Angels in the Choir By Greyson Gurley

Angels in the Choir: How One Woman Connected With Her Mother During Conference, a Decade After Her Passing

byGreyson Gurley  | Apr. 08, 2020

For many, the typical associations made with general conference include live music performed by the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square. However, as President Russell M. Nelson promised at the close of the October 2019 general conference, the April 2020 general conference would be anything but typical.

The bicentennial celebration held memorable changes and events including, for the first time in decades, the lack of a live choir. Like many Church members, Megan Limburg watched this April’s general conference with anticipation and excitement— knowing that it would be “memorable and unforgettable.” Because of global health concerns, Limburg knew there would be adjustments to the live music and that recordings were to be used. But while watching Saturday’s sessions, Limburg noticed that the music recordings dated not only in recent years but some as far back as a decade. As she watched the choir, Limburg wondered if she might see a familiar face—her deceased mother.

A Memorable and Unforgettable Conference

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, attendance at conference was limited to strictly those participating and even then, it was clear that those present practiced social distancing. Although the recognizable presence of the Tabernacle Choir was not in attendance, prerecorded hymns were broadcasted.

The Deseret News reported that President Nelson recognized nearly two months ago that the coronavirus outbreak might disrupt the upcoming conference. He requested that the choir begin to record the hymns planned for April’s conference in advance. The recordings were done a few at a time, until Utah’s state and local governments issued restrictions on assembling in groups. Thus, the music for the April 2020 general conference was a combination of recordings made before restrictions and some recordings from years past.

For many choir members, current or former, it was the chance to spot themselves and friends and relive special memories. But for Megan Limburg it was more than just a recognition—it was a gift from Heaven.

An Angelic Choir 

It wasn’t until the Sunday morning session that Limburg’s mother, a former member of the Tabernacle Choir, made an appearance. Limburg was watching the beginning of the session with her family when a 2009 recording of the song, “This is My Beloved Son,” was used.

“As soon as the song came on, my oldest son said, ‘Mom [the recording] is back from when Grandma was in the choir.’ Then, she popped up right at the very beginning and we just felt an overwhelming sense of love—there were tears,” Limburg said.

When asked what this experience meant for her, Limburg replied, “I was expecting conference to be memorable but I wasn’t expecting that angels would be singing with the choir...it was a testimony to us that angels were a part of this historic conference.”

Limburg explained that this was something her mom believed in even while she was on earth. While growing up, Limburg remembers her mom sharing her feeling that there were extra voices singing with the Tabernacle Choir—voices from heaven.

Sharing a “Treasured Gift” 

Limburg’s mother, a member of the Tabernacle Choir for 16 years, prided herself on being a musical missionary and sharing the gospel all over the world. It was the opportunity to share her testimony through music. She says her mom felt it was “a beautiful gift that she was given.”

Limburg said that singing in the Tabernacle Choir was everything for her mother. Limburg also spoke about some of the health challenges her mother faced. “She actually battled cancer multiple times and she had a tumor that wrapped around her vocal chords. Her biggest fear would be that should be alive and not be able to sing again,” she recalls.

Yet, Limburg’s mother continued to share her “treasured gift” with the world until the time of her passing a decade ago—almost to the day.

In a recent Facebook post, Limburg wrote about her experience: “How fitting that just a week away from 10 years after her passing she gets to sing again in a special general conference to share her unwavering testimony of Jesus Christ with her grand babies and many of you as well.”

Limburg concluded her post with the hashtag “#familiesareforever.”

https://www.ldsliving.com/Angels-in-the-Choir-How-One-Woman-Connected-With-Her-Mother-During-Conference-a-Decade-After-Her-Passing/s/92678?utm_source=ldsliving&utm_medium=email

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/

How Angels Show Us They Care By Anne Hinton Pratt

How Angels Show Us They Care

By Anne Hinton Pratt · January 16, 2020

Has an angel ever helped you? The answer is yes! The thick veil surrounding us generally prevents any awareness of our cherished pre-mortal associations and their frequent aid to us, but there are times when the veil thins, and we become conscious of these loving beings helping us on our mortal journey.

“You Have to Go Through This”                                             

Over 25 years ago, I was facing a set of circumstances that were overwhelming for me, and I remember praying my heart out for certain things to change.  At that point in time, I vividly recall sitting on the side of my bed quietly pondering. Suddenly, a man was standing at the foot of my bed who seemed to be in his mid-30’s with dark hair and bushy eyebrows.  As if he knew what I had been thinking and feeling, he spoke with great tenderness, saying:

“I’m SO sorry that you have to go through this, but this is something that is crucial for you to experience!”  

Again, he compassionately echoed how sorry he was that I was suffering in this situation, and then, he was gone. 

There I was still sitting on my bed, filled with amazement and wonder!  Even though it was a very peculiar interaction, I never felt alarm. His presence felt so natural, and almost familiar.  Even though he was there no more than a few seconds, I felt only love and concern from him, and gained the profound inner knowledge that difficult circumstances are often carefully orchestrated for us to go through for our personal growth and progression. I began to know that somehow everything would be ok, because I had those on the other side of the veil that would help me.

Joseph F. Smith Sheds Light on Angel Experience   

President Joseph F. Smith wrote a letter to his son, Hyrum, answering a poignant question that Hyrum had asked him while he was serving a mission.  The question was, “To what extent do our relatives and friends who have died have cognizance of us and our actions?” President Smith responded with profound understandings for his son and for all of us.  He wrote:

“Now, if our departed kindred and friends are just (righteous) spirits, exalted to this greater and more glorious work, they may be very near us,… observing actions of our thoughts, feelings, and actions, rejoicing because of our virtues and integrity to the truth, or sorrowing and weeping over our sins and transgressions. And not only so, but able to render assistance, when our spirits are susceptible to the power they wield….” (Hyrum M. Smith, From Prophet to Son: Advice of Joseph F. Smith to His Missionary Sons. 37-39, Italics added).  

Turns out, my experience was not so unusual.  I have had many people share experiences with me where they were “susceptible to the power” that angels wield.  These angels come with concern and compassion to help in some way.  I’d like to tell a few of those experiences to you:

Angel Saving Two Lives

Kayetana Aguado tells how an angel saved both her life and that of her mother’s. She writes:

“My mom was in the hospital, going through a very long labor.  At one point she was alone in her room when she started having extreme pain and knew something was wrong but couldn’t reach the nurse call button.

“The nurse later told mom that she was just walking down the hall when she felt someone grip her upper arm, (leaving the imprint of a hand there), and pull her into my mom’s room to discover her distress. There wasn’t another person in the hall or the room at that time. Both my mother’s and my life were saved.” (Kayetana Aguado, Story used by permission)

Who was this angel? A long- lost friend or a family member?  When these experiences happen, we most often don’t know who it is, but eventually we will understand.

President Ezra Taft Benson explained:

“God loves us.  He’s watching us, he wants us to succeed, and we’ll know    someday that he has not left one thing undone for the eternal welfare of each of us. If we only knew it, there are heavenly hosts pulling for us- friends in heaven that we can’t remember now, who yearn for our victory.”  (Ezra Taft Benson, “Jesus Christ–Gifts and Expectations,” 1974 Italics added)

 “I Need Help!”

Alice G. Bustamante had a similar traumatic event in her life that resulted in an angel intervening.  She wrote:

“I had my only child at age 33, over thirty years ago.  I had a c-section delivery and was left alone by my husband due to work. It was my third night alone at the hospital.  I was feeling unloved, and was in so much pain.  I could not move due to how swollen I still was, and the nurses would not answer my cries or beeps.  I remember crying out to the Lord to help me by sending someone to help me get up and go to the bathroom. It was in the wee hours of the morning when someone finally came in. 

She was dressed in a nurse’s uniform, had red hair worn up in a bun, with the bluest eyes, and soft hands and voice.  She told me she was there to help me. She helped me get up, go to the bathroom, and get back to bed while murmuring endearments about how special I was.  I told her about pain in my back and she got some cream and massaged it. It felt heavenly!

“Later, I asked a nurse who my nurse was that had come in during the wee hours. I described her red hair, blue eyes, and soft voice and she looked at me kinda funny and said: ‘There is no one on this staff that looks like that.’  When I gave a questioning look, she assured me that no one who looked like that worked there.

“It wasn’t until decades later that right ‘out of the blue,’ I saw her in my mind.  I then realized my kind angel nurse was a nurse friend with whom I had worked in college, but who had passed away before I had my baby.  I know Heavenly Father answered my prayers and sent me my friend to help me when I felt so unloved and alone.” (Alice G. Bustamante, Email used with permission)

Heber C. Kimball taught,

“Angels are our associates, they are with us and round about us, and watch over us, and take care of us, and lead us, and guide us, and administer to our wants in their ministry and in their holy calling unto which they are appointed.  (Heber C. Kimball, Journal of Discourses, 2:222)

Seeing Departed Grandma on the Bed

Some of the strongest bonds we have are with departed family members.  They continue to love us over time and space.

Sister Wendy Nelson relates a time as a fifth-grader, when her baby brother died. She was overcome with grief.  She writes:

 “That’s when my grandmother took me into a private room where she and I could be together to talk and to cry.  She told me that she had been inconsolable when her grandmother Sarah had died. Then, several months later, Sarah –now living on the other side of the veil—visited Grandma.  Sarah sat right on Grandma’s bed. She told my grandmother to stop grieving and get on with her life.  Sarah was very much alive and well.” (Wendy W. Nelson, The Heavens are Open, p. 8)

Sister Nelson’s grandma was deeply touched by her grandmother’s visit. Sarah blessed both a granddaughter and great granddaughter in their times of need.

Deceased Grandfather Returns to Give A Blessing

Charles Harper tells of two sweet experiences where he and his family members were blessed by their departed Grandfather.  He writes:

“In a retirement community where mom lived, my two oldest sons and I gave a priesthood blessing to their grandmother before she had cancer surgery.  My hands were on her head, and my oldest son’s hands were on top of his younger brother’s. Later, my oldest son said that during the blessing he could feel hands on top of his, and felt it was his grandfather helping us from the spirit world.”

In another tender experience, Charles relates:

“My dad always interviewed each of our boys before they got married, but our youngest son, David, wasn’t going to have this blessing because his grandfather had passed away before he could enjoy this loving event. One night, however, David had a dream in which his grandfather interviewed him and gave him counsel.” (Charles Harper, stories used by permission)

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland wrote these significant words:

“One of the things that will become more important in our lives the longer we live is the reality of angels, their work and their ministry. I refer here not alone to the angel Moroni but also to those more personal ministering angels who are with us and around us, empowered to help us and who do exactly that.” (“For a Wise Purpose,” Ensign, Jan.1996, 16-17).

Have Angels Helped You?  Oh yes, without question!  You’ve known and loved them for eons in the world of spirits, and they’re anxious for your welfare in this sphere.

Angels do all they can do to support us in ways that we can hardly grasp. They help and care for all of us in extraordinary ways, and sometimes when the veil thins, we notice! 

 https://latterdaysaintmag.com/how-angels-show-us-they-care/

When I Heard My Deceased Daughter's Voice By Bryan Young

When I Heard My Deceased Daughter's Voice: The Profound Lesson She Shared

by Bryan Young | Jan. 03, 2020

This story originally ran on LDS Living in September 2017.

The Lord has offered my family and me many tender mercies of spiritual communication that not all people will receive. However, I also know that the spirits of our loved ones are closer than we often times know, no matter who we are.

In May of 2012, my daughter Holland was diagnosed with a brain tumor, shortly after her third birthday. The 14 months that followed were a roller coaster of hospital stays, brain surgeries, new diagnoses, chemo treatments, and many trials of faith until she ultimately passed away in August 2013. Although this was easily the greatest trial our young family had ever faced, the lessons we learned were irreplaceable and a new journey began for our family.

Becoming Better After Trials

We each face trials and difficulties in this life that will overwhelm us at times. During those times, we need to remember that we can grow from them. God allows bad things to happen to good people to make good people great. Our trials or hardships are not because God is punishing us. The truth is these hardships allow us to better trust in God and learn His will for us. If we turn our will over to God we will become better through the trial. If we do not we will become consumed by them.

We each have the choice to become bitter or better. The simple difference in these two words is “I” and "be." If I focus on how a trial will affect only me, then I will quickly find myself bitter at the world and God for treating me so unfairly. But if I choose to focus on what I can be as a result of this trial, I will find that I am becoming better. We need to ask why God would have us go through this and how we can help others. And that is how we can become better.

For our family, the question of “why?” has many answers. It has allowed us to serve others and offer them comfort in their times of pain and heartache. It has given us a greater love for our other children. It has allowed us to feel the spiritual world around us. It has allowed us to trust in Jesus Christ and more fully understand His Atonement. All of this can be summed up in the fact that it has expanded our view of life, death, and the plan of salvation.

Understanding Death in Context

God does not view life as only our first breath to our last breath. He views life as eternal. The plan of salvation has given us such wonderful truths. One of the greatest truths is that life did not start when we were born and it will not end when we die. Armed with this truth we can realize that the Atonement overcame sin and death—meaning we don’t have to be afraid of dying because Christ has already taken care of that and we don’t need to be afraid of making mistakes because Christ has given us a way to take care of that as well.

God does not send us death to punish us or to make us miserable. Death is merely a transition from one state to another. God does not mourn our physical deaths; in fact, He often rejoices when we enter back into His presence. Grief is healthy, but when it consumes us it is often because we don’t see life as God does.

The death of a child may be hard, but it is simply a transition from one form of existence to another. If you are a parent of adult children, think back to when those children were babies. Do you mourn the fact that they are not babies anymore? No, of course not. You may miss the innocence and adorable moments when they were small, but you are glad they are who they are now. You are glad that they have grown and they have become something better than they once were. I don’t mean to trivialize the death of a child because I certainly know that it is one of the greatest mortal trials we will be asked to face. The separation, grief, anger, confusion and even guilt families experience is very real and meaningful. However, it’s encouraging to know that the children we lost do continue to grow and learn in the presence of the Lord.

With an eternal viewpoint, we can now look at our daughter and rejoice in where she is now. She is where God needs her to be. Sure we miss who she was; sure we miss our daily interactions with her; sure we miss the memories we will never had the chance to make, but we are grateful for who she is now—and that is something we can know because she has not left us spiritually.

Feeling My Daughter Near

The day after my daughter’s death I was saying a prayer on my parents’ front porch as the sun was rising. And in that moment of peace and tranquility, I heard her voice—it was as close to audible as ever a spiritual voice had been to me. I knew I was hearing it with my spiritual ears. She said many things to me in that moment, but one lesson that has continued to remain with me was the fact that she was with the Savior and if I wanted to visit her I would need to go to the temple, not her grave. Her grave was simply the place where her body laid in wait for the moment of resurrection. Her living essence was now only in the spirit.

And from that day on I have attended the temple every week seeking to hear her voice again. Sometimes I do and sometimes I don’t. The Lord, in an answer to a prayer, once told me that I would hear her voice when I needed it not when I wanted it. Once, in a moment of desperation, I pleaded that I could see her, feel her, truly hear her with my physical ears. The Lord’s response has taught me a valuable lesson that has changed the way that I view the world around us. He said, “You are a being of physical body and spiritual body. She is only a being of spirit right now, and yet you wish that she would be more like you. You have a spirit and she has a spirit; you need to learn to be more like her.” I needed to use my spirit to communicate with her just as I always had.

When a baby is first born, they have no way to verbally communicate and yet a mother knows when they are hungry, wet, sad and happy. She can know what that baby is feeling and thinking without it saying a word. The mother and the baby have a spiritual connection that exists beyond the physical relationship they share. Think also of a time where you and another person had a deep spiritual conversation. You may have connected in a way that superseded the words that you were using to communicate. That is because that spiritual feeling of peace and comfort is your spirit communicating with their spirit. The truth is we all engage in spiritual communication in this life, whether we identify it as such or not. And when our loved ones die, that spiritual connection only dies if we refuse to acknowledge it. Many times we are so overcome with grief and pain we are numb to the spiritual communications they are trying to make with us.

Misunderstanding the Sealing Power

Many people often mistakenly think that the sealing to our loved ones is payable upon resurrection, but the sealing power carries throughout this life and into the next and all the spaces in between. This is true not just of our loved ones in this life but of our ancestors as well. Each name on a slip of paper we take to the temple is one more spirit we empower to help us on this mortal journey.

President Ezra Taft Benson said: “Sometimes the veil between this life and the life beyond becomes very thin. Our loved ones who have passed on are not far from us” (in Conference Report, Apr. 1971, 18; or Ensign, June 1971, 33). There is also the well-known quote from President Brigham Young that taught us that the postmortal spirit world is on the earth, all around us (see Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Brigham Young [1997], 279). I have come to learn for myself that this is true. Not just with my daughter, I felt the spiritual presence of grandparents, uncles, friends, other relatives, and ancestors that have guided me through times of trials and joy.

I know that the Lord has offered my family and me many tender mercies of spiritual communication that not all people will receive. However, I also know that the spirits of our loved ones are closer than we often times know. This is regardless of whether we acknowledge them or not. You may not hear a spiritual voice as I have, but if you let go of your pain and grief and focus on the will of the Lord and what He is trying to teach you, I know that He will give you what you most need to be comforted and feel the love of the spirits that are all around you.

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