The Miraculous Assistance of "Temple" Angels By Anne Hinton Pratt

The Miraculous Assistance of “Temple” Angels

By Anne Hinton Pratt · January 29, 2020

Can attending the temple change your life? What actual blessings can you receive from doing family history and temple work? Those are powerful questions, and there are powerful answers. When we do this work of gathering on both sides of the veil, the heavens are unleashed for our good!

Physical Intervention of Angels

There is great organization and synchronicity beyond the veil.  If spirits want their work done, and find willing participants, they will bless the participants in varied and amazing ways.  Sometimes they even get physical in their help.

Robert Cowart recounts a time where he felt the physical force of an angel aiding him in finding an important book he needed to continue his family research.  He had been searching for years for any information on his father’s grandmother, Francis Allen, and discovered that there were two books in the Family History Library in Salt Lake that would give him the information he needed.

One day, he had a four-hour layover in Salt Lake City, while traveling for his work, and decided to take a cab to the library and see what he could find. He found the location of the books he thought might have the information, but there was nothing about Francis Allen. He writes:   

“I only had a few minutes left so randomly checking books was not possible.  When I walked back to the book area I sensed the presence of numerous spirits. As I sat there my right hand all on its own went to the shelf right in front of me and took a book off the shelf.  I opened the book to the index and there was a   Frances Allen! I went to the page and there was a wedding announcement for her and my Great grandfather, saying Frances Allen of Jefferson County! No one would have ever guessed that she was from there.”

Robert then called his wife and excitedly told her the news.  When he returned home, they made the trip to the Jefferson county courthouse and shortly discovered that Frances Allen had been orphaned when both parents were killed in an accident.  Because of the physical angelic intervention and in-depth synchronicity Robert was led to the book, where he could quickly trace her genealogy back to Ireland. (Robert Cowart, Story used by permission).        

M. Russell Ballard taught about the eligibility we all have for angelic assistance when we honor the covenants we make in the temple.  He said:                                                                                               

“All who have made sacred covenants with the Lord and who honor those   covenants are eligible to receive personal revelation, to be blessed by the   ministering of angels, to commune with God, to receive the fulness of the gospel, and, ultimately, to become heirs alongside Jesus Christ of all our Father has.”(M. Russell Ballard, “Men and Women and Priesthood Power,” Ensign, September 2014 Italics added).

Angels Bless Women’s Sacrifice with Miraculous Orchestration of Events    

I love an experience conveyed to me by Patricia H Arnazzi. It illustrates the painstaking details that angels can orchestrate in order to help us, especially when they know we have sacrificed for them.  She writes about a series of miracles she experienced on an extraordinary Saturday morning when she attended the temple.

 “As every Saturday, I had gone to the LA temple to serve. Once there, I decided to do initiatory names. Later that day, I was taking a very important licensing examination at the university, but I thought I would have enough time to drive there (over an hour drive) and do all ten names I had received.

“All went according to plan, until the last three names. The LA temple was closing for renovation and that Saturday was packed with patrons and not enough workers. They came to pull workers to take them to help with the veil and invited those of us waiting for a booth available to return the unfinished work if we could not wait. I checked my watch and realized that if I waited, I would miss that very crucial licensing exam.

“I was about to return my unfinished work when I looked down to read those three names again. I read their information, including the dates when they had died and realized they had been waiting too long for those ordinances. My heart    melted. I could not do that to them and made my decision to patiently wait to do their names.  I prayed for Heavenly Father to help me later on the road and to change the laws of physics so that I could arrive on time for my test. “As soon as I thought this, I felt myself being embraced as if in a group hug. A wonderful sense of peace engulfed me. 

I waited for thirty minutes without complaint. In fact, when some of the other sisters waiting with me would complain that it was taking too long, I would only smile peacefully as if I had all the time in the world.                                                                       

“After I was finished, I rushed to my car and realized I had only thirty minutes to cover 75 miles, an impossible task any day in LA.  I knew I would be late for my exam and most likely denied entrance, but I decided to risk it.

“I was driving to the max speed when all of a sudden, I felt a strong impression to reduce the speed drastically. I questioned it for a second since the road was almost clear and I was making good time, which perhaps would help me in pleading leniency later for my test. But the impression was too strong, and I obeyed. I saw the speedometer go from 65 to 30 and then, heard a loud pop on the right. I saw a car driving on the last lane of the freeway lose control and start   spinning coming into the second lane and barely missing a car, going into the   lane next to me and finally crashing on the median wall right in front of my car. I hit the brakes and had no problem avoiding the collision since I had already reduced my speed before.”

The miracles did not end there for Patricia.  Upon reaching the university, almost an hour late, Patricia discovered with joy that technical difficulties had delayed the test and that it had not even begun.  She feels strongly that those “temple angels” protected her and helped her pass that exam.  (Patricia H Arnazzi, Story used with permission)

God’s profound promised blessings are reaffirmed by President Russell M. Nelson when he said:

 “…every time you worthily serve and worship in the temple, you leave armed  with God’s power and with His angels having “charge over” you. (Russell M.  Nelson, “Spiritual Treasures,” Oct. Conference 2019, Italics added) 

Departed Cousin Leading the Way to Find Many Family Names 

A few years ago, Rex Lowe was in the temple sitting in a session with his eyes closed talking to the Lord.  Suddenly he became aware that there was someone standing next to him.  Rex wrote:

“I opened my eyes and there was my cousin Ken. He said, ‘Rex why haven’t you done my work?’  I sat up stunned, asking myself the same question. (When he was alive, we were good friends and I had shared the Gospel with him, but shortly afterwards he had moved to Canada. We corresponded and I told him I would send the missionaries so he could be baptized.  He wrote back and said it was too late, he was rapidly dying of brain cancer. Then I got a letter from his wife saying he had passed away).

“When I arrived home after that vision with Ken, we decided not only to do his work ASAP, but to go thoroughly through our records again.  Because of this renewed effort, fresh and unexpected avenues opened up helping us to find a treasure trove of family names.” (Rex Lowe, Story used with permission)

So, Ken and many other souls benefited from Rex’s labors.

Russell M. Nelson quoted Brigham Young as saying,                                    

“All the angels in heaven are looking at this little handful of people, and stimulating them to the salvation of the human family.”(Brigham Young, 309, 299, cited in Nelson, “Young Adults and the Temple,” Ensign, Feb. 2006, 15.)

Angel Priesthood holders Came to Bless

Grateful ancestors want to help us.  Charles Harper experienced family from beyond the veil during a crucial priesthood blessing.  He writes:                                                                         

“My parents were on their way to visit my father’s family when dad had a heart attack. They had driven cross-country from California, which was how they had traveled for years; dad had only two weeks to see his family. 

“We are converts to the church, and dad and I were the only ones in the family who were blessed with the priesthood. I received a phone call asking that I come and give dad a blessing.  I felt so alone in the hospital room as I laid my hands on his head to give the blessing, but as I did, I became aware that the room was filled with priesthood holders who were there to be part of the blessing.”

My mother’s efforts to find ancestors had resulted in the ordination of several departed family members who were there to help me anoint and bless dad. I didn’t see them, but I could feel them and knew they were there.” (Charles Harper experience used with permission)

Quentin L. Cook confirmed the powerful truth about angels when he said:

“Never underestimate the assistance provided in temples from the other side of the veil.” (Quentin L. Cook, “See Yourself in the Temple,” General Conference April, 2016)

Can Attending the Temple Change Your Life?

What blessings can doing family history and temple work bring? A critical book located; a difficult test passed; abundance of family names discovered; loving support given, and lives saved.  Who wouldn’t want those blessings? When we do this work of gathering on both sides of the veil, the heavens and their hosts are unleashed for our good.

https://latterdaysaintmag.com/the-miraculous-assistance-of-temple-angels/

Co-Workers with Angels By Anne Hinton Pratt

Co-workers with Angels: Angelic Involvement in the Lives of Missionaries

By Anne Hinton Pratt · February 13, 2020

Cover image: “Angel” by Brian Kershisnik.

This is the day of the great Gathering of Israel.  The time in earth’s history where more mortals are becoming aware that they can be co-workers with angels.  It’s a day of angelic presence, direction, and miracles.

We have an army of missionaries in the field, as well as those of us who pursue that great work.  Many have reported the manifestation of angels as they gather or are gathered to Israel.  I want to share four of such experiences.

Angels Told Him to Listen                                                                                 

Sister Susan Richardson served with her husband Brian, then Mission President of the Ecuador Quito North Mission, from 2013-2016.  She told of an impactful experience one the elders in her mission had.  She writes:

“Elder Burleson was walking with his companion one day when he saw a ragged homeless man.  Elder Burleson and his companion were surprised to hear this vagabond call out to them, especially when he called them by name. When they asked him how he knew their names, he responded that Angels in white had spoken with him and told him to listen to Elder Burleson and his companion and that they would teach him what he needed to do to be baptized like Jesus Christ.

“He did in fact listen to them, was baptized, no longer lives on the streets, and is active in the Church.” (Susan Richardson, Conversations and emails used with permission).

In a letter to the Elders of the Church, in 1835 Joseph Smith Taught:

“And now, I ask, how righteousness and truth are going to sweep the earth as with a flood? I will answer. Men and angels are to be co-workers in bringing to pass this great work” (The Joseph Smith Papers p. 209, Italics added)

Angels do work hand in hand with missionaries to gather Israel in this dispensation. In fact, Wilford Woodruff said:

“The angels are watching over us. The eyes of all the heavenly hosts are over us. Those who have lived in other dispensations understand this       dispensation far better than we do, and they are watching over the labors of the Elders of Israel.” (Bateman, Prophets Have Spoken, 1:1046.)

Departed Catholic Priest Appears to Woman

Sometimes, beings can help missionaries further the work of teaching the Gospel in ways that we would never expect.  Carola A. Strauss relates an extraordinary experience of how the appearance of a Catholic priest aided her family in becoming members of the church.  She writes:  

“My grandmother, Anna Maria Theresia Lormess Fischer, had a conversion story that has stood as a deep, abiding, and unshakable testimony to me of the truthfulness of the Church, the gospel of Jesus   Christ, the Savior, the Book of Mormon, and the Plan of Salvation. It took place in Hernkaschuetz, Germany in the late 1890’s.                                          

“Anna Maria had always been extremely inquisitive about her church and its doctrine. She spent many hours talking to her priest in an attempt to understand and resolve in her own mind who God was, and what the purpose of life was, etc. She never felt satisfied with what she was told and always felt that something was missing. Anna Maria was especially concerned with what happens to us when we die.  In fact, that is what she and her priest discussed during her last visit with him. She and her family were devout Catholics.

“One morning, just prior to dawn, as Anna Maria was waking up, there appeared before her, her Catholic priest — he was holding a book. As he approached her, he held the book up and pointed to it. It was titled ‘Das Buch Mormon’ (the Book of Mormon). The priest said nothing to her; he simply continued to point to the book and then he disappeared.

“Confused, bewildered, and baffled by what had just taken place, she got out of bed, then set out to visit her priest so she could share with him her strange experience or dream.

“Upon reaching the church, she quickly learned of the untimely death of the priest. Good grief! He had suddenly passed away earlier that week. My grandmother was thoroughly confused, to say the least.  She was convinced that she needed to find this mysterious book . . . she just knew it would provide her with some important answers to this entire puzzle.

“Although her attempts to locate the book seemed an exercise in futility, Anna Maria remained determined — she never stopped searching or hoping to find ‘The Book.’ A number of years as well as World War One passed by and then one day she found it… she found the book in an outdoor garbage can! She also tracked down the missionaries herself. (They didn’t find her, she found them). As she read through the Book of Mormon’s pages, she learned about the plan of salvation, she learned about life after death; she learned about God and about the Savior.  She found the answers to so many of the questions that had for so long perplexed her. She also now understood why her priest had appeared to her. He must have discovered the truth himself and wanted to make sure that she found it too!” (Carola A. Strauss, emails used with permission). 

The departed priest’s newly acquired level of light and knowledge must have qualified him for that angelic errand. He wanted to share his new understandings with Anna Maria, because he knew how much she sought truth.

Angel Helps Sister Missionaries in Remote Sector of Ecuador

Missionaries are blessed in many ways on their missions.  Angels are attentive to their needs and support them in unimagined ways.  Gabi Israelson and her companion were aided in their quest to find their way home when they were lost.  She recounts from her journal:                                                                                       

“The other day we went far into our sector to teach a part member family. After we visited these people, we discovered that there were no more buses after 4 p.m.  It was 5:30, and at first we were walking back with no worries.  I was sure a taxi would pass. Well, then all of the sudden it was 7 p.m. and we were still walking in the middle of nowhere, but it was starting to get dark.

“We started to get a little bit worried since we were two gringas in the middle of nowhere in Ecuador with no way of getting home.  We figured that the walk would take at least a couple more hours and we had to be home by 9 p.m.

“We were praying and praying, when out of NOWHERE this taxi appears and pulls up next to us.  A North American gets out of the taxi. [Unimaginable in that area] He looks at us and calmly says:

‘Lost in Tangali?’

“We were like, Uh, yeah”           

“He calls this taxi number and tells us to just keep walking down and in about 20 minutes, a taxi will come by.                                      

“We were absolutely shocked! Like, what on earth is some young North American doing out here in the boonies driving a taxi?  We didn’t even get time to ask him more questions before he quickly got in his taxi and left. 

Sure enough just like he told us, a taxi came, and we made it out safely.”             

Gabi and her companion both felt that they had experienced angelic intervention that day in what they were certain was a miracle. (Gabi Israelson, Journal entry used with permission).

Elder Henry B. Eyring taught that angels are all around us to assist and support when we serve His cause.  He states:                                                                              

“You will also find that the Lord puts helpers by your side—on your right, on your left, and all around you. You do not go alone to serve others for Him.” (Henry B. Eyring, “Trust in That Spirit Which Leadeth to Do Good” April Conference 2016)

Senior Missionary Guarded and Given Peace in Dangerous Situation

Sister Kristi Wangsgard tells how she was sustained by an angel in the midst of peril on her Texas McAllen mission, 2019. She writes:

“I was practicing the piano in our portable chapel so that I could play this Sunday’s hymns with confidence and joy. In the middle of my practice time, I was interrupted by a man that suddenly burst into the portable chapel. This man was angry, irate, and violent! He and I were the only two people in the chapel and all of a sudden he started knocking down chairs, even tossing them while yelling, ranting, and raving.

“Miraculously, I was sustained to continue playing the piano without missing a beat. I totally ignored the violence and felt as calm as a ‘summer’s morning.’  I felt peaceful and mild-mannered even though there was chaos, contention, and turmoil all around me. I couldn’t believe it! Normally in this type of situation I would usually ‘run for the hills’ and hide, but this day, I was divinely supported.

“The violence was short-lived, and the man left as quickly as he had         arrived. After the whole episode died down, I offered a prayer of thanks and marveled at how calm I felt.  I was protected by what I perceived to be a guardian angel—both emotionally and physically! There was an angel from somewhere that was aware of me and my circumstance. I felt loved and cared for.  Since I’m a missionary–I had an angel to ‘bear me up’ when I needed desperate help!”(Kristi Wangsgard, email used with permission).

James E. Talmage echoes what Sister Wangsgard said, when he taught:

“This great Being of infinite power and goodness… is our Father…He has set heavenly beings to watch over us and to guard us from the attacks of evil powers while we live on earth. Do we realize that in our daily walk and work we are not alone, but that angels attend us wherever our duty causes us to go? (Collected Discourses, Vol.3, James E. Talmage, June 25, 1893, Italics added).

Co-working With Angels

Yes, this is the day of angelic presence, direction, and miracles.  Angels and mortals can be co-workers in this marvelous work of gathering.  We do our part and they do their part, and between us, great things will come to pass.     

https://latterdaysaintmag.com/co-workers-with-angels-angelic-involvement-in-the-lives-of-missionaries/