When
Pancho Villa Appeared Asking for Temple Work
By Anne Hinton Pratt ·
August 6, 2019
Cover image via Huffington Post.
Pancho Villa needed help! In his
lifetime, he had been a revolutionary leader, brilliant strategist and even the
President of Mexico, but in the realm of spirits he was lost, and knew he
needed assistance. He came from beyond the grave to seek out and ask
the one man who
he felt could help him in his eternal quest. Here’s how it happened:
Pancho Villa was the Robin Hood of his day
Pancho felt that the wealthy ruling
class of Mexico were grinding on the face of the poor. He rebelled
against the government and assembled and led the largest army ever in Latin
America. The people loved him, but to the authorities and government of the
time, he was considered an outlaw, a rebel, and a very bad man.
Captured and Imprisoned as Spies
During the Mexican Revolution, James Elbert Whetten (Bert),
was the Mission President in Chihuahua. Several years into the conflict, President Whetten and a Stake President
(President Bentley), were captured and imprisoned by Villa’s men and accused of
being spies for the American army. President Whetten demanded
to speak to the leaders who had apprehended them. After three days of his
insisting, he was finally given an audience with Villa and top military
advisors.
Execution or Spirit-driven
Discussion?
After a few hours, President Whetten
discovered that he was being put on trial. It was his burden to prove to them
that he was a Mormon missionary and not a spy. What was planned by the military brass to
be a very short trial, ending in execution, became a 3- hour discussion about what
the Church was doing in Mexico; the Book of Mormon; and the principles of the
Gospel as
applied by members of the Church in Mexico.
“Is There Any Hope for Me?”
During this discussion Pancho and
his top leaders were very impressed. In fact, one of his Generals, Felipe
Angeles who was there stated,
“These men are doing with words and
with books, what we’re trying to do with guns!”
Pancho agreed with him, and then
addressing President Whetten, soulfully asked,
“I’ve done a lot of things in
my life that I’m not proud of. Do you think there is any hope for someone
like me?”
President Whetten assured him that
there WAS hope for him. Both Villa and Angeles said they wanted to learn
more, and after the war they would find out more about the Gospel. They gave
President Whetten a letter of safe passage through any areas controlled by
their soldiers, noting that the letter could also be his death warrant if the
federal troops found it on his possession.
Villa and his armies eventually took
over and a new government was formed. He became President of
Mexico. After ONE DAY, however, he realized that that job wasn’t for
him. He didn’t feel that he had the right education or temperament, and
VOLUNTARILY gave over his Presidency to another, and was promptly double
crossed and put in jail by the new president. He was killed a few years
later by enemies.
Pancho Villa Appears
FIVE DECADES LATER, in the
middle of the night Bert Whetten woke from a sound sleep and was astonished to
see Pancho Villa standing
above the ground at the foot of his bed.
Pancho seemed very sad and asked for
Elder Whetten’s help. He said,
“There is a beautiful city where
everything is perfect. I’ve tried and tried to get in, but they say I
can’t get in without your help.”
Elder Whetten understanding what he
was referring to replied,
“Well, President Bentley is on the
other side of the veil with you. He can help you.” But Pancho said,
“No, they said he can’t help
me!”
Elder Whetten responded,
“Ok, I’ll do what I can.”
Bert Whetten Clearing the Way for
Temple Work
The next morning, feeling driven and
determined, Bert Whetten got up and drove to Chihuahua City to meet with
Villa’s widow and get pertinent dates and permission to do his temple
work. He later travelled to Mesa, Arizona, the nearest temple and announced
to the temple president,
“I’m here to do the work for Pancho
Villa.”
“The temple president was astounded
and strongly resisted saying,
“No, you can’t do that! He was a
notoriously bad man, and we don’t do temple work for people like that!”
When Elder Whetten heard that, he got a big smile on his face, and said,
“I thought you might say
that.”
He then took out a letter he had
obtained from the First Presidency allowing him to do Pancho’s work. He was perhaps the only one alive who had
the knowledge to convince the First Presidency of Villa’s inner workings.
That day Bert Whetten did the temple
work for Doroteo Arango (a.k.a. Pancho Villa), a selfless act of service and
love.
Just a side note. Before Bert
Whetten did the temple work in the early 1960’s, Pancho Villa was considered a
villain and an outlaw throughout the world as well as in Mexico. AFTER
that time however, something changed, and historians and the Mexican Secretary
of Education began writing about him as a great liberator. Now he is
considered a hero in Mexico.
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