Tuesday, October 25, 2016

AN ACCOUNT OF A MEETING WITH SPENCER

Folks, I could not even come CLOSE to laying down a better testimony/personal witness of Spencer than this.  I have met him - but not spent any kind of time like this with him.

I get the feeling from this person's account that Spencer struggles somewhat with all the garbage that has been tossed about over his book.  Why do some seemingly faithful people struggle with him.  I apply the same judgment of them that I apply to those who struggle with the Book of Mormon.  In other words, the thing that is being judged are not the things that are holy, it is the unholy attempting to apply their lesser perspective against something they will never rise to unless they come down to the dust and humble themselves.  They are in danger of hellfire - or eternal judgment.

This testimony of Spencer exonerates him completely in my mind.  In other words, if you are anti-Spencer - I suggest you rock a quick path to your knees and repent NOW.  And, I rest my case.  I have taken a bunch of damage over this whole situation.  I like how once he was recognized by those who were his judges, they cut him some serious slack.  Even though his apostle friend was dead at the time of the review, my guess is that the respect of the others for that particular apostle may have been a huge factor in their view of him.

Again, I rest my case:

My Meeting with "Spencer" Last Month (from Visions of Glory)
So, I have only posted one thread so far on LDSAVOW and have only been a member for a couple of weeks. I was taken aback by the forwardness of the responses and have been contemplating discontinuing. I feel spiritual encounters are very sacred. To me anyway. I don't like to share for 'shock value' or appear to want to look 'special' or 'more in tune' than others. That is never my motive and I don't feel that way. I do feel, however, that I have been allowed to see some of the other side- evil and good- for whatever reason the Lord sees fit to challenge my perceptions of what is 'real' and important in this earthly test and beyond this dimension. Sometimes, I flat out don't like it. I would rather be ignorant and blissfully distracted with everyday mundane routines and a funny sitcom. But I can't. Once you know too much...well, you just do. It makes it hard to be simple.
I have felt impressed to post this week. I don't really want to. I would rather just sit on the floor of my living room in silence and ponder things alone with the Lord after my energetic kids are finally asleep. But I don't really have an outlet most of the time (with the exception of my dear friend who is also on this site who knows my heart and spiritual condition. She played a powerful role in bringing me into the Church as mother in Zion, an instructor and mentor).
I told Spencer during our visit that I was not a member of LDSAVOW (he is not) - which I was not at the time...I joined out of curiosity really. I am still processing. So, I feel a bit conflicted sharing. So I won't share what I feel 'checked' not to.
What I want to share is brief. My relationship with Spencer is a sweet and simple one. I read his book. I converted to the Church because of things I have seen and felt that were mentioned in it and the powerful Spirit that shook me to my core when I read his inspiring and sobering experiences with the Spirit realm. This was the catalyst to my 20 years of investigating the Church and being in constant contact with Mormons since I was in middle school. I needed something deeper and something that would reveal to me what Christ's Church was really all about- what it was all meant to culminate to in the end. That is where Spencer entered my life. That is the punch that knocked me off the fence into the safe pasture of the Truth. I am forever grateful.
Through a series of mixed of events and what I feel were Divine appointments, I shared my testimony with Spencer at one point. I had mourned John Pontius when I realized he had died. I didn't know until I bought his book 'Beyond the Veil' and realized his wife had compiled his blogs in tribute after his passing. I was feeling alone in my impressions and with my dreams and visions. I did not want to share them. I just wanted to perhaps share a Spiritual bond with those who have tasted the beyond as well. I guess, I reached out to Spencer so as not to feel so alone and to thank him for his courage in sharing. It brought my husband and I and our children into the Church. Not out of fear- but out of faith and profound testimony that the Church is truly Christ's only Church on the earth.
Spencer called me about 9 months after I had reached out to him. He is a very private and humble man and does not like to be in a spotlight at all. I was shocked when he said who he was. His real identity. He had also sent me a couple of short emails in correspondence. I had some questions for him- not about further revelation- I felt he shared enough of his sacred 'vault'. But more about wondering how he was doing. He has endured much persecution from inside the Church from those who felt they had the final say on the validity and 'approval' from God to share such heavy and intense spiritual revelations and encounters. I wanted to encourage him and ask what the Brethren has said about his book.
I just want to say,if anyone on this site is friends with Spencer, I hope that you hold him up as brothers and sisters in the Truth and just love him as such. I in no way want to share too much. I just want to affirm his character and express my inspiration for this kind man and the work he has and is doing for the Savior.
When I met with Spencer in Salt Lake City last month we spoke about the condition of our society. Not anything about politics or timeframes for destruction or who will be President. I don't really care about that. But we spoke more about the spiritual condition of the Church membership. How many will make it. And how many will not. Who knows? But we discussed telling factors- look at those who are Temple worthy and full tithe payers. That is about 1/3.
He conveyed the absolute importance of throwing off distraction. Phones, media, materialism, the inability for the younger generation to interact with other humans and to even hear the voice of the Spirit. Folks have disappeared from the collective- from the ability to really prepare to have the Law of Sacrifice and Consecration called in when the time comes. We cannot even sacrifice our facebook scroll to put the iphone down and talk to our young children or neighbor. The mark of the Beast is an allegiance to the world and its 'babylonian' enticements. "It is here already" he said.
The other portion of our conversation was more about the difficulty many of us have and will continue to have going about our normal days- having been shown 'too much'. He said it is hard to live life normally- for him especially. But we have to. We have to keep planting cherry trees- but not lapping the water like unaware troops in Gideon's army that were sifted out. We must keep our eyes up on the horizon while we continue with our duties. We have to stay in a state of giving, serving, preparing sensibly and helping others become more awake- loving people and obtaining the pure Charity of Christ. We have to be diligent, paced and even-keel. Not extreme in our mentalities. But at peace and calm by the Spirit. Otherwise we will 'lose it' and frantically search for 'signs' and trails of exactly when everything will go down. The time is irrelevant. The obedience moment by moment, consistently following the commandments and spending time spiritually with the Lord and keeping our oil filled and our lamps lit- That is the important part now. Follow the Prophet.
I felt the point most important to remember is that it is not 'fixed'- God's timelines are fluid. He can move them forward or backward because he is not limited to our earthly time constraints. Based on appeals by the Prophet, his Apostles, the righteous and the Just to preserve his Saints and allow the work to continue- the Father may restrain the day. Based on the righteous few, the destructions can be held back by the delegated angels -at the Father's discretion. yes, the blood of the martyrs and the angels cry out 'when Lord??' anxious for justice. But ultimately, it is up to Heavenly Father. That is why He does not reveal the day and hour even to Christ until it is a 'go!'.
In addition, Spencer gave me the background on the attacks by FAIR (the Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research) complaining about his experiences documented in John Pontius's book "Visions of Glory". This formal accusations were presented to the Church leadership which led to a 10-day investigative panel by one of the twelve Apostles and three of the Seventy (who had not read the book by the way at that point) The 30-page complaint listed FAIR's concerns about what they had determined was 'unbiblical' and worthy of disciplinary action.
I was truly humbled by Spencer's humility and grace during this very unsettling and faith-trying time. He had a manuscript with several edits that were supposed to be included in Visions of Glory BEFORE going to print. These did not get included as John Pontius died. John knew it was his last work and wanted to get it finished. Spencer did not even get to read the final version before it went to final publishing. The edits were never applied to the manuscript.
Spencer's edits clarified several sections of the book that Spencer felt were inaccurately portrayed by John's authorship and needed to better detail these accounts for clarity. Amazingly (I believe by the protection of the Spirit) Spencer brought this manuscript- complete with the edits- to the Apostle and panel members of the Seventy for his defense. The other factor in the case was that the Apostle KNEW Spencer personally as a faithful, worthy and reputable member of the Church. But this Apostle did not know he was THE 'Spencer' in the book- as this name was an Alias. So when the Apostle and the members of the panel realized who Spencer was, it put things into a very different light. Either their consistent impressions of him in the past were mislead and Spencer's visions were of the Devil....or their view of his spiritual condition and integrity of character leading up to this case were true- and Spencer's experiences were of God. There was no other alternative.
Spencer could not deny and will not deny what he was shown. How could he? But he stated that he went into deep introspection, prayer and humble petition to search out his soul during this time and submitted fully to the process of the panel's review- open to whatever decision was made. He gave it up to God. He is fully submitted to the Prophet and Apostles.
The case was reviewed carefully and prayerfully and eventually Spencer received a phone call- through his representation- that he had been exonerated and the Church Leaders had sided with him in approving his accounts as spiritually cleared. FAIR had their day in 'court' and the Lord spoke otherwise. A week later, Spencer was appointed to a Bishop. He has since been relocated to Salt Lake City for his work and Church callings.
I share this with you because I have heard so many rumors and false depictions of Spencer's character and motives for courageously sharing his Voice of Warning with us all. His very sacred and private experiences were NOT shared lightly or for fame or profit. He did not want to achieve anything of the sort. He did it for John and for the right time it was needed to be shared with the world. Spencer has no rights to the book. None. I thought this was very interesting.
I asked that if his visions were still continuing- is he planning on sharing a sequel to keep us 'up to date'. He said 'Absolutely Not'. He shared only 30% of his visions and will not share anymore. He has been put on trial by more than just a review panel- but by his fellow Saints and this is deeply hurtful. We can seek further revelation for ourselves by the Spirit and from the Prophet and Church Leaders.
He is now focused on his truly amazing gift as a therapist helping the wounded of heart and soul to heal through the loving counsel he provides. His office is small. His life is simple. His heart is incredibly humble and sweet. He was very kind to us- as my infant and two other kids tore apart his office while my husband and I were trying to talk with him. He encouraged me. He did not rush me and let me ask all of my questions. I will not share other parts of the conversation. But it gave me hope and faith.
I left him with a bag of organic apples, pumpkin cookies, an instrumental LDS CD to bring him comfort of Spirit- and a hug. What an amazing man of God.
HopeforEndurance

5 comments:

  1. I have been hoping to read a post like this. Thank you.

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  2. I used to respect FAIR, but that article by Greg Smith was the biggest piece of garbage I've ever read. I had never seen such arrogance even from anti-mormon sources. I am surprised the brethren actually took it seriously.

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  3. My daughters friends or acquaintances debating and some with strong feelings. Those against the Pontius's book are of the more strong feelings. I don't know why people have to get so heated about such things. I think such people who attack this book or Spencer are pretty insecure in their faith. Christ faced that same sort of reactions to his teachings.

    I really was impressed that the book was in line with that which I am familiar. I consider some of it could be more symbolic in someways - I really do not believe that the ten tribes would end up with 20 or 30 thousand people after 2600 years - I see it as symbolic - they have their own scriptures - they know who they are - God always separates peoples to keep them from all being universally contaminated.

    I have always had difficulty with interpretations of the Mark of the Beast being forced, under threat of death, upon people receiving a chip or something physical in the hand or forehead. Yet when we read about those who have the Mark of the Beast, fight against the righteous, proves they take this Mark upon themselves of their own free will. this Mark is their belief system, maybe it began culturally with the counterculture.

    I can see it in some people. I don't see any mark, but I do have a creepy feeling to a degree or another. You can tell it peoples countenances, you can look at others and you can recognize a wholesomeness.

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  4. THIS post is just what I needed today. Thank you IRAQ. Like the submitter, I too, know what it feels like to have to try to live a normal life having been given certain knowledge and just plain being "awake". It's so hard when others around you that you love are laughing it up in Sodom and Gomorrah. I seriously get treated like a whacked out religious nut. They just simply don't "believe" anymore they've told me. They question the existence of God and biblical prophecies. My world is growing smaller and lonely.

    I DON'T have a smartphone, just a simple flip phone where I can make a call and get a call. I have never been on FaceBook or Instagram. I tweeted ONCE to offer sympathy to Barry Gibb for the passing of his last surviving brother because he looked so heart broken and I felt sorry for him.

    I have been black-listed for quitting the materialism/paganism of Christmas and Easter and Halloween celebrations and turned to studying God's Holy Feast Days and their correlation to End Time fulfillment by the Messiah.

    I'm so glad "Spencer" stayed away from the negative influences of LDS Avow and I wouldn't be surprised if the Lord told him to. It should be taken seriously if "Spencer" isn't a member of this site. I hope the submitter chooses to leave the site. The hypocrisy, inner politics of the owner/moderators is dreadful! Good people are either run off or wake up and leave the site. Others are just lurkers who hang out for any useful information on survival.. And there are plenty of trolls.

    I wish "Spencer" all the best and I fully support him and believe him. My copy of VOG is basically worn out! I wish I knew the editing changes he wishes were in the book. I hope he discloses them some day.

    I thank the submitter for sharing her story and it really made my day. Nice to meet a kindred spirit!

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  5. Wonderful post! Would love to sit down and share a conversation with Spencer and let him know how much I admire his courage and live for people in sharing his experiences and visions of warning. He is truly a gift to all who will take his words to heart and then apply the prophets warnings. We should all be so blessed in adhering and preparing. The balance of living daily lives and knowing what's coming is a hard balance indeed. I focus on my Father in heaven and pray constantly that He will help me each day to be productive until which time I am called to do the other. God bless you for this post. I also wish to know the editing changes if he so desires to put them out there at sometime.

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