PASSION OR RANTING?

I love people of passion and conviction:

A PATTERN FOR PREPARING

Excellent:

The pattern for preparing for the Second Coming: "In the Book of Mormon we find a pattern for preparing for the Second Coming. A major portion of the book centers on the few decades just prior to Christ's coming to America. By careful study of that time period, we can determine why some were destroyed in the terrible judgments that preceded His coming and what brought others to stand at the temple in the land of Bountiful and thrust their hands into the wounds of His hands and feet." ~~Ezra Taft Benson ("The Book of Mormon-Keystone of Our Religion," Ensign, November 1986)

DISCERNMENT

Charity is the greatest of all gifts.

The gift of Prophecy is the testimony of Jesus - very high up there.

Discernment is one of those in the top echelons:

THE MOST SPIRITUAL EVENT OF MY LIFE - LOSING MY SON TO SIDS

Most posts to this blog are of a second coming nature - not personal - but this one was so huge and so impacting to me, I have to add something about it. This is a work in progress as I have more time. I literally could write a book on what my wife and I went through and still not get through it all.

On April 4th, 2002 at approx. 1:45am, our lives were changed forever when our little Dallin Jacob Wood was called home to prepare for what most of us will probably go through in our lifetimes. The massive influx of people into the Spirit World as the world goes through the massive upheavals that are soon to be upon us. While we are organized here and have much work to do for our temporal salvation, there is much that is going on "over there" that requires manpower, organization, and direction. This "seed blog entry" will get rather enormous as time goes on. I had an old friend from Facebook mention that her mother had died - a truly wonderful woman whose time it simply was to go home for a purpose few of us here might understand. Here is a note that I sent her:

Vicki,
I was sorry to hear about your mother. Without regular contact, I just assumed Victor and your mother were living out their lives. I saw your dad was on FB. I am sure it simply was her time to go - there is so much more going on over there than we can imagine. The work to redeem the human family is massive and accelerating beyond our comprehension as the millennium approaches.
I will not force it on you - and would be more than happy to pop a copy of that book (Life Everlasting) I mentioned in the mail - but it is a most amazing work. Death is really just a change of state to a greater and more exciting part of the adventure of our eternal life. Just let me know if you are interested in the book. Like I said, it is so good that I keep loaners around for interested people.
Yes, our little guy was called home around 9 months old and it really was supposed to happen. I was actually supposed to go home that year that he was taken home - and had known that since a few months before I came home from my mission. My wife just brushed me off as crazy when I turned 33 and would not follow my advice to seek out a life insurance policy big enough to take care of her and the kids if I were taken (her own father was taken in the Vietnam war and Shawna and her mother were left with few options). Notwithstanding the fact she didn't take me seriously, my wife had a premonition of impending death two weeks before Dallin's death and was literally allowed to choose that it not be me who was sent home on errand. Maybe a little hard to comprehend, but a true statement. My Grandpa Matheson, the old Cedar City Stake Patriarch was calling the shots from the other side and needed help. Off the charts wild - but we had three independent people in our family that had simultaneous manifestations within a day or two that confirmed it. I had an incredible 2 yr. mission by any stretch - similar to John H. Groberg's - but losing our little guy was THE most spiritually affirming thing that has ever happened to me/us. It was pretty hard on the oldest two kids, though. They were too young to fully comprehend what was going on.
I run a blog that has some pretty wild stuff like this in it and I just have not had the time to get the whole scenario down - but at some point, I will blog all of the incredible things that happened to us. I can honestly say that I know that God lives and there is an entire "situation" around us that most people simply do not comprehend or have an awareness of. The veil was very thin for months after he crossed over.
Anyway, sorry to get so deep but I just have to pass on the hope and insight I have gained.
Thanks for sharing about your mother - I wasn't sure if it would be polite to ask in a public forum.

Eric.

Here is a wonderful quote by Joseph Smith on the death of a loved one:

I think this quote sums this little guy's life up,
"The Lord takes many away, even in infancy, that they may escape the envy of man, and the sorrows and evils of this present world; they were too pure, too lovely, to live on earth; therefore, if rightly considered, instead of mourning, we have reason to rejoice, as they are delivered from evil and we shall soon have them again. The only difference between the old and young dying is, one lives longer in heaven in eternal light and glory than the other, and is freed a little sooner from this miserable, wicked world. Notwithstanding all this glory, we for a moment, lose sight of it, and mourn the loss, but we do not mourn as those without hope (through Christ).
Joseph Smith.

Here is a poem my wife composed about our little Dallin Jacob:

I like to look for songbirds and hear their melody,
For my heart turns to a sweet boy, who God once gave to me.
He filled our life with miracles, the very day he came.
He blessed our lives with sunshine; we'll never be the same.

I like to look for songbirds. He loved their melody.
He'd often look up heavenward--their flight path just to see.
And gazing deep into our eyes, he seemed to be so wise,
Yet he was so cute and playful, and tender were his cries...

And then our little songbird, he needed to take flight--
His flightpath leading heavenbound--it happened in the night.
Our soul was filled with rainclouds, our tears fell to the earth,
Only eight months and twenty days, since his day of birth.

We looked to God to understand, for we do not know why.
We place our trust in God who knows, why Dallin had to die.
But there is restoration, thanks be to God's own son.
And earth life is preparation, for the eternal one.

A time to learn all the things that God wants me to know.
A time to prove my faith in Christ as I progress and grow.
And without earth life's own sorrow, I could not know the joy,
This truth I must remember, whene'er I miss my boy.

I'm thankful to my Father in heaven up above,
Who for me, one of his children, has such mercy and love.
How difficult and,oh, so hard, to offer up His Son,
That death and sin be trampled, in the battle that was won.

I'm thankful to my Savior, who won that war for me,
That I may return to Father, and live eternally.
I know my Savior rose again, and death He overcame,
Showing by his example, that I, too, will rise the same.

And spirit joined with body, I too will conquer death,
And witness this great miracle, inhaling once more breath.
To this end was my Savior born, So I could follow Him,
Back home as pure as snow again, to reunite with them.

Their gift to me, eternal life, as I accept their will.
My gift to them a change of heart, Christ's power is so real.
I want to follow him and be the best that I can be,
Because my Savior loves me, and paid the price for me.

by Shawna

Over time, this piece will grow. Please check back in six months for more updates.

AN ETERNAL FLAME

Ok - this is not anything heavy.  Just a blast back into the past with the Bangles......

Love this song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSoOFn3wQV4

Enjoy!

DAVID WARWICK - A VIEW INTO THE FUTURE

I am posting this on the recommendation of a friend.

Listening to it while I work today:

https://vimeo.com/120736428

Enjoy!

THE URGE TO LOOK BACK

Some here come from a past life of sin.  Truth is, most of us have had to improve in some area or give up some secret sin in order to more fully come to Christ.

This is a great talk by Elder Holland:



 I love the NT saying of:  "Any man, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God."  Luke 9:62

It kind of goes with the one in Revelations 3 that talks of why mediocrity does not work when it comes to the things of God:

 15 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.

 16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.

 17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:

 18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.

 19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.

 20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.

 21 To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.

MICAH 7 - THE REBELLIOUS OF ISRAEL BEFORE THE RETURN OF THE LORD

When waiting in the chapel of the Temple or the Celestial Room after the endowment, I always say a quick prayer asking the Lord to guide my hands as I open the scriptures - so that I can be taught directly from Him.  What I need to hear that day.

This is what I was given this afternoon from Micah 7:

4 The best of them is as a brier: the most upright is sharper than a thorn hedge: the day of thy watchmen and thy visitation cometh; now shall be their perplexity.

 5 ¶Trust ye not in a friend, put ye not confidence in a guide: keep the doors of thy mouth from her that lieth in thy bosom.

 6 For the son dishonoureth the father, the daughter riseth up against her mother, the daughter in law against her mother in law; a man’s enemies are the men of his own house.

 7 Therefore I will look unto the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me.

 8 ¶Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light unto me.

 9 I will bear the indignation of the Lord, because I have sinned against him, until he plead my cause, and execute judgment for me: he will bring me forth to the light, and I shall behold his righteousness.

 10 Then she that is mine enemy shall see it, and shame shall cover her which said unto me, Where is the Lord thy God? mine eyes shall behold her: now shall she be trodden down as the mire of the streets.

 11 In the day that thy walls are to be built, in that day shall the decree be far removed.

 12 In that day also he shall come even to thee from Assyria, and from the fortified cities, and from the fortress even to the river, and from sea to sea, and from mountain to mountain.

 13 Notwithstanding the land shall be desolate because of them that dwell therein, for the fruit of their doings.

 14 ¶Feed thy people with thy rod, the flock of thine heritage, which dwell solitarily in the wood, in the midst of Carmel: let them feed in Bashan and Gilead, as in the days of old.

 15 According to the days of thy coming out of the land of Egypt will I shew unto him marvellous things.

 16 ¶The nations shall see and be confounded at all their might: they shall lay their hand upon their mouth, their ears shall be deaf.

 17 They shall lick the dust like a serpent, they shall move out of their holes like worms of the earth: they shall be afraid of the Lord our God, and shall fear because of thee.

 18 Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy.

 19 He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.

 20 Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob, and the mercy to Abraham, which thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old.

I find this interesting that the verses that are highlighted talk of discord at the family level and the national/international level as the Spirit of the Lord is removed from the people and they are left to themselves to plunge into personal and social (national) apostasy and the chaos that comes from it.

Verse 10 is a special verse reserved for those who have apostatized and have thrown (or attempted to) throw those under the bus who have held to the iron rod and rejoiced over their difficulty.  Remember that the more righteous among the Saints will plead day and night until deliverance comes - this due to persecution.  The Saints of this land will be driven from city to city - enduring worse mobbings than they did of the days of Nauvoo.  Get ready for it - it is part of the sifting.

WORDS OF A PROPHET - SAINTS PREPARE FOR SCARCITY

DOES THIS NATION HAVE ROOM IN HER FOR HER KING?

I love music with a deep message:

https://youtu.be/jddK0JlhLjg

Oh little town of Bethlehem
Looks like another silent night.
Above your deep and dreamless sleep
A giant star lights up the sky.
And while you're lying in the dark
There shines an everlasting light.
For the King has left His throne
And is sleeping in a manger tonight, tonight.
Oh Bethlehem, what you have missed while you were sleeping.
For God became a man
And stepped into your world today.
Oh Bethlehem, you will go down in history
As a city with no room for its King.
While you were sleeping.
While you were sleeping.
Mary shivers in the cold
Trying to keep the Savior warm.
Born among the animals wrapped in dirty rags
Because there was no room for Him in the world He came to save.
United States of America,
Looks like another silent night
As we're sung to sleep by philosophies
That save the trees and kill the children
And while we're lying in the dark
There's a shout heard 'cross the eastern sky
For the Bridegroom has returned
And has carried His bride away in the night,
In the night.
America, what will we miss while we are sleeping
Will Jesus come again
And leave us slumbering where we lay.
America, will we go down in history
As a nation with no room for its King.
Will we be sleeping.
Will we be sleeping.
United States of America,
Looks like another silent night.

DAMASCUS HAS BECOME A RUINOUS HEAP

I have hit this topic more than I care to think about:

 I have hit this topic more than I care to think about.  It is prophecy in motion.  We are living ISAIAH in real time.  Folks, the rest of the chapter talks about what will happen to ISRAEL as the armies move out of Syria and head south into the Holy Land.

Time is short!  Have you listened to our modern oracle with ears to hear?

 

The Book of the Prophet Isaiah

Chapter 17

Israel was scattered because she forgot God—Yet the nations that plunder her will be destroyed.

 1 The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.

 2 The cities of Aroer are forsaken: they shall be for flocks, which shall lie down, and none shall make them afraid.

 3 The fortress also shall cease from Ephraim, and the kingdom from Damascus, and the remnant of Syria: they shall be as the glory of the children of Israel, saith the Lord of hosts.

 4 And in that day it shall come to pass, that the glory of Jacob shall be made thin, and the fatness of his flesh shall wax lean.

 5 And it shall be as when the harvestman gathereth the corn, and reapeth the ears with his arm; and it shall be as he that gathereth ears in the valley of Rephaim.

 6 ¶Yet gleaning grapes shall be left in it, as the shaking of an olive tree, two or three berries in the top of the uppermost bough, four or five in the outmost fruitful branches thereof, saith the Lord God of Israel.

 7 At that day shall a man look to his Maker, and his eyes shall have respect to the Holy One of Israel.

 8 And he shall not look to the altars, the work of his hands, neither shall respect that which his fingers have made, either the groves, or the images.

 9 ¶In that day shall his strong cities be as a forsaken bough, and an uppermost branch, which they left because of the children of Israel: and there shall be desolation.

 10 Because thou hast forgotten the God of thy salvation, and hast not been mindful of the rock of thy strength, therefore shalt thou plant pleasant plants, and shalt set it with strange slips:

 11 In the day shalt thou make thy plant to grow, and in the morning shalt thou make thy seed to flourish: but the harvest shall be a heap in the day of grief and of desperate sorrow.

 12 ¶Woe to the multitude of many people, which make a noise like the noise of the seas; and to the rushing of nations, that make a rushing like the rushing of mighty waters!

 13 The nations shall rush like the rushing of many waters: but God shall rebuke them, and they shall flee far off, and shall be chased as the chaff of the mountains before the wind, and like a rolling thing before the whirlwind.

 14 And behold at eveningtide trouble; and before the morning he is not. This is the portion of them that spoil us, and the lot of them that rob us.

 

 

The Book of the Prophet Isaiah

Chapter 17

Israel was scattered because she forgot God—Yet the nations that plunder her will be destroyed.

 1 The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.

 2 The cities of Aroer are forsaken: they shall be for flocks, which shall lie down, and none shall make them afraid.

 3 The fortress also shall cease from Ephraim, and the kingdom from Damascus, and the remnant of Syria: they shall be as the glory of the children of Israel, saith the Lord of hosts.

 4 And in that day it shall come to pass, that the glory of Jacob shall be made thin, and the fatness of his flesh shall wax lean.

 5 And it shall be as when the harvestman gathereth the corn, and reapeth the ears with his arm; and it shall be as he that gathereth ears in the valley of Rephaim.

 6 ¶Yet gleaning grapes shall be left in it, as the shaking of an olive tree, two or three berries in the top of the uppermost bough, four or five in the outmost fruitful branches thereof, saith the Lord God of Israel.

 7 At that day shall a man look to his Maker, and his eyes shall have respect to the Holy One of Israel.

 8 And he shall not look to the altars, the work of his hands, neither shall respect that which his fingers have made, either the groves, or the images.

 9 ¶In that day shall his strong cities be as a forsaken bough, and an uppermost branch, which they left because of the children of Israel: and there shall be desolation.

 10 Because thou hast forgotten the God of thy salvation, and hast not been mindful of the rock of thy strength, therefore shalt thou plant pleasant plants, and shalt set it with strange slips:

 11 In the day shalt thou make thy plant to grow, and in the morning shalt thou make thy seed to flourish: but the harvest shall be a heap in the day of grief and of desperate sorrow.

 12 ¶Woe to the multitude of many people, which make a noise like the noise of the seas; and to the rushing of nations, that make a rushing like the rushing of mighty waters!

 13 The nations shall rush like the rushing of many waters: but God shall rebuke them, and they shall flee far off, and shall be chased as the chaff of the mountains before the wind, and like a rolling thing before the whirlwind.

 14 And behold at eveningtide trouble; and before the morning he is not. This is the portion of them that spoil us, and the lot of them that rob us.

The Book of the Prophet Isaiah

Chapter 17

Israel was scattered because she forgot God—Yet the nations that plunder her will be destroyed.

 1 The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.

 2 The cities of Aroer are forsaken: they shall be for flocks, which shall lie down, and none shall make them afraid.

 3 The fortress also shall cease from Ephraim, and the kingdom from Damascus, and the remnant of Syria: they shall be as the glory of the children of Israel, saith the Lord of hosts.

 4 And in that day it shall come to pass, that the glory of Jacob shall be made thin, and the fatness of his flesh shall wax lean.

 5 And it shall be as when the harvestman gathereth the corn, and reapeth the ears with his arm; and it shall be as he that gathereth ears in the valley of Rephaim.

 6 ¶Yet gleaning grapes shall be left in it, as the shaking of an olive tree, two or three berries in the top of the uppermost bough, four or five in the outmost fruitful branches thereof, saith the Lord God of Israel.

 7 At that day shall a man look to his Maker, and his eyes shall have respect to the Holy One of Israel.

 8 And he shall not look to the altars, the work of his hands, neither shall respect that which his fingers have made, either the groves, or the images.

 9 ¶In that day shall his strong cities be as a forsaken bough, and an uppermost branch, which they left because of the children of Israel: and there shall be desolation.

 10 Because thou hast forgotten the God of thy salvation, and hast not been mindful of the rock of thy strength, therefore shalt thou plant pleasant plants, and shalt set it with strange slips:

 11 In the day shalt thou make thy plant to grow, and in the morning shalt thou make thy seed to flourish: but the harvest shall be a heap in the day of grief and of desperate sorrow.

 12 ¶Woe to the multitude of many people, which make a noise like the noise of the seas; and to the rushing of nations, that make a rushing like the rushing of mighty waters!

 13 The nations shall rush like the rushing of many waters: but God shall rebuke them, and they shall flee far off, and shall be chased as the chaff of the mountains before the wind, and like a rolling thing before the whirlwind.

 14 And behold at eveningtide trouble; and before the morning he is not. This is the portion of them that spoil us, and the lot of them that rob us.

The Book of the Prophet Isaiah

Chapter 17

Israel was scattered because she forgot God—Yet the nations that plunder her will be destroyed.

 1 The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.

 2 The cities of Aroer are forsaken: they shall be for flocks, which shall lie down, and none shall make them afraid.

 3 The fortress also shall cease from Ephraim, and the kingdom from Damascus, and the remnant of Syria: they shall be as the glory of the children of Israel, saith the Lord of hosts.

 4 And in that day it shall come to pass, that the glory of Jacob shall be made thin, and the fatness of his flesh shall wax lean.

 5 And it shall be as when the harvestman gathereth the corn, and reapeth the ears with his arm; and it shall be as he that gathereth ears in the valley of Rephaim.

 6 ¶Yet gleaning grapes shall be left in it, as the shaking of an olive tree, two or three berries in the top of the uppermost bough, four or five in the outmost fruitful branches thereof, saith the Lord God of Israel.

 7 At that day shall a man look to his Maker, and his eyes shall have respect to the Holy One of Israel.

 8 And he shall not look to the altars, the work of his hands, neither shall respect that which his fingers have made, either the groves, or the images.

 9 ¶In that day shall his strong cities be as a forsaken bough, and an uppermost branch, which they left because of the children of Israel: and there shall be desolation.

 10 Because thou hast forgotten the God of thy salvation, and hast not been mindful of the rock of thy strength, therefore shalt thou plant pleasant plants, and shalt set it with strange slips:

 11 In the day shalt thou make thy plant to grow, and in the morning shalt thou make thy seed to flourish: but the harvest shall be a heap in the day of grief and of desperate sorrow.

 12 ¶Woe to the multitude of many people, which make a noise like the noise of the seas; and to the rushing of nations, that make a rushing like the rushing of mighty waters!

 13 The nations shall rush like the rushing of many waters: but God shall rebuke them, and they shall flee far off, and shall be chased as the chaff of the mountains before the wind, and like a rolling thing before the whirlwind.

 14 And behold at eveningtide trouble; and before the morning he is not. This is the portion of them that spoil us, and the lot of them that rob us.

THE SLUMBERING BEAR IS AWAKING FROM HIBERNATION

Interesting report:

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/12/28/u-s-fears-grow-of-a-newly-awakened-russian-navy.html

Cleon Skousen called it 20 years ago.  So did Joseph Smith in the "much maligned" Whitehorse Prophecy.  I have never doubted. 

I have read enough of Joseph Smith to know when a fake is afoot.  There is a certain flair in writing - a literary marker, if you will - that carries from one person to another and from one saying to another.  When I was in Seminary, I knew that the writing styles of the authors within the Book of Mormon and even that or those found within the Doctrine and Covenants were all distinct.  There was no mistaking it.  Joseph's writings had a distinct marker.

The writing styles of my own cannot easily be duplicated.

WHO LOVES YOU MORE?

This is EXACTLY how I feel.  I would rather take my lumps now - than later......

And, trust me - I take my lumps over this blog......:)

ENSIGN ARTICLE - CARDSTON

I love this article.  Love the vignettes on the good people there including President Wood.

One of the great Canadian Saints.  A man who exercised many gifts of the Spirit. 

https://www.lds.org/ensign/1987/04/cardston-harvesting-a-pioneer-heritage?lang=eng

Enjoy!

MIRACLES IN THE CHURCH TODAY - DALLIN H. OAKES

In the blog archives, I have laid out the case quite extensively that Jesus Christ had a posterity.  It is my belief that most of them can be found in the Church in leadership roles or will be sought out by the 144K as we move towards the final events prior to the "burning" as the earth is cleansed and receives her paradisaical glory.  These who will be gathered are called the "Holy Seed".  Many would call them the elect.  You will know many of them because they will have dark brown or black hair with blue eyes for their physical markers and other combinations of darker hair and eye color.  Spiritual markers include the ability to assimilate the truth - and to hold to it.  Apostasy is rare, once they take hold of the iron rod.  This because they have a spark of the divine - and much more so than the average Jew or Gentile.  Many of this class would be called "old souls" and are deep, thoughtful often feel "out of place" in this lowly world.  Many feel as if they are just biding their time, awaiting greater things.  In order to understand this subject best, you will have to read Vern Swanson's book "Holy Grail" that puts all the relevant quotes, etc from the "earlies" in one place.  The source of most of those quotes was Joseph Smith.  One of the best ways to understand the mind and will of the Lord, as given to His mouthpiece (and to which the early Saints could not assimilate), is to read Joseph's writings - and then those of the people he held closest to his bosom.

Many will exhibit gifts - most all of the gifts.  Meaning, God gives several spiritual gifts to His children for their benefit and the benefit of others.  Those who are of this "Holy Seed" will exhibit most, if not all, of those heavenly gifts - if they choose to pursue and exercise them.  Gifts of charity, testimony of Christ, discernment, faith, tongues, HEALING (both to be healed and to heal).  There are many others, but I have been given the previous gifts and seek to improve them.  If we are given something - but do nothing with it - that talent which was given so freely, will so freely be taken if we are slothful.

The morning we found our Dallin dead, as my wife attempted CPR, the first thing I did was to call our Home Teacher.  My impulse was to anoint and then to use my gift and power in my Priesthood to call our little guy back.  At that point, I had not digested the meaning of all the stuff that had occurred leading up to his death - and did not know (fully) the mind and will of the Lord in the panic of that crisis.  Thankfully, the 4 year old had picked up the phone and started babbling - to which I then hung up and called 911.  It was not meant to be.

The impulse to call my HT and to raise this guy came from an article on Miracles that Dallin H. Oakes gave in the Ensign the month before our little guy was born (we had already decided to name him Dallin earlier).  In this article, Dallin mentions the great faith of one Iohani Wolfgramm - which I later sought out and got a copy of his book - an amazing man.  Not only did he raise his daughter - but he was instrumental in taking the gospel to every hamlet, village, town etc of Tonga - and also in the conversion of the King and Queen of that island-country.

Here is that article that had such an impact on me on that fateful morning - and since:

THIS ARTICLE GOT ME GOING ON IOHANI WOLFGRAMM AND CAUSED A SERIES OF EVENTS IN MY LIFE THAT HELPED ME GET THE "RUBBER TO THE ROAD" - SO TO SPEAK. GOTTA LOVE DALLIN OAKES - ENOUGH TO NAME A KID AFTER HIM:

Dallin H. Oaks, “Miracles,” Ensign, Jun 2001, 6

From a talk given at a Church Educational System fireside in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, on 7 May 2000.

Miracles happen every day in the work of the Church and in the lives of its members.
Image

When I was a college student, almost 50 years ago, Elder Matthew Cowley (1897–1953) of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles spoke to a BYU audience about miracles. That devotional message had a great impact on me, and I have felt to revisit its subject. Like Elder Cowley, I will seek to provide an answer to the prophet Mormon’s question “Has the day of miracles ceased?” (Moro. 7:35). In fact, many miracles happen every day in the work of our Church and in the lives of our members. Many of you have witnessed miracles, perhaps more than you realize.

A miracle has been defined as “a beneficial event brought about through divine power that mortals do not understand and of themselves cannot duplicate.” 1 The idea that events are brought about through divine power is rejected by most irreligious people and even by some who are religious. All of us have known people who have what Elder Neal A. Maxwell of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles once called “the anti-miracle mind-set.” 2 This rejection of miracles in the last days was prophesied. The prophet Nephi foretold that the Gentiles would “put down the power and miracles of God, and preach up unto themselves their own wisdom and their own learning, that they may get gain” (2 Ne. 26:20). He also prophesied that churches would be built up in which persons would teach with their learning, deny the power of God, and tell the people that if someone should “say there is a miracle wrought by the hand of the Lord, believe it not; for this day he is not a God of miracles” (2 Ne. 28:6).

Some people reject the possibility of miracles because they have not experienced them or cannot understand them. In contrast, President Howard W. Hunter declared, “To deny the reality of miracles on the ground that the results and manifestations must be fictitious simply because we cannot comprehend the means by which they have happened is arrogant on the face of it.” 3
Types of Miracles

The word miracle is used in different ways. We sometimes say that any happening we cannot explain is a “miracle.” To me, a computer is a miracle. So are cell phones and space travel. But these wonders are explainable by physical laws understood by some mortals. I call them miracles because I do not personally understand them and therefore cannot duplicate them at will.

Another category of miracles, so-called, are the tricks that some magicians and religious practitioners stage in order to produce astonishing events in aid of their professions or ministries. You will remember that the magicians in Pharaoh’s court duplicated some of the miracles Moses produced through the power of God (see Ex. 7–8). Perhaps these magicians were servants of the devil, using his power, but I think it more likely that they were simply skilled practitioners of magic tricks that they used to reinforce their position in Pharaoh’s court.

Religious practitioners have employed similar deceptions in our own day. About 40 years ago a professional dramatic production planned for a midwestern city had to be postponed because the producers could not find enough professional actors to perform the required roles. A great religious revival was under way in that city, and I was told the revivalists had hired all of the available professional actors to portray miraculous healings and conversions to enhance their position and goals with their audiences. Before we are too critical of such techniques, we should remember that we engage in similar deceptions whenever we exaggerate a happening in order to dazzle an audience into thinking we have experienced a miracle or to enhance our stature in other ways. Warning!

We know from the scriptures that persons without authority will use the name of Jesus Christ to work what seem to be miracles. The Savior taught that as part of the Final Judgment many would say, “Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?” (Matt. 7:22). You will remember that these pretenders were rejected by the Lord (see Matt. 7:23).

Not every manifestation or miracle comes from God or from mortal deception. The adversary has great powers to deceive, and he will use these to give his corrupted copy of the genuine miracles worked by the power of God. I will say no more of this, since I believe it is not desirable to say much about the powers of the evil one. It is sufficient for us to know that his power exists and that we have been warned against it (see Rev. 13:11–14; D&C 28:11; D&C 50:1–3). 4

I will now describe two types of genuine miracles. These two fit all of the elements of the definition: they are brought about by divine power, mortals do not understand them, and mortals cannot duplicate them of themselves.

First, miracles worked by the power of the priesthood are always present in the true Church of Jesus Christ. 5 The Book of Mormon teaches that “God has provided a means that man, through faith, might work mighty miracles” (Mosiah 8:18). The “means” provided is priesthood power (see James 5:14–15; D&C 42:43–48), and that power works miracles through faith (see Ether 12:12; Moro. 7:37). The scriptures contain many accounts of such miracles. Elijah’s raising the widow’s son and Peter’s healing of the lame man are two familiar examples from the Bible (see 1 Kgs. 17:8–24; Acts 3), and there are many others. I will describe some modern examples later.

A second type of genuine miracle is the miracle worked through the power of faith, without specifically invoking the power of the priesthood. Many of these miracles occur in our Church, such as by the prayers of faithful women, and many occur outside it. As Nephi taught, God “manifesteth himself unto all those who believe in him, by the power of the Holy Ghost; yea, unto every nation, kindred, tongue, and people, working mighty miracles, signs, and wonders, among the children of men according to their faith” (2 Ne. 26:13; see also 1 Ne. 7:12; James 5:15).
Macro-Miracles

Some miracles affect many people. The ultimate such miracle is the Atonement of Jesus Christ—His triumph over physical and spiritual death for all mankind. No miracle is more far-reaching or more magnificent.

Other far-reaching miracles—impossible to explain by rational means—occur as a result of obedience to the commandments of God. Thus, there is something miraculous about the way the members of our Church pay their tithing so faithfully and are blessed for doing so.

To cite another far-reaching miracle, there is no rational way to explain why young men and women give a year and a half to two years of their lives in the middle of their education and marriage eligibility to suffer the hardships incident to an inconvenient and highly disciplined pattern of missionary service to their fellowmen. Other miracles occur in funding missions by missionaries or families too poor to do so but who do so anyway.

Still another miracle is the way missionaries are protected during their labors. Of course we have fatalities among our young missionaries—about three to six per year over the last decade—all of them tragic. But the official death rates for comparable-age young men and women in the United States are eight times higher than the death rates of our missionaries. In other words, our young men and women are eight times safer in the mission field than the general population of their peers at home. In view of the hazards of missionary labor, this mortality record is nothing less than a miracle.

Other large-scale miracles are occurring in the Church’s family history work. The effect of our FamilySearch™ Internet Genealogy Service in the time it has been available is truly miraculous. After one year our Internet site averaged eight million hits per day, representing daily visits by about 130,000 persons. In this same one-year period, the site registered users from 117 countries who downloaded over 410,000 copies of our Personal Ancestral File. This was an eight-fold increase in usage over the prior technology. Family history work is exploding in a miraculous way.
Micro-Miracles

In contrast to these far-reaching miracles are the more familiar categories of miracles that impact only a few individuals. The scriptures abound with such miracles, and miracles as great as these still occur. I have seen them, and so have you. Elder Spencer W. Kimball (1895–1985), then of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, said:

“We do have miracles today—beyond imagination! …

“What kinds of miracles do we have? All kinds—revelations, visions, tongues, healings, special guidance and direction, evil spirits cast out. Where are they recorded? In the records of the Church, in journals, in news and magazine articles and in the minds and memories of many people.” 6

Most of us are acquainted with miracles that have occurred in our personal lives and the lives of those we love, such as miracles involving births and deaths and miraculous healings. All of these are fulfillments of the Lord’s modern promise to “show miracles, signs, and wonders, unto all those who believe on my name” (D&C 35:8).
When Miracles Don’t Happen

I have been speaking of miracles that happen. What about miracles that don’t happen? Most of us have offered prayers that were not answered with the miracle we requested at the time we desired. Miracles are not available for the asking. We know this from the Lord’s revelation directing that the elders should be called to lay hands on and bless the sick: “It shall come to pass that he that hath faith in me to be healed, and is not appointed unto death, shall be healed” (D&C 42:48). The will of the Lord is always paramount. The priesthood of the Lord cannot be used to work a miracle contrary to the will of the Lord. We must also remember that even when a miracle is to occur, it will not occur on our desired schedule. The revelations teach that miraculous experiences occur “in his own time, and in his own way” (D&C 88:68).
Why Don’t We Hear More about Miracles?

Why don’t our talks in general conference and local meetings say more about the miracles we have seen? Most of the miracles we experience are not to be shared. Consistent with the teachings of the scriptures, we hold them sacred and share them only when the Spirit prompts us to do so.

The revelation on priesthood affirms the biblical teaching in Mark 16:17 that “signs,” including miraculous healings and other wonderful works, “follow them that believe” (see also D&C 84:65). Similarly, modern revelation directs that “they shall not boast themselves of these things, neither speak them before the world; for these things are given unto you for your profit and for salvation” (D&C 84:73). Another revelation declares, “Remember that that which cometh from above is sacred, and must be spoken with care, and by constraint of the Spirit” (D&C 63:64). President Brigham Young explained, “Miracles, or these extraordinary manifestations of the power of God, are not for the unbeliever; they are to console the Saints, and to strengthen and confirm the faith of those who love, fear, and serve God, and not for outsiders.” 7

Latter-day Saints generally follow these directions. In bearing testimonies and in our public addresses we rarely mention our most miraculous experiences, and we rarely rely on signs that the gospel is true. We usually just affirm our testimony of the truthfulness of the restored gospel and give few details on how we obtained it. Why is this? Signs follow those that believe. Seeking a miracle to convert someone is improper sign seeking. By the same token, it is usually inappropriate to recite miraculous circumstances to a general audience that includes people with very different levels of spiritual maturity. To a general audience, miracles will be faith-reinforcing for some but an inappropriate sign for others.

There are good reasons why we do not seek conversions by exhibiting signs. “The viewing of signs or miracles is not a secure foundation for conversion. Scriptural history attests that people converted by signs and wonders soon forget them and again become susceptible to the lies and distortions of Satan and his servants (Hel. 16:23; 3 Ne. 1:22, 3 Ne. 2:1, 3 Ne. 8:4.). …

“In contrast to the witness of the Spirit, which can be renewed from time to time as needed by a worthy recipient, the viewing of a sign or the experiencing of a miracle is a one-time event that will fade in the memory of its witness and can dim in its impact upon him or her.” 8

President George Q. Cannon (1827–1901), who served for more than a quarter century in the First Presidency, observed: “It has been a matter of remark among those who have had experience in this Church that where men have been brought into the Church by such manifestations, it has required a constant succession of them to keep them in the Church; their faith has had to be constantly strengthened by witnessing some such manifestations; but where they have been convinced by the outpouring of the spirit of God, … they have been more likely to stand, more likely to endure persecution and trial than those who have been convinced through some supernatural manifestation.” 9
Sharing Miracles

Although we are generally counseled not to speak of sacred things like the miracles we have witnessed, there are times when the Spirit prompts us to share these experiences, sometimes even in a setting where our account will be published. The miracles written in the scriptures were obviously intended to be shared, usually to strengthen the faith of those who already believed. Modern servants of the Lord have also felt impressed to describe miraculous events to strengthen the faith of believers. Many of these have been published. I have chosen to share some of these here.

A few years after the pioneers arrived in the Salt Lake Valley, a young man took an ox team up Millcreek Canyon on a cold winter day to get logs to build a house. It was extremely cold, and the snow was deep. His sled held five large logs. After he loaded the first one, he turned around to load another. In that instant, the log already on the sled—22 feet long and about 10 inches in diameter—slipped off the sled and rolled down on him, striking him in the hollow of his legs. He was thrown face-forward across the four logs still on the ground and pinned there, alone, with no way to extract himself. He knew he would freeze to death and die alone in the mountains.

The next thing this young pioneer remembered was waking up, sitting on a load of five logs nicely bound on his sled with his oxen pulling the load down the canyon. In his personal history he wrote, “Who it was that extricated me from under the log, loaded my sled, hitched my oxen to it, and placed me on it, I cannot say.” 10 Thirty-three years later, that young pioneer, Marriner Wood Merrill, was ordained an Apostle.

Many miracles happen to aid individuals in pursuing their personal family histories. In an issue of the Church News, a woman told how she returned to her ancestral home in Japan to seek information about her ancestors. After finding nothing in official records, local libraries, and cemeteries, she gave up and was driving away empty-handed when she became lost and somehow drove past a cemetery she did not know existed. From the car window she saw a familiar name on a tombstone, stopped, and found many markers with the information she sought.” 11

Miraculous healings through priesthood blessings and the prayer of faith are familiar to most of us. An experience related in the Friend magazine is typical. During his early childhood, Elder John M. Madsen was afflicted with double pneumonia. After examining the little boy, a doctor told his parents he could do nothing for him and offered no hope that he would live through the night. Soon the child sank into unconsciousness. When his mother felt for his pulse and could find none, she prayed fervently, and the father gave the dying child a priesthood blessing. Immediately he recovered consciousness and began to feel better. 12

In his great talk on miracles, Elder Matthew Cowley tells of several miraculous healings, including this one that occurred while he was serving as a mission president among the Maori people of New Zealand.

One Sunday a father brought a nine-month-old baby forward to Brother Cowley, requesting that he give him a name and a blessing. Here I quote Brother Cowley:

“I said, ‘All right, what’s the name?’ So he told me the name, and I was just going to start when he said, ‘By the way, give him his vision when you give him a name. He was born blind.’ It shocked me, but then I said to myself, why not? Christ said to his disciples when he left them, ‘Greater things than I have done shall you do.’ (See John 14:12.) I had faith in that father’s faith. After I gave that child its name, I finally got around to giving it its vision. That boy is about twelve years old now. The last time I was back there I was afraid to inquire about him. I was sure he had gone blind again. That’s the way my faith works sometimes. So I asked the branch president about him. And he said, ‘Brother Cowley, the worst thing you ever did was to bless that child to receive his vision. He’s the meanest kid in the neighborhood; always getting into mischief.’ Boy, I was thrilled about that kid getting into mischief!” 13

President Gordon B. Hinckley shared another miracle in the restoration of sight: “I recall once when I arrived in Hong Kong I was asked if I would visit a woman in the hospital whose doctors had told her she was going blind and would lose her sight within a week. She asked if we would administer to her and we did so, and she states that she was miraculously healed. I have a painting in my home that she gave me which says on the back of it, ‘To Gordon B. Hinckley in grateful appreciation for the miracle of saving my sight.’ I said to her, ‘I didn’t save your sight. Of course, the Lord saved your sight. Thank Him and be grateful to Him.’ ” 14

As I said earlier, the Lord works miracles in response to the faith of His children. No denomination—not even the restored Church—has a monopoly on the blessings of the Lord. He loves and blesses all of His children.

In an airport one day I picked up a copy of the Dallas Morning News. My eyes were drawn to a columnist’s report of a letter detailing a remarkable miracle. The writer’s five-year-old granddaughter, Heather, suddenly became feverish and lethargic. She breathed with difficulty, and her lips turned blue. By the time she arrived at the hospital, her kidneys and lungs had shut down, her fever was 107 degrees, and her body was bright red and covered with purple lesions. The doctors said she was dying of toxic shock syndrome, cause unknown. As word spread to family and friends, God-fearing people from Florida to California began praying for little Heather. At the grandfather’s request, a special prayer service was held in their Church of Christ congregation in Waco, Texas. Miraculously, Heather suddenly came back from the brink of death and was released from the hospital in a little over a week. The columnist concluded that Heather “is living proof that God does answer prayers and work miracles.” 15

We do not usually speak of spiritual gifts as a miracle, but sometimes the effect of a spiritual gift is miraculous. For example, many missionaries who must learn a new language are blessed with the gift of tongues. Most often this gift merely accelerates the normal process of learning, but sometimes its effect is so immediate that it can only be called a miracle. A young mission president experienced this in the South Pacific in 1913. John Alexander Nelson Jr. spoke Samoan but not Tongan. When he arrived for an assignment in Tonga, he found that he had been scheduled to speak to a congregation of 300 Wesleyan Methodists. He began in faith by speaking a few sentences of greeting he knew in the Tongan language, and then suddenly found himself continuing to speak in Tongan. He spoke without hesitation for nearly an hour “as fluently as any native.” 16

Eric B. Shumway’s book Tongan Saints: Legacy of Faith describes many other miracles experienced in those islands of faith. For example, in the midst of the furious hurricane that devastated Vava’u in 1961, a Tongan father reasoned that he had priesthood power to heal a body and saw no reason why he could not also “heal” the raging storm. Brother Shumway writes, “His dramatic blessing at the peak of the hurricane saved his home and the people who took refuge there.” 17

In another experience, heavy ocean waves were crashing onto a beach at a time when the missionaries had scheduled some baptisms. An elder “stepped out and blessed the ocean, commanding it to be still so these sacred ordinances could be accomplished.” Almost instantly the ocean calmed down and five people were baptized. Then as the party started up the path from the ocean, “the waves came crashing in again over the very spot the sacred ordinances were held.” 18

One of the greatest miracles we can imagine is for someone to be brought back to life after being dead for a time. So it was with Lazarus, whom Jesus raised (see John 11:17, 39–44). So it has been with others in our day.

The miracle of raising someone from the dead is so exceptional and so sacred that those who have been privileged to see it should never speak of it publicly unless the Spirit specifically induces them to do so. Our published literature contains two such examples I can share. The first is from the Matthew Cowley talk that impressed me so deeply when I was a student at BYU. I quote:

“I was called to a home in a little village in New Zealand one day. There the Relief Society sisters were preparing the body of one of our saints. They had placed his body in front of the big house, as they call it, the house where the people come to wail and weep and mourn over the dead, when in rushed the dead man’s brother. He said, ‘Administer to him.’ And the young natives said, ‘Why, you shouldn’t do that; he’s dead.’ ‘You do it!’ …

“The younger native got down on his knees and he anointed this man. Then this great old sage got down and blessed him and commanded him to rise. You should have seen the Relief Society sisters scatter. He sat up and said, ‘Send for the elders; I don’t feel very well.’ … We told him he had just been administered to, and he said, ‘Oh, that was it.’ He said, ‘I was dead. I could feel life coming back into me just like a blanket unrolling.’ He outlived the brother that came in and told us to administer to him.” 19

Another sacred experience is related in the book Tongan Saints. It happened while Elder ‘Iohani Wolfgramm and his wife were serving a mission in their native Tonga, presiding over a branch on an outlying island. Their three-year-old daughter was accidentally run over by a loaded taxi. Four of the occupants of the taxi sorrowfully carried her lifeless body to her parents. “Her head was crushed and her face was terribly disfigured.” 20 The sorrowing helpers offered to take the little girl’s body to the hospital so the doctors could repair her severely damaged head and face for the funeral. I now quote the words of her father, Elder Wolfgramm: “I told them I did not want them to take her but that I would ask God what I should do and, if it was possible, to give her life back.” 21

The helpers took the little girl’s body into the chapel. Elder Wolfgramm continued: “I asked them to hold her while I gave her a priesthood blessing. By then the curious people of the village were flocking in to see our stricken little daughter. As I was about to proceed with the administration, I felt tongue-tied. Struggling to speak, I got the distinct impression that I should not continue with the ordinance. It was as if a voice were speaking to me saying: ‘This is not the right time, for the place is full of mockers and unbelievers. Wait for a more private moment.’

“My speech returned at that moment and I addressed the group: ‘The Lord has restrained me from blessing this little girl, because there are unbelievers among you who doubt this sacred ordinance. Please help me by leaving so I can bless my child.’ ” 22

The people left without taking offense. The grieving parents carried the little girl to their home, put her body on her own bed, and covered her with a sheet. Three hours passed, and her body began to show the effects of death. The mother pleaded with the father to bless her, but he insisted that he still felt restrained. Finally, the impression came that he should now proceed. I return to his words:

“All present in the home at that moment were people with faith in priesthood blessings. The feeling of what I should do and say was so strong within me that I knew Tisina would recover completely after the blessing. Thus, I anointed her head and blessed her in the name of Jesus Christ to be well and normal. I blessed her head and all her wounds to heal perfectly, thanking God for his goodness to me in allowing me to hold his priesthood and bring life back to my daughter. I asked him to open the doors of Paradise, so I could tell her to come back and receive her body again and live. The Lord then spoke to my heart and said, ‘She will return to you tomorrow. You will be reunited then.’ ” 23

The parents spent an anxious night beside the body of the little girl, who appeared to be lifeless. Then, suddenly, the little girl awoke, alive and well. Her father’s account concludes: “I grabbed her and examined her, her head and face. They were perfectly normal. All her wounds were healed; and from that day to this, she has experienced no complications from the accident. Her life was the miraculous gift from Heavenly Father during our missionary labors in Fo’ui.” 24
Miracles I Have Experienced

I have seen quite a few miracles during my Church service. I feel I can share two of them at this time.

I had an experience with the gift of tongues in the newly opened country of Bulgaria. In November 1990 we sent missionaries into Bulgaria. A handful of elders entered from Serbia, without any contacts or training in the Bulgarian language. Through their labors and the blessings of the Lord, we soon had 45 Bulgarian members.

In April 1991 I went to Bulgaria with Area President Hans B. Ringger and mission president Dennis B. Neuenschwander. There, most of our members and about 150 investigators assembled in an attractive civic building in Sofia for a fireside at which I was to speak. My interpreter was Mirella Lazarov, a newly baptized member in her 20s. The audience included many professional people and some government officials. I had prayed fervently for guidance in this talk but had little time for preparation.

I began by telling the audience about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and how we differed from other Christian churches. I then felt impressed to speak about the Apostasy, which I did in some detail. In doing so, I completely forgot that I was speaking through an interpreter who had been a member only five months and had almost no background in the subject of the Apostasy. Forgetful of this, I made no attempt to speak in simple terms but made extensive use of the unfamiliar English words involved in a detailed explanation of the Apostasy and the Restoration.

After the crowd had departed, Sister Lazarov tearfully told me of her unique experience in translating my talk. Despite her fluency in English, she sometimes heard me speak words or express thoughts she did not understand in English. She said that whenever this happened, “another voice” spoke through her so she found herself using words or explaining concepts in Bulgarian that she did not understand in English. I told her to cherish this experience and testify of it to others. She had experienced the gift of tongues in a classic circumstance in which the Lord gives a spiritual gift to one person so that others of His children can be edified and His work can be forwarded (see D&C 46:9).

I experienced another miracle during an attempted military coup to overthrow the government of Philippine president Corazon Aquino in December 1989. 25 Many persons were killed in nearly a week of heavy fighting between rebel and loyal government troops. A principal site of this fighting was Camp Aguinaldo, which adjoins our temple in Manila.

During the first day of the attempted coup, gunfire and bombing could be heard from our temple. That night the road in front of the temple was occupied by rebel armored vehicles, trucks, and many soldiers. With the coming of daylight on Saturday, these rebel forces exchanged gunfire with the loyal government troops in Camp Aguinaldo. Opposing aircraft fired rockets and dropped bombs.

At about 3:00 p.m. Saturday afternoon, the rebel soldiers breached the gate of the temple and occupied our temple grounds. At this time we had five Philippine employees there: three security men and two custodians. Our temple president, Floyd H. Hogan, instructed them by phone not to resist the soldiers entering the temple grounds or the temple annex, which housed auxiliary facilities like name processing, but to secure the temple and take cover there. The man in charge, Brother Espi, later wrote that he worked to develop a good relationship with the rebel soldiers to convince them that even though they wanted to get access to the temple, “because of the sacred nature of the temple, they should not try to enter.”

Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning there were almost continuous exchanges of gunfire between the government troops in Camp Aguinaldo and the rebels around the camp, including those occupying our temple grounds. Brother Espi later wrote: “We all thought that we are on our own but still asked our Heavenly Father to strengthen each one of us and to spare the temple from being desecrated.”

Others were praying too. In his later report, Area President George I. Cannon wrote: “The Sunday when the rebellion was going on was fast Sunday. Throughout the Philippines the members were praying and fasting for the temple, for the members, and for the missionaries.”

Sunday morning a government helicopter gunship appeared and strafed the vicinity of the temple, but retreated because of stiff resistance from the rebels’ 50-caliber machine guns. About noon that day an air force plane dropped several bombs that hit the residence house near the temple. Bomb fragments broke windows in the temple annex.

Sunday evening Manila radio reported that the Mormon temple was in rebel hands but that a government force was moving in to drive them out. At that report, President Hogan, the temple president and a retired colonel in the U.S. military, went into action himself. He made the dangerous walk from the temple president’s home to the assembling government troops. There he found that their commander had given the rebels one hour to surrender and planned to attack them at 11:00 p.m. His force included armored personnel carriers, heavy mortars, and at least 150 soldiers, who believed they outnumbered and could easily defeat the rebel force in the temple annex. But their attack would obviously employ extensive heavy weapons and rifle fire and would cause great damage to the temple facilities. President Hogan argued with the commanding officer that if he would only wait until daylight, the rebels might abandon the temple grounds and no attack would be necessary. The commander insisted that he had to follow his orders, and President Hogan was not able to contact the general who had given the order to see if he would rescind it.

During this time I was the member of the Quorum of the Twelve whom the Philippines Area President contacted for help at headquarters. Thirty minutes before the 11:00 p.m. Manila deadline, Area President George I. Cannon phoned me to report that our temple annex and grounds were the last remaining rebel stronghold in Manila and the army had massed artillery and troops for an assault at any moment. He said he had done all he could through the Philippine government and the American ambassador to discourage the attack, but without success. It was then 7:30 a.m. Sunday in Salt Lake City.

By a remarkable coincidence—one of those happenings that cannot be coincidental—the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles had scheduled an unusual meeting that Sunday morning. At 8:00 a.m., 3 December, just 30 minutes after I received that alarming report from Manila, the assembled First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve bowed in prayer and pleaded with the Lord to intervene to protect His house. Elder Marvin J. Ashton led our prayer. As we prayed, it was 11:00 p.m. Sunday evening in Manila, the exact hour appointed for the assault.

The attack never came. Twenty minutes after our prayer, President Cannon phoned Church headquarters to report that the military commander had unexpectedly decided against a night assault. Early the next morning, Philippine time, President Hogan phoned to say that the rebels had melted away during the night. I recorded in my journal, “I consider this a miracle of divine intervention no less impressive than many recorded in holy writ.”

On Monday morning President Hogan inspected the temple annex. It had shrapnel marks and many broken windows on the north side, but inside, none of its locked rooms had been entered. The temple itself had not been entered and was not damaged. A total of six mortar or rocket shells had exploded inside the temple grounds. From their trajectory, President Hogan concluded that some of these shells had to have passed between the spires of the temple. The patron housing building under construction nearby had been hit by four or five rockets and had sustained extensive damage. The Manila temple opened for normal sessions the next day.

A week later I received a letter from the Philippine ambassador to the United States, Emmanuel Pelaez, whom I had recently hosted at Church headquarters. His letter explained how he had worked behind the scenes, as soon as he learned that our temple was threatened, to urge the Philippine military to “do everything possible” to spare this sacred building from damage. After the fighting was over, they had reported to him that “they were careful in their counter-shelling, so as not to cause damage” to the temple. 26 I concluded that the Lord had worked behind the scenes through these government servants to save His house.

When I was in the Philippines a few months later, I personally inspected the temple and grounds and found that despite all of the shelling and exchanges of gunfire within a few feet of this sacred edifice, it was completely unmarked by any shell fire except for one bullet hole, apparently a single stray rifle shot, at the top of the highest steeple. As President and Sister Donald L. Hilton of the Philippines Manila Mission wrote in a letter sent to their missionaries, “an unseen army of angels assisted faithful temple guards that the temple was not desecrated.”
The Greatest Miracle of All

I have spoken about miracles. I have given illustrations of miracles in the Church as a whole and in many different circumstances involving a few individuals or a crisis of weather or war. But the greatest miracle is not in such things as restoring sight to the blind, healing an illness, or even raising the dead, since all of these restorations will happen, in any event, in the Resurrection.

Changing bodies or protecting temples are miracles, but an even greater miracle is a mighty change of heart by a son or daughter of God (see Mosiah 5:2). A change of heart, including new attitudes, priorities, and desires, is greater and more important than any miracle involving the body. I repeat, the body will be resurrected in any event, but a change affecting what the scripture calls the “heart” of a spirit son or daughter of God is a change whose effect is eternal. If of the right kind, this change opens the door to the process of repentance that cleanses us to dwell in the presence of God. It introduces the perspective and priorities that lead us to make the choices that qualify us for eternal life, “the greatest of all the gifts of God” (D&C 14:7).

My dear brothers and sisters, I pray that each one of us may experience and persist in that miracle of the mighty change of heart, that we may realize the destiny God has prescribed for all of His children and the purpose of this Church to bring to pass the eternal lives of men and women. This is the Church of Jesus Christ, and He is our Savior, our Redeemer, and our Resurrector. We are His spiritual children, spiritually begotten by His sacrifice in Gethsemane and on Calvary and possessing the opportunity to qualify for eternal life. May God bless us to do so.
Let’s Talk about It

Most Ensign articles can be used for family home evening discussions. The following questions are for that purpose or for personal reflection:

1. What is the purpose of miracles?

2. Why is it unwise to base our testimonies upon miracles?

3. When is it appropriate or inappropriate to discuss miracles we have witnessed?

4. Why is a “mighty change of heart” a great miracle?

[illustration] Jesus Healing the Blind, by Carl Heinrich Bloch, det Nationalhistoriske på Fredericksborg, Hillerød

[illustration] “Such As I Have, I Give Thee” by Walter Rane

[illustrations] Paintings by Amy Davis
Notes

1. In Daniel H. Ludlow, ed., Encyclopedia of Mormonism, 5 vols. (1992), 2:908.

2. See “Not My Will, But Thine” (1988), 25.

3. Ensign, May 1989, 16.

4. See also Joseph Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, sel. Joseph Fielding Smith (1976), 202–15.

5. See George Q. Cannon, Gospel Truth (1987), sel. Jerreld L. Newquist, 151–52.

6. “The Significance of Miracles in the Church Today,” Instructor, Dec. 1959, 396.

7. Discourses of Brigham Young, sel. John A. Widtsoe (1998), 341.

8. Dallin H. Oaks, The Lord’s Way (1991), 87.

9. In Deseret News Semi-Weekly, 15 Feb. 1882, 1.

10. Marriner Wood Merrill, in Jeaneen Merrill Anderson, “Pinned to the Ground,” Church News, 6 Sept. 1997, 16.

11. See Keiko Teshima Fuller, “Treasure in Tombstones,” Church News, 18 Mar. 2000, 16.

12. See Rebecca Todd Archibald, “Friend to Friend,” Friend, Mar. 2000, 6.

13. Miracles, Brigham Young University Speeches of the Year (5 Apr. 1966, rebroadcast from a speech delivered 18 Feb. 1953), 9.

14. Teachings of Gordon B. Hinckley (1997), 343.

15. “Sometimes, ‘Miracles’ Are Just That,” Dallas Morning News, 30 Jan. 2000, p. 31A.

16. Eric B. Shumway, trans. and ed., Tongan Saints: Legacy of Faith (1991), 45.

17. Tongan Saints, 14.

18. Tongan Saints, 84.

19. Miracles, 9.

20. Tongan Saints, 88.

21. Tongan Saints, 88.

22. Tongan Saints, 88.

23. Tongan Saints, 89.

24. Tongan Saints, 89.

25. The facts recited here are based on written reports in the Historical Department Archives of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and in the personal journal of Dallin H. Oaks.

26. Letter dated 11 Dec. 1989.

REPOST FROM 2010 - LOSING MY SON TO SIDS; THE MOST SPIRITUAL EVENT OF MY LIFE

Too good not to re-share.  This blog is part personal testimony and journal:

Most posts to this blog are of a second coming nature - not personal - but this one was so huge and so impacting to me, I have to add something about it. This is a work in progress as I have more time. I literally could write a book on what my wife and I went through and still not get through it all.

On April 4th, 2002 at approx. 1:45am, our lives were changed forever when our little Dallin Jacob Wood was called home to prepare for what most of us will probably go through in our lifetimes. The massive influx of people into the Spirit World as the world goes through the massive upheavals that are soon to be upon us. While we are organized here and have much work to do for our temporal salvation, there is much that is going on "over there" that requires manpower, organization, and direction. This "seed blog entry" will get rather enormous as time goes on. I had an old friend from Facebook mention that her mother had died - a truly wonderful woman whose time it simply was to go home for a purpose few of us here might understand. Here is a note that I sent her:

Vicki,
I was sorry to hear about your mother. Without regular contact, I just assumed Victor and your mother were living out their lives. I saw your dad was on FB. I am sure it simply was her time to go - there is so much more going on over there than we can imagine. The work to redeem the human family is massive and accelerating beyond our comprehension as the millennium approaches.
I will not force it on you - and would be more than happy to pop a copy of that book (Life Everlasting) I mentioned in the mail - but it is a most amazing work. Death is really just a change of state to a greater and more exciting part of the adventure of our eternal life. Just let me know if you are interested in the book. Like I said, it is so good that I keep loaners around for interested people.
Yes, our little guy was called home around 9 months old and it really was supposed to happen. I was actually supposed to go home that year that he was taken home - and had known that since a few months before I came home from my mission. My wife just brushed me off as crazy when I turned 33 and would not follow my advice to seek out a life insurance policy big enough to take care of her and the kids if I were taken (her own father was taken in the Vietnam war and Shawna and her mother were left with few options). Notwithstanding the fact she didn't take me seriously, my wife had a premonition of impending death two weeks before Dallin's death and was literally allowed to choose that it not be me who was sent home on errand. Maybe a little hard to comprehend, but a true statement. My Grandpa Matheson, the old Cedar City Stake Patriarch was calling the shots from the other side and needed help. Off the charts wild - but we had three independent people in our family that had simultaneous manifestations within a day or two that confirmed it. I had an incredible 2 yr. mission by any stretch - similar to John H. Groberg's - but losing our little guy was THE most spiritually affirming thing that has ever happened to me/us. It was pretty hard on the oldest two kids, though. They were too young to fully comprehend what was going on.
I run a blog that has some pretty wild stuff like this in it and I just have not had the time to get the whole scenario down - but at some point, I will blog all of the incredible things that happened to us. I can honestly say that I know that God lives and there is an entire "situation" around us that most people simply do not comprehend or have an awareness of. The veil was very thin for months after he crossed over.
Anyway, sorry to get so deep but I just have to pass on the hope and insight I have gained.
Thanks for sharing about your mother - I wasn't sure if it would be polite to ask in a public forum.

(Iraq).

Here is a wonderful quote by Joseph Smith on the death of a loved one:

I think this quote sums this little guy's life up,
"The Lord takes many away, even in infancy, that they may escape the envy of man, and the sorrows and evils of this present world; they were too pure, too lovely, to live on earth; therefore, if rightly considered, instead of mourning, we have reason to rejoice, as they are delivered from evil and we shall soon have them again. The only difference between the old and young dying is, one lives longer in heaven in eternal light and glory than the other, and is freed a little sooner from this miserable, wicked world. Notwithstanding all this glory, we for a moment, lose sight of it, and mourn the loss, but we do not mourn as those without hope (through Christ).
Joseph Smith.

INTERESTING STATEMENT ON KRIS KRINGLE"S DEMISE AND THE ONE WORLD RELIGION

Maybe this is the year that Rudolph dies......  That combined with global warming and no more white Christmases, and it is just over......

As a committed religious conservative, I stridently resist any attempts to erode our religion into any form of something more committed to "getting along".  Appeasement never yields anything but mediocrity:

https://youtu.be/kq5e4zsgkUU?t=593

AN EMP OVER SEATTLE

I have vaguely seen this as I was driving into downtown one time.  Very faint - almost imperceptible.

This is what I expect to happen to the area at a minimum.  The Puget Sound is a strategic target and would have to be knocked out in some form, if the US were attacked.  It simply has too much valuable assets to ignore - and would be prime for a counter-attack, if not neutralized at the start.

Here is an interesting vision or dream that seems to say what would be inevitable.  Not from an LDS guy, but was on FB and thought I would share.  Take it, like anything on this blog, with a grain of salt:

Here is a dream by Nathan Leal of an EMP over Seattle, WA.

“I Saw an American City Attacked! – Destruction from the Sky!"
A Prophetic Dream about Seattle, Washington
Nathan Leal - March 8, 2013
Note - This vision revealed Seattle, Washington getting hit with a Nuclear EMP!
In the beginning of 2013, I sought God about the matters at hand. I had been asking Him to show me the things to come.
On the night of February 19, 2013, the Lord answered my prayer and gave me a glimpse of things to come through a prophetic dream. After praying about it and seeking Him, He has given me the clearance to share it so that I can warn the people.
(Note - The Timing of the Following Dream is Unknown.)
Dream Begins:
I was in a building looking out of a window with other people that I did not know. When the dream first began, I did not know where I was. But as the dream progressed, images began to appear before me.
The sky became filled with very dark clouds of the evening. The clouds resembled those of an impending thunderstorm. They were dark and very thick. From time to time, lightning flashed within them.
After a few moments, the skyline of Seattle, Washington appeared before me. I could see all of the downtown buildings of the city and beyond. I also noticed that I was at a high vantage point. I was at a location in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains, east of Seattle.
This meant that I was looking west towards Seattle and the Pacific Ocean. I could see all of the downtown area, as well as the landscape to the south and the north. I could also see the waters of Puget Sound located beyond downtown Seattle.
Unexpectedly, chaos erupted! The sky became darker.
From the south of downtown, I saw a glowing fireball coming out of the sky. It approached at an angle in slow motion.
I could see that it was not aiming towards the downtown area, but was headed beyond the location south of downtown and across the waters of Puget Sound.
Suddenly, missiles from the ground began to launch towards the approaching threat. I saw five to six missiles go into the sky towards the attacking fireball.
As I watched them launch, I was not sure what kind of missiles they were but I wondered to myself “Patriot Missiles?”
As they launched, the missiles also traveled in slow motion. But unfortunately, they missed and flew past the target! I remembered thinking, “Oh no! They missed!”
In the continuing chaos, a craft flew past me and also went towards the falling threat. The flying craft looked like some sort of drone or odd looking missile. It had narrow wings and was white and blue.
Suddenly, to the north of the downtown buildings, an explosion occurred in the sky. The blast was very high. It seemed to explode across the waters of the Puget Sound.
It appeared to occur several miles away from the city center. It did not explode into a mushroom cloud. Instead it exploded into a ball that became very bright and large. The ball remained a sphere as it expanded.
The explosion was so bright that I had to duck and look away.
After a moment of waiting, I again looked out of the window and saw the flash dissipating. As it started fading I said, “That was an EMP!”
I was wondering when the blast would reach me but it never did. I guess that as an observer in the dream. I was protected.
As I examined the post traumatic landscape, I was shocked by what I saw.
Every building before me in downtown Seattle had its windows blown out. Many were damaged but many were still standing. Pillars of smoke rose throughout, from the streets below. Dust was everywhere.
I became very sad. I do not know how many people were hurt in this event.
After I woke up, I was very disturbed. I needed to find answers.
I went online to look at the Seattle landscape on Google maps. Based on what I saw in my dream, I was able to find my approximate location. I was also able to calculate an approximation of where the objects were headed and/or exploded.
When I examined the points of impact, this glimpse became very DISTURBING!
It appears that west of Seattle across the Puget Sound are several military bases and installations.
The area of the lower assault is the Bremerton Naval Base and Shipyard. Many of our ships are there. I saw the anti-missiles try to respond but miss. I do not understand why they missed! I thought that we had an impregnable shield. (More on that later.)
In my dream, in the other area North of Bremerton, I saw an explosion in the air.
The area under the explosion turns out that it is also a military base, a substantial one!
From Wikipedia: It is called Naval Base Kitsap. It is a U.S. Navy base located on the Kitsap Peninsula in Washington State. It was created in 2004 by merging the former Naval Station Bremerton with Naval Submarine Base Bangor.
The Mission of Naval Base Kitsap is to serve as the home base for the Navy’s fleet throughout West Puget Sound and to provide base operating services, including support for both surface ships and Fleet Ballistic.
In my dream the explosion in the air occurred over this base!!!
What Was It?
After I had this dream, I wondered if the flying objects were nuclear missiles or meteors.
I prayed and asked God for details and more information. At this moment in time, I do not have an answer.
Therefore, I am not sure what they were. I have many questions about this event.
If they were meteors, why would they attack two military bases? And could a meteor cause an EMP?
Was the first one a meteor? And was the second one that exploded in the air a "Tactical EMP Missile" of some sort?
I am still seeking God for answers. One thing I have learned about prophetic dreams. They are just glimpses, partial images. They are never a complete picture. We only "know in part" and "prophesy in part."
But folks, I do know this, God did tell me to share this dream. He wants all people to be warned that events are coming that will test men's hearts!
America will experience an attack. This dream event will be one of several cities that will experience these things.
For those of you that are wondering - "When?"
God Revealed that it will occur when people least expect it. Will it be soon? Or later? Will it happen within months or years from now? That part I do not know.
Why?
Over the past few months, I have been sharing many details about America's coming demise. The things that she is experiencing right now are a part of God's Divine Judgment.
America is NOT in a recovery! Her dismantling is still in motion. Thus far, most of her pain has been in the economic sector, but eventually, she will start to experience a new category of judgment. ....WAR!!!
As these things take place, God has also shown me in prophetic dreams that America will be attacked in a very ominous and destructive manner. This means that several American cities will see great destruction. American cities WILL BURN!
Ladies and Gentlemen, over the past few years, I have seen cities burning through prophetic glimpses! Sharing these things brings no pleasure!
It brings much pain!
In my early years, I never thought that America could ever get attacked! But this was before God showed me.
The Withering Hedge!
America's Divine hedge of protection has been removed. Her walls of solitude and safety have crumbled. Her pillars of strength have fractured and toppled.
As a result, right now, America is in very dangerous territory.
Without God protecting her, how can she remain safe and preserved?
The majority of today's Americans place no confidence in God. They do not see the point. So sadly, America will be left as a progressive thistle blowing in the wind.
The ungodly take pride in their leanings to the left. But folks, at what point will her dry stalk break? How far can she lean before she tumbles?
Her bones have become dry and fallow; a brittle soul in the wilderness. Will the world give her a drink? Or are they waiting to watch her die of thirst?
Grass always fades and America will soon learn the fate of her misleading self-reliance.
Folks, if you live within the borders of America and you do not know why the USA is sick, please seek to find an understanding of why she is going through this. The reason is NOT only a physical reason from the mind of logic and rational….
For those of you who might live in the Seattle area, you may be wondering, "What to do?"
I asked God about that. He said, "Those that need to move away, are being shown what to do."
In other words, if you are asking Him, He will tell you what to do.
Unfortunately, God also told me that most people do not listen to His voice when it comes to these things. Again, I do not have the timing for this event. It could be years away.
As a reminder, both David Wilkerson and Dumitru Duduman saw America burning in prophetic visions. They saw these things MANY years ago! God's warning is always in advance; sometimes many years in advance. So will this attack happen soon? I do not know. Therefore, please follow the leading of the Holy Spirit for your personal relocation plans.
One thing to note about the explosion that I saw, it did not appear to be a regular nuclear event. It appeared to be an EMP. So here is the question. If you live in a city, can you ride out an EMP event? Only you can answer that question.
But the question cannot be addressed without wisdom and sobriety of heart. Neither can it be answered without God's counsel and Holy Spirit leading.
My friends, we need to all be staying vigilant in these uncertain times. Great events are approaching. The wise ones will stay sheltered in God and seek to know what to do.
One thing you should not do is try to deal with these things without God's involvement. To do this will result in walking in fear!
And folks, fear is a faith killer and a thief of God's peace! May God grant you your portion of peace in the midst of this storm!
Nathan Leal