" I bear you my solemn testimony that the Church today is guided by revelation. Every soul in it who has been blessed to receive the Holy Ghost has the power to received revelation. When we begin to understand that beyond sight, as Brigham Young said, the spirit world is right here round about us, and if our spiritual eyes could be open, we could see others visiting with us, directing us. And if we will learn not to be so sophisticated that we rule out that possibility of impression from those who are beyond sight, then we too may have a dream that may direct us as a revelation." Harold B. Lee, Stand Ye in Holy Places, Selected Sermons and Writings of Harold B. Lee. p. 141, 143, 145
Wednesday, November 25, 2020
Thursday, November 5, 2020
Surrounded by Angels By Anne Hinton Pratt
Surrounded by Angels
By Anne Hinton Pratt · November 4, 2020
Cover image: “I Will Go Before Your Face” by Kenneth Turner.
There
are remarkable things going on in all of our lives that we generally cannot
physically see because of the restriction of the veil. Angelic interventions
and miracles are ongoing, but never more so than in the lives of missionaries
as they gather scattered Israel. Sometimes the spiritual curtain is
lifted, and angels are perceived. These are stories worth being told…
Angels Surround Our Missionaries
Allison
Kendrick shared with me the singular experience of seeing angels around a
missionary at his missionary farewell. She writes,
“When a
missionary who had been my student in a church class was giving his farewell
speech, I saw tall shining figures glowing and in white all around him. I
couldn’t see their faces clearly, but I somehow knew that they were all his
family members who had passed beyond the veil, and they seemed very proud of
him. I later wrote and told him of my experience.”[1]
Laurel
Larsen Stokes reported a very similar unexpected experience when she said,
“I
had the opportunity to see angels surrounding our missionaries when my
husband was invited to play his Native American flute at a zone meeting in
Santa Fe. The Elder conducting the meeting advised the missionaries to
quietly meditate during the hymn. As I was meditating something brushed
my shoulder and I opened my eyes to see the room crowded from floor to
ceiling with the missionaries’ guardian angels. I wrote to our
missionaries’ parents to tell them my experience, so they knew how protected
their beloved sons and daughters were.”[2]
Faithful
missionaries are surrounded by angels, and at times people are blessed to see
them. The following story also shares this wonder.
Brilliance Emanating from their Faces
Sister
Patrocinio wrote of an unforgettable experience she had while on her mission
with an investigator in Sinop, Mato Grosso. She writes,
“This
week was very interesting. We were teaching an elegant and highly
educated woman named Zilamar. We went and gave her the introductory lesson and
explained about the happiness we feel for being members of the Church…
“A few
days later we returned on a follow-up visit. We stayed there for over an
hour conversing with her about her family, her husband and her trials…Then she
said: ‘The first time you visited me I saw something different in you.
I don’t know whether you believe in angels, but I saw two angels on each side
of you, but I was unable to see the faces of those beings because they had a
brilliance emanating from their faces that was so strong. I know that you
are protected by angels, because I saw those beings.’”[3]
Angels Have Charge Over Missionaries
In one
of our most cherished scriptures, the Lord tells us,
“I
have given my heavenly hosts and mine angels charge concerning you….And whoso
receiveth you, there I will be also, for I will go before your face.
I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your
hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up.”[4]
Zilamar,
in the previous story, joyfully witnessed this phenomenon. The fact is,
missionaries are often surrounded, protected and sustained by angels as they do
the Lords work in both big and little ways.
Angels at the Airport
Elder
Matt Hill was leaving for his mission in Nicaragua. His luggage was 93 pounds
and he was told by the airline that he had to take out 23 pounds of weight in
order to get on the plane. He opened up the luggage and looked
inside. There was absolutely nothing that he felt he could be without on
his mission. He fervently prayed about what he should leave behind.
It was at this time, he “heard” the peaceful words in his mind,
“Relax,
put the suitcase back through.”
Elder
Hill exerted his faith and put his luggage through again without taking
anything out as he had been spiritually instructed to do. This time it
went through with no problem, even though he didn’t know how. He
absolutely knew he had angels helping him.[5]
Angels Helping Missionaries Gather Israel
Before
Christ’s FIRST COMING, there was a lot of angelic activity in the land. Alma
tells us,
“Yea, the
voice of the Lord, by the mouth of angels, doth declare it unto all
nations; yea doth declare it, that they may have glad tidings among all his
people…For behold, angels are declaring it unto many at this time in
our land; and this is for the purpose of preparing the
hearts of the children of men to receive his word at the time of his
coming in his glory.”[6]
These
same words are applicable for the SECOND COMING of Christ. Angels are
declaring truth to the hearts of those ready to receive the gospel now.
The
truth is that angels are our companions as we endeavor to participate in
gathering Israel.
When
David Babbel was Mission President of the Brazil Brazalia Mission, 2002-2005,
he and his missionaries had extraordinary experiences. I would like to
share two of them below with his permission.
Veil Opened for Missionaries to See a
Presence
Elder
Manfre was aware that he had angelic help as he led a discussion with a family
one evening. The parents of this family had a young son who had recently
died from a terrible accident and were very open to the truths of the
gospel. He writes:
“We
began to teach them and the Spirit with us was very strong. At times I
was incredulous at the words that were coming from our mouths as we spoke by
the Spirit. Then my companion [Elder Homer] began to speak about eternal
families. The intensity of the Spirit became stronger and stronger, and I
began to feel something different,—a feeling of great peace. Next, I
saw and felt the presence of a small child. In that room I perceived a
very strong light and I could discern the appearance of this small child.
“My
words became stronger with respect to how this man could reunite with his child
after this life. With tears in his eyes, this man told us that the hope
that one day he could see his child again gave him the desire and strength of
will to cope with the death of that child. I don’t know how to
describe with words the feelings that I had, but I know that for a moment the
veil was opened and I saw and felt that light— a child that was not with us in
physical matter – but in spirit.
“Shortly
thereafter the father of this child handed to me an album with some photos of
his child. I almost cried, because I was very certain then that it was
the same child that I had just finished seeing and feeling.”[7]
That
child angel was allowed to prepare the hearts of his parents as well as to
bless the life of the missionaries.
Bright Angel that Gives Direction
“While
on his mission in Brazil, Elder Melendez was serving as a Branch President over
the Posse Goiás Branch. He desperately needed guidance from the Lord in
his calling. He wrote:
“One
Sunday night I arrived home from church and what made this Sunday different
from all the others was the conversation I had with a member. This person
had not come to church for a long time because of things that had happened to
her.
“After
our conversation I came home and knelt in my room to pray. I asked the
Lord if He could please guide me as to what I should do and where I could find
the information I needed. I had the church manuals and looked through
them constantly but could not find the answer I was seeking. At the end
of the day when we returned to our house I looked again and still could not
find it, so I prayed and went to bed.
“That
night I will never forget. As I slept, it felt as though someone
came to me and they said that they were sent to get me. This person was
dressed in pure white, so I followed him. He took me to a room that was
pure white and then the room became brighter and brighter, I looked at the
person who had brought me but I could not see his face; I just saw him
point toward the source of light as if beckoning me to go ahead and ask.
So, I explained what was going on and that I was looking for some guidance as
to what I should do. The light didn’t say anything. All it did was
extend its hand and point to the church manuals. I explained
that I had looked and couldn’t find what I was seeking. The hand
then grabbed a piece of paper that had a number written on it. I took
the number, and the person who brought me there took me by the hand and brought
me back.
“As
soon as I woke up I ran to my desk to find both books laid on my table.
(The night before I had placed the books in my room on my bag). I
remembered the number and opened the book immediately. As I read the page
it was exactly what I was seeking.”[8]
Marvelous!
All of these stories show how missionaries are surrounded, protected, and
enlightened by angels.
Angelic
interventions and miracles are ongoing as missionaries are aided in preparing
hearts for the Gospel. Heavenly hosts surround and “bear them up” in both
big and little ways helping them to gather scattered Israel.
[1]Allison Kendrick, personal
correspondence. Used with permission.
[2] Laurel Larsen Stokes, personal
correspondence. Used with permission.
[3] Personal Correspondence with David
Frederick Babbel, and quote from his book, Mine Angels Round About You, p. 4-5,
Used with permission.
[4] D & C 84:42,88. Italics added.
[5] Matt Hill, personal
correspondence. Used with permission.
[6] Alma 13: 22,24,25. Italics added.
[7] David Frederick Babbel, Mine Angels
Round About You, p. 122 Used with permission.
[8] David Frederick Babbel, Mine Angels
Round About You, p. 67-68. Used with permission.
Tuesday, September 22, 2020
5 Ways Angels Communicate With Us
5 ways angels communicate with us
byDonald W. Parry,
adapted from "Angels: Agents of Light, Love, and Power" |
Sep. 21, 2020
This excerpt was originally published by LDS
Living in August 2018 and is being shared again in honor of the
anniversary of the night the angel Moroni appeared to Joseph Smith.
President Boyd K. Packer taught that divine revelation may come in
various ways: “The Lord reveals His will through dreams and visions,
visitations, through angels, through His own voice, and through the voice of
His servants. ‘Whether by mine own voice,’ He said, ‘or by the voice of my
servants, it is the same.”1 Depending on the
needs of mortals and according to the will of the Lord, angels communicate with
mortals in a variety of ways—by a visitation, by a voice, by thoughts, by
feelings, or in other ways. . . .
Many visitations from the spirit world are from relatives,
including grandparents, parents, and siblings. Deceased friends, too, may visit
loved ones with messages from God. President Joseph F. Smith wrote, “Our
fathers and mothers, brothers, 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.”2 President Smith then gave an example of Sister Cannon, who
“can return and visit her friends,” but he added, it had to “be in accordance
with the wisdom of the Almighty” because “there are laws to which they who are
in the Paradise of God must be subject, as well as laws to which we are
subject.”3
1. Angels can communicate
through dreams and visions.
Is there a difference between a vision and an inspired dream?
Elder James E. Talmage explained: “In general, visions are manifested to the
waking senses whilst dreams are given during sleep. In the vision, however, the
senses may be so affected as to render the person practically unconscious, at
least oblivious to ordinary occurrences, while he is able to discern the
heavenly manifestation. In the earlier dispensations, the Lord frequently
communicated through dreams and visions, oftentimes revealing to prophets the
events of the future even to the latest generations.”4 Examples
of angels communicating with persons in dreams include Jacob (“And the angel of
God spake unto me in a dream”; Genesis 31:11),
and Joseph (“the angel appeared unto him in a dream”; Matthew 1:20; 2:13, 19).
Some individuals may tend to minimize the significance of dreams
originating from God. Some indicate that a vision is greater or more important,
but both President Spencer W. Kimball and President Harold B. Lee taught
regarding the importance of God-inspired dreams.5 Even
as various persons, both men and women, from the Bible and Book of Mormon had
God-inspired dreams and visions that included angels, both men and women in the
last days may also experience heavenly communications. Such was the testimony
of the prophet Joel (Joel 2:28;
see also Acts 2:17).
When he visited the young Joseph Smith on the evening of September 21, 1823,
the angel Moroni cited Joel 2:28–32 and
stated that the words of these verses would soon be fulfilled (see Joseph
Smith–History 1:41).
2. Angels communicate with
mortals by speaking to them.
We know that angels communicate with mortals by speaking to them.
For example, “the angel of the Lord called unto [Abraham] out of heaven . . .
the angel of the Lord called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time . . .”
(Genesis 22:11,
15). Alma 12:29 states
that God “sent angels to converse with them.” President Brigham Young told his
audience that “there are persons in this congregation that will converse with
angels just as freely as we converse with each other.”6
President Boyd K. Packer, citing passages from the Book of Mormon,
explained: “We are told that ‘angels speak by the power of the Holy Ghost.’ We
are even told that when we speak by the power of the Holy Ghost, we ‘speak with
the tongue [or in the same language] of angels.’ (2 Nephi 31:13; 2 Nephi 32:2.)”7 President
Packer further explained: “Nephi explained that angels speak by the power of
the Holy Ghost, and you can speak with the tongue of angels, which simply means
that you can speak with the power of the Holy Ghost. It will be quiet. It will
be invisible. There will not be a dove. There will not be cloven tongues of
fire. But the power will be there.”8
On one occasion, Elder Parley P. Pratt was seeking men to join
Zion’s Camp; he had traveled for many hours by carriage, ridden through the
night, and finally stopped to rest at noon. He loosened the horse to permit it
to graze, and then he fell asleep. Because of his exhaustion, he later
recorded, he “might have lain in a state of oblivion till the shades of night
had gathered about me. . . . I had only slept a few moments till the horse had
grazed sufficiently, when a voice, more loud and shrill than I had ever before
heard, fell on my ear, and thrilled through every part of my system; it said:
‘Parley, it is time to be up and on your journey.’” Elder Pratt quickly
responded, found his horse, and traveled on until he rejoined Zion’s Camp. When
he told Joseph Smith of this experience, the Prophet explained that it was “the
angel of the Lord who went before the camp” who woke him.9
3. Angels communicate with
thoughts or feelings.
In addition to angels’ visitations and conversations, angels may
communicate with thoughts or by feelings. Elder Dallin H. Oaks summarized: “The
ministering of angels can also be unseen. Angelic messages can be delivered by
a voice or merely by thoughts or feelings communicated to the mind. President
John Taylor described ‘the action of the angels, or messengers of God, upon our
minds, so that the heart can conceive . . . revelations from the eternal world’
(The Gospel Kingdom, sel. G. Homer Durham [1943], 31).
“Nephi described three manifestations of the ministering of angels
when he reminded his rebellious brothers that (1) they had ‘seen an angel,’ (2)
they had ‘heard his voice from time to time,’ and (3) also that an angel had
‘spoken unto [them] in a still small voice’ though they were ‘past feeling’ and
‘could not feel his words’ (1 Nephi 17:45)
. . . Most angelic communications are felt or heard rather than seen.”10
As Elder Oaks attested, mortals can feel the words of an angel.
The full text of 1 Nephi 17:45 states:
“Ye are swift to do iniquity but slow to remember the Lord your God. Ye have
seen an angel, and he spake unto you; yea, ye have heard his voice from time to
time; and he hath spoken unto you in a still small voice, but ye were past feeling,
that ye could not feel his words; wherefore, he has spoken unto you like unto
the voice of thunder, which did cause the earth to shake as if it were to
divide asunder” (italics added). The concept of feeling an angel’s words may be
indicated in the following passage from latter-day scripture: “Which our
forefathers have awaited with anxious expectation to be revealed in the last
times, which their minds were pointed to by the angels, as held in reserve for
the fulness of their glory” (D&C 121:27).
4. Angels can give
impressions.
Christopher Columbus was guided by an angel from the Lord, who
“gave him deep impressions,” taught Elder Orson Hyde on America’s Independence
Day in 1854: “[An] angel was with Columbus, and gave him deep impressions, by
dreams and by visions, respecting this New World. Trammelled by poverty and by
an unpopular cause, yet his persevering and unyielding heart would not allow an
obstacle in his way too great for him to overcome; and the angel of God helped
him.”11
5. Angels can communicate
through pure intelligence.
Other Church authorities provide additional understanding
regarding spiritual communications with angels. President Boyd K. Packer,
citing the Prophet Joseph Smith, referred to “pure intelligence,” which one may
experience when communicating with an angel: “Should an angel converse with
you, neither you nor he would be confined to corporeal sight or sound in order
to communicate. For there is that spiritual process described by the Prophet
Joseph by which pure intelligence can flow into our minds and by which we can
know what we need to know without either the effort of study or the passage of
time, because that is revelation.”12
Laws govern angels and
their communications.
Angels’ visitations and communications must be authorized by those
authorities who are assigned to direct such work. All of God’s messengers,
whether they are resurrected or translated beings, unembodied or disembodied
spirits, or mortals must comply with God’s laws relating to communication among
the different spheres of existence. The Prophet Joseph Smith taught that “the
organization of the spiritual and heavenly worlds, and of spiritual and heavenly
beings, was agreeable to the most perfect order and harmony: their limits and
bounds were fixed irrevocably.”13 Without
order and divine organization among the spheres, there would exist chaos and
confusion. Elder Orson F. Whitney explained: “God’s house is a house of order,
and the spirit world is a room in that house. This being the case, it is only
reasonable to conclude that before anything important or unusual can take place
there, the Master of the Mansion must first give consent. Otherwise confusion
would prevail, and the divine purpose for which the veil was dropped between
the two worlds might be thwarted. . . . Permission from the Great Father would
have to be obtained before one of his children, either an unembodied or a
disembodied spirit, could make itself manifest to mortals.”14
Lead image: Shutterstock
Although angels are a vital part of Latter-day Saint history and
doctrine, their roles and purposes are often misunderstood. In this inspiring
volume, author Donald W. Parry discusses in a clear and understandable way what
we can learn from the scriptures and from modern prophets and apostles about
angels and their missions. Available now at DeseretBook.com.
1. “Personal
Revelation: The Gift, the Test, and the Promise,” Ensign, Nov.
1994, 61; see also N. Eldon Tanner, “Warnings from Outer Space,” Ensign, Nov.
1972, 26: “Since the very beginning of time we have a record of God’s messages
to man, either by personal appearance, by angels, by direct revelation, by
visions, by dreams, or by inspiration.”
2. Gospel
Doctrine, 436.
3. Gospel
Doctrine, 436.
4. Articles
of Faith, 205.
5. Kimball,
“The Cause Is Just and Worthy,” Ensign, May 1974, 119; Lee, Stand
Ye in Holy Places, 142.
6. Journal
of Discourses, 5:258.
7. “Personal
Revelation: The Gift, the Test, and the Promise,” Ensign, Nov.
1994, 59.
8. “The Gift
of the Holy Ghost: What Every Member Should Know,” Ensign, Aug.
2006, 49–50.
9. Autobiography,
93–94.
10.“The
Aaronic Priesthood and the Sacrament,” Ensign, Nov. 1998, 38–39.
11.Journal
of Discourses, 6:368.
12.Mine
Errand from the Lord, 125.
13.Teachings
of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 325.
14.Saturday
Night Thoughts, 307.
https://www.ldsliving.com/5-Ways-Angels-Communicate-with-Us/s/89075?utm_source=ldsliving&utm_medium=email
Thursday, August 20, 2020
Visits from the Unborn By Anne Hinton Pratt
Visits from the Unborn
By Anne Hinton Pratt · August 10, 2020
The
most poignant feelings we have in this mortal existence often involve the deep
connections we enjoy with our children and grandchildren. There is a familiarity
that is often present with these children even before they are born. When the
veil is very thin…
The Presence of Spirits
A
couple of days after my 2nd son was born (third pregnancy), I
was laying on the bed resting, when I distinctly felt the presence of spirits
in the room on my left side. I had the uncanny feeling that they were my
unborn children and were there viewing me and the circumstances that they would
be born into. At that time, an extraordinary thing happened.
I suddenly felt a yearning to have more children. This was not
normal! My default position after having a baby was generally something like,
“Well, I’m never doing that again!” But strangely, just a day or two after this
son was born I was wanting to welcome new spirits into my home. I
marveled at the change of heart that they brought, opening the way for them to
be.
The
singularity of sensing pre-born children is always sacred and oh so
sweet! I’ve had many people willing to share their wonderful stories
with me and have been given permission to also communicate them with you. Each
story illustrates an inspiring way to be re-introduced to well-known,
yet-to-be-born loved ones.
“There
is My Mother!” “I Know You!”
Shelli
Dimig had an experience akin to mine, where she felt a son who was observing
her before birth. She said,
“One
afternoon in 1999, I was walking into my bedroom to set down a basket of
laundry on my bed, feeling very, very ill due to major heartburn and morning
sickness, being about four months pregnant. As I sat the basket down, I
heard a click in the upper left-hand corner of my bedroom. I looked there and
immediately heard an adult male voice say, “THERE IS MY MOTHER.” I was
completely shocked, not expecting such an occurrence! I stood there and
marveled that I must be having a boy and that he had, apparently brought his
friend to see his future mother through the veil.
“I
became very attached to my son-to-be at that point and looked forward to
meeting him again and raising him. (An interesting note is that my son
Jay was born at home in that room just a few feet away from where I heard the
click from above! It was a sacred space.)” [1]
Diane
Chase told me about how after her 5th daughter was born,
she became reacquainted with her daughter’s familiar spirit. As she
was holding her in the hospital, they locked eyes and the message that
clearly came through was, “I KNOW YOU!”[2]
What a
powerful message that was, and from then on the beautiful relationship with her
daughter began again.
At
times parents feel their yet-to-be-born children communicating with them to
greet, advise, inform or comfort. In the following story, the messages
came to a grandmother who was able to encourage her unsettled
granddaughter to come to earth.
Hesitation of Preexistent Spirit
Laurel
Larsen Stokes writes the following powerful experience:
“Just a
year ago I was relaxing after a previous busy day at work and laying on my bed
reading and dozing. I was literally shaken awake by my ancestors, and I
suddenly had an abrupt, emergent, encompassing “knowing” that there was a
problem with my granddaughter that was scheduled to be born by C-section that
day. I knew there was some kind of an emergency, so I immediately took action
by checking with my daughter to see if there were any issues with the baby
prior to her planned C-section. Her only response was that it had been
delayed for a couple of hours, but the unborn baby was doing fine. I
texted my other two daughters and asked them for their prayers and spoke to my
husband asking for his prayers.
“I felt
the ancestors knew I needed to do those things while they waited for me. I went
back to my room, sat on my bed feeling them surround me again. I
then was met by my great grandmother who was one of the early church midwives
in northern Utah. Though I have seen pictures of her when she was
older, I was now seeing her as a young adult, but I had a “knowing” who she
was.
“She
escorted me over to an area where there were other spirits. Without speaking,
she conveyed through thoughts that my granddaughter was there and was very
hesitant to be born. I communicated to my granddaughter without speaking
that we would be there for her and would help her! I then was sent
back to my physical surroundings.
“My
granddaughter was born healthy two hours later.” [3]
Who
knows what would have happened if Laurel had not been allowed to intervene. The
next story also involves a grandmother. In this experience she saw her
granddaughter in great detail in a very special setting…
Shining Apparition
JoJean
Loflin had an extraordinary experience which occurred on November 7, 2002.
Her daughter Andrea had struggled with carrying babies to full term and had
previously lost several of them early on. She had finally succeeded in
her third in-vitro attempt, and the whole family rejoiced for her. JoJean
writes:
“On
that Thursday morning, I left the house early as always to attend my Temple
shift in the Provo Utah Temple. That morning my heart was overflowing
with gratitude and joy. I expressed my thanks to God for the pregnancy of
my daughter and asked that I would be open to the holy influences of the
Temple.
“The
Endowment room, as is customary, was darkened for the showing of the film, and
I struggled to stay awake that hour of the morning, after just a few hours of
sleep, and perhaps had briefly dozed off.
“I
suddenly came to myself, raised my head, and looked around the darkened room,
at this time fully awake. In the center of the aisle, between the two
sides of the room, I saw light begin to gather and spread. It became brighter
and brighter, filling the center of the room, though I still sat in darkness,
and I saw a figure taking shape in the light that clearly became the figure of
a woman.
“As she became more distinct, I was aware that the light
continued to radiate into the back and upper corners of the room, and all
around her. She was tall, slender and beautiful. Her whole being was radiant
beyond my capacity to describe – glorious, elegant,
shining, exquisite. She was wearing a white gown, gathered loosely at the base
of the neck and falling from there to her feet and having long full sleeves
that came to the wrist and were gathered into a cuff there. Her hands were
beautiful and graceful, her arms not straight at her sides but with elbows
bent, hands in front of her, her right hand slightly outstretched toward me.
“She was not a phantom or an apparition; I could not see through
her but perceived her as a person of solidity and substance. I watched in awe
for perhaps 30- 40 seconds or so, as she stood there and looked at me. Then the
light slowly began to gather out of the corners and back into the center until
it faded away completely, and she was gone.
“I had
a hard time concentrating after that. I didn’t know what to think or how
to think…
After
the session JoJean went home where she immediately was told that she needed to
go to Andrea because things weren’t good. She met with Andrea and her
husband shortly thereafter and learned that during an ultrasound just a couple
of hours before, no heartbeat was found. Their baby daughter was dead.
JoJean continues:
“I shared with them my experience of the morning and expressed
the possibility that that beautiful angel was their unborn daughter. Since that
time, I have become ever more convinced that indeed she was.
“The
reality of that experience was an immeasurable comfort to me in the weeks that
followed it – and it has been a source of wonder and joy to me ever
since. I testify now and forever that this was not a dream; it was not a
hallucination. It was not a figment of my imagination. It was as real as
anything I have ever seen or felt in my life” [4]
What a
powerful experience JoJean had! It’s an honor to those for whom the veil
is thinned, even though the situations may be heartbreaking. In this
final miraculous story, both parents, in three different settings, were
privileged to communicate with their unborn daughter.
Tragedy and Miracles
Teiva
Kubiak and his wife Haunui live on the island of Moorea near Tahiti.
Haunui has had a difficult time with pregnancies in the seven years they have
been married. In the pregnancy I will be referring to, she was nearly
four months along when she began encountering problems, eventually losing all
the amniotic fluid surrounding the fetus. When this happened, their baby
girl [who they named Nuihere] died. They were devastated because they had
been praying for a miracle of healing. Their miracles, however, came in unusual
ways.
An
amazing sequence of spiritual events began about five days before their
baby died. At that time, they didn’t know the sex of the child, so it was
enlightening when Haunui had a vision of a young woman she
instantly recognized as her child. In the vision, this beautiful young
woman was waving goodbye to her, so Haunui became alerted for what was coming.
A few
days later when Haunui was required to be transported by ambulance from their
home to the hospital, she herself died for a short time. In the
spirit world, she saw this same daughter, dressed in white with Christ. It was
a magnificent, incredible experience! Haunui desperately wanted to stay
there with them, but both Nuihere and the Lord told her that she hadn’t
finished her mission and that she needed to return to her husband Teiva because
he needed her more…
Haunui
was resuscitated and was able to return home.
A week
later, Teiva and Haunui went to the temple to express their tremendous gratitude
to Heavenly Father for her recovery. Teiva continues the story in his own
words:
“In the celestial room, as I was praying, I deeply asked our
Father in Heaven to let Nuihere come to me. As I was asking, I could feel her
love for me. She was with me, like holding me in her arms. It was a moment I
will cherish forever. Even writing it now makes tears come out. It lasted like
5 minutes then vanished, but I will never forget it. Only a
very few number of people know this story, but I’m happy to share it now as a
testimony that the family is eternal.” [5]
Gamut of Experience
In
these stories I’ve shared the gamut of experience from the unborn popping in to
provide unexpected delight,- to a grandmother encouraging a spirit to be born,
– to the witnessing of a spirit before or after death. Each story
illustrates such beautiful ways to be re-introduced to well-known loved ones.
For
reasons only God fully knows, some spirits are permitted to manifest themselves
to us. When we feel, hear, or see their spirits in this realm it’s a very
sacred experience that opens the doorway from one world to another and lets us
know how very thin the veil can be…
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