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.

A DIFFICULT TEN YEAR ANNIVERSARY

Well, this blog is as much a journal of "the journey" as it is a freak show of all the wild stuff I come across that is unbelievable sometimes even to me.

Today marks the day we get under contract on our Montana dream that has been over 10 years in coming. A place where we would be out from under the shackles of desperados in the banking industry, the food industry, corporate America (I can finally tell folks that are out of line to take their tripe and shove it....) and most other constructs of modern society that have slowly sapped all that used to allow us to call ourselves free in this once-great nation. It is a day of jubilation for me - and hopefully will lead to the physical safety and salvation of my family and others who see the wisdom of our crazy journey. Hopefully, not too far in hindsight.....

Today also marks the tenth anniversary of the death of our son who, I feel, has held some kind of a brooding hand over our lives - a sort of ministering angel. I have nothing solid to back that up other than the dream I had the night he died with the fulfillment of the three remarkable parts of it which included him coming back from the other side to let us know that all was well and that he was engaged in directing family matters on the other side. The other indication we have of the "tragedy" of his death was my father's dream two weeks before he died where the old family patriarch, through our Matheson line - and the former Patriarch of the Cedar City, UT Stake said he needed more help and that Dallin would be tapped for the mission. I thought it would be me - for years had known my time would be up sooner than the age of a tree - but my wife was able to alter that course of action through her agency and by being close enough to the Spirit to have a premonition that something was about to happen - and then choose that it not be me.

So, this whole thing was set in motion that fateful day a few short years ago. It started with our Dallin's birth and the distinct impression I felt when we brought him home that "he is the best thing to cross our threshhold". God sends the good ones down - and sometimes allows them to return early to accomplish an even greater work on the other side. I am grateful for the remarkable experience of growth that the entire episode provided. I would not trade it back - but it does make me wonder what it would be like with one more rambunctious boy tearing around the house and wrestling with his older brother and then enjoying the woods and experiences of growing up in Montana together.

Truly, life is an adventure. Enjoy each day and treasure what you have - for things can change in an instant. Not necessarily for the worse - but for the different. God is in charge - seek to know what He has in store for you and then follow those quiet whisperings to your potential.

FEELINGS OF UNEASINESS - ECONOMIC DISTRESS

When I got married and then covenanted with the Lord to bring children into the world (as many as we could safely have), I also made a request that I be given special help in the direction that I go to lead my sweetheart and children to relative financial safety - so long as we obeyed the Lord's law of tithing that is tied to Him prospering us. I have felt the hand of the Lord so many times directing our family to the point that I have never sustained a missed day of employment since we embarked on the journey of making and raising our family - and I give all credit to the Lord because of the many miracles surrounding that journey. One thing that sticks out in my mind was the time right before September 11th, 2001. We had just welcomed our 3rd child into the world and it was a very spiritual time - the golden years so to speak of us having the little ones and I will always look at that time with fondness even though we ended up losing that third child. A few weeks after he was born, with the spirit of prophecy upon me, I came home and declared that "something big is going to happen and it is going to affect my employment". My wife, of course, mostly blew me off but asked me what and when it would be. I said that I did not know what it would be, but I was sure that it would happen within the next six months. I began a series of steps to make sure our financial hatches were battened down and things were water tight. I was not sure if I would be out of a job in the next few months, or what it would be.

Six weeks later, September 11th happened and my CEO (of a large aerospace company) made a company-wide announcement that they would have to trim the company by half its work force in order to survive. I had been with the company for exactly four years - where the average employee seniority was twenty plus years. I felt doomed.

The Lord came through for me - instead of getting a pink slip and a walk out the door I got a promotion and a healthy raise as a manager worked strenuously to save my job after a plane crash due a system that I just happened to be a subject matter expert on (in my four short years with the company). The Lord knew where to put me so that I could not only survive - but thrive. So I listen for those gentle whisperings of the Spirit that some would call intuition, inner guidance, etc because I know that those gentle nudgings and impressions make a difference in my life.

The reason I bring up all this history is that I am getting an uneasy feeling again. Our dollar is nearing its collapse. I do not know how or when - but it is coming. From what I have researched (the stuff on this blog), it will happen between May and October. I would hazard a guess of October 11th (or the weekend before) with the bad news coming out on Tuesday after the banks open again for business. If I had cash assets, I would convert them to things that will provide shelter (that can't be repossessed by a bank, if possible), food that is storable - and up to seven years worth, and fuel to stay warm in inclement weather. I would also have the means to protect my family and to grow a garden using seeds that are non-hybridized. Precious metals will be useful in the short-term, but in the long-term, food will be the critical thing to stay alive.

I could be completely off - but that is what I am feeling for myself. I have been wrong before, but the feeling is becoming relentless as time goes on and I have learned not to ignore it. Our financial landscape is about to change forever. Ponder, pray and find out for yourself. Then take quick steps to secure your future before food prices rocket beyond your control.

IOHANI WOLFGRAMM - FAMILY HISTORY

I HAVE BEEN LOOKING FOR THIS FOR QUITE SOME TIME. IT MAY WELL BE THE MOST FASCINATING BOOK I HAVE EVER READ - AND I READ SOME PRETTY GREAT STUFF. TAKE THE TIME TO READ HOW LIFE SHOULD BE LIVED IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO MAKE IT BACK TO GOD'S PRESENCE......

THIS IS WHY I DONATE A FEW BEN FRANKLINS A YEAR TO THE BYU SPECIAL COLLECTIONS LIBRARY!!:

IOHANI WOLGRAM FAMILY HISTORY - THE GOOD STUFF

http://contentdm.byu.edu/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/FH27&CISOPTR=31717&REC=12&CISOSHOW=31478

HERE IS A TASTE FROM THE ABOVE HISTORY FROM THE CHAPTER ON HEALINGS:

IOHANI SOUGHT FROM A DREAM

It was the first Sunday of November 1979 and I was getting ready for an 8:00 a.m. priesthood meeting. I heard a knock at the door so came to answer it and found a woman at the door that I had never before met. She said, "I'm looking for Iohani Wolfgramm who is living at this address." I noticed she had been crying.

I said, "I'm Brother Wolfgramm, what can I do for you?" "I've come because my brother, Mr. Smith, died at the Cottonwood hospital last Friday and we have asked the doctor if he would bear with us and just leave him there in the room because we have a feeling that his life will return. This Sunday morning his wife went home to Bountiful to feed the children and get them ready for Church, while his sister and other family members are at his room, keeping their eyes on Brother Smith. The reason I came: In a dream my husband saw Brother Smith come to him and ask if he would look for a man by the name of Iohani Wolfgramm and gave him this address, and said, 'Go and ask Brother Wolfgramm to come and call my spirit so it can enter my body again.' That's why I came this moming. Will you come and give him a priesthood blessing?"

I said, "I would like to help you but I can't. My bishop and stake president won't allow me out of the jurisdiction of my stake or ward to exercise my priesthood." The woman said, "May I please go and see your bishop and give him the information that my husband received?" So she went and spoke to the bishop. After she told the bishop the story, she was sent to the stake president. After the stake president heard the story, he gave his permission and said, "If this brother needs his help, he may go."
So the woman returned to my house and took me in her car to the hospital. When we entered the room I noticed all the family sitting around. His sister told me her brother had died on Friday. I met the brother-in-law who had the dream and asked if he would assist me in the administration. The brother-in-law told me to anoint the oil and he would give the blessing. I said, "Thank you." and we went ahead and gave Brother Smith his blessing. After we said 'amen' everyone sat down. They waited for about 15 minutes, nothing happened. They waited for another 30 minutes, nothing happened.

This went for an hour and still nothing. The sister began to cry again and called me aside and said, "My husband doesn't have enough faith when he prays, that's why my brother came in that dream and wanted you to give him the blessing because of the faith that you have. Would it be too much if we could all unite in faith and prayer and ask the Lord to bless my brother, and through your faith you can raise him from the dead?"

The brother-in-law returned only this time 1 offered the prayer. In my prayer I said, "Our Father in Heaven, we are here together with the rest of Brother Smith's family to offer a special prayer on his behalf. We know that he has been dead since Friday, but his spirit has come and asked if I could give him a blessing and call for his spirit to return to his body. We pray for his health to return to normal. We pray that his heart will start to function, his lungs and circulation start to work and each and every one of his veins and arteries will begin to function. Through the power of the priesthood and in the name of the holy Savior Jesus Christ, I command you, Brother Smith, for your spirit to now enter your body. And when you revive from your death bed you will know that it was through the power of Christ that your spirit has returned to your body. And you will stand as a witness to God that this is His gospel and this is one of the miracles that He performed among the people before His second coming. I pray for you that everything will function normally as we come to the end of our blessing and say this to you in the name of Jesus Christ and in the power of the holy Melchizedek priesthood which we bear."

Right after Brother Smith heard my voice, he slowly got up. When his sister saw her brother get up she started to cry loudly and ran up to him, and the rest of the family came running and hugged and kissed him. At that moment the phone rang and it was his wife. She asked her sister-in-law how her husband was doing. She asked if she would like to talk to him and handed Brother Smith the phone. They sat there and talked on the phone as if nothing had happened. They gave me a big hug and I was finally brought home.

Brother Smith knew he had to come back to finish his work on earth, and it was only through the priesthood blessing that this,could be accomplished. He told the family that for three days he had been there wanting to return to his body, but didn't know how. He saw his body laying there but no one could hear what he was saying. That's why his spirit went to his brother-in-law to find someone that had great faith and was given Iohani's name and address.

I received a call from the Stake President after I returned home wanting to know what happened to the man. I told him the Lord had heard my prayer and his life was revived. The Stake President told me that he would take away my restrictions, and I would be free to go anywhere that the Lord wanted me to go to bless the people.

PRETTY EXCELLENT STORY - AND THERE IS ALOT MORE LIKE IT IN THE WOLFGRAMM FAM HISTORY. READ UP!

WHEN WE FOUND OUR LITTLE DALLIN JACOB DEAD ON APRIL 4TH, THE FIRST THING THAT I DID (AFTER COMPLETELY FREAKING OUT) WAS TO CALL MY HOME TEACHER SO THAT WE COULD DO THE SAME THING IN THE NAME OF JESUS CHRIST. IT WAS NOT UNTIL A LITTLE LATER THAT I REALIZED THAT THIS SIMPLY WAS NOT THE WILL OF THE LORD. I WILL ADD THE WHOLE EXPERIENCE TO THE BLOG AS A WITNESS THAT GOD LIVES AND LOVES EACH OF US. IT WAS RIGHT IN LINE WITH THE SWEET SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCE THAT THE SMITH FAMILY HAD - JUST WITH A DIFFERENT OUTCOME.