When I was at BYU in an apartment of young women we always had morning prayer. One morning Linda was the one giving the prayer. I had a vision while she was praying. We were in a large circle in a beautiful green meadow, surrounded by trees and flowers. There was 50 to 100 people there, her boyfriend was saying the prayer there, the other person I recognized was my boyfriend and I knew it was their time to come to Earth. The vision ended and I was kneeling with my roommates. I have a painting painted by Michael Wheeler and it is a view of the meadow and walking through flowers to reach it. Also I have meet 10 or 20 people who I know were there. It is a wonderful memory and I can look at my painting and bring it to mind.
Cynthia AbbottMay 23, 2020
We had a sacred experience with our first born child. He began talking at a very early age. By ten months there were several words he could say fairly clearly. When he was 19 months old, we had just moved into a new house and his nursery was at the end of the short hall with our room on the left side. One night we were walking down the hall (we'd just come home from somewhere) and he stopped in the middle of the hall (he was walking in front of us), and pointed down into his nursery. He said, pointing, "Look! Spirits!" (the word Spirits was not in his vocabulary). Then he shrugged his little shoulders and said, "Spirits gone. Spirits gone home." We both knelt down there right in the hall and asked him what the spirits looked like. He smiled at us and said one word. "Smoke." And then he continued walking into his room. That was on Saturday. On Monday we decided it was time to do a real Family Home Evening and so I had a photo of Jesus in a frame...the one we use in church with the red cloak. We started off by showing him the picture and said "Jonathan, this is Jesus." He smiled and patted Jesus's picture and told us, "Jesus hold me and talk to me." We were so overcome, and we still take that experience as the closest thing we will ever have in this lifetime to sure knowledge that the Savior is real and that the pre-mortal existence is real. Nineteen month old children are not capable of making up untruths and the spirit was so strong with us. I have since had many, many more experiences (especially with doing family history) that have testified to me of the reality of the veil spoken of here and the closeness we have with those on the other side of it.
SMay 22, 2020
I loved your article! I felt this feeling once at RootsTech a few years ago. There’s no way I could have ever met before, in this life, the man who felt like a brother to me. He was from France and I am from California. We compared a bit of our family history and ethnicities, but that was not the connection. We’re both sure that we were good friends in the premortal world.
vickieMay 21, 2020
this was a beautiful story. i have had times and so has my husband where we feel we know a certain person when we never met them...one of my children...my last one...i really wanted a girl...i had one daughter who was my oldest and then 4 boys...but the last one, i wanted a girl...before i got pregnant for him...i had lost a baby...then when contemplating this pregnancy i was sitting under a tree near our house...and i felt the spirit when i was thinking about having another child....it was as if the spirit was letting me know i would have problems with this child and it was up to me if i wanted to have this baby...well, after the last experience of losing that child...i decided yes i want to have this baby no matter what. i did get pregnant...i was 33 at the time...he would be my 5th live baby...towards the end of the pregnancy...i had a dream...i dreamed that the cord was around his neck...it shocked me and i called my sister abt it..she said oh sometimes women have dreams like that ...its not true....well, the last 6wks of my pregnancy i went into early labor....they rehydrated me and sent me home to stay in bed the rest of the pregnancy. i didnt like that but it was a good thing i had already bought school clothes and things my other kids needed for school. i went into labor and had so much trouble...the drs said my labor stopped...with all this upset going on my babies heart was stopping as well....with all the confusion i decided to tell the dr about my dream...he said you know what after talking to other drs ..they believe this is the case...so..many more things were being done to save his life and he was delivered by vacuum extraction...he lived and had a high apgar score..but he had bumps on the top of his head..he indeed for a long time had the cord around his neck...i thought well this must mean what the spirit was talkign about...it wasnt...when i took him home...i noticed his breathing was erratic and his body jerked around a lot...later i discovered he had SIDS...sudden infant death syndrome. i nearly passed out when i heard this...he was put on a machine which i kept him on for 2yrs...then i noticed he wasnt talking in the same language we were...i took him in and discovered he had an audio processing deficit...so he started going to school early...at 3yrs old..over time i realized he was such a good child and smart ....he had other illnesses over the years...dividing cellulitis and then polynoidal cysts...things that drove the family crazy...meanwhile i had to have a hysterectomy ...so no little girl for me...through the years i discovered that he was so smart and then he could sing like a bird and he played piano...and he could act...what a wonderful child...and so good looking the girls were always bugging him.....i thought things were over with that i had to worry over....but they werent....he was the baby of the family...he always obeyed us...he was a good kid....but he had some issues with his audio processing problem...delayed maturity...then a year ago ...he got married...to a man....he came out and let us know he was gay....it was hard for me to over come this...my husband helped me a lot ...my husband said no matter what .how do we feel...we agreed we love him so much.....his patriarchal blessing...is beautiful...and what i have learned is this.....life isnt over...till its over...he will be 35yrs old this year...his blessing said..God will have His hand on his head...and many other things...he did go on a mission....he was diligent in the church....i imagine this was so hard for him as well....he didnt show it ...but its like i said....life isnt over yet....i will watch and wait...and pray...his partner is a good person as well...who loves his family...we need to obey God's command to love one another ...
Alan FlemingMay 21, 2020
I first saw my wife when I was engaged to another girl. We at a YSA activity when she walked in and I thought “What did I get engaged for. I would love to take her out on a date.”. Well, three months later my fiancé wanted to break up the engagement. I asked why. She said, Because of the way you keep looking at Margie Cockburn.”. Like a true male I replied, “What way!”. Well, I finally at a church dance asked Margie up for a dance. When we looked into each others eyes, we both knew. A month later I proposed and six months later we got married. We have been married for 40 years. While there are many coincidences that occurred through our lives, I will one. When we had our first son, and had to decide a name. I thought now we are going to have a disagreement. I told her I always wanted to have a son named Michael. She looked back in great surprise and astonishment and said, “So have I.” I have had missionary experiences and there is one in which I became frustrated with someone who didn’t want to have the missionaries teach him. I said I can’t tell him any more. I remember as he looked at me and said, “You must tell me more.” Finally, he agreed to meet the missionaries and was baptised. He served a mission and as a bishop. My son married his daughter and we share a grandson.
Tamra D DodgeMay 21, 2020
These lovely stories bring tears to my eyes. They take me back to a special moment my husband and I had with our two and a half year old toddler. We were having our family bedtime prayer. Little Alex was in a big boy bed now. After the prayer Alex said, “I want my real family, and my real Father.” My husband assured him that we were his family, “No,” he said. “I want my real Father.”
It was a defining moment. Alex remembered where he came from. His vocabulary was limited.. but he expressed his hearts desire.
Ann HedrickMay 21, 2020
I had an experience like this when I was a BYU student. There was a young man in my ward who seemed very familiar to me. We became friends and he said I was also familiar to him. We reviewed our lives and travels, we came from different areas of the country, and there was no possibility we had ever crossed paths. But we knew that we knew each other!
NIhla JuddMay 21, 2020
I can testify to the truthfulness of the experiences in this article.
I have a challenging relationship from which I have tried to walk away many times. I cannot because I am always reminded that we have a connection to the world of spirits where we once loved and cared for each other. This mission is to continue through the trials and challenges of this telestial experience. One day I know that I will rejoice that I remained.
Comments | Return to Story
Joyce M PooleMay 25, 2020
When I was at BYU in an apartment of young women we always had morning prayer. One morning Linda was the one giving the prayer. I had a vision while she was praying. We were in a large circle in a beautiful green meadow, surrounded by trees and flowers. There was 50 to 100 people there, her boyfriend was saying the prayer there, the other person I recognized was my boyfriend and I knew it was their time to come to Earth. The vision ended and I was kneeling with my roommates. I have a painting painted by Michael Wheeler and it is a view of the meadow and walking through flowers to reach it. Also I have meet 10 or 20 people who I know were there. It is a wonderful memory and I can look at my painting and bring it to mind.
Cynthia AbbottMay 23, 2020
We had a sacred experience with our first born child. He began talking at a very early age. By ten months there were several words he could say fairly clearly. When he was 19 months old, we had just moved into a new house and his nursery was at the end of the short hall with our room on the left side. One night we were walking down the hall (we'd just come home from somewhere) and he stopped in the middle of the hall (he was walking in front of us), and pointed down into his nursery. He said, pointing, "Look! Spirits!" (the word Spirits was not in his vocabulary). Then he shrugged his little shoulders and said, "Spirits gone. Spirits gone home." We both knelt down there right in the hall and asked him what the spirits looked like. He smiled at us and said one word. "Smoke." And then he continued walking into his room. That was on Saturday. On Monday we decided it was time to do a real Family Home Evening and so I had a photo of Jesus in a frame...the one we use in church with the red cloak. We started off by showing him the picture and said "Jonathan, this is Jesus." He smiled and patted Jesus's picture and told us, "Jesus hold me and talk to me." We were so overcome, and we still take that experience as the closest thing we will ever have in this lifetime to sure knowledge that the Savior is real and that the pre-mortal existence is real. Nineteen month old children are not capable of making up untruths and the spirit was so strong with us. I have since had many, many more experiences (especially with doing family history) that have testified to me of the reality of the veil spoken of here and the closeness we have with those on the other side of it.
SMay 22, 2020
I loved your article! I felt this feeling once at RootsTech a few years ago. There’s no way I could have ever met before, in this life, the man who felt like a brother to me. He was from France and I am from California. We compared a bit of our family history and ethnicities, but that was not the connection. We’re both sure that we were good friends in the premortal world.
vickieMay 21, 2020
this was a beautiful story. i have had times and so has my husband where we feel we know a certain person when we never met them...one of my children...my last one...i really wanted a girl...i had one daughter who was my oldest and then 4 boys...but the last one, i wanted a girl...before i got pregnant for him...i had lost a baby...then when contemplating this pregnancy i was sitting under a tree near our house...and i felt the spirit when i was thinking about having another child....it was as if the spirit was letting me know i would have problems with this child and it was up to me if i wanted to have this baby...well, after the last experience of losing that child...i decided yes i want to have this baby no matter what. i did get pregnant...i was 33 at the time...he would be my 5th live baby...towards the end of the pregnancy...i had a dream...i dreamed that the cord was around his neck...it shocked me and i called my sister abt it..she said oh sometimes women have dreams like that ...its not true....well, the last 6wks of my pregnancy i went into early labor....they rehydrated me and sent me home to stay in bed the rest of the pregnancy. i didnt like that but it was a good thing i had already bought school clothes and things my other kids needed for school. i went into labor and had so much trouble...the drs said my labor stopped...with all this upset going on my babies heart was stopping as well....with all the confusion i decided to tell the dr about my dream...he said you know what after talking to other drs ..they believe this is the case...so..many more things were being done to save his life and he was delivered by vacuum extraction...he lived and had a high apgar score..but he had bumps on the top of his head..he indeed for a long time had the cord around his neck...i thought well this must mean what the spirit was talkign about...it wasnt...when i took him home...i noticed his breathing was erratic and his body jerked around a lot...later i discovered he had SIDS...sudden infant death syndrome. i nearly passed out when i heard this...he was put on a machine which i kept him on for 2yrs...then i noticed he wasnt talking in the same language we were...i took him in and discovered he had an audio processing deficit...so he started going to school early...at 3yrs old..over time i realized he was such a good child and smart ....he had other illnesses over the years...dividing cellulitis and then polynoidal cysts...things that drove the family crazy...meanwhile i had to have a hysterectomy ...so no little girl for me...through the years i discovered that he was so smart and then he could sing like a bird and he played piano...and he could act...what a wonderful child...and so good looking the girls were always bugging him.....i thought things were over with that i had to worry over....but they werent....he was the baby of the family...he always obeyed us...he was a good kid....but he had some issues with his audio processing problem...delayed maturity...then a year ago ...he got married...to a man....he came out and let us know he was gay....it was hard for me to over come this...my husband helped me a lot ...my husband said no matter what .how do we feel...we agreed we love him so much.....his patriarchal blessing...is beautiful...and what i have learned is this.....life isnt over...till its over...he will be 35yrs old this year...his blessing said..God will have His hand on his head...and many other things...he did go on a mission....he was diligent in the church....i imagine this was so hard for him as well....he didnt show it ...but its like i said....life isnt over yet....i will watch and wait...and pray...his partner is a good person as well...who loves his family...we need to obey God's command to love one another ...
Alan FlemingMay 21, 2020
I first saw my wife when I was engaged to another girl. We at a YSA activity when she walked in and I thought “What did I get engaged for. I would love to take her out on a date.”. Well, three months later my fiancé wanted to break up the engagement. I asked why. She said, Because of the way you keep looking at Margie Cockburn.”. Like a true male I replied, “What way!”. Well, I finally at a church dance asked Margie up for a dance. When we looked into each others eyes, we both knew. A month later I proposed and six months later we got married. We have been married for 40 years. While there are many coincidences that occurred through our lives, I will one. When we had our first son, and had to decide a name. I thought now we are going to have a disagreement. I told her I always wanted to have a son named Michael. She looked back in great surprise and astonishment and said, “So have I.” I have had missionary experiences and there is one in which I became frustrated with someone who didn’t want to have the missionaries teach him. I said I can’t tell him any more. I remember as he looked at me and said, “You must tell me more.” Finally, he agreed to meet the missionaries and was baptised. He served a mission and as a bishop. My son married his daughter and we share a grandson.
Tamra D DodgeMay 21, 2020
These lovely stories bring tears to my eyes. They take me back to a special moment my husband and I had with our two and a half year old toddler. We were having our family bedtime prayer. Little Alex was in a big boy bed now. After the prayer Alex said, “I want my real family, and my real Father.” My husband assured him that we were his family, “No,” he said. “I want my real Father.” It was a defining moment. Alex remembered where he came from. His vocabulary was limited.. but he expressed his hearts desire.
Ann HedrickMay 21, 2020
I had an experience like this when I was a BYU student. There was a young man in my ward who seemed very familiar to me. We became friends and he said I was also familiar to him. We reviewed our lives and travels, we came from different areas of the country, and there was no possibility we had ever crossed paths. But we knew that we knew each other!
NIhla JuddMay 21, 2020
I can testify to the truthfulness of the experiences in this article. I have a challenging relationship from which I have tried to walk away many times. I cannot because I am always reminded that we have a connection to the world of spirits where we once loved and cared for each other. This mission is to continue through the trials and challenges of this telestial experience. One day I know that I will rejoice that I remained.
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