Parents of girl killed in Sandy Hook shooting share Miracles By Danielle B. Wagner

Watch: Parents of Girl Killed in Sandy Hook Shooting Share Miracles They Experienced After Her Death

byDanielle B. Wagner | Jul. 18, 2019

VideosMakes You ThinkMormon Life

On December 14, 2012, Alissa and Robbie Parker received a heartwrenching phone call—a shooting had happened at their daughter's elementary school, Sandy Hook. The nightmare of that day's events is still fresh in the Parkers's minds, but along with the horrors, the two recall many miracles that came into their lives the months and years after.

► Related content: When a Temple Prompting Led LDS Parents to Speak with the Dad of the Man Who Murdered Their Daughter

Alissa and Robbie Parker remember the first time they realized their daughter Emilie had become an unseen angel to others. A letter arrived from New Mexico from the mother of Emilie’s good friend, Arianna. Arianna had been devastated by Emilie’s death, becoming quiet and withdrawn. Then one day, Arianna’s parents heard her speaking animatedly to someone while she played alone in the backyard. She seemed happy, excited. When her parents asked Arianna who she was speaking with, she replied, “It’s Emilie. She is here with me. Can you feel her?” The Parkers have learned the power of those words for themselves as they have grown closer to Emilie and their Heavenly Father, feeling their love and influence from beyond the veil.

► Related content: When a Temple Prompting Led Latter-day Saint Parents to Speak with the Dad of the Man Who Murdered Their Daughter

The tragedy drew heaven nearer into their lives as Alissa and Robbie worked through difficult questions. In an interview with LDS Living, Robbie shared, “I remember when I was at church sitting in sacrament meeting, I kept thinking that if only I could have known what would happen that day, I would never have sent Emilie to school. I would have protected her, made sure nothing happened to her. But then, I felt this very distinct thought from Heavenly Father, saying: ‘I knew what they would do to my Son.’ And it just hit me. Heavenly Father sent His Son to this earth, fully knowing what they would do to Him. He watched as His Son was crucified and endured so much. As a father, that struck me, bringing a deeper sense of what the Atonement means and how much our Heavenly Father loves His Son and all of us.”

► Related content: Mom of Girl Killed in Sandy Hook Shares Remarkable Moment She Realized Her Daughter Is Still Near as an "Angel of Comfort"

Recently, Alissa and Robbie shared their beautiful story in a Church video. Listen to their stirring testimonies below.

http://www.ldsliving.com/Watch-Parents-of-Girl-Killed-in-Sandy-Hook-Shooting-Share-Miracles-They-Experienced-After-Her-Death/s/91232?utm_source=ldsliving&utm_medium=email

Communication from the Dead? By Dan Peterson

Communications from the Dead?

 JULY 1, 2019 BY DAN PETERSON

  81 COMMENTS

***

A few days ago, I found myself looking up the Wikipedia entry on the Swedish actor Max von Sydow.  (I’ve been aware of him since I first saw him in Ingmar Bergman’s The Seventh Seal during my late teens.)  I found what I was looking for, but I also found this intriguing and rather mysterious passage:

[Von] Sydow is reported to be either an agnostic or an atheist. In 2012, Sydow told Charlie Rose in an interview that Ingmar Bergman had told him he would contact Sydow after death to show him that there was a life after death. When Rose asked Sydow if he had heard from Bergman, Sydow replied that he had, but chose not to elaborate further on the exact meaning of this statement. In the same interview, Sydow described himself as a doubter in his youth, but stated this doubt was gone. He did not elaborate on what he did not doubt anymore.

(For the relevant portion of the interview with Charlie Rose, see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKpQlx79fmU.)

***

While on that note, here’s a passage from one of my unfinished manuscripts:

Other accounts speak of knowledge being conveyed that only the dead person could have known.  One of the Guggenheims’ informants, for instance, relates a story in which her deceased husband told her the location of some badly needed cash.[1]  The ancient Roman statesman and orator Marcus Tullius Cicero (d. 43 B.C.) recounts an anecdote about a murder that was solved when the victim appeared during the dream of a friend and supplied the details of the crime.[2]  A very interesting subcategory of such narratives involves a deceased friend or family member warning of danger or of an unrecognized health threat.[3]  A friend at the university where I teach tells, for example, of her two-years-dead mother (whom I also knew) coming to her in a dream—the only time she has ever dreamed of her mother—and telling her “You have cancer.”  Although my friend had recently been tested and found to be fine, new tests confirmed the diagnosis, and early detection saved her life.[4]  A remarkable instance of much the same thing was related to Osis and Haraldsson.  According to the account given to them, a seven-year-old boy had been hospitalized in critical condition with a mastoid infection.  Unfortunately, he was rebellious.  He refused to take the necessary medications, and resisted the nurses at every turn.  Suddenly, though, he had an experience, as he believed, with his deceased uncle, who had worked as a physician on that very hospital floor and to whom he had been close.

The boy insisted that Uncle Charlie came, sat beside him, and told him to take his medicine.  He also told the boy that he would get well.  The boy was very sure that Uncle Charlie had sat in the chair and told him these things.  After this experience, the patient was cooperative.  He was not excited, and he took the deceased doctor’s “visit” as a matter of course.  The next morning, the boy was much better—a dramatic change had occurred in his condition.[5]

The phenomenon of “after-death communications” is surprisingly widespread, even among unbelievers and skeptics.[6]  

According to a survey conducted by the prominent priest-sociologist Andrew Greeley under the auspices of the National Opinion Research Center, 42% of American adults claim to have been in contact, in some way or another, with someone who has died.  The figures are even higher in certain subcategories of the population.  Studies suggest that somewhere between 50% and 74.4% of widows claim to have had some such experience.[7]  A lower but still significant figure has been found in surveys of the general European population, many of whom claim to have been fully awake during their encounter, unaffected by drugs, and, sometimes, not alone in their perception of the presence of a deceased person.[8]  Such results cannot simply be waved aside.

Still, despite their commonness, and despite the fact that many stories of after-death communication involve multiple witnesses, they remain anecdotal.[9] 

[1] Guggenheim and Guggenheim, Hello from Heaven!, 42.  Other, similar, stories can be found at pages 243-256; $also the rather different case summarized at Raymond Bayless, Apparitions and Survival of Death (New Hyde Park, NY: University Books, 1973), 185.

[2] See Cicero “On Divination.”  [Get specific reference.  Involves Arcadia and Megara.]

[3] Guggenheim and Guggenheim, Hello from Heaven!, 42, 257-270.  See, too, Harold B. Lee, Stand Ye in Holy Places (1974), 139.  [See original.] 

[4] $Compare the story recounted at Gallup, Adventures in Immortality, 94-95.

[5] $Osis and Haraldsson, At the Hour of Death, 151.

[6] $See, for example, the anecdote related at Guggenheim and Guggenheim, Hello from Heaven!, 329-330; also$ Lee Nelson, Beyond the Veil, vol. 2 (n.pl.: Cedar Fort, 1996), 11, 55-57, 91-92, 111;$ Lee Nelson, Beyond the Veil, vol. 3 (Springville, UT: Cedar Fort, 1990), 36, 103-104, 121, 138-142.  In some of these encounters, multiple persons had the experience either simultaneously or serially, and/or seemingly corroborating details were noted.  Still, the evidence, though derived from varied sources, remains anecdotal and unconfirmed.

[7] See American Health (January-February 1987) [See original]; Sherry Simon-Buller, Victor A. Christopherson, and Randall A. Jones, “Correlates of Sensing the Presence of a Deceased Spouse,” Omega 19/1 (1988-1989): 21-30; Torill Christine Lindström, “Experiencing the Presence of the Dead: Discrepancies in ‘the Sensing Experience’ and Their Psychological Concomitants,” Omega 31/1 (1995): 11-21.  Scott H. Becker and Roger M. Knudson, “Visions of the Dead: Imagination and Mourning,” Death Studies 27/8 (2003): 691-716, closely examines a quite untypical case of such perception from an “archetypal” and “non-dualist” (that is, non-literal) point of view.

[8] Erlendur Haraldson, “Survey of Claimed Encounters with the Dead,” Omega 19/2 (1988-1989): 103-???.

[9] For stories of shared experiences with deceased friends or relatives, see Guggenheim and Guggenheim, Hello from Heaven!, 285-300.  On pages 296-298, the Guggenheims offer accounts in which animals appear to respond to visits from the dead;$several such cases appear throughout Bayless, Apparitions and Survival of Death.  [Sally Taylor.]  On page 290???, they illustrate the apparently greater openness of children to “after-death communications.”  $Bayless, Apparitions and Survival of Death, 84, 185, reports two cases in which a deceased mother appears to return to check on or comfort a child.  [Gus.]

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/danpeterson/2019/07/communications-from-the-dead.html?utm_medium=email&utm_source=BRSS&utm_campaign=Latter-day+Saint&utm_content=366

The Miracles I Witnessed as My Daughter was Dying By Eileen V. Wilcox

The Miracles I Witnessed as My Daughter Was Dying

By Eileen V. Wilcox · July 14, 2019

As members of the Church of Jesus Christ, we are told that we are entitled to miracles if we live righteously and have faith. In Moroni 7:37 we read: “For it is by faith that miracles are wrought; and it is by faith that angels appear and minister unto men.”

When our 21-year-old daughter had a horrific reaction that caused her incredible pain and suffering, and ultimately lead to her death a few years later, we did not always recognize the miracles around us. Sometimes we take for granted many of the blessings in our lives. As you read Julene’s story, it is my hope that you will recognize the miracles in your own life and see how small acts of kindness you do may be a miracle and a blessing in someone else’s life—more than you can even imagine.

Julene had such a zest for life—and so much enthusiasm for doing even ordinary things. The summer and fall of 1997 was the happiest time of her life. In almost every aspect of her life, her fondest dreams were coming true. She had wonderful performing opportunities singing and playing banjo in Bluegrass bands, both in Rexburg, Idaho and on tour in Europe. She had been accepted into the top choir at BYU. But best of all, she had just become engaged to her true love, Scott.  Yet on October 12, 1997, life changed for Julene—and for our whole family – in an instant.

Julene was suffering from a sore throat and suspected she might have strep throat. She went to a doctor and, without testing, he prescribed Amoxicillin. After only two capsules of this brand of penicillin, she experienced a life-threatening toxic reaction that caused huge blisters and skin loss over 70 percent of her body as well as damage to her internal organs. This reaction, Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis, is rare and was not correctly diagnosed in the first three trips made to the local hospital. Eventually, she was flown to the nearest burn center, and we were told how serious this condition was. There theytold us there was a chance she would not survive the night.WE PRAYED FOR A MIRACLE, and so did our family, our friends, and many we did not even know. Though we didn’t get the miracle of complete recovery we were hoping for, I’ve been able to identify at least 21 miracles that came during this ordeal for our family. I will detail some of them in this article.

Because the pain from such extensive skin loss is so excruciating, Julene was placed in an induced coma. That meant she had to be intubated and placed on a ventilator. The doctors at the burn center explained that it was necessary to remove the damaged skin—and they even shaved off her gorgeous thick blonde hair. Perhaps the first miracle we saw was the incredible advances in modern medicine. Her body was coated with Bacitracin, an antiseptic gel, and covered with a plastic film that had recently been developed to save burn patients. Without these and many other medical advances, Julene would not have lived through the first few weeks of this reaction.

There were serious complications many times during the first six weeks. Because Julene’s lungs were so damaged, the ventilator forced air into her lungs at quite a high pressure. I was told on Sunday morning, December 7, that she had a pneumothorax—a break or hole in the lung. The air that was forced into her lungs was escaping into the chest area. They made holes under her arms and suctioned the escaped air out of her chest cavity. They explained that this was a life-threatening situation if the lungs did not seal very soon.

After the first two weeks, my husband and I had to switch off being with Julene so that we could take care of our family and attend to work and Church duties. My husband was with our family in Rexburg that Sunday, but I felt strongly that Julene needed a blessing. I went to the sacrament meeting held in the hospital and asked the branch president to give Julene a blessing to seal her lungs. He gave me a look that showed he felt overwhelmed and said: “I don’t know if I can do that.”  We discussed things for a few minutes, and he promised he would come back later.   

That evening I drove back to Rexburg before the branch president returned. I was very concerned but not distraught; I felt certain he would bless Julene as he said he would.

On Monday morning, the doctor called from the burn center and told me the result of her morning chest X-Ray. Through our faith and that of this devoted branch president, we were blessed with a miracle – her lungs had sealed!

On December 26, 1997, after two and a half months in an induced coma, Julene was allowed to regain consciousness. Her lungs and her eyes were still terribly damaged, and her body was incredibly weak. She had to learn to stand and walk, and to use her hands and arms again. But because her need for oxygen was so great, these activities were incredibly difficult. And to add to her discouragement, her recent engagement and reservation in the Oakland Temple had been cancelled. Her fiancé, who had been to visit almost every night, was encouraged to move ahead with his life and gradually quit visiting.

Then came a day when we were blessed with the miracle of music. A young man named Glenn had come around to sing to patients on several Sundays. Careful not to offend, he had previously sung folk songs. But on a Sunday in February, when Julene was terribly discouraged and dejected, Glenn came to sing for her. He started with the Primary hymn written by Janice Kapp Perry. It starts: Heavenly Father, are you really there? Do you hear and answer every child’s prayer?  Tears ran down Julene’s face, because she must have wondered those very thoughts. She was comforted particularly by verse 2:

Pray, he is there
Speak, he is list’ning.
You are his child;
His love now surrounds you.
He hears your prayer;
He loves the children.
Of such is the kingdom, the kingdom of heav’n.

            A Child’s Prayer © 1984 Janice Kapp Perry. Used by Permission.

Who would have thought that just singing a Primary song at a time of need would be a miracle in someone’s life?

After over five months in the burn center, Julene was transferred to a rehabilitation center. Here, there were many angels who ministered to her needs, and one was in the form of a visiting teacher! I’m sure that many of the visiting teachers who were assigned to visit the rehab center did not feel that their work would be significant. However, this sister (whose name I’ve forgotten) took time to get to know Julene, had compassion for the overwhelming odds she faced, helped wheel her out to the rose gardens, and had her ward fast and pray for Julene. That fast meeting was attended by Sister Olivia King of the Relief Society General Board. Sister King became like a sister to Julene. She invited the General Relief Society President, Mary Ellen Smoot, to visit Julene. It was a beautiful event! Sister Smoot said: “You will probably use your experiences to help others someday. You might have a position like I have.” Although Julene never had the privilege of speaking of her experiences during her earthly sojourn, many were inspired by her faith, bravery, and perseverance, and now by her published story.

After eight months of  hospitalization in Salt Lake, Julene returned home on June 10, 1998. Although there were many difficulties with caring for her at home, there were miracles of tender mercies and the Lord’s watchful care. One afternoon I was preparing to give Julene a dose of medicine from an inhaler. I heard a voice—if not aloud—in my mind saying: “Don’t give her that medicine, it is hurting her.” I thought back about the two doses I had given her earlier in the day and realized that she had had a very difficult time immediately after I administered the medicine to her. After sharing this with her doctor, he agreed that we should not continue, and her difficulties caused by the inhaler were resolved.

An even more dramatic incident that shows the Lord’s watchful care occurred as we returned from a medical visit to Salt Lake City. She continued to need a huge amount of oxygen. We had exchanged one of our tanks for a hospital tank. On the way home, Julene chose not to make a rest stop that we usually made. We had considered trading to the second tank of oxygen because we were running low, but decided we could get home without the change. As we arrived home, our respiratory therapist met us with a full tank of oxygen—the huge tank that we kept in the garage. He immediately changed Julene to this tank and said: “The tank you are on is completely empty.”  And looking at the alternate tank, he continued: “And the valve on this tank is wrong—you could not have used it.” We knew the Lord had watched over Julene, because her need for oxygen was so great, that if she had been even a few minutes on room air, she would have passed out and she would have suffered brain damage, if not death.

Julene indeed felt it was a miracle when in March of 2000, Elder Robert D. Hales heard about her situation and came to visit her while she was in LDS Hospital awaiting a surgery. He talked with her and asked if there was anything he could do for her. Julene asked if he would give her a blessing. He said he would be honored to do so. When he blessed her, he assured her that the Lord loved her. Toward the end, he stated: “If it is the Lord’s will that you continue to live on the earth, you will get well. If it is the Lord’s will that you return to Him, you will return to Him.”

As much as we wanted Julene to make a full recovery, her health started to rapidly decline after her visit with Elder Hales. Although her lungs had healed more than they expected, her trachea was damaged to the point the doctors predicted she would slowly and painfully suffocate. But Julene was blessed with a miracle even in her passing. Three weeks after being with Elder Hales, he sent her a beautiful letter. After I read it to her, I set the letter down and turned to see that blood had filled her ventilator tubes. I tried to suction, but the blood kept coming; she was experiencing massive hemorrhaging from her trachea. She looked at the tubing and said: “Mom, look—there is blood in the tubes.” I told her: “I know, and I have been suctioning, but it isn’t coming out.” Unsure of what else to do, I leaned over and said, “I love you.” She looked at me and answered with a phrase she had used so many times, “I love you more.” Unable to receive air, her eyes closed and she passed on quietly—from this time of terrible suffering into the arms of our Savior, where death and sorrow are known no more.

It was truly sad to have Julene leave us. After all, she was so delightful to be around—with her positive attitude, her clever sense of humor and her amazing musical gifts. But she left us a legacy never to be forgotten. In all her trials and extremities, she continually called upon the Lord and had His spirit with her.

 Elder Robert K. Dellenbach of the Seventy had watched over her from her early admission to the burn center to speaking at her funeral. After giving her a blessing prior to a very long and difficult eye surgery, he turned to me and said: “The day will come that you will thank Julene for her sacrifice for you.” I was perplexed by this statement and thought: “I will never be thankful for this trial.” Her pain and suffering was beyond anything I even thought possible. But yet, as I saw the faith and testimony of Julene’s five sisters grow, I knew that as the Savior’s suffering for each of us had purpose, Julene’s suffering also had purpose. Our family gained a greater testimony that the Atonement of Jesus Christ is real as we were lifted and sustained again and again through the years that Julene struggled and suffered.  And as we were comforted after her death by the peace and power of the Spirit, we felt increased gratitude for the plan of salvation. We have a sure knowledge that, through the power of the Atonement, we will again be with Julene. Losing Julene has strengthened our desire to live worthily and continue in faith so that we can join her again someday.

We have been blessed with Julene’s presence on a few occasions. When our youngest daughter was endowed and sealed in the Rexburg temple, we felt Julene there with our other five daughters and their spouses. It was truly a blessing to know that Julene was with us, and to have our whole family together again for those few moments. In the last few years, I have felt Julene urging me to tell her story. While I was searching through her writings to write a book about her experiences, I know she was beside me—literally guiding me to certain pages. Julene still lives on the other side of the veil!  As Joseph Smith said, I know she is “not far from us and know[s] and understand[s] our thoughts and feelings” (History of the Church, 6:51–52).

A few weeks before she died, when Julene knew her time was short, she wrote down some of the miracles she had experienced. I had not read these pages prior to writing her story, but I believe her testimony gives hope and understanding to those who have lost loved ones, to those who suffer, and to all of us – because we all need the Savior by our side. She finished by writing: “This much I do know: The Lord loves me and is in charge of my future. If I can trust Him, all will be well.”

You can read more of Julene’s story and the 21 miracles in my book, One Angel and Twenty-One Miracles: An Incredible Journey of Courage and Faith. It is available on Amazon.com at this link. You may also visit my blog at  https://oneangelandtwentyonemiracles.com/, which details more miracles that happened as I wrote and published the book.

https://latterdaysaintmag.com/the-miracles-i-witnessed-as-my-daughter-was-dying/

Advice from a Temple Sealer by Danielle B. Wagner

Advice from a Temple Sealer That Changed My Experience in the Temple

byDanielle B. Wagner | Jul. 11, 2019

One evening while performing proxy sealings in the temple, the sealer interrupted the flow of names and ordinances in beautifully unexpected ways.

Everything about my time in the temple that night had been ordinary and typical up to that point. I was at the temple at my ordinary time on a typical weekday. As usual, my brain fogged over as I tried to fight away the fatigue setting in and focus on the words buzzing around the calm, quiet, and comfortable room.

But then, the first pause came in the flow of temple work as our sealer stopped to ask a rhetorical question. Throughout the evening, he continued to pause and ask questions about the words he spake, their meaning, and how they applied to us, allowing us to ponder as he then continued on with the work.

Each of these questions provided moments of reflection and wonder, but what I remember the most about that night in the temple is the advice and promise the sealer gave to us in parting.

He told us that if we wanted to make our next trip to the temple more meaningful, to peer beyond the veil and truly experience something divine, then we needed to make the endowment a continual conversation.

The next time we received one of those blue or pink temple cards, we needed to concentrate long and hard on that name printed in black at the top. We needed to understand that name represents a living soul, one of our brothers and sisters. The sealer told us that if we wanted to deepen our temple experience, we needed to thank the person on that card for allowing us to be in the temple performing their work. We needed to tell them at every step, "This is for you." We needed to speak and feel their name at every turn, to truly converse with those on the other side of the veil. If we did, the temple would become more meaningful to us.

That simple advice transformed how I experience the temple. Before that night, I would often study the names on my card, the dates, and the places and would think over what was occurring in history during that time. I would imagine what the person had lived through, the sacrifices and hardships they may have faced. I did this to draw some kind of connection to those black lines on a flimsy piece of paper, to put some life into that simple name. But it hadn't occurred to me that I didn't need to imagine or force a connection. They were present. Angels were near and I could communicate with them.

In addition, his advice transformed the way I think of the temple. Because of the way I heard friends or family talk about needing time in the temple or taking their questions to the temple, I assumed the temple was a place for us—a place set apart, built, consecrated, and designed for me to receive answers from heaven. How many times have I visited the temple wondering what I could gain or learn from the experience, not what I could give? How many times are my thoughts focused inward in the temple, on my own problems and questions, instead of outward and upward?

But now, after recent experiences, I know the temple is infinitely more than that. The temple is about eternal family. It is about bonds, service, peace, and Christlike love. It is about following Jesus Christ. It is about forgetting ourselves and being wrapped up in the whole human family. It is about allowing God to shape us into saviors as we play a small part in extending the work of salvation and exaltation to others. 

The next time I attended the temple, I remembered the advice that the temple sealer gave me. During that session, I spoke to angels. I thanked the person whose name I carried for allowing me, as flawed as I am, to represent her in this sacred work. I told her I loved her and that I hoped she would accept this wonderful gift of the endowment. I repeated her name with every gesture and uttered word, saying, "This is for you."

And in return, I felt more awake and more filled with love and light than I had in the temple since I first received my endowment. In return, I felt six simple words whispered to me—words I had heard before when my Savior spoke them directly to me. Only this time, they didn't capture my relationship with my Redeemer. Instead, they captured my relationship with one of my glorious, eternal sister. In truth, they capture my relationship with all of our Heavenly Parents' children: "I know you. You know me."

We've known each other for longer than any of us can fathom, and we will all be family for a long time yet. While we might forget about that in the world, treating each other as strangers, acquaintances, or even enemies, in the temple we gain a glimpse into our true, shared, divine nature. In the temple, we come to realize that we all at times must act as saviors and in turn have the humility to be saved because it is only with each other that we can inherit eternal life. In fact, it is only because of each other that eternal life will be worth living.

http://www.ldsliving.com/Advice-from-a-Temple-Sealer-That-Changed-My-Experience-in-the-Temple/s/91187?utm_source=ldsliving&utm_medium=email

What we know about Discerning By Oscar W. McConkie

What We Know About Discerning Between Good and Bad Spirits

byOscar W. McConkie, Adapted from "Angels" | Jun. 25, 2019

Makes You ThinkMormon Life

Some angels are on God's errand; some are from the realm of Satan himself. “Believe not every spirit,” John counseled, “but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1). The problem that most men have is to discern the spirits so that they may know what is of God and what is not.

Try the spirits. But how? By what test can it be known whether they are of God or the devil? If a messenger appears from the unseen world, how can one know if it is a good spirit or an evil spirit? When there are trances, tongues, visions, or apparent miracles, are they from above or below? When a doctrine is proclaimed or a religion preached, how shall we know whether it is true or false?

To some extent, everyone is given a gift of the spirit of discernment. This ability is conferred upon people generally by operations of the Light of Christ (see Moroni 7:12–18). In addition to this universal gift, faithful Saints receive special discerning power through revelation from the Holy Ghost (see D&C 63:41).

The Apostle Paul gives instruction concerning spiritual gifts. He specifically lists the “discerning of spirits” as a gift of the Spirit (see 1 Corinthians 12:10). Modern revelation says, “to some is given, by the Spirit of God . . . the discerning of spirits” (D&C 46:17, 23). The only sure way to distinguish between good and evil (Moroni 7:12–18), between righteousness and wickedness (D&C 101:95; Malachi 3:18; 3 Nephi 24:18), or between evil spirits and those spirits that manifest the things of God is by the promptings of the Holy Ghost. There is no perfect operation of the power of discernment without revelation from God. That is why the righteous are given the gift of the Holy Ghost (see Joseph F. Smith, Gospel Doctrine, 61).

We might well look to the Prophet Joseph Smith as an example without peer in the matter of manifestations and angels. “We may look for angels and receive their ministrations,” he said, “but we are to try the spirits and prove them, for it is often the case that men make a mistake in regard to these things. . . . When you see a vision, pray for the interpretation; if you get not this, shut it up; there must be certainty in this matter. . . . Lying spirits are going forth in the earth. There will be great manifestations of spirits, both false and true” (TPJS, 161). He gives us the key to the whole matter: “The devil may appear as an angel of light. Ask God to reveal it . . . if it be of . . .God, He will . . . make it manifest” (ibid., 162). The following is abstracted from one of the Prophet's lengthy statements on the subject.

“Try the spirits,” but what by? . . .

One great evil is, that men are ignorant of the nature of spirits; their power, laws, government, intelligence, etc., and imagine that when there is anything like power, revelation, or vision manifested, that it must be of God. . . . Is there any intelligence communicated? Are the curtains of heaven withdrawn, or the purposes of God developed? . . .

Every one of these professes to be competent to try his neighbor's spirit, but no one can try his own, and what is the reason? Because they have not a key to unlock, no rule where-with to measure, and no criterion whereby they can test it. . . . We answer that no man can do this without the Priesthood, and having a knowledge of the laws by which spirits are governed; for as no man knows the spirit of the devil, and his power and influence, but by possessing intelligence which is more than human, and having unfolded through the medium of the Priesthood the mysterious operations of his devices; . . .

A man must have the discerning of spirits before he can drag into daylight this hellish influence and unfold it unto the world in all its soul-destroying, diabolical, and horrid colors; for nothing is a greater injury to the children of men than to be under the influence of a false spirit when they think they have the Spirit of God. Thousands have felt the influence of its terrible power and baneful effects. Long pilgrimages have been undertaken, penances endured, and pain, misery and ruin have followed in their train; nations have been convulsed, kingdoms overthrown, provinces laid waste, and blood, carnage and desolation are habiliments in which it has been clothed.

As we have noticed before, the great difficulty lies in the ignorance of the nature of spirits, of the laws by which they are governed, and the signs by which they may be known; if it requires the Spirit of God to know the things of God; and the spirit of the devil can only be unmasked through that medium, then it follows as a natural consequence that unless some person or persons have a communication, or revelation from God, unfolding to them the operation of the spirit, they must eternally remain ignorant of these principles; for I contend that if one man cannot understand these things but by the Spirit of God, ten thousand men cannot; it is alike out of the reach of the wisdom of the learned, the tongue of the eloquent, the power of the mighty (TPJS, 203–206).

There are two spirits abroad in the earth. One is of God; the other is of the devil. The spirit that is of God leads to light, truth, freedom, and every good thing. The spirit that is of Lucifer leads to darkness, error, bondage, and every evil thing. They are at enmity one with another, with conflict between them. The “power” of one is the “spirit” “that now worketh in the children of disobedience” (Ephesians 2:2). The other is “revealed” by the Spirit of God. And no man knoweth “the things of God” but by “the Spirit of God” (1 Corinthians 2:11).

http://www.ldsliving.com/What-We-Know-About-Discerning-Between-Good-and-Bad-Spirits/s/91096?utm_source=ldsliving&utm_medium=email

Late-Night Prompting

The Late-Night Prompting That Came to One Man in a Hospital Waiting Room

byDoug Marley, excerpted from "Angels Round About" | Jun. 22, 2019

Mormon Life

After years of fighting one kind of illness after another, my wife finally met a doctor who diagnosed her with Cushing’s disease. We found out that she had a tumor growing in her brain and that the only hope for recovery was considered, at best, a long shot. She would have to undergo brain surgery, and, if she survived, she would be bedridden for at least a year.

This was devastating news, as my wife and I had recently adopted our eighth child, making ten children in all. And our newest baby, as were most of our other children, was handicapped.

We fasted and prayed to know what to do, and after a time it became clear that there really was no other option. The tumor would continue to grow if we did not try to stop it. Our family needed a mother, and I couldn’t bear the thought of losing my dearest friend, so we felt our best hope was to undergo this delicate surgery.

The day came, and amid many prayers from family and friends, a priesthood blessing, and fervent faith in our hearts, we entered the hospital. She told me that her first goal was simply to wake up in the recovery room—that is, to survive the surgery. If she even woke up after the surgery, there would be hope. As she was wheeled away, I prayed quietly for my wife to wake up in the recovery room, where I could hold her hand and help her through whatever awaited her.

I waited for hours. Night came. My wife, still breathing, was finally wheeled into the recovery room. I wanted to go to her, but hospital rules forbade visitors right after surgery. I went back to the waiting room, and as the hours passed and night deepened, I fell asleep on the couch.

Suddenly, something woke me. A strong feeling came over me that my wife needed me. Now! I quietly got up and walked down the hall. No one was in sight, and I simply opened the door to the recovery room and went in.

My wife lay there swathed in head bandages with many tubes and machines surrounding her. I placed her hand in mine, and her eyes opened.

“How did you know I needed you?” she whispered.

“I was sleeping deeply outside in the waiting room when, suddenly, I awoke and felt strongly that I needed to come to you.”

“I am in so much pain,” she whispered. “I have been pleading in prayer, Please send Doug to me. Hold my hand. Please, just hold my hand.”

We held hands, and I knew she was taking strength just from my being there beside her. Although she had been heavily medicated, this kind of brain surgery was very delicate, and they had probed deeply. The pain was still intense despite all the nurses were allowed to do. But as long as I could hold her hand, she could endure it. I stayed for about twenty minutes and then slipped away again, hoping the nurses wouldn’t notice.

I went back to the waiting room, and this time I dozed lightly. Suddenly, the feeling came again, and I quickly returned to my wife’s room. Her pain was worse. I stayed for as long as I dared and again slipped out.

This happened three more times during the night. Each time I went back to sleep, but when my wife needed me, I awoke immediately and went to her.

We knew Heavenly Father was blessing me in this way to help and sustain my wonderful companion during one of the longest and most pain-filled nights she would ever suffer through.

Slowly, my wife recovered from that surgery. More surgeries followed, and after more years of patient suffering, she finally began to heal. Every day we have together is a great blessing, and we continue to care for our large family with gratitude that her life was spared. We feel a special appreciation that the Lord opened the way for me to bring comfort to her that one terrible night. I know that Father in Heaven is there to help us through our darkest trials.

http://www.ldsliving.com/The-Late-Night-Prompting-That-Came-to-One-Man-in-a-Hospital-Waiting-Room/s/90986?utm_source=ldsliving&utm_medium=email

Ezra Taft Benson Quote