Essays TOC

Heavenly Manifestation Given to Heber Q. Hale
President - Boise, Idaho Stake

A Heavenly Manifestation given to Heber Q. Hale, President of the Boise
Stake of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, is related by
him at the Genealogical Conference held in the auditorium of the Bishops
Building, Salt Lake City, Utah on October 1920, requested by the
Presidency of the Church of 1920.

"It is with a very humble and grateful spirit that I attempt to relate
on this occasion by request, a personal experience which is very sacred
to me. I must of necessity be brief. Furthermore there were certain
things made known to me which I don't feel at liberty to relate here,
let me say by way of preface that between the hours of 12:00 and 7:30 on
the night of January 20, 1920, while alone in a room at the home of W.R.
Rawson in Carey, Idaho, this glorious manifestation was vouchsafed to
me. I was not conscious of anything that transpired during the hours
mentioned except what I experienced in this manifestation. I did not
turn over in bed nor was I disturbed by any sound which indeed is
unusual for me. Whether it be called a dream, an apparition, a vision,
or a pilgrimage of my spirit into the world of spirits I know not. I
care not. I know that I actually saw and experienced the things related
in this Heavenly Manifestation and they are as real to me as my
experience of my life.

For me at least this is sufficient. Of all the doctrines and practises
of the Church, the principle of vicarious work for the dead has been the
most difficult for me to comprehend and wholeheartedly accept. I
consider this vision as the Lord's answer to the prayer of my soul on
this and certain other questions.

I passed but a short distance from my body through a film into the world
of spirits, this was my experience after going to sleep. I seemed to
realize that I had passed through the change called death and I so
referred to it in my conversation with the Immortal Beings with whom I
immediately came in contact. I readily observed their displeasure at
our use to the word death and the fear which we attach to it. They use
there another word in reference to the transition from mortality to
immortality which word I do not recall, and I can only approach its
meaning and the impression which was left upon my mind, by calling it
the new birth.

My first visual impression was the nearness of the world of spirits to
the world of mortality. The vastness of this heavenly sphere was
bewildering to my eyes. Many enjoyed unrestricted vision and action.
The vegetation and landscape were beautiful beyond description, not all
green as here, but gold with varying shades of pink, orange, and
lavender as the rainbow. A sweet calmness pervaded everything. The
people I met there I did not think of as spirits, but as men and women,
self thinking and self acting individuals, going about important
business in a most orderly manner.

There was perfect order there and everybody had something to do and
seemed to be about their business; that the inhabitants of the spirit
world are classified according to their lives of purity and their
subservience to the Fathers will was subsequently made apparent.
Particularly was it observed that the wicked and unrepentant are
confines of which are as definitely determined and impassible as the
line marking the division of the physical from the spirit world. A mere
film but impassible until the person himself was changed. The world of
spirits is the temporary abode of all spirits pending the resurrection
from the dead and the judgement. There was much activity within the
different spheres, and appointed ministers of salvation were seen coming
from the highs to the lower spheres in pursuit of their missionary
appointments.

I had a pronounced desire to meet certain of my kinsfolk and friends but
I was at once impressed with the fact that I had entered a tremendously
great and extensive world, even greater than our earth and more
numerously inhabited. I could only be in one place at once, could do
only one thing at a time, could only look in one direction at a time and
accordingly it would require many many years to search out and converse
with all those I had known and all those whom I desired to meet unless
they were especially summoned to receive me. All men and women are
appointed to special and regular service under a well organized plan of
action directed principally towards preaching the gospel to the
unconverted, teaching those who seek for knowledge, and establishing
family relationships, and gathering genealogies for the use and benefit
of mortal survivors of their respective families, that the work of
Baptism and the sealing of ordinances may be vicariously performed for
the departed in the Temples of God on the Earth.

The authorized representatives of families in the world of spirits have
access to our temple records and are kept fully advised of the work done
therein, but the vicarious work done there does not become automatically
effective. The recipients must first believe, repent, and accept
baptism and confirmation, then certain consummating ordinances are
performed effectualising these saving principles in the life of these
regenerated beings. And so the great work is going on . . . They are
doing work there which we can not do here, and we a work here that they
can not do there for the salvation of all Gods children who will be
saved.

I was surprised to find there, no babies in arms. I met the infant son
of Orson W. Rawlings my first counselor. I immediately recognized him
as the baby who died a few years ago, and yet he seemed to have the
intelligence, and in certain respect, the appearance of an adult, and
was engaged in matters pertaining to his family and its genealogy.

My mind was quite contented upon the point that mothers will again
receive into their arms their children who died in infancy and will be
fully satisfied, and the fact that entrance into the world of spirits is
not an inhabitation of growth but the greatest opportunity of
development. Babies are adult spirits in infant bodies. I presently
behold a mighty multitude of men. The largest I had ever seen gathered
in one place, whom I immediately recognized as soldiers, the millions
who died, who had been slaughtered and rushed to the spirit world during
the first world war. Among them moved calmly and majestically a great
general in supreme command. As I drew nearer, I received the kindly
smile and generous welcome of a great loving man, General Richard W.
Young. Then came the positive conviction to my soul that of all the men
living or dead, there is no one who is perfectly fitted for the great
mission unto which he had been called. He commanded immediately the
attention and respect of all the soldiers, he was at once a great
general and a great High Priest of God. No earthly field of labour to
which he could have been assigned, could compare with it in importance
and extent. I passed from this scene to return later when I found
General Young and his vast army of men completely organized with
officers over successive divisions, and he was preaching the gospel in
great earnestness to them. As I passed forward, I soon met my beloved
mother, she greeted me most affectionately and expressed surprise at
seeing me there, and reminded me that I had not completed my allotted
mission on earth. She seemed to be going somewhere and was in a hurry,
and accordingly took her leave saying that she would see me again soon.

I moved forward covering an appreciable distance and consuming
considerable time, viewing the wonderful sights of landscapes, parks,
trees, and flowers, and meeting people. Some I knew, but many thousands
I did not recognize. I presently approached a small group of men
standing in a path lined with spacious stretches of flowers, grasses,
and shrubs, all of gold and hue, marking the approach to a beautiful
building. The group was engaged in earnest conversation. One of their
number parted from the rest and came walking down the path. I at once
recognized my esteemed President Joseph F. Smith. He embraced me as a
father would his son and after a few words of greeting, quickly remarked
"You have not come to stay". This remark I understood as a declaration
and not as interrogation.

For the first time I became fully conscious of my uncompleted mission on
earth and as much I would have liked to remain, I at once asked
President Smith if I might return. "You have expressed a righteous
desire", he replied "and I shall take the matter up with the authorities
and let you know later". We then returned and he led me toward the
little group of men from whom he had just separated. I immediately
recognized President Brigham Young and the Prophet Joseph Smith. I was
surprised to find the former a shorter and heavier built man than I had
pictured him to be in my mind. On the other hand I found the latter to
be taller than I expected to find him.

Both they and the President were possessed for a calm and holy majesty
which was always kind and friendly. We then traced our steps and
President Smith took his leave, saying that he would see me again.

From a certain point of vantage, I was permitted to view the earth and
what was going on there. There was no limitation of my vision and I was
astounded at this. I saw my wife and my children at home, I saw
President J. Grant at the head of the great Church and Kingdom of God,
and felt the divine power that radiates from God giving it light and
truth and guiding its destiny. I beheld this nation founded as it is
upon correct principles and designed to endure, but beset by evil and
sinister forces that seek to lead man and to thwart the purposes of God.
I saw towns and cities, and the sins and sickness of men and women. I
saw vessels sailing the oceans and scanned the battle scarred fields of
France and Belgium.

In a word, I beheld the whole world, as if it were a panorama, passing
before my eye, then there came to me the unmistakable impression that
this earth and scenes and persons upon it are open to the vision of the
spirits only when special permission is given or when they are assigned
to special service here. This is particularly true of the righteous who
are busily engaged in the fields of activity at the same time, the
wicked and unrepentant have still, like the rest, their free agency and
applying themselves to no useful or wholesome undertaking, seek
pleasure, bout their old haunts, and exalt in the sin and wickedness of
degenerated humanity.

To this extent they are still tools of Satan. It is these idle,
mischievous and deceitful spirits who appear as miserable counterfeits
at spiritualist seances, table dancing and Ouija board operations. The
noble and great ones do not respond to the call of the mediums and to
every group of meddlesome enquirers, they would not do it in the world
of mortality. These wicked and unrepentant spirits are allies of Satan
and his host, operating through willing mediums in the flesh.

These three forces constitute an unholy Trinity upon the earth and are
responsible for all the sin, wickedness, distress and misery among men
and nations.

I moved forward feasting my eyes upon the beauty of everything about me
glorying in the indescribable peace and happiness that abound in
everybody and through everything. The further I went the more glorious
things appeared. While standing at a certain vantage point, I beheld a
short distance away, a wonderful beautiful temple, capped with golden
domes, from which emerged a small group of men dressed in white robes
who paused for a brief conversation. They were in uniforms, in this
little group of holy men my eyes centered upon one more splendorous and
holy than the rest. While I thus gazed, President Joseph F. Smith
parted from the others and came to my side. "Do you know him?" he
inquired. I quickly answered. "Yes I know him, my eyes behold my Lord
and Saviour". "It is true" said President Smith, and oh how my soul
thrilled with rapture and unspeakable joy filled my heart.

President Smith informed me that I had been given permission to return
and complete the mission on the earth which the Lord had appointed to me
to fulfill, and then with his hand upon my shoulder, uttered these
memorable and significant words. "Brother Heber you have a great work
to do. Go forward with a prayerful heart and thou shall be blessed in
thy ministry. From this time on never doubt that God lives, that Jesus
Christ is the Son, the Saviour of the world, that the Holy Ghost is the
God of spirit and the messenger of the Father and the Son: never doubt
the resurrection of the dead and the immortality of the soul. That the
destiny of man is eternal progression. Never again doubt that the
mission of the Latter-Day Saints is for all mankind, both the living and
the dead and that the great work in the Holy Temples for the living and
the dead has only begun. Know this, that Joseph Smith was sent of God
to usher in the gospel dispensation of the fullness of times, which is
the last unto mortals upon the earth. Give him your confidence and
support. Much of what you have seen and heard you will not be permitted
to repeat when you return. Thus saying, he bade me good-bye and God
bless you.

Quite distrange, through various scenes and passing innumerable people,
I traveled before I reached the spheres which I first entered. On my
way I was greeted by many friends and relatives certain of whom sent
words of greetings and council to their dear ones here, my mother being
one of them. One other thing I will mention. I met Brother John
Adamson, his wife and his son James and their daughter Isabelle, all of
whom were killed by a foul assassin in their home at Carey, Idaho in
mortality and immediately said, "Tell the children that we are very
happy and are very busy and they should not mourn at our departing, not
worry their minds over the manner by which we were taken. There is a
purpose in it, and we have work to do here which required our collective
efforts and which we could not do individually." I was once made to
know that they referred to, was that of genealogy on which they were
working in England and in Scotland.

One of the grandest and most sacred things of heaven is the family
relationship. The establishment of the complete chain without any
broken links being a fullness of joy. Links wholly bad will be dropped
out and either new links put in or the two adjoining links welded
together. Men and women everywhere throughout the world are being moved
upon by their departed ancestors to gather Genealogies. These are links
for the chain. The ordinance of Baptism, Endowments, and Sealings
performed in the Temples of God by the living for the dead are the
welding of the links. Ordinances are performed in the spirit world
effectualizing the individual recipient for their receiving the saving
principles of the gospel vicariously performed here.

As I was approaching the place where I entered, my attention was
attracted towards a number of small groups of women, preparing what
appeared to be wearing apparel. Observing my inquiring countenance one
of the women remarked, "We are preparing to receive Brother Phillip
Worthington very soon." As I gasped his name in repetition I was
admonished, "If you knew the joy and the glorious mission that awaits
him here you would not ask to have him longer detained upon the earth.

Then came flooding to my consciousness, this awful truth that the will
of the Lord can be done on earth as it is in Heaven only when we resign
completely to His will and let His will be done in and through us. On
account of the selfishness of many, persons who might have otherwise
been taken in innocence and peace have been permitted to live and have
lived to their own perils. Phillip Worthington died January 22, 1920,
for which I was advised by telegram, and returning to Boise preached at
his funeral sermon on January 25, 1920.

Men, women and children are often called to missions of great importance
on the other side and some respond gladly while others refuse to go and
their loved ones will not give them up. Also many die because they have
not the faith to be healed. Others yet live among and pass out of the
world of mortals without any special manifestation of action of the
divine will. When a man is stricken ill the question of prime
importance is not whether or not he is going to live, or is he going to
die? What matters is not whether he lives or dies as long as the will
of the Father is done. Surely we can trust him with God. Here in lies
the special duty and privilege of administration by the right and
authority of the Holy Priesthood namely, it is given to the elders of
the church of Jesus Christ to define the will of the Father concerning
the one upon whose head their hands are laid. If for any reason they
are unable to presage the Fathers will then they should continue to pray
in faith for the afflicted ones, humbly conceding supremacy to do the
will of God, that His will may be done in earth as it is in heaven. to
the righteous person, birth into the world of spirits is a glorious
privilege and blessing. The great spirits in the family of the Father
are not usually permitted to tarry longer in the flesh than to perform
a certain mission, then they are called to the world of spirits where
the field is greater and workers fewer. This earthly mission may
therefore be long or short as the Father wills. I passed quietly out,
where I had entered the world of spirits immediately my body was
quickened. And I was to ponder over and record the many wonderful
things I had seen and heard.

Let me here and now declare to the world that irrespective of the
opinion of others, I know of my own positive knowledge and from my own
personal experience that God is the Father of the spirits of all men and
that He lives, That Jesus Christ is His Son and the Saviour of the
world. That the spirit of man does not die, but survives the change
called death and goes to the world of spirits. that the principles of
salvation are now being taught to the spirits and the great work of
saving Fathers family among the living and the dead is now in progress
and that but comparatively few will ultimately be lost, that spirits
will literally take up their bodies again in the resurrection and that
the gospel of Jesus Christ has been established upon the earth with all
its keys, powers, authority, and blessings through the instrumentality
of the Prophet Joseph Smith: That this power will not only save and
exalt everyone who yields obedience to its principles but will
ultimately save the world: That the burden of our mission is to save
souls unto God, and that the work for the salvation of the dead is no
less of importance than the work for the living.