5 Insights into the Spirit World from Those Who Have Seen It.

By Marlene Bateman Sullivan 

Job posed the question of ages when he asked: "If a man die,
shall he live again?” (Job 14:14) Jesus Christ answered, saying;
 “Because I live, ye shall live 

also” (John 14:19). Like birth, death is a necessary step
in our eternal progression

—a doorway that leads into the next life. The written
accounts we have of early 

Latter-day Saints visiting the spirit world stand as a
witness that life does not 

end with death. When the Savior came to earth,
died, and rose again, 

He opened the doors of salvation, breaking the bands
of death so that we might live.

Brigham Young said, “Our bodies are composed

of visible tangible matter . . .

What is commonly called death does not destroy 

the body, it only causes 

a separation of spirit and body, but the principle 

of life, inherent in the native elements, of which the 

body is composed, still continues” 

(Discourses of Brigham Young, compiled 

by John A. Widstoe, (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book 1954),

pp. 368-369).

Since none of us has died, death remains unfamiliar and
unknown. However,

a few people have visited the spirit world through
near-death experiences, 

dreams, and visions. We can learn much about death
and the next life from 

their accounts.

We Are Not Left Alone When We Die

One such insight we learn from these accounts
 is that in the first moments 

after death, newly-departed spirits are often
 met by a guide who escorts

 them to the spirit world.

Lorenzo Dow Young, who had a near-death
experience in the early 

1800s, said:

“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,” he went on to say, “the personage with 

me was dressed in the purest white. My guide, for so I will 

call him, said ‘Now let us go’” 

(Marlene Bateman Sullivan, Gaze Into Heaven; 

Near-death Experiences in Early Church History, 

(Springville, Utah: Cedar Fort, Inc., 2013), 27-30).

Tom Gibson, who had a near-death experience following a
heart attack, shared that his friend Daniel came to escort him
to the spirit world. He wrote:

“The world was different from this one. I’m not sure how
 I got there . . . I just followed 

Daniel. It seems as if all I had to do was think of where
I wanted to be, and I could go 

there at any speed I wished. . . We continued walking for a
 while and I noticed someone 

on the path ahead of us. . . As we got closer to the individual
on the path, I could see and

 feel that he was a magnificent person, and it was . . .
I felt overwhelmed as I looked at him. 

He was bathed in light. Daniel 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
 similar enormous love for him. I fell at his feet—
not because I thought about it, but because I couldn’t stand”
(Marlene Bateman Sullivan, Gaze Into Heaven;
 Near-death Experiences in Early Church History, op cit. pp. 89-90).

It is comforting to know that loved ones or angels will greet us when we leave 

our mortal bodies and help us know where to go.

The Spirit World Will Be Glorious but Familiar

It is natural to be curious about what the spirit world looks like. Some people

 who visited there have given clear and vivid descriptions, such as Brother 

Pettersson, who said it resembled the world he knew on earth. He wrote:

“There were cities and villages, lakes and rivers, fields 

and gardens, houses and mansions, temples and palaces, 

flowers and animals of great beauty and variety. The people 

were busy. Some were building, some were planting, some 

harvesting” (Marlene Bateman Sullivan, The Magnificent World of Spirits; Eyewitness Accounts of Where We Go When We Die, (Springville, 

Utah: Cedar Fort, Inc., 2016), 87-92).

In 1867, John Powell wrote:

“My spirit then left my body and went with my guide . . . 

Here I beheld the inhabitants. The houses and trees were 

beautiful to behold. I was so amazed and so delighted that 

I requested my guide to permit me to stay and dwell there, 

for all things were far in advance of this world” (Ibid., 84-85).

Tom Gibson, whose near-death experience was mentioned
before, also described these surroundings:

“Daniel next led me to a city. It was a city of light—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 consider precious on earth. They looked like . . . 

that is they resembled marble, and gold, and silver, and other 

bright materials, only they were different—the buildings and 

streets seemed to have a sheen, or to glow. The entire scene was 

one of indescribable beauty. . .

“There was another feeling that went with it. On earth 

there always seems to be something . . . you know how things 

bother you here. There is always some problem troubling you. 

Either its 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” 

(Marlene Bateman Sullivan, Gaze Into Heaven; 

Near-death Experiences in Early Church History, op cit. pp. 89-90).

There Will Be No Strangers

President Spencer W. Kimball taught us that familial relationships
 and friendships forged on earth will continue on in the next life. He said:

“To the unbeliever [death] is the end of all, associations 

terminated, relationships ended, memories soon to fade 

into nothingness. But to those who have knowledge and faith 

in the promise of the gospel of Jesus Christ, death’s 

meaning is . . . a change of condition into a wider serener sphere 

of action; it means the beginning of eternal life” 

(Edward Kimball, (compiled and edited), 

Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, (Salt Lake City: 

Bookcraft, 1982), 39).

Thomas S. Thomas also testified that relationships endure beyond
this life. He declared:

“The grand greeting you first receive is from your closest 

of kin—father, mother, brother and sisters—and all that are 

near and dear to you who passed from earthly life and arrived 

in the Great Beyond before you.”

He continued, “I realized that I met no strangers in the meeting 

and greeting of the millions of souls there. . . . There were 

two groups of souls I met there. One group had been to earth 

and departed before me from there, and the other group was 

waiting their chance to go to earth. None of either of these 

were strangers to me; I had always known them” 

(Marlene Bateman Sullivan, Gaze Into Heaven; 

Near-death Experiences in Early Church History, op cit., 98-102).

Death is Not a Thing to Fear

We need not fear death, for when we depart this life, we will be
freed from earthly pain and filled with joy. Brigham Young said:

“We shall turn round and look upon it [death] 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” (Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, 

vol. 17, 26 volumes, (Liverpool, 1854-86), 142).

Just as a mother forgets the pain of childbirth once her child is in her arms, 

so we will forget the pains of earth life and find comfort and joy.

Thomas S. Thomas also spoke of this:

“All mental powers were restored. The fond memories of the past
returned . . . your soul is endowed with wisdom and knowledge
and filled with everlasting love. . . . 

Distance is no barrier to transmit thought without instruments,
or to travel under your own power. Your vision is magnified
there; your future view is plain; desire for knowledge is
 inexhaustible; you are master of yourself; 

intelligence is the key to all realms which makes
 an endless trail to all advancement and is a place
 of satisfaction and joy to the soul. . . . to the soul. . . . 

Time is figured on a different basis than in earthly life” 

(Marlene Bateman Sullivan, Gaze Into Heaven;
 Near-death Experiences 

in Early Church History, op cit., 98-102).

Death Brings with It Hope, Light, and Love

Perhaps the most important thing we learn from those
who have visited the spirit world is that Heavenly
 Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, are divine 

Beings who love and watch over us and that we can
 live with them again if we follow the example of our
 Savior, Jesus Christ, and obey God’s commandments.

These experiences also teach us that our moments on
earth are just that—moments—and that eternity
 stretches before us. Reading these accounts 

instills upon our minds the importance of making
 more productive use of our time on earth. We can
reevaluate our priorities to direct our time and 

energy growing and mastering ourselves.
 Everyone has sins to repent of, faults to change
 into strengths, and frailties to overcome.

“For behold, this life is the time for men to

prepare to meet God; yea, behold the day of this 

life is the day for men to perform their labors. . . . if 

we do not improve our time while in this life, then 

cometh the night of darkness wherein there can 

be no labor performed” (Alma 34:32-33).

These accounts comfort our souls with the knowledge that
 in the next life, we can  live in a sphere governed by love
 and light—a place of great beauty and everlasting peace. 

To achieve this blessed state, we would do well to
 follow the admonition of Nephi:

“Wherefore, ye must press forward with a 

steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness 

of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, 

if ye press forward, feasting upon the word of 

Christ and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the 

Father: Ye shall have eternal life” (2 Nephi, 31:20).

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