EDWARD J WOOD - MAN OF FAITH, VISION AND PRIESTHOOD POWER

This man is among the greats of the latter-day kingdom and I commend the reading of his life in order that yours will be enriched by it:

SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES OF EDWARD J WOOD - CARDSTON TEMPLE PRESIDENT

One can count on just a few hands, the number of people who have this kind of faith.  Iohanni Wolfgramm is another whom I have blogged about; who had similar faith.

A REMARKABLE EXPERIENCE ON OUR MONTANA RANCH - REVISITED

Well, I am way too slammed with our Montana move to be able to type this in - and I am desperate enough to take any help I can get if you would like to print these three pages out and type them up for me. Use the comments section to get a hold of me. I would love to see this experience widely distributed (a kind reader was able to complete this for me and it is electronically added below for copying and sharing with others - and I believe the jpg images below of the original type-written letter can be copied/printed, as well!). This has been almost 10 years in the making - since I first laid eyes on it and thought it was worthy of some attention.

So far, we have had many little miracles as we have made the effort to go over there that lets us know this is right. My wife, in talking to the Bishop's wife - over there (mentioned in previous blog post about Kalispell as a gathering spot), said there are 13 families who have suddenly and for no apparent reason other than a feeling to get out of their existing locations, have moved into the ward. That is just one ward in the Stake - and there are a total of nine wards in that general area. Makes me wonder what the other adjacent wards are experiencing. It was this good woman who was pivotal in getting my wife 100% on board with this whole thing. I have always felt God's hand in this plan - my wife just moves more cautiously, I guess. Not a bad combination - me more impulsive and she more cautious. Just sometimes a little unnerving when you have to be yoked together and you feel the urgency to move quickly....

CLICK ON THE PICTURE AND THEN, ONCE IT OPENS, HOVER AGAIN WITH THE LITTLE MAGNIFYING GLASS AND THEN CLICK ONCE MORE TO MAGNIFY IT. CLICK AGAIN TO REDUCE IT. HOPE YOU ENJOY IT AS MUCH AS I DID.








I really feel this is one of the crown jewels of the blog because of its sincerity and simplicity in bearing principle of the basics of life and how God wants us to operate here on this earth - well above our means and striving to our full God-centered potential. God doesn't care what kind of car we drove, the size of the house we lived in, or even the positions we held in the church. He just wants us to recognize Him, our dependence on Him and to show our gratitude to Him by serving our fellow man. Here is that experience typed out (thank you again for doing that kind act of service!):

We were trailing 600 head of cattle from the upper Little Bighorn valley
to our Wolf Mountain ranch, a distance of 65 miles. The drive lasted
four days.

At the outset, I became very despondent. A gloom settled over me like I
had never known before. Try as I would, I could not get relief from it
nor could I determine it's cause. There was no known reason for it. It
seemed that prayer was of little consequence. On the fourth day, we
were neraing our South range where the cattle would enter the ranch. I
was not too well acquainted with the country so I went on ahead of the
herd to scout out the best route. I pondered my feelings all the way
and without hardly knowing it I came to the gate where we would enter
the ranch with the herd. Not feeling inclined to dismount, and to open
the gate, I sat thinking over the situation. I had prayed earnestly
while riding along to get an answer to this problem, when to my
astonishment a voice said to me, "What are you doing with your
Priesthood? Why don't you use your Priesthood and bless your ranch?" I,
therefore, dismounted and obedient to the voice, I blessed by the
authority I held, the grass, the vegetation of all varieties, the air
and sky above, the water resources, the springs, the wells, the
reservoirs; I blessed the cattle and all else pertaining to our
property. Then I rebuked each and every agency of destruction that
would in any way harm the property. Having done this, I mounted and
headed back to the herd.

As I rode along, a peace came over me of such a heavenly nature, and a
happiness that I had scarecely ever felt, causing the tears to run down
my face, and a serge of gratitude to the Lord for his Goodness.

During the subequent days and years things happened on the ranch that
one could scarecely believe. The previous year had been a very dry one.
The neighboring ranchers drilled new wells and deepened existing wells,
and since the years following were very dry, this practice continued,
while my springs increased their flow, likewise my wells. The neighbor
on the North and West lost his springs and his well dried up, leaving
his cattle solid against my line fence bawling their heads off while my
well a hundred yards away pumped large volumes of water, keeping two one
thousand gallon tanks running over into the canyon below. I was getting
ready to build a corridor into my tanks for his cattle when he moved
them.

My neighbor on the Southwest lost his water and watered his stock from
my spring surplus runoff. Rain fell on my property from clouds which
seemed to form without any incoming clouds. For an example, I was in
the meadow one day and a little black cloud began to form just over my
head. It grew blacker until the rain fell in torrents, the cloud not
extending beyond my fence line. I was on my South range one day and the
same thing took place. A neighbor said to me one day, "Jim, we are
going to burn up!" "No, Oscar," I said, "it is going to rain." In a
day or two a long beautiful rain came. I was riding with a neighbor on
our North range one day, I was pasturing some of his cattle, his range
had dried up, when he said to me, "This is a cow heaven." My grain
cut-produced that of my neighbor year after year, even though I believe
he was the best farmer.

The neighbors were constantly telling me that they could see the hand of
Providence in my affairs. I met a neighbor on the road one day and he
startled me with this request, "We want you to go home and do whatever
you have to do to get US some rain." This from a man whom we always
thought to be far from anything Heavenly.

This Saturday night I was coming off the the Bighorn Mountains with a
cattle truck loaded with horses. The Aaronic Priesthood and I had been
on an outing. As we broke out of the mountains into the valley we were
startled with a sight which frightened us. Off to the Northwest
extending for many miles was this ominous black cloud. It was showing a
furry seldom seen in a cloud. We just got into Hardin, a town where we
had a home in town as the storm broke. The hail came in torrents. Over
in the Yellowstone Valley, 32 miles away, the hail piled up until the
cars were pushing it with their bumpers like a bulldozer. Billings had
a hail damage of six million dollars. Everything growing for fifty
miles North and South and one hundred miles East and West was beaten to
a pulp, not a living thing left. Roofs in our vicinity were beaten off
the houses. The hail stones were as large as hen eggs. We went to our
Sunday meetings and then headed for the ranch 40 miles away. We were
only able to get within ten miles of the ranch as Sarpy Creek was out of
it's banks and the bridge flooded. I asked a rancher at this place how
extensive the total destruction was. He said it was many miles in all
directions.

Sister Ferrell and I returned to Haqrdin and waited until Monday morning
when we set out again. We scarcely said a word as we rode the forty
miles, each possessed of the same thoughts and Oh! that question! As we
topped the rise to where we could see our grain fields, we hardly dared
breathe, bubt imagine our feelings when we viewed with tears in our eyes
those precious heads of grain standing erect, waving a welcome to us in
the gentle breeze. Our grass was not damanged, the vegetation on our
ranch was scarcely touched.

We drove down the driveway and I was still with the truck when the
neighbor came roaring in with his jeep. He leaped to the ground and
began to wave his arms in the direction of our grain fields, exlaiming,
"I have seen a miracle! If I had not seen it with my own eyes I would
never have believed it, and seeing it I scarcely believe." He then
said, "There is no question but that your Maker is watching over you."

It was in the spring the last week in April, My son Dick and I had just
finished getting ready for Priesthood meeting. I opened the front door
to leave when a feeling came over me. I turned to Dick and said to him
that I felt impressed that we should leave at once for the ranch. He
said, "Well, Dad, if you feel that way that's what we had better do."
We turned around, told my wife of my feeling in which she concured. I
gave the books and records to my daughter to take to the chapel, and
Dick and I left for the ranch.

By the time we arrived there a fierce northern blizzard was blowing in
with already four inches of snow. We were in the midst of calving out a
large herd of cows. We quickly saddled our horses and began to press
the cattle toward the barns and correls. They were scattered in all
directions within a mile or two of the home place. As is always the
case, a storm will start the calves coming thick and fast, and this was
the case. The blizzard increased in intensity until the cattle could
hardly be seen. Dick and I carried new born calves on the horses,
wrapping our sheepskin coats around them to keep them from instantly
freezing, until after midnight until we had all the stragglers houses.
Dick and I nearly perished from exposure ourselves. The storm raged for
three days and nights until we had thirty six inches of snow on the
level. All gullies and canyons up to 60 to 70 feet deep were filled to
the level. We lost just one calf and that one we bedded down in some
willows with a bale of straw. He was smothered but his mother got out.

Our neighbor, the Scott Land and Livestock, lost 80 head of big fine
heifers smothered in a canyon. One neighbor to the South and East who
could not get to his cattle for a week came back by our ranch and said
almost still in shock, "I'm not going back. I can't stand what I saw up
there."

How wonderfully blessed we have been. How good the Lord has been to us.

Stalk through the land, and if so who may abide the evil day? I think
the challenge is crying in our ears as the people of the Lord. How can
we stand as an ensign to the people, to our neighbors, when the ravages
of an earth in rebellion because of the wickedness upon her face,
ravages the people of the Lord, even as it does the wicked of the earth,
or those that know not the Lord. I am deeply convinced that the Lord of
the harvest would love us more, and smile ever so approvingly upon us if
we would arise from our lethergy, and move and have our being in the
realm in which we are called and to which we are ordained.

I have been show that in these perilous times, now that we have had the
Priesthood in our midst for about a hundred and forty years, in the
which time it ought to have been made such a part of our lives, and so
familiar with it's power and blessing, ought we to have become, that it
now, in this hour of great need the Priesthood could stay the hand of
the destroyer, calm the winds, dispell the frost, provide a spirit of
peace, gladden the earth over which we preside, make our fields blossom
as the rose, and make of our dominion a garden of Eden, and I say I have
seen that this power given us long ago, if by it's use we cannot save
ourselves, because God will not do for us what we have the power to do
for ourselves, or could have had, or ought to have.

I would pray therefore, that while it is called today, we arise with a
mighty will and put into motion these glorious forces, so that Zion may
disperse desolation so that all things over which we have jurisdiction
and control may be a holy place where we may stand and not be moved out
of this place, so that our neighbors and those not of us may be
constrained to acknowledge that the God of the Latter Day Saints is not
dead neither doth he sleep.

There will come a time that our farmers will have to unite as we have
never hitherto done. This ought to be done now, that those less
skilled, and with less machinery may get help from those endowed with
both, so that there may not be a lonliness and discouragement in the
hearts of our brethern who are toiling under heavy loads and cannot help
themselves. Would it not be a glorious thing for those thus afflicted
to know that they do not stand alone but their more able and more
fortunate brethern are instantly at hand to sustain and support them?
This I know will come, for upon this principle will Latter Day Zion be
built.

Said the Lord, this thing will be established in Zion even if it must
needs be by the things which my people suffer. It would be ever so much
better if the brethren would come into their own voluntarily.

President Baker, I have made this too long, but how could I say it
shorter. May the Lord bless and sustain you and your brethern in
happiness and peace.

Kindest personal regards.

Sincerely your brother,

Jas. A. Ferrell

BUILDING ZION - THE SPIRIT AND FAITH OF THE ANCIENTS

For those who plan to survive what is coming, I am going to pass on a key. This key will provide the spirit and the essence of what we have to do and be in order to move to the next level (Millennially speaking). Those who cannot or will not, will be swept from the face of the earth by the destroyer - for God will only bear up a Zion people - and I remind my older kids of this who know the principles of Zion, when they are not sharing or bickering amongst themselves of some petty thing.

When I first read the following account, it made me weep and touched me to the core. If it does not resonate with you, then I am sorry for you if you are a bearer of the Holy Melchizedek Priesthood. As I go over to buy my mini Montana ranch which has been had through miracles, I again feel this story resonate with me as I feel God's hand directing my footsteps of faith:

A REMARKABLE EXPERIENCE ON OUR MONTANA RANCH

We were trailing 600 head of cattle from the upper Little Bighorn Valley to our Wolf Mountain ranch, a distance of 65 miles. The drive lasted four days.

At the outset, I became very despondent. A gloom settled over me like I had never known before. Try as I would, I could not get relief from it, nor could I determine it's cause. There was no known reason for it. It seemed that prayer was of little consequence. On the fourth day, we were nearing our south range where the cattle would enter the ranch. I was not too well acquainted with the country, so I went on ahead of the herd to scout the best route. I pondered me feelings all the way and without hardly knowing it, I came to the gate where we would enter the ranch with the herd. Not feeling inclined to dismount, and to open the gate, I sat thinking over the situation. I had prayed earnestly while riding along to get an answer to this problem, when to my astonishment, a voice said to me, "What are you doing with your Priesthood? Why don't you use your Priesthood and bless your ranch?" I, therefore, dismounted and, obedient to the voice, I blessed by the authority I held, the grass, the vegetation of all varieties, the air and sky above, the water resources, the springs, the wells, the reservoirs; I blessed the cattle and all else pertaining to our property. Then I rebuked each and every agency of destruction that would in any way harm the property. Having done this, I mounted and headed back to the herd.

Out of time! Gotta go now and bless my own piece of Montana - do check back in a few days. The rest of the story is astounding and makes me believe that most of use live well below our means.... This will be one of my favorite jewels of this blog.

WITCH KIND OF PERSON ARE YOU? BIG PHARMA OR D&C 89'er

For years when I was in a ward where there were virtually no baptisms and in-fighting and other problems were rife, you would be labeled as a freak if you were into natural medicine. I think the symptoms of a people being entrenched into a deep sleep were all there. The whisperings were that you were a witch or into the occult if you ventured into that area of study. That, of course, seemed to clash with much of what we read in the Book of Mormon and the D&C 89 about the use of herbs in healing. It also clashed with some of the early writings of the restored gospel, such as the Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith. It also clashed with what I found to be reality about good vitamins and a sound diet for improved health - in lieu of an entire regimen of pills to cover the original complaint, plus the others for the symptoms of the symptoms of the symptoms..... I am not saying that all pharma is bad/evil; but that we have combinations set up to get gain over the well-being of fellow human beings. All the trash that supports that system and its hellish influence over people will shortly be taken to the curb as we enter the Millennium. How I look forward to that day with anticipation. The good results will by far outweigh the sorrow that we will have to pass through to get to the good stuff. Do you feel to sing the songs of Zion (of a truly free people) - or do you still feel to dabble in Babylon which surely must fall?

There is a book out there that I have not had the time or pleasure of reading, but that is high on my bucket list when this move to MT is over: CLICK LINK

Hope you enjoy this - and hope that I can shortly....

FAITH OF THE ANCIENTS

I am re-posting an experience that I find to be one of the sweetest ever given to a father on this earth. May it touch your heart as it has touched mine:

I called Samuela Vehikite to assist me by anointing the consecrated oil on Tisina's head and as I began to utter the prayer, I couldn't say a word. My mouth was locked. My mind was blank. No words would come. But in a few minutes the Spirit spoke to me in my mind that there were so many unbelievers in and out of the house that had no faith that Tisina would ever recover from her accident, that I should send the people home.

I immediately opened my eyes and asked the people if they wanted Tisina to come back to life to please leave my home now so we can pray for her. Oh my! Non-members were furious and started to spit at me. Some picked up rocks and started throwing them at the house as they were leaving, calling me names. I knew the American doctor might help Tisina walk again, but how about her brain? I knew that only God who created her, who gave her life, would be the only one who could help Tisina completely recover and bring her memory back to normal again.

I asked Salote to go ahead and fix supper for the family, but I would go and pray for Tisina. I prayed and prayed and thanked the Lord for all His blessings to us, for sending us on a mission, but how I wouldn't like to part with any of my children yet because we have no white material for her burial nor funeral cloth in Tongatapu, but in Vava'u we did. I reminded the Lord of how He saved the Israelites by parting the waters of the Red Sea, how Christ raised people from the dead, and of the simple faith of a missionary who just had his daughter run over by a car and had been killed, you can understand of my love for her. I reviewed how Lazarus was raised after being in the tomb for four days, through faith and the power of the priesthood. I prayed and thanked the Lord for those great prophets of old and their faith and special callings in the church from Adam down to the prophet Joseph Smith. I said, 'I don't want a funeral away from all my family, and if this little girl has a special mission on earth to do, please spare her life so she can fulfill that blessing and her mission.' I was on my knees over four hours that evening. Finally the Lord heard my prayer and said to me, 'Tisina won't be with you tonight, but tomorrow.' A humble and very sweet warm feeling came over my heart and a great worry and fear was lifted from my shoulders that evening. I thanked God for the answer that I received.

I opened my eyes slowly, filled with deep gratitude and tears of joy. I went over to Salote and said, 'Not tonight, but tomorrow.' Salote and the children didn't touch any food that evening. Everyone was shocked and felt so bad about Tisina.

Samuela Vehikite and I waited and waited all night long and about 3:00am, we felt the Spirit fill our souls and knew that this was finally the right time for us to give Tisina her priesthood blessing. Samuela Vehikite anointed her and I sealed the blessing, I thanked the Lord and expressed his love to me in answering my prayers and said, 'Tisina, by the power of the Melchizedek Priesthood which we hold, we ask Thee, our Heavenly Father, to bless Tisina from the top of her head all the way down to her toes, that every bone, muscle, nerve, blood vessel, skin, nails, hair or any part of her body that has been broken, lost or damaged, through the power of the priesthood which we hold, we command it to return to it's normal place and start to function and to do their work, that she will be able to stand and her body will be returned and renewed with all its parts and start to function as they were before. We promise you through the holy power of the priesthood that when the sun rises in the morning, you will be raised up together with the sun. And when other witnesses hear this testimony of Tisina, they will also testify that Jesus is the Christ and through Him the Lord healed Tisina. Not tonight, but tomorrow, Tisina will walk with the rest of the family as the Spirits whispers.'

After the blessing everyone knelt down before they went to bed and in a circle offered a prayer, then we retired. I came into the room where Tisina still had her face covered with the cloth. She was still dead. I picked her up and laid her little broken head on my arm and kept her body close to me. Hours seemed to pass. I finally dozed off and on for about two more hours and about 6:00 a.m. I felt someone playing around my face and touching my hair. I slowly opened my eyes and to my surprise saw Tisina standing up playing with my face and hair with a big smile on her face.

I slowly reached out to feel Tisina's head. It was normal. I started to feel her hands, legs, face, everything that had been promised had come true. Samela Vehikite remembered that in her priesthood blessing that when the sun rose up in the morning she would rise up together with the sun. So he opened the window shades and sure enough, the sun had just barely risen in the sky. How excited we were to have our little daughter back with us again. We sang a special hymn to thank God for her return and said a long prayer of thanksgiving by me. A few minutes later a knock came to our door. Our Aunt Marie and Uncle Maile Niu, brought Tisina's burial clothing and her burial box and asked where the dead child was. I said she was the one that answered the door. "

YOUR TESTIMONY - BY YOUR WORKS YE SHALL KNOW IT

Alot of people wonder how you go about developing a testimony of the truth. I have a favorite scripture that I quoted liberally while a missionary and trying to get people to catch the vision of God's work and the need to keep the commandments; "If any man will do His will, he shall know of the doctrine; whether it be of God or whether I speak of myself." So in order to obtain the knowledge of the truth of a doctrine (a testimony), you simply have to start by keeping the commandments - and then see what buds over time. But it takes prolonged diligence.....

I have my story and here it is - and it follows some very basic principles:

I have always had a simple faith. I have always just had a resonation within me when something was right. It felt comfortable - error and bad principle grates me which is why I will often blow some steam by way of my writings. There is MUCH error and bad principle out there.

That simple faith led to a belief when I read the works of our Savior and the greats like Moses and Joseph Smith. I just knew they were true and that these were good, just and holy men. I also came to the realization that the things they did (their works and miracles) were not out of reach of the average man/woman - otherwise, why publish them? It would be torturous - not much unlike sharing intimate details of married life to someone who is single - it would only do harm for them to know of that which they could not enjoy or achieve. The experiences were recorded because we could achieve them!! We do not have the sealed portion of the Book of Mormon and it is held back until after the purge as there NO WAY we could achieve those great principles of harmonious and Zion living in this telestial world. Not without the people conceiving of living like that - and then doing all in their power to bring it about.

So, as I examined myself, I knew that I could do the same things, so long as I maintained a humble attitude and as long as I would repent of my shortcomings - which are legion - and began to have the desire to exercise my priesthood in righteousness (women - this is your heritage, as well; I have stories from my mission). At one point around the age of twelve after listening to Conference and a talk by Neal A. Maxwell, I was wrought upon by the Holy Ghost to the point that I had no strength in my frame - just as Lehi did which propelled me further along this path. So the belief in Priesthood power was bolstered by some statements in my Patriarchal Blessing that I would be given opportunities to grow with experiences in the Priesthood - so I moved from a faith, to an assurance, to a burning desire to have the same assurances that all the greats had. This led to an attitude in a state of humility (God owes me nothing) that I could request and then expect miracles and blessings in my life. I could "argue the case" so to speak - and God would have to grant my desires in righteousness - much as the Brother of Jared was given them as his faith increased beyond a certain threshold. I began to have those experiences, line upon line, here a little, there a little until I would arrive at a fullness - or a sure knowledge of all things. This is how you obtain the great gift of the Second Comforter. I am not there yet - but I do desire that sweet communion - and I know I am far off from that pinnacle from what I understand of others' experiences.

Backing up a step, though - and to the point of this piece. I have not read a piece of scripture and said to myself "This could never happen to me.", except for one thing; which is commanding a mountain to "Be thou moved" - and having it done. Maybe that is a function of not seeing a need for it. I can conceive of everything else including having the power of resurrection - which all righteous Patriarchs from their respective lines on down from Adam will exercise on the Morning of the First Resurrection. I can conceive of (me doing it at some point in the future in a terrestrial state) moving from place to place at the speed of thought. I can conceive of raising a loved one from the dead (such as Lazarus was) and if you read a previous blog entry will know why that was a difficult reality for me. I can and have been an instrument in the Lord's hand to command a friend of mine through the instrumentality and power of the Holy Melchizedek Priesthood to be made whole and free from cancer as the Spirit dictated. I have prophesied in the name of Jesus Christ. I can and have cast out devils in the name of Jesus Christ - which brings me to my point on the principle of a testimony. After a while, the reality of what is read about in scripture begins to become a reality in the life of those who have exercised faith from point to point until they begin to do the works that Jesus did. It then moves from faith to a working knowledge - and now my story which started this whole topic and ties it all together.

I was reading earlier tonight how Martin Harris could not witness the plates until he had repented of something that the Lord was not pleased with. After having secured forgiveness, he was able to then move forward with his righteous desire.

How do I know that is a true experience - and why do I ferociously rebuff my colleagues who attempt to paint that kind of stuff as the vain imaginations of a deluded mind? Because I have experienced it - or an identical experience that drove the exact principle home - which causes that experience by Martin Harris to resonate with me. I have never (to my knowledge) seen an angel - yet I know that Martin Harris did - because I experienced the same principle/event in my own life. I have the same kind of assurance that Martin Harris did as I do that the sun exists as I walk down the sidewalk on a glorious spring day and feel the sun radiating on my face and know its there.

While on my mission, I had the privilege of casting an evil spirit out of a woman of about 30 years of age. While engaged in that endeavor (there were six Elders there who each were given a shot at doing it as we could not clear the house of the influence due to pornography, alcohol and some other stuff). One Elder (a "Utah Mormon" who the previous week had confessed to me had binged alcohol and who knows what else at a party before embarking to Brazil in an unrepentant state), could not cast the evil spirit out of the woman due to that hanging over him. I had the privilege of commanding that evil entity to depart a second time. And it responded to the righteous and authorized command just as a car lurches forward as you press the accelerator. Simple faith - simple cause and effect. Moving from desire and hope to belief to plain and simple action then to sure knowledge.
The point being, you begin to have these experiences and you then read scripture or other non-canonical stories and begin to realize that your life begins to imitate art so to speak. Your life begins to become what you are reading. That is when you can begin to do great things and the Lord can no longer hold back the veil. This is not said in boasting - this is said pragmatically and factually and it follows a distinct pattern set forth in scripture.

So that is my testimony. Live your life with the desire to have those experiences and do not give ear to the faithless (in and out of the Church) who pervade your existence who say that those things were from a different time and for a different people, or who say, "it is different now". Those are the lies of the adversary who hates all that is good and right and virtuous.

Press forward until you have a sure knowledge from whatever point it is that you reside at right now and you will have fantastic experiences. One day you will meet your Savior - possibly while in the flesh if you live for it. I promise you that in the holy name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

THE THREE NEPHITES FROM A CATHOLIC'S PERSPECTIVE

VERY interesting stuff here. I have a co-worker that I had know for quite some time as a very good man (has the love of Christ about him and loves to serve others) who one day just opened up to me and shared the following story with me and even showed me the scars on his abdomen that are a testament to the hell he had been through.

After I learned of his vision of heaven and of the apocalyptic future that he had while on the hoary edge of life, I then posed the question, "Why did God choose to save you over all the other people that have expired under far less exigent circumstances??", his response was, "I have been saved to fight (physically) the final battle between good and evil". That pretty much floored me as he claims to be a pretty good shot at 1000 yards. He also is in his 50's and not getting any younger. Like my Jewish (wannabe) survivalist co-worker, these people are being prompted to lay up for difficult times ahead without any of the cultural baggage that someone who is LDS may have propelling them to do the same.

We may be in for some interesting times ahead....very interesting indeed!

His experience in his own words:

I always believed in a higher spirit and discovered that many people had unknowing to me at the time come into my life and were gently nudging me towards our lord.

It all started with a bad car accident back in approx 1983 where the Lord spoke to me in a black void. He stated to me that I was living my life in a very bad manor and that I needed to straighten my life up as I had a purpose to complete. He never stated what that purpose was and to this day I still do not know. But this event started to open the understanding there was much more out there and it also scared me and I had night mares for a year.

It left me with visions of our time here on earth. The lord left a mental vision of how our life was to be. Before we are born into the womb and while we are in the womb we know who our parents are going to be and what our life is to be like. We have the choice to accept this or go back into this long line. It was like walking up to a podium and the man there had a large book and you could see what your life would be like. The he explained this life in the vision of a huge oak tree and how we lived our life depended which branch we go down when we die and there are thousands of branches and we are at the base of the tree when we enter this life. All knowledge of this is severed when we are born from the womb.

In 1998 I was confirmed and baptized in the Catholic faith at ST Hubert’s church in Langley, WA.

Shortly after Baptism I had to travel for a job assignment to Mobile Alabama. During this job assignment I became deathly ill and it came upon me within moments. I drove myself home with terrible pain in my abdomen and waited for my wife to take me to the hospital.

When we reached the hospital emergency room of the University of South Alabama Mobile branch they examined me. The wanted to send me home with pain medicine but my wife would not let them and requested more tests.

When the received the results of the tests they discovered I had pancreatitis and admitted me to the hospital. They assumed I was a drunk even though I did not drink alcohol very often and put me in the drunk ward and medicated me for the pain where they assumed the pancreatitis would abate.

I laid there for three weeks continually getting worse and they were at a loss for an explanation. The head hospital surgeon came into my room the day before Valentines day 1999 and stated that if she did not operate the next day I would be dead. So on Valentines Day I went in for the first of 3 major operations.

I was awake mentally for the first surgery as the medication did not put me all the way under but they had no way of telling that. I listen to them operate on me and how bad of shape I was in. The doctors were consulting what they should do to save me.

After 12 hours of surgery they returned me to ICU where I could hear my wife and family carrying on and crying. I was so mad inside with what was happening but could not communicate to them as I was on paralytic drugs. I wanted to tell them I was alive in there. The priest anointed me with oil but I could only hear him do this.

I was on a ventilator for 7 days. I was fighting to stay alive and also trying to let my family know I was listening by trying to move my body. Finally after 4 days I could flutter my eye lids when my wife would speak to me and she knew at that point I was alive and she could communicate with me. I could feel her despair and I think that helped her know I was still there.

After a week they removed the ventilator and I could speak again. She said she had some bad news to tell me and I stated I already knew as I could hear every word that was spoken during surgery and also in the room.

I had open abdominal irrigation for a month due to all the toxins in my body the necrotic pancreatitis caused due to blockage from gal stones. Much of my inside had to be cut away and I had no skin covering over my belly only plastic with tubes in and out both sides of me.

This was a huge struggle for me and being a man of mild faith I was weak. After several more major surgeries they took skin grafts from my leg and fashioned a cover for my belly.

This became infected with MRSA and my health continued to fail. I remember one day I was having a conversation with my wife and also with the other side at the same instance. She could not see the people but I could. She couldn’t understand even though I explained it to her. I did not recognize any of the people.

I continued to get worse with the infections and complications. During the first surgery they took 90% of my pancreas and I was supposed to never lead a normal life again per the doctor’s.

I finally reached my breaking point and wanted to be taken home to die there. I could no longer take the pain and anguish I felt. It broke me to the lowest point a man can be at. I gave myself over to the lord at this point. It was a peaceful time after that. I had a dream that 3 angles would visit me in the morning to heal me. The next morning I saw them as they came into my room. They stood at the foot of my bed but never spoke to me just smiled. I told them I knew why they were there and found it funny they couldn’t even work the stethoscope they carried. They laid their hands on my legs and looked upward and spoke but I could not fully hear them or understand the words. They left just as they appeared. They appeared to be normal men with beards neatly trimmed and appeared to be Caucasian but darker complex. Not 3 minutes later a nurse came into my room. I asked her who those interns that were in my room a few minutes ago. She stated no one had been in the room all morning.

After this event I started to heal, regenerate my pancreas and left the hospital with in 2 weeks. I had follow up closure surgeries and some minor surgeries and later went back to work after several months.

Since this experience I have shared my story with those who wanted to listen. The hospital staff never thought I would ever leave or even if I did my life would not be normal. I was their miracle!

Today I live a completely normal life with some minor discomfort at times and have come back to ST Hubert’s parish where I joined the Knights of Columbus to try and give back for the grace I received from the Lord that day. I do not know what he saw in me to save my life but it changed me forever.

I still to this day do not know my purpose is but I take every day as they come now and try to listen to the Lord when he speaks to me. I speak with him daily and hope he hears my worries for humanity as we are close to destroying ourselves. This was another vision I was left with but keep mostly private.


Robert M
Langley, WA.

Written December 13th 2010