Spirit World Experiences

SPIRIT WORLD

EXPERIENCES

 

MISSION UNFINISHED

By Peter E. Johnson

(From Relief Society. Magazine, Aug. 1920)

I reached my mission field in Mississippi the 22nd of June, 1898, and on the 8th of August was taken down with chills and fever, which turned to malaria. I was so low that the Mission President sent his counselor and two elders to see me in relation to being released and sent home. However, the yellow fever quarantine was placed on me and I was not able to leave. Then it was that I had the following marvelous experience:

I was lying on the bed burning up with fever insomuch that the elders, who had been sent to ascertain condition, became very much alarmed. They stepped out of the room and held whispered consultations. They were so far away that under ordinary, conditions I could not have heard what was said; but in some manner my hearing was made so keen that I heard their conversation as well as if they had been at my bedside. They said it was impossible to think of my recovering, and that I never would go home unless I went home in a box. They there­fore decided they might just as well notify the Mission President and make the necessary arrangements.

The following day I asked to be removed into the hall where it was cooler. I was lying on a pallet (or bed.) There was an attendant with me; the others having gone to Sunday school, which was being held about one hundred yards away.

Soon after they had left I was, apparently, in dying condition. My attendant became so fearful of my appearance and condition that he left me. I desired a drink of water, but, of course, was unable to get it my­self. I became discouraged, and wondered why it was that I was sent to Mississippi, and whether it was simply to die in the field. I felt that I would prefer death to living and enduring the fever and agony through which I was passing. I thought of my people at home and of the conditions then surrounding me, and decided that I might [2] just as well pass from this life.

Just as I reached that conclusion, the thought came to me; “You will not die unless you choose death.” This was a new thought to me, and I hesitated to consider the question. Then I made the choice that I would rather die.

Soon after that my spirit left my body. Just how, I cannot tell; but I perceived myself standing some four or five feet in the air, and saw my body lying on the bed. I felt perfectly natural, but as this was a new condition, I began to make observations. I turned my head, shrugged my shoulders, felt with my hands, and realized that it was I, myself. I also knew that my body was lying, lifeless, on the bed. While I was in a new environment, it did not seem strange, for I real­ized everything that was going on and perceived that I was the same in the spirit as I had been in the body.

While contemplating this new condition, something attracted my attention, and on turning around I beheld a personage who said, “You did not know that I was here.” I replied, “No, but I see you are. Who are you?” “I am your guardian angel. I have been following you constantly while on earth.”

“What are you going to do now?” I asked.

“I am to report your presence, and you will remain here until I return,” he replied.

He informed me on returning that we should wait there, since my sister desired to see me and was busy at that moment. Presently she came. She was glad to see me and asked if I was offended because she kept me waiting. She explained that she was doing some work that she wished to finish.

Just before my eldest sister died, she asked me to enter into this agreement: That if she died first, she was to watch over me, protect me from those who might seek my downfall, and that she would be the first to meet me after death. We made the agreement and that is why my sister was the first one of my relatives to meet me. After she arrived, my mother and other sisters and [3] friends came to see me, and we discussed various topics much as we would on earth upon meeting old friends.

After we had spent some little time in conversation, the guide came to me with a message that I was wanted by some of the apostles who had lived on the earth in this dispensation. As soon as I came into their presence, I was asked if I desired to remain there. This seemed strange, for it had never occurred to me that we would have any choice there in the spirit world, as to whether we should remain or return to earth life.

I was asked if I felt satisfied with conditions there. I informed them that I was, and that I had no desire to return to the fever and misery from which I had been suffering while in the body. After some little conversation, this question was repeated, and I still gave the same answer. Then I asked, “If I remain here what will I be asked to do?” I was informed that l would preach the Gospel to the spirits there just as I had been preaching it to the people here; and that I would do so under the immediate direction of the Prophet Joseph.

This remark brought to my mind a question which has been much discussed here, as to whether or not the Pro­phet Joseph Smith is now a resurrected being. While I did not ask the question, they read it in my mind and immediately said, “You wish to know whether the prophet has his body or not?”

I replied, “Yes, I would like to know.” I was told that the Prophet Joseph Smith has his body, as does also his brother Hyrum; and that as soon as I could do more with my body than I could do without it, my body would also be resurrected to me.

Once more I was asked if I desired to remain. This bothered me considerably, for I had already expressed myself as being satisfied. I then inquired why it was that I was asked so often if I was satisfied and if I desired to remain. I was then informed that my progen­itors had made a request that if I chose, I might be granted the privilege of returning and again taking up [4] my mortal body, in order that I might gather my father’s genealogy and do the necessary work in the temple for my ancestors.

As I was still undecided, one of the apostles said, “We will now show you what will take place if you remain here in the spirit world; after which you can decide.” We then returned to the place where my body was lying, and I was informed with emphasis that my first duty would be to watch the body until after it had been disposed of, as that was necessary knowledge for me to have in the resurrection. It was then unfolded how the elders would send a message of my death to President Rich at Chattanooga, and in due time all preparations would be made for the shipment of my body to Utah.

One thing seemed peculiar to me. I was able to read the telegram as it ran along the wires, as easily as I could read the pages of a book. I could see President Rich when he received the telegram in Chattanooga. He walked the floor, wringing his hands, with the thought in his mind: “How can I send a message to his father?” The message was finally sent, however, and I could fol­low it on the wire. I saw the station and the telegraph operator at Price, Utah. I heard the instrument click as the message was received, and saw the operator write out the message and send it by phone from Price to Huntington. I also saw clearly the Huntington office and the man who received the message. I could even see the people on the street as the message was circulated. I did not have to hear what was said, for I was able to read their thoughts from their countenances. The mes­sage was delivered to my aunt who went out with others to find my father.

In due time, he received the message. He did not seem to be overcome by the news, but began to make pre­parations to meet the body. I then saw my father at the railroad station in Price, waiting for my body to arrive. Apparently, he was unaffected; but when he heard the whistle of the train which was carrying my body, he went behind the depot and cried as if his heart would break.

[5] While I had been accompanying the body enroute, I was still able to see what was going on at home. The distance, apparently, did not affect my vision. As the train approached the station I went to my father’s side, and seeing his great anguish, I informed my companion that I would return. He expressed his approval of my decision and said he was pleased with the choice I had made. By some spiritual power, all these things had been shown to me as they would occur if I did not return to my body.

Immediately upon making this choice or decision, my companion said, “Good. Your progenitors will be very pleased with your decision.” I asked why, and was told that it was their desire that I should return to my body and hunt up my father’s genealogies, and do their work in the temple. In all this time, no one had offered to touch me or to shake my hand.

Just how my spirit entered the body, I cannot tell, but I saw the apostle place his hands upon the head of my prostrate body, and almost instantly I realized that the change had come and I was again in the body. The first thing that I knew, I felt a warm life-giving spot on the crown of my head, which passed through my entire body, going out to the tips of my fingers and toes. I then heard distinctly the same words that had been pro­nounced by Elder Grant when I was set apart for my mis­sion, “Go in peace, and return in safety.” After enter­ing my body I saw no more of the messengers who had been accompanying me, but I had a vivid recollection of all that had taken place.

The local elder, who had been left to attend me, but who became frightened at my condition and went away, had not yet returned; but I later learned that he had gone to Sunday school and, at the close of the exercises; he notified them of my death.

The Saints, elders and friends were now gathered outside the paling, or fence, discussing matters, and trying to decide just what to do. I was still very thirsty, so I arose to get a drink, but found that the water was warm. I then carried the bucket of warm water [6] to the edge of the balcony and threw it out. Then I went down to the well, which was seventy-five feet deep, and drew a fresh bucket of water and quenched my thirst.

The Saints, elders and friends who were out at the fence, were observing all this but they feared to come near me. Finally, Brother Morton, at whose home I was stopping, came through the gate and up the walk toward me, but before reaching me, he turned icy cold and stood still. I went up to him and shook hands, and invited all of them to come in and handle me, telling them that a spirit did not have flesh and bones like me.

Brother Morton looked at me, felt of me, turned me around, then went and looked at the bed on which I had been lying while sick. He then came back and handled me again and said, “I never was so scared in my life, for I thought you were a spirit.” I told him that I was not now a spirit, but a real, tangible person. “How could you carry that bucket of water,” he said, “throw it out and draw another, when for over a month you have had to be waited upon, and finally we all thought you were dead?” I explained that I had been completely healed by an apostle and had come back to stay with them.

I observed that the people in the spirit world were busy, and that they were perfectly organized for the work they were doing, It seemed to me a continuation of the work we are doing here, —something like going from one stake of Zion to another. There was nothing there that seemed particularly strange to me; everything being quite natural.

I have often been asked how long I was in the spirit world. The last I remember of hearing mortal sounds was the singing when Sunday school commenced. When I got up and drew the water, Sunday school had closed. The local elder who attended me, did not notify them of my death until just as they were closing. Sunday schools were held one and one half hours.

[7] AN EXPERIENCE WITH DEATH

By Mary Johnson Shumway

About the 6th of April, 1891, in Pinedale, Apache County, Arizona, I had been ailing quite a long while, and a deep gloom was over me. I had doctored for my troubles as best I could, but it seemed to do no good. I could not sleep on account of evil spirits. I had no appetite, and this trouble had been preying on me about two weeks, when one day I felt so bad I went to bed. A terrible feeling came over me. I felt it coming up from my feet and I was in a terrible sweat. I sweat so much the sheets had to be changed. It was different from any ordinary sickness, and it lasted through the day until nearly night.

I sent for the elders to administer to me, but it did not seem to ease me and I grew weaker and worse with the sweating. In the evening it seemed that all of a sudden something fell on me and crushed me. The lady attending me, Lettie Bryan, saw something had hap­pened to me and she called my husband. He came in and took me in his arms, and then it became all dark to me as far as this world was concerned.

A light shone around me and about me, and the veil was raised so that I could see into the spirit world. I saw a great multitude of people, and I looked beyond them to what seemed like a sea of glass. As far as I could see there were beautiful flowers and shrubbery and artistic landscaping, and everything was so heavenly and glorious. —I couldn’t tell about it; not even about what I saw, but I said, “I am now in a bright light.”

I then told my husband what I wanted to do with the children, because I was going to go. At that moment the light left me and went right through the roof of the house, and I was aware of myself lying on the bed again. I told them to bring my children to me because I was go­ing to leave. I had seen all these things, and I did [8] not want to live here any longer,– that was the feeling I had.

The children and my friends came in and surrounded my bed. The house was crowded and full of people. I kissed the children goodbye and told them how I wanted them to live. They began to beg me to stay and asked why l couldn’t stay. I told them, “I guess I will come back and stay awhile if it is the Lord’s will.”

I felt that I had come back into a dark, gloomy world, far less inviting than the one I had just left. The elders got the oil and anointed me and stood around my bed and prayed for me. After they got through pray­ing, I knew I was going to live. My mouth had been set so that I could hardly talk, but when they prayed for me, it began to be loosened. During this experience my body had been cold to the waist, and it was a week longer before they got me warmed up to normal tempera­ture. After that all my misery was gone, —the trouble was rebuked by the priesthood and it left me, though I took no medicine.

That same night I heard heavenly singing as plain as if it were just in the next room. I heard all the parts very clearly. The hymn they sang was “God Moves In A Mysterious Way.” I heard that singing once again after that, and asked the people near me if they could not hear it, too. It seemed so plain I thought surely they ought to be able to hear it. However, they said they could not hear it at all. Since then I have come to learn about the radio, and I am led to think that I was able to hear it because I was in tune with the source from which it came.

The lady, who attended me during this wonderful experience, had previously almost apostatized from the Church, but the next Sunday in fast meeting she arose and said she could not be more sure of the truth if an angel had come and told her, because of the unmistakable influence in the room while I was going through this experience with death.

[9] I saw the evil power, or spirits, cast to one side after I said that I was in a bright light and told my husband that I was going to leave. When I told my hus­band what I wanted done with the children, he wanted to pray for me. So they formed a prayer circle around the bed and began to pray. When they were about twothirds around the circle, I said, “Well, I guess I will come back and stay awhile,” and from that moment on it seemed to me that my mission in life was yet to be completed.

While I was having this experience, most of the town was there. They seemed to realize that their condition was not all it should be, and they felt that in my ex­perience they had received a call to repentance and to greater love and union among them.

When I was coming back to earthly things again, I could see the terrible evil spirits, and I knew it was they who had been causing me my trouble and suffering. I knew, too, that they were now rebuked so that they had no power over me from then on. Those spirits were awful things to behold. It made me think of the Prophet Joseph’s statement wherein he asked the Lord to close up a vision because it was too terrible for him to look upon.

I know that I could not possibly be mistaken in the things I have told about in this experience. I have felt the influence of it all my life since that time, and they are still as true to me as can be. It has given me great faith in the Lord to know that His children may know that He is, and that there is a wonderful dwelling place and a great reward awaiting us in the hereafter.

Note: Sister Mary Shumway moved to Blanding, Utah, and was blessed with seven more children in addition to the five she already had. She raised them all to maturity and succeeded in reaching her 80th year in life, having done a great deal of work, both in her local church for the living, and in the Temples for the dead.

[10] Prophetic Patriarchal Fulfillment       

By James W. LeSueur of the

Mesa Temple Presidency

Like the Patriarchs of the Old Testament period, our patriarchs of today, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, place their hands upon our heads and tell the future that lies before us, if we are faithful and live up to the requirements of the Gospel.

Patriarch Charles D. Evans of Springville, Utah, came to Provo and gave blessings to the students of the B.Y.U. on February 26, 1896, and I was one of the fa­vored ones to be blessed under his ministrations. This blessing is recorded in his Record Book A, page 262 in the archives of the Presiding Patriarch.

“Thou shalt receive a knowledge of science and of literature and thy soul shall delight in learning, and thou shalt be qualified to teach both in the field of Theology and that of common learning,” was the first promise.

After being graduated from the B.Y.U., I taught for a season in a Business College, and for four years was principal and instructor in the Chandler-Gilver, L.D.S. Seminary, teaching Theology. I have also taught in Priesthood Quorums and religion classes in the Church.

“Thou shalt have strong testimonies of the truth, for thou art a man of faith; a strong believer in thy Maker, and in His providences that are over all. Thy faith shall increase, thou shalt command sickness and it shall depart.”

This has been a blessing that has been fulfilled in dozens of instances where sickness has been expelled, in some cases instantly, by the power of the Lord fol­lowing administrations in which I was a humble parti­cipant.

In one instance there was aman who had both hands [11] and arms burned so badly that amputation of the arms was declared by three doctors to be the only hope of saving his life, and at that it was considered almost hopeless as gangrene had already set in. Unitedly with M. C. Phelps and Dr. J. B. Nelson, I administered to him in the name of the Lord. He immediately went off to sleep–the first sleep he had had in several weeks. The next morning when the surgeon came with his instru­ments to amputate his arms, they found new flesh form­ing and the poison gone, and his arms were saved. I could relate many other remarkable instances of heal­ing in fulfillment of this promise.

“The Lord shall give thee the gift of prophecy and thou shalt see great things that are in the future, the down-fall of kingdoms, etc.”

During the past years, I have had made known to me many things that were to come to pass pertaining to my­self and immediate associates, both at home and in the mission field.

“The blessings of eternal increase shall be upon thee and thou shalt have sons and daughters who will revere thee and be an honor to thy life.”

This is partially fulfilled in the sealing of my wife to me for time and eternity with the promises ac­companying the same, and the blessings of having had three sons and five daughters.

“And in thy hand shall be the power to seal on earth and in heaven.”

This has come to pass in the wonderful authority that has been conferred upon me as Assistant President of the Arizona Temple, with authority to seal wives to husbands, and children to parents, for time and eternity. And thousands have been sealed by the authority con­ferred upon me by the First Presidency of the Church.

Patriarch John Smith told me in a blessing he gave me that, “Thou shalt be a common judge in Israel.”

For fifteen years I was President of the Maricopa [12] Stake and acted many times during that period as a common judge in Israel. He also told me that I would labor as a missionary on the isles of the sea. I performed missionary service on the Isles of England, Jersey and Guernsey.

Patriarch Charles D. Evans also pronounced this re­markable blessing with the other promises mentioned above:

“At the touch of thy Guardian Angel, thy spiritual vision shall be quickened; thou shalt look beyond this world of flesh into a world of spirits and behold its beauty and order, and commune with thy dead for their redemption.”

Four years and four months after the blessing was given, this part was fulfilled in the following manner:

I had been in the missionary field about 26 months when a messenger handed me a telegram which stated that my brother Frank had been killed by outlaws in Arizona while in a sheriff’s posse and that I was released to return home.

I was horrified at the news, as Frank and I had been like Johathan and David in our affections. He, too, had been called on a mission, but was told by the First Presidency to wait until I had returned from my mission. We had agreed when we last parted, that we would gather genealogy, do temple work, and any other work the Lord wanted us to do. And now I was deprived of his association and help.

I asked the Elders to pray for me. Each one uttered a humble prayer in my behalf, then I prayed and asked the Lord why my brother was taken, and if it was the Lord’s will, for I wanted to feel that His will be done and not mine; —still, I wanted to know why my brother was called home.

I was answered by a voice speaking from above, say­ing, “Your brother was called for a similar purpose to President Woodruff’s son.”

[13] I recalled having read of President Woodruff’s testi­mony of his son being drowned in Idaho, and of his going to the Lord in prayer and asking why he was taken, when an angel appeared and asked which of all his sons he would prefer to have in charge of missionary work among his relatives who had died without a knowledge of the Gospel. The President’s reply was made by naming the son who had been drowned. Likewise my brother was cho­sen to be in charge of missionary work among our relatives in the spirit world. My mourning for him was over, for I knew that he was well qualified for that all im­portant service.

Although my sorrow had been assuaged by words of comfort from the Lord, still, I had a longing to see my brother. I felt in my heart that I would be able to see him.

After returning home and learning of the awful crime of the outlaws, who took not only his life, but the lives of five others, I went on an inspection trip with my father into the mountains where Frank had been in charge of the several bands of sheep. As we rode on horseback from sheep camp to sheep camp, I felt that Frank was with us. Everywhere we went they were talking about what a wonderful young man he was.

Then when we retired at night to sleep under the canopy of heaven, I had a feeling that he was so near that I could easily see him. After my father had re­tired, I went out a short distance and engaged in prayer, and asked the Lord for the permission of seeing him and of witnessing the service he was engaged in. I had a firm belief that I would see him, and with that in mind I retired.

As I lay there thinking about seeing him, all at once I felt a strange and queer feeling, and in another moment my spirit was outside of my body. I saw my body lying there beside my father, and then I saw a personage standing beside my spiritual body. The personage was [14] dressed in white and I knew he was my Guardian Angel. He said, “Come, go with me!”

Up we went a short distance over the trees, and then over the hills, valleys, cities, seas, until passing over a great distance, we presently came within a few moments into a large city.

As we entered the city, I knew it was where the spirits lived who had not been resurrected. The city was very beautiful, the streets were bordered with trees, flowers and ornamental shrubbery. The buildings were not ornate with the fancy trimmings man adds on earth for decorations, but were of simple grandeur beyond description in their beauty and order.

In the midst of the city, we came to a large build­ing covering an entire block about like our ten acre blocks, and it was four stories high. A door was opened by a young lady, who beckoned us to enter.

My attending angel said, “This young lady is a rel­ative of yours, who, while living in mortality, was killed. She is now doing missionary service among your relatives who have died without a knowledge of the Gos­pel; and the people assembled here are your relatives awaiting to hear the Gospel preached to them.”

I looked over the congregation and estimated that there were about as many as at conference time in the great Salt Lake Tabernacle, (between ten and twelve thousand.) They seemed eager to hear and were a highly intelligent group.

The seating was arranged in the form of an amphi­theater, in circles with one tier of seats above the other so that all could see the speaker and hear well, as the speaker stood in the center of the room far be­low where we were standing. He was also dressed in white and in a clear, forceful address, explained the necessity of the atonement of the Lord and of faith in Him, and then led off a discussion of repentance and baptism.

[15] I thought, how like our missionaries in the field, for he used almost precisely the same arguments, except when he came to baptism, and after explaining the ne­cessity of the second birth in water as a means of se­curing forgiveness of sins to the repentant believer, he explained that they could not be baptized in the spirit world, that it was an earthly covenant and must be made while in mortality, otherwise it must be atten­ded to vicariously for them by living relatives and friends acting as proxies and going into the baptismal fonts in the Temples of God and being baptized and then confirmed for them, having the Holy Ghost conferred upon them, thus being baptized of the water and of the Spirit.

He explained that there were faithful relatives now gathering their names from earthly records, and going into these Holy Temples and doing the essential saving service for them.

Then, as he finished his address to the attentive listeners, he turned around, for he had had his back toward me, and looked up at me and smiled the most joyous smile I have ever witnessed. Truly, he was filled with joy, and I was completely thrilled with ecstasy as I beheld the transcendent bliss which enveloped him. I thought, Oh, if I should attain such supernal joy I would be willing to go through any preparation the Lord desired of me.

Standing by his side was a young lady of medium height, of round features, large piercing eyes and very beautiful appearance. I wondered who she was, and was told by the angel that she was to be Frank’s wife. I looked at her carefully so that I might know her I met her again.

Then we passed into two other departments in the same building, also containing the spirits of my relatives who were in the spirit-prison. The first groups were arranged in classes in groups of thirty to forty with a teacher over each group. They were being taught [16] how to read, write, spell, etc, like our common grade schools, by efficient teachers, except that each did not have a separate room. They did not disturb each other and there was the utmost order and decorum exhib­ited, and the spirit-scholars seemed to be intent upon learning.

I thought that here they were being prepared with sufficient education to be taught and to fully appre­ciate the beautiful principles of the Gospel, and that this, too, was a part of the missionary service given them.

(Note: In 1896-1900 literacy and education were not very extensive in the world, much less in earlier periods than that.)

Then the Guardian Angel said as we passed out of the third room, “We will go back to your body.”

Down through the city we passed, where the people seemed intent on service and all was order and beauty; and then over the country we sped with lightning swiftness, viewing the panorama with kaleidoscopic enfoldment, and in a very short time came again to the for­est where my body was.

I looked at my body and at my father lying there, then out over the bedded sheep and the pines and up into the handsome features of the angel, who smiled and nodded a Goodbye, and in an instant my spirit re­entered my body and I sat up and wakened my father and told him of my marvelous experience.

Afterward, as I told my mother of the young lady who had been killed, and described her, she recognized her as my cousin Nellie Odekirk of Vernal, Utah, who, while riding a horse as the Goddess of Liberty in a parade on the Fourth of July, was thrown off, her foot caught in the stirrup, and she was dragged some distance and when the horse stopped she was dead. She was a very splendid young lady and worthy of that missionary service.

A few days after this, a Sister Kempe came from a [17] neighboring town and sought an interview with my par­ents, saying that her young daughter who had died a few weeks previously, had on her death-bed revealed that my brother, Frank LeSueur, had appeared to her and asked her to become his wife, and that she had consen­ted. Then he told her to tell her mother about it, and tell her also that she was going to die, and for her mother to go visit his folks and ask their consent to the union; and for them to have some relatives stand as proxies for them so that they could be sealed for all eternity in the holy marriage covenant.

My folks called me in to help decide the question, and when Sister Kempe showed me the photo of the young lady, I recognized that she was the same young lady I had seen standing beside my brother as he concluded the service in the Spirit-House. The work was attended to and they were sealed by relatives standing as proxies in the Salt Lake Temple.

Thus the words of the patriarch who had said that at the touch of my guardian angel, my spiritual vision would be quickened so that I could look into the spirit world and behold its beauty and order, and commune with my dead for their redemption, —all were duly and com­pletely fulfilled.

[18] Raised From The Dead

(Condensed from the September-October, 1929, issues of The Improvement Era.)

This story, true in every particular, shows the fulfillment of a prophecy made upon the head of Lorenzo Snow when he received a patriarchal blessing under the hands of the Prophet’s father, Joseph Smith Senior. It was given in the Kirtland Temple, and among other things were these promises:

“Thou shalt become a mighty man. Thy faith shall increase and grow stronger until it shall become like Peter’s. Thou shalt restore the sick; the diseased shall send to thee their aprons and handkerchiefs, and by thy touch their owners shall be made whole. The dead shall arise and come forth at thy bidding.”

It was March 3, 1891, and for several long weeks Ella Jensen, a young girl of 19 at Brigham City, Utah, had lingered, almost between life and death, with Scar­let Fever. Leah Bees, her girlfriend, was serving her as night nurse, and it was about three or four o’clock in the morning, when, as Leah reports it, “I was sud­denly awakened by Ella calling me to get the comb, brush and scissors. She explained that she wanted to brush her hair and trim her finger nails, and get all ready, ‘For, said she, ‘they are coming to get me at ten o’ clock this morning.’

I asked who was coming to get her.

“Uncle Hans Jensen and the messengers, she re­plied, ‘I am going to die and they are coming at ten o’clock to get me and take me away.’

“I tried to quiet her, saying that she would feel better in the morning if she would try to sleep. “‘No, she said, I am not going to sleep any more, but I am going to spend all the time getting ready.” She insisted that I get the comb, hair-brush and [19] scissors, which I did, but she was so weak that she could not use them. As I was brushing her hair, she asked me to call her parents. I explained that they were tired and asleep and that it would be better not to disturb them.

“‘Yes, insisted Ella, ‘you must call them. I want to tell them now.

“The parents were called, and they entered the room the daughter told them that her Uncle Hans, who was dead, had suddenly appeared in the room, while she was awake with her eyes open, and had told her that messengers would be there at ten o’clock conduct her into the spirit world. The father and mother feared that the girl was delirious and tried to get her to be quiet and go to sleep. She knew their thoughts and said, ‘I know what I am talking about. No, I am not going to sleep anymore. I know I am going to die, and that they are coming to get me.'”

Ella, realizing the end was very near, summoned each one of her family to kiss and bid them Goodbye. She called each one by name as they came to the bedside. But her brother Budd was out and had not returned. As it drew toward ten o’clock, she felt she could not go until she had seen him. She was gasping for breath and exerting all her strength to hold on until Budd got back. Grandma Jensen arrived, and just as Ella had embraced and kissed her, Budd came in with Mrs. Nelson. Ella threw her arms around her brother’s neck, kissed him, and then fell back on her pillow—dead. It was just ten o’clock.

Ella’s father left at once to report to President Snow and consult him regarding arrangements for the funeral. Sister Nelson washed and laid Ella out, dressed her in clean linen, and Budd took the doctor back home, who had been called in this emergency. Meanwhile, news of her death spread about.

It was towards noon when Jacob Jensen, Ella’s father, reported to President Snow at the tabernacle service, [20] because it was more than a mile to town and he had to hitch up the horse to drive there. They returned to­gether with Rudger Clawson, who was then the President of the Box Elder Stake.

After standing at Ella’s bedside for a minute or two, President Snow asked if there were any consecrated oil in the house. All were greatly surprised, but the oil was secured for him. He handed the bottle of oil to Brother Clawson and asked him to anoint Ella, after which Brother Snow confirmed the anointing.

Particularly impressive among others, were these words that he used, “Dear Ella, I command you, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, to come back and live. Your mission is not ended.” His voice was very com­manding, “Come back, Ella, come back! Your work upon the earth is not yet completed. Come back! You shall yet live to perform a great mission.”

Ella remained in her dead condition for more than an hour after President Snow administered to her, or more than three hours in all after she had died. Her mother and father were sitting there watching by the bedside, when all at once she opened her eyes, looked about the room, and saw them sitting there.

But she still looked for someone else, and the first thing she said was, “Where is he? Where is he?” “Where is who?”

“Why, Brother Snow,” she replied. “He called me back.”

They explained to her that Brother Snow and Brother Clawson were very busy and could not remain, and that they had gone.

Ella then dropped her head back on her pillow, saying, “Why did he call me back? I was so happy and did not want to come back.”

Then Ella Jensen began to relate her marvelous ex­periences; marvelous both as to the incidents themselves, and as to the great number of them that occurred in the short space of time between three and four hours. And [21] furthermore, the very nature of these incidents prove that she was telling nothing but the truth.

“At ten o’clock my spirit left my body,” related Ella. “It took me some time to make up my mind to go, as I could hear and see the folks crying and mourning over me. It was very hard for me to leave them, but as soon as I had a glimpse of the other world, I was anxious to go, and all the care and worry left me.

“I entered a large hall. It was so long that I could not see the end of it. It was filled with people. As I was conducted through the throng, the first per­son I recognized was my Grandpa H. P. Jensen, who was sitting in one end of the room writing. He looked up and seemed surprised to see me. He said, “Why! There is my grand-daughter, Ella!’

“He was very much pleased, greeted me and, as he continued with his writing, I passed on through the room and met a great many of my relatives and friends. It was like going along the crowded street of a large city where you meet many people, only a very few of whom you recognize.

“The next one I knew was Uncle Hans Jensen with his wife, Mary Ellen. They had two small children with them. On inquiring who they were, he told me one was his own and the other was Uncle Will’s little girl.

“Some seemed to be in family groups. As there were only a few whom I could recognize and who knew me, I kept moving on. Some inquired about their friends and relatives on the earth. Among the number was my cousin. He asked me how the folks were getting along and said it grieved him to hear that some of the boys were using tobacco, liquor, and many things that were injurious to them.

“This proved to me that the people in the other world know to a great extent what happens here on the earth.

“The people were all dressed in white or cream, excepting Uncle Hans Jensen, who (for this occasion) had [22] on his dark clothes and long rubber boots, —the things he wore when he was drowned in the Snake River in Idaho.

“Everybody appeared to be perfectly happy. I was having a very pleasant visit with each one that I knew. Finally, I reached the end of that long room. I opened a door and went into another room filled with children. They were all arranged in perfect order, the largest ones in the back rows all around the room. They seemed to be convened in a sort of Primary or Sunday School, which was presided over by Aunt Eliza R. Snow. There were hundreds of small children there.”

(Note: Heber Q. Hale, while having a similar experience, noted that there were no babies in arms, –only adult spirits, yet the age at which one had died could be readily recognized, and thus he at once recognized the infant son of Orson W. Rawlins, the baby who had died a few years previously. —N.C.P.)

“It was,” continued Ella, “while I was standing listening to the children singing, ‘Gladly Meeting, Kindly Greeting,’ that I heard President Lorenzo Snow call me. He said, ‘Sister Ella, you must come back, as your mission is not yet finished here on earth.’ So I just spoke to Aunt Eliza R.Snow and told her that I must go back.

“Returning through the large room, I told the people I was going back to the earth, but they seemed to want me to stay with them. I obeyed the call, although it was very much against my desire, as such perfect peace and happiness prevailed there, —no suffering and no sorrow. I was so taken up with all I saw and heard that I did hate very much to leave that beautiful place.

“This has always been a source of comfort to me. I learned by this experience that we should not grieve too much for our departed loved ones, and especially at the time they leave us. I think we should be just as calm and quiet as possible, because, as I was leav­ing my mortal life, the only regret I had was that the [23] folks were grieving so much for me. But I soon forgot all about this world in my delight with the other.

“For more than three hours my spirit was gone from my body. As I returned, I could see my body lying on the bed and the folks gathered about in the room. I wanted to stay only a short time on earth to comfort them.”

Ella frequently told of the terrible suffering that she experienced when the spirit again entered the body. There was practically no pain on leaving the body in death, but the intense pain was almost unbearable in coming back to life. Not only this, but for months, and even years afterward, she experienced new aches and pains and physical disorders that she had never known before.

Some of the people Ella described as having met in this spirit sojourn were her aunts and second cousins, long since dead and laid away before she was born. She told her Aunt Harriet Wight, who had lost two daughters, not to mourn them, for she had seen them and had talked with them, and they were very happy in their new sphere of existence.

Many relatives and others visited Ella, and she told them the same story, —of how she had met their relatives and friends over there, how happy they were, and that they had asked about their loved ones here.

When Leah Rees, her night nurse, came to stay with Ella the next night, she told her about having seen her (Leah’s) father and several others of her people who had passed away, as well as her own Grandpa Jensen, -all of whom appeared very happy.

One person Ella was puzzled about seeing in the spirit world, was little Alphie, the son of Alphonzo H. Snow. He had been in her Sunday School class in the First Ward, and she did not know that he had just died. When she told her mother, she said, “Yes, Ella, little Alphie is dead, too. He died early this morning while you were so very sick. We knew you loved him and that [24] it would be a shock to you, so we did not tell you about his death.” But, nevertheless, she had recognized the little fellow happily singing among the children under the direction of Eliza R. Snow.

It was while sitting there listening to those children that she heard a voice coming to her in commanding tones, apparently from a long distance, which said, “Come back, Ella, come back! Your work on earth is not yet completed.” And, although she had no desire to come back, but on the contrary, felt determined to remain in that beautiful world, the voice was so authoritative in manner that it seemed to draw, yes, actually draw her spirit out of that room and back to her body. She felt compelled to follow it and return to earth, where she filled to the fullness, her life’s mission on earth, becoming a mother in Israel, and doing much for the glory of God and her own exaltation in the service of the Lord. She is now known as Mrs. Henry Wight of Brigham City, Utah.

For we without them (our dead) cannot be made perfect; neither can they without us be made perfect. Neither can they nor we be made perfect without those who have died in the gospel also; for it is neces­sary in the ushering in of the dispensat­ion of the fulness of times, which dispen­sation is now beginning to usher in, that a whole and complete and perfect union, and welding together of dispensations, and keys, and powers, and glories should take place, and be revealed from the days of Adam even to the present time. And not only this, but those things which never have been revealed from the foundation of the world, but have been kept hid from the wise and prudent, shall be revealed unto babes and suckling’s in this, the dispensation of the fulness of times. (D.& C, 128:18)

[25] A HEAVENLY MANIFESTATION

Of Heber Q. Hale, President of the Boise, Idaho-, Stake of the L.D.S. Church. —From an autographed copy.

It is with a very humble and grateful spirit that I attempt to relate on this occasion, by request, a personal experience which is very sacred to me. I must of necessity be brief. Furthermore, there were certain things made known to me which I do not feel at liberty to relate here.

Let me say by way of preface, that between the hours of 12 to 7:30 during the night of January 20, 1920, while alone in a room at the home of my friend W. F. Rawson, in Carey, Idaho, this glorious manifestation was vouchsafed to me.

I was not conscious of anything that transpired dur­ing the hours mentioned, except what I experienced in this manifestation. I did not turn over in bed, nor was I disturbed by any sound, which is indeed unusual for me.

Whether it be called a dream, an apparition, a vision or a pilgrimage of my spirit into the world of spirits, I know not —I care not. I know that I actually saw and experienced the things related in this Heavenly Mani­festation, and that they are as real to me as any ex­perience in my life. For me, at least, this is suf­ficient.

Of all the doctrines and practices of the Church, the vicarious work for the dead has been the most dif­ficult for me to comprehend and to whole heartedly ac­cept. I therefore, consider this vision as the Lord’s answer to the prayer of my soul on this and certain other questions.

I passed but a short distance from my body through a film into the world of spirit. This was my first experience after going to sleep. I seemed to realize [26] that I had passed through the change called “death,” and I so referred to it in my conversation with the immortal beings with whom I immediately came into con­tact. I readily observed their displeasure at our use of the word “death,” and the fear which we attach to it. There they use another word in referring to this transition from mortality, which word I do not now re­call, and I can only approach its meaning as the impression was left in my mind by calling it, “The New Birth”

My first visual impression was the nearness of the world of spirit to the world of mortality. The vastness of this heavenly sphere was bewildering to the eyes of the spirit-novice, especially the many enjoy­able, unrestricted freedoms as to both vision and act­ion. The vegetation and landscape were beautiful be­yond description—not all green as on the earth, but gold with varying shades of pink, orange and lavender like the rainbow. A sweet calmness pervaded everything.

The people I met there I did not think of as spirits, but as men and women, self-thinking and self-act­ing individuals, going about important business in a most orderly manner. There was perfect order and everybody had something to do and seemed to be about their business.

That the inhabitants of the spirit world are class­ified according to their lives of purity and their subserviency to the Father’s will was subsequently made apparent. Particularly was it observed that the wicked and unrepentant are confined to a certain dis­trict by themselves, the boundaries of which are as definitely determined and impassable to them as the line marking the division of the physical from the spi­ritual world is to us. —A mere film, but impassible until the person himself is changed.

The world of spirit is the temporary abode of all spirits pending the resurrection from the dead and the [27] Judgment Day. There was much activity within the different spheres, and appointed ministers of salvation were seen coming from the higher to the lower spheres in pursuit of their missionary work.

I had a very pronounced desire to meet certain of my kinsfolk and friends, but I was at once impressed with the fact that I had entered a tremendously great and extensive world, even greater than our earth and more numerously inhabited. I could be in only one place at a time, could do only one thing at a time, could look only one direction at a time, and accordingly, it would require many, many years to search out and con­verse with all those I had known and those whom I de­sired to meet, unless they were especially summoned to receive me.

All worthy men and women were appointed to special and regular service under a well-organized plan of act­ion, directed principally toward preaching the Gospel to the unconverted, teaching those who seek knowledge, and establishing family relationships and gathering genealogies for the use and benefit of mortal survivors of their respective families, that the work of baptism and the sealing ordinances may be vicariously performed for the departed in the Temples of God upon the earth. The authorized representatives of families in the world of spirits have access to our Temple records and are kept fully advised of the work done therein.

However, vicarious work done here does not always become automatically effective over there. The reci­pients must first believe and repent, then they may accept their baptism and confirmation by receiving cer­tain consummation ordinances that effectualize these saving principles in the lives of these regenerated beings.

And so the great work is going on; they doing a work there which we cannot do here, and we doing a work here which they cannot do there —both necessary —each the [28] complement of the other; thus bringing about the salva­tion of all of God’s children who will be saved in the highest kingdom.

I was surprised to find that there were no babies in arms. I met the infant son of Orson W. Rawlins, my first counselor. I immediately recognized him as the baby who died a few years ago, and yet he seemed to have the intelligence and, in certain respects, the appear­ance of an adult, and was engaged in matters pertaining to his family and their genealogy.

However, my mind was quite content on the point that mothers will again (in the resurrection) receive into their arms their children who died in infancy, and raise them to maturity. The fact remains that entrance into the world of spirit at early ages is not an in­hibition to growth, but is the greatest opportunity for development. Babies are just adult spirits in infant bodies.

I presently beheld mighty multitudes of men—the largest I have ever seen gathered in one place, whom I immediately recognized as soldiers—the millions who had been slaughtered and rushed so savagely into the world of spirit during the great World War.

Among them moved calmly and majestically, a great general in supreme command. As I drew nearer, I re­ceived the kindly smile and generous welcome of that great and loving man—General Richard W. Young, formerly of Salt Lake City. Then came the positive conviction to my mind, that of all men, living or dead, there is not one who is so perfectly fitted for this great mis­sion unto which he had been called, than was he. He commands immediately the attention and respect of all the soldiers under him. He is at once a great general and a great High Priest of God.

No earthly field of labor to which he could have been assigned can compare with it in importance and extent. I passed from this scene to return later, when I found that General Young had this vast army of men [29] completely organized with the officers over successive divisions and all were seated, and he was preaching the Gospel in great earnestness to them.

As I passed on, I soon met my beloved mother. She greeted me most affectionately and expressed surprise at seeing me there, and reminded me that l had not com­pleted my allotted mission on the earth. She seemed to be going somewhere and was in a hurry, so accordingly she took her leave by saying that she would see me again.

I moved forward, covering an appreciable distance and consuming considerable time viewing the wonderful sights of landscapes, parks, trees and flowers; and meeting people, some of whom I knew, but many thousands of whom I did not recognize.

I presently approached a small group of men stand­ing in a path which was lined with spacious stretches of flowers, grass and shrubbery–all of a golden hue, marking the approach to a beautiful building. The group was engaged in an earnest conversation. One of their number parted from the rest and came walking down the path toward me. I at once recognized our esteemed president, the late Joseph F. Smith.

He embraced me as a father would his son, and after a few words of greeting, quickly remarked, “You have not come to stay.” Which remark I understood more as a declaration than an interrogation. For the first time, I became fully conscious of my uncompleted mission on earth, and as much as I would have liked to remain, I at once asked President Smith when I might return. You have expressed a righteous desire,” he replied, “and I shall take the matter up with the authorities and let you know later.”

We then turned and he led me toward the little group of men from whom he had just separated. I immediately recognized President Brigham Young and the Prophet Jo­seph Smith. I was surprised to find the former a shorter and heavier built man that l had expected. On the other hand, I found the latter to be taller than I had expec- [30] ted to find him. Both they and President Smith were possessed of a calm and holy majesty which was at once kind and kingly. President Smith then introduced me to the others, who greeted me warmly. We then retraced our steps and President Smith took his leave from me, saying that he would see me again.

From a certain point of vantage, I was permitted to view this earth and what was going on here. There were no limitations to my vision, and I was astounded at this. I saw my wife and children at home. I saw President Heber J. Grant at the head of the great Church and Kingdom of God, and felt the divine power that rad­iated from God, giving light and truth to the Church and guiding its destiny. I beheld this nation founded as it is upon correct principles and designed to endure, beset by evil and sinister forces that seek to lead men astray and to thwart the purposes of God. I saw towns and cities and the sins and wickedness of men and women within them. I saw vessels sailing upon the ocean, and I scanned the battle-scarred fields of France and Belgium. In a word, I beheld the whole world as if it were but a panorama in review before my eyes.

Then there came to me the unmistakable impression that this earth and the scenes and persons upon it are open to the vision of the spirits only when special permission is given or when they are assigned to some special service here. This is particularly true of the righteous who are busily engaged in the service of the Lord and who cannot be engaged in two fields of activity at the same time.

The wicked and unrepentant spirits having still, like all the rest, their free agency, and applying themselves to no useful or wholesome undertaking, seek the pleasures of degenerate humanity. To this extent they are still the tools of Satan. It is these idle, mis­chievous and deceptive spirits who appear as miserable counterfeits at spiritualistic séances, table-dancing and Ouija board operations. The noble and great ones [31] do not respond to the call of mediums, and to every curious group of meddlesome inquirers. They would not do it in mortality; certainly they would not do it in their increased state of knowledge in the world of im­mortality. These wicked and unrepentant spirits as allies of Satan and his hosts, operate through willing mediums in the flesh. These three forces constitute an unholy trinity upon the earth, and are responsible for all the sin, wickedness, distress and misery among men and nations.

I moved forward, feasting my eyes upon the beauties of everything about me and glorying in the indescrib­able peace and happiness that abounded in everybody and through everything. The farther I went, the more glo­rious things appeared. While standing at a certain vantage point, I beheld a short distance away a wonderfully beautiful Temple, capped with golden domes, from which emerged a small group of men dressed in white robes, who paused for a brief conversation. These were the first men I had seen thus clad. The millions that I had previously seen were dressed in various individual styles; the soldiers for instance were in uniform.

In this little group of holy men my eyes rested upon one more splendorous and holy than all the rest. While I thus gazed upon them, President Joseph F. Smith parted from the others and came to my side. “Do you know Him?” he inquired.

I quickly answered, “Yes, I know Him! My eyes be­hold my Lord and Savior!”

“It is true!” said President Smith. And, oh! how my soul was thrilled with rapture, and unspeakable joy filled my heart.

President Smith then informed me that I had been given permission to return and complete my mission on the earth which the Lord had appointed me to fill. Then with his hand upon my shoulder, he uttered these memor­able and significant words, “Brother Heber, you have a great work to do. Go forward with a prayerful heart [32] and you shall be blessed in your ministry. From this time on, never doubt that God lives; that Jesus Christ is His Son, the Savior of the world; that the Holy Ghost is a God Spirit and a Messenger of the Father and Son.

“Never doubt the resurrection of the dead, the im­mortality of the soul; that the mission of the Latter-day Saints is to save all the world, all mankind, both living and dead; and that the great work in the holy Temples for the salvation of the dead has only begun.

“Know this that Joseph Smith was sent of God to usher in the Gospel Dispensation of the Fullness of Time, which is the last unto mortals upon earth. His successors have all been called and approved of God. President Heber J. Grant is at this time recognized as the ordained head of the Church of Jesus Christ upon the earth. Give him your confidence and support.

“Much you have seen and heard here, you will not be permitted to repeat when you return.” Thus concluding, he bade me, “Goodbye, and God bless you.”

I traveled quite a distance through various scenes and passed innumerable people before I reached the sphere where I had first entered. On my way, I was greeted by many friends and relatives, certain of whom sent words of greeting and counsel to their dear ones on earth, my mother being one of them.

One other I will mention: I met Brother John Adamson, his wife, his son James, and daughter Isabelle, all of whom were killed by the hand of a foul assassin at Carey, Idaho, on the evening of October 29, 1915. They seemed to divine that I was on my way back to mortality and immediately said, Brother Adamson speaking, “Tell the children that we are very happy, and that they should not mourn our departure or worry their minds over the manner by which we were taken. There is a purpose in it and we have work here to do which requires our collective effort and which we could not do indi­vidually.” I was at once made to know that the work referred to was that of genealogy on which they were [33] working in England and Scotland.

One of the grandest and most sacred things of hea­ven is family relationship. The establishing of a com­plete chain without any broken links brings a fullness of joy. Links wholly have been dropped out and other new links put in, or two adjoining links welded together. Men and women throughout the world are moved upon by their dead ancestors to gather genealogies. The ordin­ances of baptism, endowments, and sealings which are performed in the Temple of God by the living for the dead constitute the welding of the links for the chain. The ordinances are performed in the spirit world effect­ualizing in the recipients the saving principles of the Gospel which are vicariously performed on earth.

As I was approaching the place where I had entered, my attention was attracted to a small group of women preparing what appeared to be wearing apparel. Observing my inquiring countenance, one of them remarked, “We are preparing to receive Brother Phillip Worthington soon.” (He died two days later, on January 22. I received a telegram to come and preach at his funeral services, held January 23.)

As I gasped his name in repetition, I was admonished, “If you knew the joy and the glorious mission that awaits him here, you would not ask to have him detained longer on earth.”

Then, flooding through consciousness came the aw­ful truth, that the will of the Lord can be done on earth as it is in Heaven only when we resign completely to His will and let His will be done in us and through us. On account of the selfishness of man, and the as­sertion of their personal will as against the will of God, many persons who might otherwise have been taken in innocence and peace, have been permitted to live and have passed a life of suffering and misery, or de­bauchery and crime, and have lived to their peril and debasement.

Men, women, and children are often called to mis- [34] sions of great importance on the other side, and some respond gladly, while others refuse to go and their loved ones will not give them up. Also many die need­lessly because they have not faith to be healed; others yet live on and pass out of the world of mortals with­out any special manifestation or action of the divine will.

When a man is stricken ill the question of prime importance is not -is he going to live or die. What matter if he lives or dies so long as the will of our Father is done? Surely, we can trust him with God. Herein lies the special duty and administration of the Holy Priesthood; namely, it is given the elders of the Church to divine the will of the Father concerning the one upon whose heads their hands are laid. If for any reason they are unable to presage the  Father’s will, they should continue to pray in faith for the afflicted one, humbly conceding supremacy of the will of God, that His will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.

To the righteous, the birth into the world of spirit is a glorious privilege and a blessing. The greatest spirits in the family of the Father have not usually been permitted to tarry longer in the flesh than was necessary to perform a certain mission. They are then called to the world of spirit, where the field is greater and the workers fewer. This earth career, therefore, may be longer or shorter as the Father wills.

I passed quietly out of the world of spirit at the point where I had entered it, and immediately my body was quickened and I arose to ponder over and record the many wonderful things I had experienced.

Let me here and now declare to the world, that irrespective of what others may think and say, I do know of my own positive knowledge and from my own personal experience that God is the Father of all the spirits of men, and that He lives; that Jesus Christ is His Son and the Savior of the world; that the spirit of man does not die but survives the change called death, and [35] goes into the world of spirit; that the world of spirit is upon or near this earth, that man’s individuality is not lost by death, nor is his progress inhibited; that the spirits will literally take up their physical bodies again in the resurrection; that the Gospel is now being taught to the spirits; and the great work of saving the Father’s family among the living and dead is in progress; and that but comparatively few will be lost; that the Gospel of Jesus Christ has again been established upon the earth with all the keys, powers, authority and blessings through the instrumentality of the Prophet Joseph Smith; that this is not only the power that will save and exalt everyone obedient to it, but will ultimately save the world; that the burden of our mission is to save souls unto God; and that the work for the dead is no less important than the work for the

living.

“Every dispensation that has had the Priest­hood on the earth and has gone into the celes­tial kingdom has had a certain amount of work to do to prepare to go to the earth with the Savior when He goes to reign on the earth. Each dispensation has had ample time to do this work. We have not. We are the last dispen­sation, and so much work has to be done and we need to be in a hurry in order to accomplish it.!’ —Joseph Smith from the Spirit World to Wilford Woodruff. Deseret News, Vol. 53, No. 21.

[36] Promptings of the Spirit

To Robert M. Tyler

About March, 1872, we lived in the old fort in Kanab, Utah, which had been built by the settlers for protection against Indians. Most of the families had moved out of the fort to homes in the town, however, a few families, including our own, remained in the old fort. We occupied three rooms (the middle one was used for the kitchen and dining room.) My brother Charles, who was five, and I, seven and a half years old, slept in one of the rooms and the remainder of the family slept in the other. The kitchen was directly between the two bedrooms.

These buildings were covered with dirt. We had had a long rainy spell, and one night when Charles and I went in to go to bed, it just seemed as though some­thing told me that that roof would cave in that night. It impressed me so much that we took our bedding and carried it into the room where the rest of the family slept. Father and mother asked why we moved in there and I replied that I believed the roof of the other room was going to cave in that night.

The next morning at daybreak I arose and went to our bedroom to find that the corner of the roof where we had slept had fallen in and crushed the wooden bed­stead to the floor. Undoubtedly the falling roof would have killed both of us had we not heeded the warning.

Two of the above mentioned rooms were built of logs and one of stone with no partition openings. One had to go outside to pass from one room to another.

At Eleven- A Gimps of Death’s Bright Angel

In the year 1875, we lived in Kanab, Utah, just across the street east of Bishop William D. Johnson. On April 19th of that year my mother’s baby which was about three weeks old, was very sick. Larcum Lewis and [37] I were playing out in the lot just east of the house about nine o’clock in the morning, when we looked and saw something ascending directly from the house in a southwesterly direction. It appeared to be about the size of a woman wrapped in a robe. It was of a bril­liant gold color, much brighter than the sunshine of that beautiful April morning. It was not far up when we first saw it. It moved very fast but we could still see it when it appeared to be miles away.

When we first saw it, I said to Larcum, “I wonder if the baby is dead.” We watched it till it was out of sight, then in a few seconds we saw a glimpse of it again. Neither of us spoke to the other after that. Larcum ran home and told his mother that he and I had seen an angel. And I ran to the house and found that the baby was dead.

Later in the day I was at Larcum’s home on the same block, and his mother said to me, “Larcum says you and he saw an angel this morning.” I told her I did not know what it was, and then described it to her. I was four months less than eleven years old, and Larcum was some­what younger.

At Twelve- Saved by a Voice

From an Invisible Source

About the 10th of October, 1876, at Panguitch Lake it had snowed all day until about 4:30 P.M. We had about a dozen cows that were grazing across the flat from our place and a short distance up on the mountain. I had a saddle pony about the same distance in the opposite direction, so I decided to walk after the cows instead of getting the horse to ride after them.

After I had crossed the flat and gone over a ridge that came down the mountain side, there was a slight slope to go down for a hundred yards or so, and a wash about four feet deep at the lower part, from which rose the mountain proper.

The cows were now in sight, and as I got within a [38] few steps of this wash, a voice from what seemed to be about two hundred feet away and up in the air as high as the tops of the pines, called in the exact tone of my father’s voice, “Oh, Bob!” But my father was 150 miles away at the time.

I was not frightened at the voice, but felt that it was a heavenly warning against danger. I did not stop, but instantly turned and ran with all my might. I had such great fear that I was afraid to stop to look back. I felt that something was after me, but just before passing back over the ridge, I looked back but saw nothing. Nevertheless, I still hurried as fast as I could through the snow. When I reached home the pony had come in and I mounted it and went back on a run to see if I could see anything to be afraid of.  As I rode up to the wash just ahead of where I had heard the voice I saw the fresh tracks of a large bear which had gone down the wash after the last snow had fallen.

This was not an imaginary voice, it was as loud as my father could have called me had he been there, and it echoed in the timber as is common after a snow. When I was a boy at home my folks called me Bob.

I shall always believe that if I had not had the warning I would have met that bear in the wash. I was just twelve years old.

At Twenty-four- Impressed to Take Lumber For
A Coffin. Also Warned of Immediate Danger

In 1888, my brother John and I, owned a saw mill at Pinedale, Arizona, and at the same time we owned homes at Woodruff, forty miles away. One day we were going from the mill to Woodruff to stay at our homes for a few weeks. My brother and his wife and my wife packed up all the baggage and carried it out ready for loading while I hitched up the team.

As I drove up to the place to load on the baggage, an impression came to me to take some lumber for a cof­fin with us to Woodruff. I told the others of my im- [39] pression, and my brother tried to argue me out of such a notion, but I was not to be changed from my decision, and so I drove back to the lumber yard and selected some nice clear lumber to make the coffin and also some to make a box in which to place the coffin. I put the lumber in the bottom of the wagon and loaded our bag­gage on top of it.

The next day when we arrived in Woodruff, a little town of twenty families, everyone was well, but my im­pression still stayed with me. The next day Bishop E. M. Webb’s fourteen year old daughter Nellie, took sick and in eight days from the time I arrived, I helped to make our lumber into a coffin for this girl. As there was no lumber in Woodruff, they would have had to tra­vel at least twenty miles to Snowflake, the nearest place to get it. If I had taken measurements of the corpse and gone to a lumber yard, I could not have ob­tained the right amount of more suitable lumber.

During the following winter we had a heavy snow in the mountains. Two days after the snow, I was at the saw mill and was standing under a lumber shed, with a paper in my hands figuring up a bill of lumber. I had only been there a moment or so when an impression came to me to move from under the shed as it was going to fall. I walked out about fifteen feet from the shed and stopped in the snow, nearly up to my knees, with my back to the shed, to finish my figuring and at the same time I was wondering why I was impressed to get out from under the shed when it had held that load of snow for two days. Just then it went down. It did not fall one side at a time. Every corner had an equal number of nails and it seemed that the slight jerk of the first one turning loose caused them all to let go at once, causing the entire shed to fall at the same time. If I had not moved I would have been crushed to death instantly. Thus again did the prompting of the spirit save me from being crushed under a falling roof.

[40] At Twenty-nine – Premonition of Death

Future Wife Shown in a Dream

In 1893, Brother David Lee and I were joint owners of a saw mill in Luna Valley, New Mexico, twelve miles from Alpine, Arizona, which was my home at that time. On February 12th of that year, Brother Lee came up to Alpine to inform me that he had a supply of logs on hand and wanted me to come and saw them out as he had a mill crew ready.

I went with Brother Lee to Luna Valley and stayed all night at his place, intending to go the next morning to the mill and commence work. But in the morning I had an impression that a death was going to occur in my family and by the time we had breakfast over and saddled our horses ready to go to the mill, I was so impressed that I was fairly trembling in anticipation.

I told Brother Lee that I was not going to the mill but was going home and told him how l felt. He said he believed in these impressions and would do as I was in­tending to do, if he were in my place. It was twelve miles home and quite deep snow for more than half the way. The farther I. went the more anxious I became and the faster I traveled. However, when I reached home I found all well and nothing wrong, nevertheless, the impression still remained with me.

That evening a neighbor came and spent the evening and stayed until ten o’clock. We went to bed and about eleven o’clock my wife awakened me and told me she was sick. I went for her father and mother and then for the doctor. She grew steadily worse, so I went for the Bishop. We did everything we could for her. At two o’ clock a baby girl was born and at five o’ clock my wife passed away. The baby lived ten hours, then died and was buried with its mother.

If I had not listened to the impression, it would have been impossible to have arrived there before she died.

[41] I remained at my home in Alpine until June and then became very restless and wanted to travel. My wife’s mother said she wished I would go to Ashley, Utah, and get acquainted with her folks whom I had never met, and she would take care of my four children. So I went to Ashley and stayed six weeks, and then went from there to Salt Lake City by team with some other parties.

One night after crossing Strawberry River, we camped a short distance from the river, and during the night I had a strange dream. I dreamed of taking Charlotte Webb to heaven. (At this time I was only barely acquain­ted with this girl; she lived in Nutrioso, Arizona, eight miles from my home.) In my dream, I was with Charlotte Webb and saw a large audience of people ready to hold an outdoor meeting among the timber. As we approached the audience, my wife came out to meet us and after embracing me, turned to the girl and took her in her arms and held her while we listened to a song from the audience which consisted of three verses and a chorus. When I awoke I remembered all of the chorus and part of the verses, and the tune of the chorus. The title of the song was, “The Gates of Death are Wide and Open.” It was the most beautiful music I ever have heard in all my life.

When I awoke from my dream my impression was that I would marry this girl. This occurred on August 29th 1893. I did not get home until the following November and the day after arriving home, this girl’s father J. D. Webb, came from Nutrioso, and told me that he had bought Brother Lee’s half of the mill provided it was satisfactory to me, which of course it was, for my previous impression still remained with me. He then told me that he had a stock of logs ready for me to saw, and as I was the sawyer, he had been waiting for me. I told him I was ready to go the next day. He then asked me if I had anyone in mind to cook for us at the mill. I told him I had not. He asked if I would care if he brought his daughter and a young married lady to cook [42] for us, and of course, I readily agreed to that also.

The next day he came through Alpine on his way to Luna Valley to the mill. The two girls and a man passed through the town on a wagon and Brother Webb came up to my place on horseback. I saddled a horse and we soon overtook the wagon. When I saw the girl I was re­assured in my impression that I would marry her. Even though I learned from others a few days later that she was engaged to another man, my impression was not changed in any way.

She told me after we were married that she had had the same impression when she met me, and that if she did not get me she would not have the other man regardless. I did not attempt to make love to her, however, until after I had learned that she had discharged the other man. Then everything went along lovely and we were married on the 15th of the following February. Not un­til after we were married did I tell her of my dream that I had in Utah.

In April, 1901, Patriarch Claridge, in a blessing said to her in part: “The Lord has been very merciful unto you, and blessed you in many ways; and He is pleased with your labors, and especially for being a mother to your husband’s motherless children; and your reward will be great for so doing; and their mother will take you in her arms, and will bless you for the good work you have done.” This was what I had seen in my dream eight years before.

In 1895— Miraculously Healed

In 1895, when my wife and I with our family moved to Eden, Arizona, I was shortly afterward taken ill with what the doctor termed Malaria Fever.

I had a very severe pain in the back of my head and neck for four days, and had become unconscious. My wife was crying over my condition; and a young man asked her what she would like to have done and she replied, “We are strangers here, but if I could have what l would like to have, I would have the Elders.”

[43] The young man hurried and brought three Elders who administered to me and when about half through with the sealing of the anointing I was instantly made well. When they took their hands from my head I raised my head and turned it in every direction to see if I could feel any pain, and discovered that the pain was entirely gone. The Lord had healed me instantly!

(Note: There are many more very outstanding experiences of this nature, which Brother Tyler reports in his lit­tle booklet entitled, “Faith Promoting Incidents In The Life of Robert M. Tyler,” but space will not per­mit us to reproduce them all here. However, we will give the last, and perhaps the most interesting, of all these experiences which he reports in this booklet.)

My Dead Son Takes A Wife

In March 1918, after my son, Robert M. Tyler, Jr., was drafted into the United States army, and while sta­tioned at Camp Kearney, California. I wrote him a let­ter and told him that we hoped for his safe return from the war and we would pray for him; but in case he should not return that I would have some good girl sealed to him for eternity.

This letter I wrote on the typewriter and addressed the envelope on the machine. This was the only letter I wrote him on a typewriter.

He died in France and when we received his personal effects, the envelope from this letter was rolled up in the little roll that he carried with him in his pack. It would appear that the letter had made quite an im­pression upon him.

In September, 1919, I was working on a railroad at Globe, Arizona, as a bridge carpenter, where we had a string of a dozen cars or so for various uses, which we called, “The Camp.”  Among them were two passenger cars converted into bunk rooms, with a box car for a dining room and another for a kitchen.

Brother Hans Nielsen, whom I had known since boy- [44] hood, was working in the same gang with me. We had been separated for about fifteen years and we were talking over our family conditions during the time of our separation. I told him of the death of my son, Robert, and he told me that his oldest daughter, Elizabeth, had also died shortly after she became sixteen.

Nothing more was said or thought about the matter for two or three weeks. Then for about three days it seemed that my son, Robert, was around me all the time. I felt his presence so strongly that I felt as if I could speak to him, and looked around me several times to see if I could see him. On the fourth morning, when I awoke, he seemed to impress me more than ever before, and I thought to myself that the boy wished me to do something for him. Then it came to me that he wanted this girl sealed to him for eternity.

I went into breakfast and was the first one up from the table. Brother Nielsen followed me out and as we stepped down on the ground from the car, I asked him how old he had said his daughter was when she died. Just then one of the workers came up and started to speak to us, but Brother Nielsen answered me without speaking to the other man, “She was sixteen, and I know what you are going to ask me, and it will be all right, and I will see you later.”

Then a fourth man came up and when the two workers began to talk, Brother Nielsen and I went around the car and he said, “You were going to ask me to let you have my daughter sealed to your son, weren’t you?”

“Yes,” I answered.

And then he said, “I knew that because she has been after me about it for four days, too, and I was going to speak to you about it if you hadn’t spoken to me.”

The next month my wife and I went up to the St. George Temple and had this work performed.

[45] Death ‘By Appointment

The Prophet Joseph held the keys of this dispen­sation on this side of the veil, and he will hold them throughout the countless ages of eternity. He went into the spirit world to unlock the prison doors and to preach the Gospel to the millions of spirits who are in darkness.

And every Apostle, every Seventy, every Elder, etc., who has died in the faith, as soon as he passes to the other side of the veil, enters into the work of the ministry, and there is a thousand times more to preach to there than there is here.

I have felt of late as if our brethren on the other side of the veil had held a council, and that they had said to this one, and that one, “Cease thy work on earth, come hence, we need help. And they have called this man and that man.

Perhaps I may be permitted to relate a circumstance with which I am acquainted in relation to Bishop Ros­kelley, of Smithfield, Cache Valley, Utah.

On one occasion he was suddenly taken very sick -near to death’s door. While he lay in this condition, President Peter Maughan, who was dead, came to him and said, Brother Roskelley, we held a council on the other side of the veil. I have had a great deal to do, and I have the privilege of coming here to appoint one man to come and help. I have had three names given to me in council, and you are one of them. I want to inquire into your circumstances.”

The Bishop told him what he had to do, and they conversed together as one man would converse with an­other. President Maughan said to him, I think I will not call you. I think you are wanted here more than [46] perhaps one of the others.

Bishop Roskelley got well from that hour. Very soon after, the second man was taken sick, but not being able to exercise sufficient faith, Brother Ros­kelley did not go to him.

By and by this man recovered, and on meeting Bro­ther Roskelley he said, “Brother Maughan came to me the other night and told me he was sent to call one man from the ward.” And he named two men as had been done to Brother Roskelley. A few days afterwards the third man died.

Now, I name this to show a principle. They have work on the other side of the veil; and they want men and they call them. And that was my view in regard to Brother George A. Smith when he was almost at death’s door. Brother Cannon administered to him, and in thirty minutes he was up and ate breakfast with his family. We labored with him in this way, but ultimately, as you know, he died. But it taught me a lesson. I felt that man was wanted behind the veil. We labored also with Brother Pratt, but he, too, was wanted behind the veil.—Journal of Discourses, Vol. 22:334.

The spring blew trumpets of color,

Her green sang in my brain—
I heard a blind man groping,

“Tap,- tap,” with his cane.

I pitied him his blindness;

But can I boast that I see?

Perhaps there walks a spirit

Close by, who pities me.

A spirit who hears me tapping

The five sensed cane of my mind

Amid such wondrous glories—

That I–am worse than blind.

[47] A Convent Sister Sees A Vision And

Has A Remarkable Conversion

This true but very unusual story is undoubtedly without parallel or precedent in the entire history of the Church. It is about the conversion of a very de­vout White Sister in a Catholic Convent to the Gospel and Church represented by the much despised “Mormons” of that vicinity.

Some 30 years ago there was a young girl living in Holland, who, in the bloom of youth, looked at life as nothing more than a round of happiness, —dreaming ever of great romances. A very outstanding youth of Jewish extraction fell in love with her and their love was deeply mutual. This romance, however, did not receive the approval of the girl’s mother, who naturally did not wish to see her children marry outside of the Holy Roman Church.

Worried and concerned for the spiritual welfare of her child, the mother went to the Priest for advice.

The good Father suggested that the best possible solution would be to send the girl to a convent for two years, pointing out that she would undoubtedly forget her “puppy love” in that time and have the benefit of the wonderful training and experience afforded at the convent, as well.

Through the pressure and influence of parents and Priest, the girl accepted the convent life and soon became so enrapt in this high spiritual existence that all longing for worldly things left her. She desired nothing more than to spend the rest of her life in the convent apart from what was termed–the lower world.

Meanwhile, seeds of Gospel Truth sown by Mormon Elders, has found fruitful ground in her mother’s heartend baptism claimed her into the fold of the Church of Jesus Christ. Feeling duty bound to inform her daugh- [48] ter of this new found faith and happiness, the mother at once went to the convent to see her daughter. But this supposedly good news had anything but the desired effect. Her daughter was only grief stricken and heartbroken about it, and could only pray night and day for the return of her mother to the Catholic faith.

To her mother’s written entreaties to leave the convent and come home, she could only reply, “Mother, if you love your child dearly, why do you try to take away her happiness? I am here, happy and contented, and my only desire is to live here the rest of my life. I have been asking the Sisters of the convent to help me pray for my family and their safe return to the Holy Mother Church.”

Almost two years passed before parental authority obliged the girl to leave the convent. Bitterly de­jected, she prayed to God that He let her die before entering the lower world again, but her prayers were not answered and she could remain no longer in the con­vent without the consent of her parents. So, embracing each of the convent Sisters in a fond and tearful fare­well, she departed, with the good Father of the convent giving her a final warning to beware of those dreadful Mormons who had come to Holland for the foul and secret purpose of luring away beautiful maidens to become the concubines and slaves of high Mormon polygamists in the Wild West of America, —a fate worse than death.

One can well imagine the home coming of this fright­ened little White Sister. Her mother had invited some of these very Mormon Elders to dinner for the occasion, and there they were around the table as she entered the home. Although the Elders were quite friendly and of­fered to shake hands with her, she told them she could not permit it for she was positive that they were ser­vants of Satan, and that they were guilty of dragging her own brother and sister and mother to perdition. But still the Elders only tried to be very kind to her and [49] gave no sign of being hurt or offended at her reproach.

Days passed by and it seemed impossible for her to stay at home; always she longed for the convent, and one day she ran away and returned to it. The Mother Superior was glad to see her again and invited her to come inside. They prepared a special feast for her, and her joy seemed overflowing to be in her old sur­roundings again. She longed to stay there forever, but it was pointed out again that she could not remain with­out the necessary consent of her parents, so she once again departed tearfully from the convent.

Months passed, and repeatedly her mother tried to explain the various doctrines of the “Mormon” Church to her, but the words fell on deaf ears, as the girl closed them tightly with her hands, as the good Father had advised her to do.

One day her mother approached her in a more round­about-way by asking her when it was that she was bap­tized. The answer was —When three days old. Then her mother asked her how old Christ was when He was baptized. —About 30 or 31 years old— was the reply. Then taking the Bible, her mother pointed out that one must first repent and then be baptized for the forgiveness of sins, and that little babies were without sin, and should not be baptized but rather should be blessed as the Christ Child was blessed in the temple, and as He himself later blessed the little children instead of baptizing them. And that this, incidentally, was the method followed by the “Mormon” Church.

That night just before going to bed, a strange men­tal picture or vision of the mind presented itself to the perturbed girl. In it, the Catholic Church seemed to be likened to a huge pan full of water with a tiny hole in it, through which all the water gradually drained out until the pan was left empty and barren.

Being unable to understand the true significance of this likeness, she bent down on her knees and asked the Lord to give her through a dream or some other sign [50] a clearer meaning and understanding of this vision. She admitted to God that she knew the Catholic Church was the only true Church, but that there was one thing she could not understand —the baptism of babies, and would God help her to understand these things.

Then going to sleep she dreamed a strange dream in which she saw herself bound and tied on a long table. On each side of the table were seven men with large flails in their hands with which they began to beat her. They hit her so hard that her flesh was broken in many places and her blood streamed upon the ground. She pleaded to God for help, but the men only continued their torturous beating. And to make it worse, they opened her wounds and poured a black substance into them that made her pains more excruciating and unbear­able than ever.

Suddenly about seven feet from the table an old man ­with a long, white beard appeared, whom the others dis­regarded at first, but obeyed when he spoke to them in the following words: “This is like unto the Three He­brews in the fiery furnace who were rescued by an angel of God. Release her! ”

Immediately the men cut the ropes that bound her and she stood up, and there before a great multitude of people who gathered about, she raised her right hand and said in a loud voice, “I know that the Prophet Jo­seph Smith is a true Prophet of God, and that I must be baptized for the forgiveness of my sins. I know that the ‘Mormon’ Church is the true Church of Jesus Christ!” And with these words she awoke.

Believing the dream to be of an evil source, she at once began to pray to God, telling Him that this dream must be from Satan who had overheard her prayers, but if it should be that it was not from Satan, but from God, to permit her to have the same dream again, or to otherwise let it be banished from her thoughts. Then she asked forgiveness for doubting, even for the moment, the genuineness of the Mother Church.

[51] Returning to sleep, the very same dream was repeated in every detail, and she awoke once more to plead with God that it was impossible for her, a Convent Sister ­of the Holy Mother Church, to believe the”Mormon” Church to be His true Church, and Joseph Smith to be His Pro­phet. Surely, she knew with all her heart that the Pope of Rome was the true Vicar of God upon earth. But her questioning mind made her beg of God to repeat the dream a third time, if it were from Him, otherwise to please forgive her for approaching Him about it.

Knowing that the Father would answer her prayers in this crucial moment of decision, she went to sleep again and received the very identical dream in all its exact and vivid detail for the third time that night. When she awoke this time it was morning, these three identical dreams having taken the entire night leaving her tired and exhausted, but convinced that her dream really was from God. There upon she covenanted with her Heavenly Father to bear this remarkable testimony wherever He might send her on the face of the earth.

Hurriedly, she ran down to her mother and told her of this strange dream that had been repeated to her three times during the night, and that now she was com­pletely converted and ready to become a “Mormon.”

Weeping for joy, her mother raised up in bed, and unable to restrain herself further said, “Oh, my daugh­ter, I, too, saw it all happen in a dream last night. And I saw Sister Coann and Sister Murrin come here to go with us down to the watery grave where you are to be baptized.”

Truly enough, an hour or so later, without pre­arrangement or foreknowledge of the situation, these two sisters arrived at this home at the same moment from opposite parts of the city, as if some unaccount­able force urged them to come.

It was a bitter cold day on the 15th of January that this little group walked from the Hague down to Sheveningen, by the ocean side for this unusual baptism. [52] It was growing dark toward evening and the ocean was very rough. Brother Park Kenner, the officiating Elder who had been summoned, said, “Sister, hadn’t you better wait for another time? Look at the sea, how wild and rough it is:”

“Water shall not prevent me from being baptized!” she replied. And then she asked permission to withdraw a short distance from them to pray. And there in the darkness of the seashore she knelt down and asked the Lord to calm the sea as He had done in Galilee, and then she thanked Him again for her strong and wonder­ful testimony.

When she returned again to the little group, the wind had suddenly subsided and the ocean was as calm as on a clear summer evening! Together with Elder Park Kenner, she walked out into the ocean where the water was deep enough, and there by the authority of the Holy Priesthood, he baptized her. But at that instant it seemed as if the Evil One must manifest himself, too, as she received a very severe blow on the back of her head, apparently from a heavy piece of driftwood, that left her moaning in unbearable pain.

The following day she went to Sunday School to be confirmed a member of the Church and receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands. Although the severe pain was still with her, it suddenly left when Brother Jan Roghaar laid his hands on her head for this ordinance, —a divine, powerful spirit possessed him that fairly shook his frame as he spoke the words of this administration, and the pain immediately and entirely left her body. She received not only her con­firmation, but a wonderful and inspired blessing as well.

From that time forth, this good sister became a faithful and ardent worker in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In due time she came to America where she has raised a fine family in the faith. This former Convent Sister is now Sister Anna Noorlander.

[53] The Dream of Yellow Face

By President Edward J. Wood

of the Alberta Stake, and President of the Alberta Temple

About the year 1910, a very fine looking Indian, calling himself Yellow Face, called in Cardston, and said he had with him 20 families of the Cree Nation from Eastern Canada, and that they were wandering over the country to find a good trapping country. As they liked the look of this corner of Alberta, they requested permission to camp on some of the vacant lands in our vicinity.

Yellow Face had fairly well educated young men in his company who could talk pretty good English. These acted as interpreters. They had a written language the characters resembling very much the characters seen on the facsimile cuts shown in the Pearl of Great Price. Yellow Face had rather sharp features, a well-shaped forehead, with deep set eyes. His color was a lighter brown than that of our Blood Indians, he was nearly six feet tall, was very dignified and seemed highly intelligent.

We directed him and his company to the west section where there were lands with many lakes and plenty of grass for their horses. In a few days, Yellow Face sent word to me that they preferred the upper parts of the Cochrane Ranch lands, and that his company had en­camped on the Belly River near the bridge, waiting to hear from me as to their trapping on our Church lands. I sent word that if they would go on the hay lands and do some work in grubbing out a lot of low willows, they might earn a little money that way and also earn the right to do some trapping; to which proposal they will­ingly assented.

They wasted no time, and soon went to the store at Mountain View, a town five miles from their camp, and had some fine muskrat hides to sell and also some finely [54] beaded moccasins, well-tanned rugs, and Indian curios.

They did a lot of buying and selling in the Mountain View stores and some trading in Cardston during the trapping season.

While in Mountain View, they seemed very curious about our meetings and asked to attend public services, and also ward reunions of any kind; but while in attendance they would talk very little. When the season was about over for trapping, they came and very politely said Goodbye, and seemed to appreciate our allowing them to use the Church lands.

They came back the next year, and again the third year, and traded and acted much as they did before, and never seemed to wish to get acquainted with us, until one day near the close of the season, Yellow Face and his Council of Chiefs, comprising the head of each family making 20 Chiefs, sent to Mountain View for the Church Chief (Bishop) to come at once to their camp and meet with their Council.

The Bishop went and found them all seated around the edge of the tent, and wondered what they might de­sire of him. When the Bishop entered, Yellow Face stood up and asked the Bishop to stand in the center of the circle and address them. The Bishop hardly knew what to say, but tried to explain, through their interpreter, the first principles of the Gospel, and other truths he thought they would understand about our revealed Gospel. He spoke over half an hour, and realized they did not seem much interested, so he sat down and talked briefly on local matters, invited them to come to Moun­tain View to the meetings, and left feeling he had not made much of an impression.

About a week after, they sent for him to come among them again and talk to them once more. He wondered more than ever at their inviting him to talk to them so soon for he knew he had done very little good before. But as he entered the tent he noticed a fine looking Indian woman, whom Yellow Face introduced as his daugh­ter.

[55] The Bishop states that as soon as he saw this woman, the feeling came upon him to talk on the Book of Mormon. Before he began to speak to the assembled Indians, Yellow Face asked him if he had anything new to tell them, saying that they did not care to hear again what he had told them before. When he said he would tell them about a book, every eye was on him and the young woman seemed very nearly white. They all paid marked attention as he spoke and interrupted so fre­quently through the interpreter, that it was difficult for him to finish. They were much enthused, and pointed for him to be seated where Yellow Face had been sitting. Then Yellow Face in his dignified way-said he would now tell his story. As he did so every eye was upon him:

The year before our tribe first came here, I was taken very sick. Some of my Indian friends who had been dead for many years came and told me that I would soon be better, but I would get sick again someday, and that I would die, but my family must not think I was dead and bury me, for I was not to be buried until my body was cold all over.

When I woke up, I called my family together and also the Council of Five Chiefs (of which I was a member) for our tribe which then lived in Manitoba was large, and I told them of my dream, and they laughed at me and did not believe me. But, nevertheless, I feared my dream was true.

Time went on, and one day sometime afterward, I was taken very sick, and I at once feared my dream would come true, so I warned my family not to be in a hurry to bury me, even though I died, until they were sure that I was cold all over.

I got weaker and weaker until I left my body, and I went away among a lot of Indians that I knew were dead; some I knew and some I did not know, as they had been dead so long. But they were not dead at all, and they told me to die was only to leave the body for your people to take care of, and to come where they were.

[56] “As for me, they said that I had to go back and use my body again for several years. THEY SAID I WAS TO GO AMONG THE WHITE PEOPLE UNTIL I FOUND A BOOK THAT TOLD OF THE HISTORY OF THESE DEAD INDIANS WHO WERE NOT DEAD. I asked them how I would know the people who had the book that would tell my live Indian friends all about who they were and about their dead relatives; and they gave me these five keys:

1. They will let you camp on their own lands, and trap and hunt.
2. They will treat you like one of them in your business dealings with them.
3. They will invite you to their meetings and ask you to speak.
4. They will invite you to sit with them at their tables to eat.
5. They will visit you in your camp, and their men will not bother your women nor molest any of you.

“‘When you find this kind of people, have them meet in your Council, and have them tell you what they believe, and they will tell you about this book.’

“I then woke up and found my wife and my friends had about decided to bury me as I had been dead several days and was cold all over, except a small place over my heart, but when I came back to life and told them where l had been and that our Indian relatives were not dead at all, they wondered at me. And when I told them that I would pick about 20 families and travel until Ifound the Book, they again wondered, but as they all believed in a God, they said they would follow me.”So in due time we formed our company and started. We made many camps, and traveled many seasons. But there are not many people who are true friends of the Indian; and it was hard to find a people who answered to the five keys until we landed among you.”

Yellow Face had grown quite eloquent in telling of his wonderful experience among the dead, —yet living [57] Indians; as he termed them, and before he sat down, he asked for the Book. The Bishop went and got a Book of Mormon and gave it to him. He took it as though it had always belonged to him, and said to the Bishop that it was his Book because it was the history of his people, both of the dead and of the living.

After this very interesting experience of the Bishop, I met Yellow Face at the home of the Bishop and he told us of how he had watched us and of his sitting by my side at a certain reunion of the ward the year before, and of how he had taken note of our treatment of him, and of his great surprise when I told him his company could camp on the Church lands, and of his object in camping on the main road, so that all of our people going to and from several of our main wards, had to pass through this Indian village, and of his coming the three times–a year apart, as he wanted to see if we would change in our treatment of his company. He also told us of many principles of religion that he said his tribe believed in, which were very interesting to us.

He then took the Book of Mormon, calling it their long lost Book, and wrapped it among their valuables, which they always carry in a separate buckskin sack, and hang it apart from any other belongings in a tripod in front of the head Chief’s lodge. These articles are held sacred by the tribe and are exhibited only on rare occasions.

Yellow Face and his company now seemed satisfied, and having no further desire to stay among us, soon left. We heard many times afterward of how they would camp along the highways, and Yellow Face would take his main interpreter and call upon a family, and would hand “His Book” to the family and ask them to read it for him. We heard of this being done and the Book being read to him by many people who wondered at what the Book contained, and seemed quite interested when he would tell them it was the history of his people.

-From, “The Utah Genealogical and Historical Magazine.” Vol. 22, April, 1931.

[58] Fathers of our Country Saved

By Wilford Woodruff, Gen. Conferences, 1877 and 1898

I am going to bear my testimony to this assembly, if I never do it again in my life, that those men who laid the foundation of this American Government and signed the Declaration of Independence were the best spirits the God of Heaven could find on the face of the earth. They were choice spirits, not wicked men. Gen­eral Washington and all the men that labored for the purpose were inspired of the Lord. Another thing I am going to say here, because I have the right to say it. Every one of those men that signed the Declaration of Independence with General Washington called upon me, as an Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ, in the Temple at St. George, two consecutive nights, and demanded at my hands that I should go forth and attend to the ord­inances of the house of God for them. Men are here, I believe that know this. *** These patriots said:

“You have had the use of the Endowment House for a number of years and yet nothing has ever been done for us. We laid the foundation of the government you now enjoy, and we never apostatized from it, but we remained true to it and faithful to God.”

These were the signers of the Declaration of Inde­pendence, and they waited on me for two days and two nights. I thought it very singular that notwithstand­ing so much work had been done, and yet nothing had been done for them. The thought never entered my heart, from the fact, I suppose, that heretofore our minds were reaching after our more immediate friends and relatives. I straightway went into the baptismal font and called upon Brother McAllister to baptize me for the signers of the Declaration of Independence, and fifty other eminent men, making one hundred in all, including John Wesley, Columbus, and others; I then baptized him for every President of the United States, except three; and when their cause is just, somebody will do the work for them. (J. D., Vol. 19:229)

[59] Prophecy of Lutins Gratland

Published in his “Hope of Zion,” printed in 1739, in Basil, Switzerland

The old true Gospel and its gifts and powers are lost. False doctrines prevail throughout every church and in all the lands. All we can do is to pray, pray, pray. Prayer and purity may bring an angel to visit a deeply distressed soul; and I tell you that in one hundred years God will have spoken again. He will restore the Old Church again.

I see a little people led by a prophet, and a faithful Elder. They will be persecuted and burnt out and murdered; but in the valley that lies toward the great lake, they will grow up and make a beautiful “Herrilick” or heritage, have a Temple of magnificent splendor, have all the priesthood, apostles, prophets, teachers and deacons.

From every nation will the true believers be gathered by speedy messengers; and then God, the Omnipotent, will speak to the disobedient nations with thunder, lightning, and destruction never heard of before in the history of man.

The book which contains this was found by an early day missionary to Europe, in the University Library at Basil, Switzerland. He translated it from the German into English, and it has been widely circulated among Latter-day Saints ever since. However, about 1930, President Fred Tadje of the Swiss-German Mission made a search for this particular book, but was unable to find it. He pointed out, however, that his search was incomplete, and that the above passage might yet be found in some book in that library.

[60] A DREAM

(Deseret News, March 27, 1867
Vol. 16, No. 13, page 98)

The following dream was had by a lady of this city, about 30 years of age, and the wife of one of our most respectable citizens. Her name is withheld from motives of delicacy, but her veracity is unquestioned. We pub­lish the dream for the gratification of many who will per­use it with interest, premising that it is no revelation, nor is it to be received as principle for the guidance of the Saints in their belief on such matters. It is the privilege of the Saints to have dreams and visions for edification, comfort, instruction and warning; but the Lord does not make known matters of doctrine and princi­ple for the guidance of His Church through the members thereof. He has an appointed and ordained channel through which such knowledge is imparted.

We make these comments, not by way of throwing dis­credit on the dream, but that the Saints may at all times seek the Holy Spirit to understand and know when true principle is communicated. They should possess sufficient of the Spirit to know whether this dream is true, or not, or the parts of it that are true and those which are not; if part is correct and part incorrect. If consolation or benefit is afforded to anyone by reading it, all well; no person receives harm thereby.

Feb. 17, 1867. I dreamed I was at home sick, and sitting in an arm chair, surrounded by my husband, mother, children and friends. I was told, or rather felt, I was going to die; and after confiding the care of my children especially to my mother, she agreeing in accordance with my urgent solicitation to come and live with them. And bidding goodbye and pressing hands with those present, I felt sensibly the first approach of death by a feeling of coldness and numbness, commencing at my feet and thence to my body, until it reached the region of my heart;  whereupon I became speechless, and felt as though I was [61] approaching the unconscious state of sleep. My head in­voluntarily dropped back to the chair.

At the return to consciousness, which was instantan­eous, I found myself standing by the body from which I had just emerged; in a stooping posture, experiencing a sort of crampness in the breast and back, together with a feeling of general exhaustion. On looking up I discover­ed a female standing beside me in the attitude of waiting, having her hand upon the chair, and attired in white flowing apparel. She at once introduced herself to me as my attendant, and invited me, when I was ready, to follow her.

I inquired as to the cause of the peculiar feeling before referred to, and received in answer the following, which were her very words: “Oh, everyone feels that just after leaving the body; it is but momentary,” accompanied with a smile which indicated that she had often answered such questions before.

While she was speaking I stood upright, and the feel­ing of crampness had already passed away. I then expressed a willingness to accompany her. She asked me if I did not want to look at my body once more before leaving. I replied I did not, and felt an instinctive shudder at the thought of my body, and I assured her that I was but too glad to leave it. I felt a delightful sense of light­ness, as though I could raise myself from the ground by a simple effort of the will.

We then passed out at the door walking. After pro­ceeding through the gateway to the street, we glided some­what rapidly along down the State road, southward, out of the city, until we reached a very large round building, built entirely of white marble, supported by heavy white marble columns, and having but one entrance, which con­sisted simply of an opening between two of the columns, with a flight of steps leading to the interior. The mar­ble of which this building was composed, was not purely white, but had a yellow tinge, as though time worn.

[62] On reaching the entrance my companion informed me that I needed her attendance no longer. After directing me to ascend the steps and enter the building, my atten­dant turned and left me. On entering the building, I saw a man sitting nearby in the center of the room at a large desk, directly under a peculiar canopy. Upon the desk was an exceedingly large book, having the appearance of a mammoth ledger. Four or five men were in a group near the desk, engaged in conversation with this personage, whom we will call the Director. I observed that the place had an air of business, and was free from ornament.

At this point, I awoke, and remained so about an hour, meditating on what I had seen. When I again fell asleep and resumed the dream. I was still in the same place, and saw the same persons engaged as before des­cribed, none of whom up to this time had noticed me.

The Director looked toward me and said, “Welcome, sister.” He was still engaged with those around him, all of whom were individuals whom I recognized as having seen before, but could not say when or where. They were dres­sed in the ordinary manner, one having a suit of grey homespun on. The Director, however, was dressed in the robes of the Priesthood. While he was engaged in conver­sation with those men, I had time to examine the interior of the hall, and discovered the space between the columns (about 12 in all) were entirely open, so that I could see at once through and beyond them.

Stationed at each of the pillars to the left, that separated these openings, were men who acted as guides. I ascertained this by seeing the Director point towards these men, and directing each of the men around him to go, some to one man, some to another, and hearing him say, “There is your guide–go there.”

Through the first opening to my left were clouds of great density and blackness, the darkest I ever saw, and they seemed to be so near that they could be reached by the hand. The second opening to the left revealed dark [63] threatening clouds, but not quite so black as the first. All the other openings to the left presented a dark at­mosphere, thick and murky, becoming gradually less dis­mal as they were removed from the first.

I turned to the right, where a far different picture met my gaze. Through all of these openings, I saw the pure azure of heaven, clear and bright. Through the first space to my right, I saw a city indescribably fair and beautiful, enveloped as it were, in a thin mist of gold, and exquisitely beautiful; clouds of roseat hue were visible in the distance.   The city was dotted with temples having lofty spires, and other buildings, combin­ing in architectural designs more beauties than I had ever conceived it possible to exist, all of purest white­ness. Strains of lovely music floated on the atmosphere that were more heavenly in their influence, and spoke more to the heart than any music I had ever heard. It seemed to come from a legion of musicians.

The space between the third and fourth columns to my right, almost directly behind and to the right of the desk, was filled up with a massive iron door, grained like oak, (the only door in the hall) before which a sen­tinel dressed like the Director, was pacing to and fro.

I was so enraptured by the sight of the city and the sound of the music, that for a time I was insensible to what was transpiring around me; but from this I was a­roused by the voice of the Director saying, “Sister, that is the Celestial City,” looking as he spoke toward the city I had seen. He then asked my name. I stepped toward the desk and replied in a language I had never spoken before, which greatly surprised me. He, however, understood it. After glancing rapidly over the index, he at once turned to the latter end of the book, which by its great weight made a loud noise as it fell open on the desk.

He read very rapidly what was on the open page be­fore him, and while thus engaged, I stood trembling with [64] anxiety, fearing I should not be assigned a place in the Celestial City, although I had no apprehensions of being consigned to any of the dismal places to my left; but I felt as though I had not properly appreciated the bles­sings I had enjoyed, and remembered with astonishing vividness every time I had given expression to angry feelings and used improper words. I recollected with great distinctness every folly and weakness of which I had been guilty since my marriage, a period of about ten years; but strange to say, nothing before that time.

My anxiety was soon relieved by watching his counten­ance, which soon assumed a pleasant look. He rose and revealed a tall form, with a heavenly countenance abound­ing with masculine beauty. His eyes were grey and beam­ing with expression. Taking me by the hand, he said, “Sister, you are one of the privileged few who are to go to that Celestial City,” (pointing to the city I had seen), and having read my thoughts, added, “but you are not satisfied with yourself, are you?”

I replied, “No, sir, I am not.”

He continued, “Shall I tell you one grand secret?  “Tis true, you have not been wicked, but you have some­times neglected your prayers while in the body, and that gave the adversary a strong hold over you. But our Heavenly Father, when He sees His children err, is griev­ed. He is sad. But when He sees them show a spirit of repentance, and a desire to do right, He takes them under His protecting arm. He forgives. He is full of mercy.
He is full of charity. He is more merciful and charit­able to us than we are to each other; and with your child­ren, is waiting anxiously to receive you.”

“Oh, then,” I exclaimed in an ecstasy of delight, “let me go to my children!”

“Not yet,” said he, “not yet. You cannot leave the earth until your body is buried. Take my advice and re­turn to your home, for it is not long you will remain, [65] and, moreover, before you can go to the Celestial City, you must go into that room (pointing to the door) and change your dress.”

Then for the first time I looked to see how I was attired. I ascertained I had had on a robe of exquisite whiteness. I remembered that during my illness I wore ear rings, and felt my ears to find out if I had them still; but I had not. I then examined my dress carefully to see if there were any pins, hooks and eyes, or buttons about it; but found none of those things–strings being used instead. My hair next drew my attention. I found it free from hair pins, combs or net of any kind; but in­stead of hanging loosely on my shoulders, the ends were nicely curled under in waves, and it was glossy and soft as the finest silk. I then looked at my hands and found them almost transparent, having a pink look similar to the natural hand when held between the eyes and a strong light; and yet my sense of touch seemed as real as ever. On the whole I was extremely gratified with my appearance, and thought it could not be improved.

The Director again reading my thoughts, told me that when I entered that room, I should exchange my robe for one of dazzling whiteness before leaving for the Celes­tial City; and added, “You cannot come here then.”

Before proceeding further, I will state that I had been in the hall a short time. In addition to the guides stationed by the columns on the left of the hall, and the sentinel at the door, there were other persons, men and women sauntering about the place and going in and out, who were shabbily dressed in the ordinary mode. One poor woman I noticed particularly, she was seated on a low stool at the left of the desk; her arms were crossed on her breast, and she held her head downwards, and appeared to be in great distress and apparently oblivious to all that was going on. I understood intuitively that she was prevented by some act of hers from joining her children in the Celestial City.

[66] From the moment I heard the joyful words that assign­ed me to the Celestial City, some of these persons com­menced to annoy me in various ways. Some would sneer con­temptuously upon me. Some would grin in my face in a semi-idiotic manner. Others made ugly grimaces at me; and one, a female, insultingly pulled my dress from behind. This alarmed me, and I inquired of the Director what it all meant. He replied, “They are only poor, weak, envious creatures, and can do you no harm.”

I then departed from the hall and glided with in­creased rapidity through this city to my home therein. On entering the parlor, I saw an assemblage of relatives and friends who were listening to the funeral ceremony which had been going on for some time. I stepped up to the head of the coffin and saw my body therein as distinctly as I ever saw a corpse in my life. The coffin was covered with black velvet and lined with white satin. On gazing upon what had been once myself I again instinc­tively shuddered at the sight, and felt deeply grateful that I had escaped from its cold, clay prison house. My husband was sitting with his head downward and resting on one hand, apparently absorbed in thought. My mother was almost overcome with grief. My children were also present, but strange to say, I felt no particular anxiety about them, feeling doubly assured that they would be well taken care of, and grateful to find that my mother had remembered her promise.

President Brigham Young was preaching the funeral sermon. I heard him say I was far happier than those who were left, and that there was no cause for regretting my death. I thought I would have given anything if I could have only told them how happy I felt, and earnestly did I desired to communicate something that would stimulate them to increased diligence and faithfulness, but I had not the power to do so.

Instead of following the procession to the grave, I went before it there, and remained standing at the head of the grave, watching the coffin being placed in the [67] pine box, and until the last shovelful of dirt was thrown upon it. During all this time, and in fact, until I re­turned to the marble building, I saw a number of spirits similar to those I saw there, some of whom followed me wherever I went. I had got accustomed to them, and real­izing fully the truth of what the Director told me, did not fear them in the least.

The funeral over, and not wishing to return home on account of the grief I knew I should witness, without the power of alleviating it and the consequent pain it would cause me, I thought I would like to visit for the last time some of the familiar places where I had so often been. I entered the Salt Lake Theater; it was crowded. I almost forgot for the moment that I was but a spirit. I was as usual followed by one of my spiritual followers, a woman, who took her seat beside me in the Parquette. We were unobserved, although I recognized many familiar faces there. Miss Alexander was dancing. I felt so sad, however, to remain, for I desired earnestly to be able to say something to those around me, to impress upon their minds the meagerness of earthly enjoyments as compared with those higher and purer ones I had even then experienced.

I next proceeded to Main Street, where I saw a much greater number of spirits–for such I shall now have to call them–and mostly men, too, than in other parts of the city, some of whom I had seen before. They paid no more attention to me, nor I to them, than is customary to mortals under such circumstances; and there was all the variety of age, rank, dress, manner, speed in walking, etc., as seen ordinarily. I also saw persons in the flesh, and had no difficulty in distinguishing between them and the spirits.

I entered the drug store in Exchange Building. At the threshold I met a male spirit dressed entirely in black, who followed me into the store where I saw a num­ber of other spirits, and appeared to attract their at­tention. I saw some dried herbs on the counter, and [68] feeling curious to know if I could pick up some with my fingers, I made the experiment and succeeded, much to the amusement of the spirit in black who followed me in, and who seemed to understand perfectly the motive that actu­ated me. I noticed that while standing, the spirits pas­sed me in every direction, but when I walked, none of them went before me, and none took the liberty of speak­ing to me.

I cannot say how long I remained in the city after returning from the funeral, but suppose it to have been only an hour or two. My thoughts were upon the Celestial City; and when I turned to go back to the marble building, I seemed to glide along with incredible rapidity, so that scarcely any time elapsed before I got there. On enter­ing the hall, I recognized the same noble looking person­age at the desk as before, several men–malignant, wicked looking men they were, too–stood near him, waiting to receive their sentence. At first they seemed noisy, and even boisterous, talking among themselves; but when the Director addressed them with these solemn words: “There is your guide, go there,” and pointed to the gloomy open­ing at the left, feelings of unutterable anguish came over them; and never can I forget the sense of exquisite wretchedness–and in the cases of those who were consign­ed to the first and blackest opening, that of absolute despair–that distorted their countenances. They moaned, wailed piteously, and some gnashed their teeth and smote their breasts.

The spectacle was too appalling. I had to turn away or my feelings would have overcome me. Immediately my gaze met the piercing eye of the Director looking sternly at me. He said, “Sympathize not with them. Their paths were plain before them, but they chose the evil and refus­ed the good, not with their eyes closed, but with their eyes wide open; and they must suffer the consequences.”

For a moment I stood lost in thought, and said to myself, “How few there are who go to the right!”

[69] “Yes,” responded the Director, “few, indeed;” and then added, his countenance lighting up with a beaming smile, “I suppose you are now ready to go to the Celestial City.”

I replied that I was anxious to go there.

“You shall go directly,” said he.

I then looked through the opening at the right, and again beheld the City, and again were my ears saluted with the heavenly strains from it. In the foreground, I saw a glorious personage whom I recognized as my Heavenly Father, with my two children by His side, anxiously wait­ing, as the Director had before told me, to receive me.

Then I heard the key turn back the ponderous bolts in the door through which I had to pass to reach the City. I felt a desire that someone I knew might accompany me there. Instantly, I heard footfalls ascending the steps, and on turning around, I recognized the well-known face of ————————   ————–    ——————. I waited until he entered the Hall. Then the door opened just wide enough to let me in. I crossed the threshold, and just had time to catch a glimpse of one side of the long spacious Hall within. It was exceedingly light, and the walls seemed covered with white satin.

At this moment I awoke, and found it was the break of day. I felt very much exhausted. I remained in bed two or three hours in order to gain strength. When I a­rose, I trembled with weakness, so that it was with dif­ficulty I succeeded in getting downstairs. And during the whole day I felt as though I had but just recovered from a severe illness.

[70] REMARKS AT THE FUNERAL OF PRES. JEDEDIAH M. GRANT By Heber C. Kimball
December 4, 1856

(From the Journal of Discourses 4:135-136)

I went to see him (Jedediah M. Grant) one day last week and he reached out his hand and shook hands with me; he could not speak, but he shook hands warmly with me. I felt for him, and wanted to raise him up, and would have him stay and help us whip the devils and bring to pass righteousness. Why? Because he was valiant, and I loved him. He was a great help to us, and you would be, if you were as valiant as he was, which you can be through faithfulness and obedience.

I laid my hands upon him and blessed him, and asked God to strengthen his lungs that he might breathe easier, and in two or three minutes he raised himself up and talked for about an hour as busily as he could, telling me what he had seen and what he understood, until I was afraid he would weary himself, when I arose and left him.

He said to me, Bro. Heber, I have been into the spirit world two nights in succession, and, of all the dreads that ever came across me, the worst was to have to again return to my body, though I had to do it. But O, says he, the order and government that were there! When in the spirit world, I saw the order of righteous men and women; beheld them organized in their several grades, and there appeared to be no obstruction to my vision; I could see every man and woman in their grade and order. I looked to see whether there was any disorder there, but there was none; neither could I see any death nor any darkness, disorder or confusion. He said that the people he saw there were organized in family capacities; and when he looked at them he saw grade after grade, and all were organized and in perfect har­mony. He would mention one item after another and say, “Oh, it is just as Brother Brigham says it is; it is just as he has told us many a time.”

[71] That is a testimony as to the truth of what Bro. Brigham teaches us, and I know it is true, from what little light I have.

He saw the righteous gathered together in the spir­it world, and there were no wicked spirits among them. He saw his wife; she was the first person that came to him. He saw many that he knew, but did not have conver­sation with any except his wife Caroline. She came to him, and he said that she looked beautiful and had their little child, that died on the Plains, in her arms, and said, “Mr. Grant, here is little Margaret; you know that the wolves ate her up, but it did not hurt her; here she is all right.”

“To my astonishment,” he said, “when I looked at families there was a deficiency in some; there was a lack, for I saw families that would not be permitted to come and dwell together, because they had not honored their calling here.”

He asked his wife Caroline where Joseph and Hyrum and Father Smith and others were; she replied, “they have gone away ahead, to perform and transact business for us.” The same as when Brother Brigham and his breth­ren left Winter Quarters and came here to search out a home; they came to find a location for their brethren.

He also spoke of the buildings he saw there, re­marking that the Lord gave Solomon wisdom and poured gold and silver into his hands that he might display his skill and ability, and said that the temple erected by Solomon was much inferior to the most ordinary buildings he saw in the spirit world.

In regard to gardens, says Brother Grant, “I have seen good gardens on this earth, but I never saw any to compare with those that were there.      I saw flowers of numerous kinds, and some with from fifty to a hundred different colored flowers growing upon one stalk.” We have many kinds of flowers on the earth, and I suppose those very articles came from heaven, or they would not be here.

[72] After mentioning the things that he had seen, he spoke of how much he disliked to return and resume his body, after having seen the beauty and glory of the spir­it world, where the righteous spirits are gathered to­gether.