During the time my faith was struggling, one of the reassurances that helped strengthen it was reading about visions and beyond the veil experiences.
I don’t know exactly how or why I started reading those books, but one time while I was sick in bed, I pulled out my Kindle and began. I read accounts written by both members and non-members of the Church, and all described remarkably similar experiences—experiences that confirm what the restored gospel teaches about death, the afterlife, and the overwhelming love of Christ that we can only begin to understand in mortality.
While it’s inspiring to read these extraordinary experiences from people we don’t personally know, it has been even more meaningful to hear such experiences from people I do know. My high school accounting teacher’s husband, my roommate Travis, and Carlos, whom I met at Cherry Peak, have each died, witnessed miraculous visions of Jesus Christ and life beyond the veil, and then returned to their bodies with unshakable testimonies. These visions have strengthened my testimony that God is there and that the restored gospel is true.
There are also other dreams, visions and spiritual manifestations that I believe come from God.
Last night I was awakened by two dreams. I do not know if the God was actually trying to communicate something to me or not, but they were vivid, and the interpretations I drew from them have given me guidance and comfort. Power To Overcome Evil In the first dream I was in a room … Read more
The First Vision is perhaps the most miraculous and spectacular event of the last days. That God would again reveal himself to man shows the love of God, the fulfillment of his plan, and clarifies misunderstandings of doctrine that developed when the original apostles were killed, creeds were formed, and Christianity merged with Roman governance … Read more
While searching for information about the CES Letter, I came across the story of a once faithful member of the Church who once struggled with doubts about Church history and the Restoration. His slide into disbelief started from simple curiosity about things he had never heard discussed while growing up. Plural marriage, early Church history, … Read more
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 … Read more
Travis was Sam’s friend at Ricks College before his mission and was our roommate during my senior year of college. He later worked for me at SB Systems in Riverside, and was even a success story from one of our “pizza dates.” Like you, his wife Amy is the daughter of a CES director. He’s … Read more
The night you went to Reno for Danica’s non-wedding, I was awakened during a vivid dream where you fell off the bed. I woke up panicked and disturbed, feeling that the dream meant you had fully lost your testimony—that you had “fallen off.” Later, you told me that it was during that trip with your … Read more