A few years ago, during one of the holidays, we went skiing as a family at Cherry Peak. We were in the lodge attending to a younger child, where there was a small section of books, including several on Church history. For some reason, you started a conversation with a man named Carlos, who had brought his children to ski but no longer skied himself. He was reading a gospel book, and you mentioned to him that if he loved Church history, he should talk to me. So we did—we talked about all kinds of gospel principles, and I could immediately tell that he had an incredible testimony.
I’m not sure what led to it, but he told me about an experience he had when he was around 18 or 19 years old. He described himself as a rebellious teenager who lacked faith and wasn’t planning to serve a mission. One day, he prayed to God for a sign that the Church was true, and shortly after, he was in a serious car accident in Logan Canyon where—
He died.
He went beyond the veil and felt the incomprehensible, all-encompassing compassion and love of the Savior.
He received his sign, and even though he didn’t want to return to his body, he did—and he went on to serve a mission.
There in the lodge at Cherry Peak, he testified to me—a full believer who accepted every word of his story about his out-of-body experience—saying, “Alan, it’s true. It’s all true. Remember it.”
A few weeks later, we went to the temple for an endowment session. I don’t remember exactly what was on my mind that day, but I was seeking an answer or clarification for something.
It was Carlos who led me through the veil that day, and it was a tender mercy from the Lord—a quiet confirmation that He was aware of me and the question I carried in my heart.