standing listening to the children sing 'Gladly Meeting, Kindly Greeting' that I heard
your father, President Lorenzo Snow, call me. He said: 'Sister Ella, you must come back, as your mission is
not yet finished here on earth.' So I just spoke to Aunt Eliza R. Snow and told her I must go back.
"Returning through the large room, I told the people I was going back to earth, but they seemed to want me
to stay with them. I obeyed the call, though it was very much against my desire, as such perfect peace and
happiness prevailed there, no suffering, no sorrow. I was so taken up with all I saw and heard, I did hate to
leave that beautiful place.
"This has always been a source of comfort to me. I learned by this experience that we should not grieve too
much for our departed loved ones and especially at the time they leave us. I think we should be just as calm
and quiet as possible. Because, as I was leaving, the only regret I had was that the folks were grieving so
much for me. But I soon forgot all about this world in my delight with the other.
"For more than three hours my spirit was gone from my body. As I returned I could see my body lying on
the bed and the folks gathered about in the room. I hesitated for a moment, then thought, 'Yes, I will go
back for a little while.' I told the folks I wanted to stay only a short time to comfort them."


THE PAIN OF COMING BACK

Ella's oldest sister, Meda, now Mrs. Ernest E. Cheney of Brigham City, 'says that Ella frequently
told of the terrible suffering which she experienced when the spirit again entered the body. There was
practically no pain on leaving the body in death but the intense pain was almost unbearable in coming back
to life. Not only this, but for months, and even years afterward, she experienced new aches and pains and
physical disorders that she had never known before.
"About the first thing she told us, after being brought back to life," says Uncle Jake, the father, "was that
she met Grandpa Jensen. He was sitting by a desk writing in a book, making out some records. He got up
and welcomed Ella, calling her by name and then she said: 'I went down the large room, where I met a
number of my relatives and friends.'
"I know there were some whom she had never seen in life. She described to me just how they looked and
told me their names. Among these were aunts and second cousins long since dead. There is no question that
they were the ones whom we had laid away before she was born.
"Then she told us about going into a large room where many children were assembled. They were singing
under the direction of Sister Eliza R. Snow. She did not mention that any parents were there. While
listening to their beautiful music she heard the voice calling her to come back, and telling her that her
mission was not ended.
"After she opened her eyes and told us these things she wanted to get up, but it was two or three days
before we would let her try to move around."

CONVERSES WITH FRIENDS & RELATIVES

The next day Aunt Harriet Wight, who lost two daughters, Phoebe and Betsy, came into the room
to visit Ella and asked how she felt. Ella said she was feeling all right now. Aunt Harriet broke down and
cried, and Ella then said: 'Why, Aunt Harriet, what are you crying for? You need not cry for your girls who
have gone. I saw and talked with them, and they are very happy where they are.' Aunt Harriet was very
much affected.
"Many relatives and others visited Ella and she told them the same things that I have related to
you, and told them much more, about meeting their relatives and friends over there, how happy they were
and that they asked about their loved ones here.
"My daughter is still living, is perfectly well and strong and has reared a large family."
Leah Rees, who stayed with Ella the night before this remarkable visit to the world of departed
spirits, came the following evening. Let us listen to her own words:
"When I came again to stay with Ella the next night she told me all about where she had been. She
mentioned having seen my father and several others of my people who had passed away, as well as her own
Grandpa Jensen. Everyone appeared busy and very happy."

MEETS A LITTLE FRIEND
BUT A FEW HOURS DEAD

Alphonzo H. Snow, now living in Salt Lake City, the writer's brother, relates his experience as
follows:
"My wife, Minnie, and I heard of Ella Jensen's death and restoration to life and called at her home
to see her. As we entered the room she said: 'Oh! Come here, Alphonzo and Minnie, I have something to
tell you. After my return to earth I told my parents of some of the remarkable experiences which I had
while in the spirit world. But there was one experience that seemed very strange, and I could not
understand it.
'You know your little son, Alphie, has been in my Sunday School class in the First ward. I have
always loved him very much. While I was in Aunt Eliza R. Snow's class of children in the spirit world, I
recognized many children. But all of them had died excepting one, and this was little Alphie. I could not
understand how he should be among them and still be living. When I told this to mother, she said: 'Yes,
Ella, little Alphie is dead, too. He died early this morning while you were so very sick. We knew you loved
him and that it would be a shock to you, so we did not tell you about his death.'
"It was very consoling, indeed, to hear Ella tell of seeing our dear little boy and that he was very happy.
She said it was not right for us to grieve and mourn so much for him and that he would be happier if we
would not do so."

Perhaps President Rudger Clawson, who assisted President Snow in the administration, received the most
complete account from Ella. This is what he says:
"Sister Ella Jensen, in relating to me her very remarkable experience, said that during all the morning of our
visit, and going back into the night, the veil between this world and the other seemed to be growing thinner
and thinner. She heard singing all through the house from the unseen world and seemed herself to be about
to step into the spirit world. And this is what actually happened, for her spirit left her body and went into
the beyond."

WORK TO DO ON THE OTHER SIDE

"A guide was there to meet her and by him she was conducted into a very large building where there were
many people, all of whom appeared to be extremely busy, no evidence of idleness whatever. Hans Peter
Jensen, her grandfather, was one of the first persons she met. He seemed pleased to see and bid her
welcome, but let her understand that he was very busy and could not give her much of his time.
"After a brief chat with her grandfather she passed on through the building, glancing at the people
as she walked along. Finally her eye rested upon the familiar face of Hans Jensen, her uncle. When she saw
him, what to her and others had been an enigma, was now clearly explained.'
"Sometime before this advent into the spirit world her Uncle Hans, who lived in Brigham City,
counseled with me as president of' the stake as to the propriety of moving into the Snake River country,
Idaho, to engage in salmon fishing. His idea was that if he was successful he could ship salmon from the
north to Brigham City at a good profit and thus benefit himself financially. He needed the help that such a
business would bring him.
"I said if it was his wish to engage in that business it was all right with the stake presidency and a
matter entirely for him to decide for himself.
"Later he left for the north and at once turned his attention to salmon fishing. One morning he
went from the home where he was staying, clothed in a jumper and overalls, with gum boots, to fish; but he
never returned. His oldest brother, Jacob Jensen, came to me greatly alarmed, said that no word had been
received from Hans for some time and nobody seemed to know where he was. He was greatly excited about
it and feared that his brother had been drowned in the Snake River.
"Jacob organized a posse of men and at once instituted a search covering a period of some two or
three weeks, at the Snake River, but their efforts were fruitless. No trace could be found of Hans and he
was never again heard from until his niece, Ella Jensen, met him in the spirit world. She said that he was
dressed in a jumper and overalls with gum boots. The mystery was solved.
"There seemed to be no doubt thereafter that Hans Jensen was drowned in the Snake River. It is
said that when the dead manifest themselves to the living they usually appear as they were last seen on
earth so that the living will recognize them. II that be true it accounts for the strange habit that her uncle
was wearing." ( From the article Raised from the Dead by LeRoi C. Snow , September- October, 1929
Issue of Improvement Era)

Marshall Stewart Gibson
. The account is taken from the book In Search ofAngeis which provides a more complete description of the
incident.

.. .1 found myself ....... in a completely different sphere. It was beautiful beyond description and we
were walking on a path.... It was a different world than this one.... As we walked along the path I
noticed a profusion of flowers and trees. They were of a wider variety, and they had many more colors
than on earth~r maybe it was that I could see more colors than on earth, I'm not sure.
... I noticed someone on the path ahead of us. As we got closer to the individual I could see and feel
that he was a magnificent person. I felt overwhelmed as I looked at him. He was bathed in light. [My
guide] asked if I knew who that was, and I answered yes. It was Jesus Christ.
when we got close to the Savior, I felt a tremendous love emanating from him. It's hard to
describe, but you could feel it all around him. And I felt a sinbiar enormous love for him. I fell at his
feet-not because I thought about it, but I couldn't stand. I felt an overpowering urge to fall at his feet and
worship him.
... As I knelt there at the feet of this marvelous being I became conscious of my past life being
reviewed for me. It seemed to occur in a short period, and I felt the Savior's love during the entire
process. That love .... . well, it was everywhere. And it was as if we could communicate with each other
without speaking. After a period the Savior reached down and I knew I should stand. As soon as l stood,
he left.
~y guide] next led me to a city. It was a city of light. It was similar to cities on earth in that there
were buildings and paths, but the buildings and paths appeared to be built of materials which we consid-
er precious on earth. They looked like marble, and gold, and silver, and other bright materials, only they
were different. The buildings and streets seemed to have a sheen and to glow. The entire scene was one
of indescribable beauty.
... There was a feeling of love and peace. On earth there always seems to be something . . . you know
how things bother you here. There's always some problem troubling you either it's health, or money, or
people, or war or something. That was missing there. I felt completely at peace, as if there were no
problems which were of concern. It wasn't that there were no challenges. It's just that everything
seemed to be under control. It was such a wonderful feeling that I never wanted to lose it.
And there was the feeling of love. Love from... from Jesus Christ. It emanated from him, and it was all
around; it was everywhere....

The event described by my father occurred in 1922 while he was
working in Bingham, Utah for Western Union, and was the result of a
massive heart attack. My mother, my grandmother, and my aunt were
present during the attack. My father ultimately recovered and lived a
full life, passing away in 1963.

( from Fingerprints of God by Arvin S. Gibson , pp. 27-28, Horizon Publishers 1999, Bountiful,
Utah )













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