I wanted to start off today’s post sharing quickly a revelation I received this week as my wife and I were texting back and forth while I was at work. She was asking some great questions about the gospel, and something she wrote hit me and the Holy Ghost began to teach. I thought of the Savior and how He is the Truth. Any portion of the Truth that we receive on this earth is a greater portion of Christ that we have received, when we receive of His fullness, we also receive a fullness of Truth, and therefore –
Ether 4:7-8
And in that day that they shall exercise faith in me, saith the Lord, even as the brother of Jared did, that they may become sanctified in me, then will I manifest unto them the things which the brother of Jared saw, even to the unfolding unto them ALL MY REVELATIONS, saith Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Father of the heavens and of the earth, and all thing that in them are. And he that will contend against the word of the Lord, let him be accursed; and he that shall deny these things, let him be accursed; for unto them will I show no greater things, saith Jesus Christ; for I am he who speaketh….
Oh the blessings that await those who will deny themselves of the world and submit to Jesus Christ. Do we want to receive more? If we are not willing to give up family, friends, churches, wealth, our reputation, and anything else to know and follow Christ, then we will continue to know and understand those things we prioritize over Him.
Luke 14:28-33
For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it? Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him, Saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish. Or what king, going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand? Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sendeth an ambassage, and desireth conditions of peace. So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.
Have we counted the cost? I promise all of you if you truly want to submit to God, you will look like fools to the world. God will lead you down a path that will even seem foolish to yourself at times. Our own logic and understanding must be set aside, for it is foolishness to God. He will try us, to prove those who will trust in Him. His act is strange, His ways are mysterious, and all will see the perfections of His plan in the end.
Today I would like to share how I came to know our Heavenly Mother. I hope you will read with an open heart. This will not be comfortable for most people to read I would imagine. To begin I will set the stage with where I was at in my spiritual journey at the time. I was a staunch LDS member, who bore my testimony every month, paid tithing, was “temple worthy” in every sense, and would have bet anything that I would die a member. I was serving as elder’s quorum president at the time and was very active in missionary work etc., etc. I was sure of the truthfulness of the church, I felt the Holy Ghost every week in church, and thought I had a handle on all of the doctrines of the kingdom.
For whatever reason, God led me to study grace and meekness above all else for a time. I learned that meekness meant that we know the power of God, and we know our nothingness before Him. Therefore we will submit to God in ALL THINGS. Meekness can only be obtained by a remission of sins (Moroni 8:26), and a remission of sins only comes by grace. As I was studying these concepts, I made a promise to God in the Spirit. I promised that I would follow anything He taught me by the Spirit, even if it was difficult. I had no idea what the promise would bring.
Soon after that I began to be lead to pray about questions that I thought I already had the answer for. I wanted to gain everything by the Spirit, to know for myself what was true. Otherwise I would have no authority on the subject. One of the first things I prayed about was polygamy. Now I don’t need to go into details about what I learned, but suffice it to say that I learned for myself that Jacob 2 was spot on. I began learning things that were not justifiable with the church that I had given my life to, and so it began.
One night my wife and I had an experience that changed my perspective for eternity. I learned by the Holy Ghost that I NEEDED her! Not in the romantic sense of desiring her so badly that I “needed her”, I saw very clearly that in order to become what God had proposed I become, I needed to become one with my wife. She was the key to unlocking greater things of God. I knew she was my soul mate, and that there was no other woman in all of the creations of all that there ever was, that could bring me to a fullness with God. The idea of polygamy became abhorrent to me.
At this time in my life I had experienced dreams of the Savior, I had seen Him in open vision (not an eye of faith experience or a dream), and I had been promised exaltation. I soon learned that this was not enough, not by a long shot. I was about to be thrown for a loop that could never have been foreseen.
As the case often was, one day I found myself talking to a good brother of the church who had recently been converted. Some of the things this brother often said were deeply controversial, and yet I saw his sincerity and love for the gospel, and the obvious change that had been brought about in his life. Well, during this conversation he told me that he had been born again by the power and spirit of Heavenly Mother. He said in his patriarchal blessing it specifically mentioned his Heavenly Mother, and how he would come to know of Her love again here on the earth. One night he had prayed to know of the love of his Heavenly Mother and that night he had a vision, and he was filled with the love and spirit of the Mother and changed completely. He told me that he believed very strongly the Holy Ghost was female… I just knew that wasn’t true.
Well, in my pride I thought there was something wrong here. This turned into an argument in which he claimed that there was nothing greater than to experience the love of the Mother. I argued that there was nothing greater than to experience the love of the Father, and that what he felt was the same love the Father had for us. This went on for some time before I left upset. I remember thinking about how this person just didn’t get it. I parked my car in a Walmart parking lot and began to pray for forgiveness that I had gotten upset.
After a while in prayer the Lord helped me humble myself and I asked like a child, “Father, I know that the Holy Ghost is male, is there another spirit that is female?” In moments the Holy Ghost came upon me and said “Yes!” plain and simple. Then the memory of studying the Shekinah came back to me and I asked, “Is it the Shekinah?” Again powerfully the answer came. “Yes, if you receive the Shekinah, the earth will not be able to hold you!” This began an incredible new journey for me.
I had already known from previous studies that “Shekinah” was a female word, and it represented the glory of the Lord, the glory of Jehovah. In fact, in a book by Bruce R McConkie he wrote that part of the condemnation or curse that was upon the LDS church, the Shekinah was not resting upon (or in) the temples as it did in the old testament. I do not think Bruce knew what he was saying exactly, but he was correct.
Paul taught that the woman is the GLORY of the man, and that the man is not without the woman in the Lord. The Shekinah is the GLORY of Jehovah. You decipher the meaning. New discoveries seem to be happening lately pointing out the worship of Shekinah. She has also been called Asherah. The have found relics now that mentioned the worship of Asherah right alongside of Jehovah. I will leave that to you to look up if you want.
Well, the scriptures began opening up more and more as I learned things by the spirit. I would like you to think quickly and answer this question. What does the rod of iron lead to in Lehi and Nephi’s vision?….
We know that the rod or iron is the word of God, and we have been taught about it as long as we have been involved in the church. I am guessing the most everyone who is reading this answered that the rod of iron leads to the tree of life! This is typical and very telling of where we are at as a people.
1 Ne 11:25
And it came to pass that I beheld that the rod of iron, which my father had seen, was the word of God, which led to the fountain of living waters, or to the tree of life; which waters are a representation of the love of God; and I also beheld that the tree of life was a representation of the love of God.
Yes the rod of iron leads to the tree of life, which represents God the Father, (or Christ). What tree is there in all the trees of the earth that can survive without water? What tree will bear any good fruit without enough water? We must be lead to our Heavenly Mother as well. If the rod has lead us first to the Father, we must also go further and learn of the Mother. She is the Living Water! Christ would not have fulfilled His mission without knowing the Mother. The scriptures have been changed and corrupted, but some things were veiled enough to remain intact.
Students of the bible know that the Shekinah (or Kabod) represents the glory, the paniym represents the presence, and the doxa represents them both together. The pillar of could and the pillar of fire represented both the presence and the glory being in operation. This is the real “double portion” that some may be referring to as the FULNESS of the priesthood. The Shekinah was quite often represented by the cloud.
Matt 17:5-7
While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him. And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their face, and were sore afraid. And Jesus came and touched them, and said, Arise, and be not afraid.
The disciples had heard the voice of the Father at the Lord’s baptism, and I don’t recall anyone falling down to the earth in fear. What was different about this scenario? The disciples heard the voice of the Mother bearing witness of Her Son Jesus Christ! I think this would cause a lot of people to be sore afraid. Most people have no idea there is a Mother in Heaven, let alone that She can speak to us.
In the subsequent posts I wrote, I shared a little bit about names and how important they are. Some of the names of Christ are True and Faithful, Righteousness, and even Jealous is a name of God according to the new testament. I have learned some of the names of the Mother by revelation. One of them is Wisdom.
Prov 1:20-33
Wisdom crieth without; she uttereth her voice in the streets: She crieth in the chief place of concourse, in the openings of the gates: in the city she uttereth her words, saying, How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge? Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you. Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded; But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof: I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh; When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you. Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me: For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the Lord: They would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof. Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices. For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them. But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil.
Mos 8:20
O how marvelous are the works of the Lord, and how long doth he suffer with his people; yea, and how blind and impenetrable are the understandings of the children of men; for they will not seek wisdom, neither do they desire that she should rule over them!
Acts 6:3
Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business.
Notice in the above verse they sought out men full of the Holy Ghost AND Wisdom. Both are needed. One without the other is not enough. There are many other examples of this use of “Wisdom”. I would suggest looking into “Sophia” which is wisdom in Greek.
One of the other names of the Mother is Charity. Charity “seeketh not her own…” This is used in the Bible and Book of Mormon. Paul taught to seek after Charity. We have been told this is the greatest attribute of God. Well, no one has Charity right now in a fullness. Most have no idea what it means or how it is obtained. This is the FULNESS, the spirit and love of our Father and Mother. There is no greater love. I have heard of mothers on earth doing some amazing things. One killed a bear with a frying pan as the bear threatened her child. One broke the bones in her back as she lifted a car off of her child. Is there greater love than the love of a Mother?
Think on these verses….Eth 12:34-37
And now I know that this love which thou hast had for the children of men is charity; wherefore, except men shall have charity they cannot inherit that place which thou hast prepared in the mansions of thy Father. Wherefore, I know by this thing which thou hast said, that if the Gentiles have not charity, because of our weakness, that thou wilt prove them, and take away their talent, yea, even that which they have received, and give unto them who shall have more abundantly. And it came to pass that I prayed unto the Lord that he would give unto the Gentiles grace, that they might have charity. And it came to pass that the Lord said unto me: If they have not charity it mattereth not unto thee, thou hast been faithful; wherefore, thy garments shall be made clean. And because thou hast seen thy weakness thou shalt be made strong, even unto the sitting down in the place which I have prepared in the mansions of my Father.
Moroni saw our day and saw clearly that we would be given the book of Mormon as a preparation for greater things, but he also saw that people would reject their Mother, they would not even think on Her. He prayed that someone in our day would have the faith to find Charity!
Compare this to the words of a recent president of the LDS church…
RB: So with you, God has a physical body?
GBH: He’s an individual – as is His Son, Jesus Christ.
RB: And God has a wife?
GBH: I don’t know, but I suppose so. As we have a Father I assume we have a mother.
Gordon B Hinckley in my opinion will be just fine, but this is very telling. Without Charity there is no fullness of the gospel, without the Mother there can be no Charity. The gentiles have rejected the fullness of the gospel and have damned themselves from further light and knowledge, and we are seeing now the talent that has been given them about to be taken away. The shift has begun.
Usually now when I differentiate between the Mother’s spirit and the Father’s, I call the Mother’s spirit the Holy Spirit. This in Hebrew also has a female connotation. It always has, and it seems in scripture at times they differentiate between the Holy Spirit and Holy Ghost.
Behold, will ye reject these words? Will ye reject the words of the prophets; and will ye reject all the words which have been spoken concerning Christ, after so many have spoken concerning him; and deny the good word of Christ, and the power of God, and the gift of the Holy Ghost, and quench the Holy Spirit, and make a mock of the great plan of redemption, which hath been laid for you?
Also some words from the teachings of St. Issa. This is a text written about Jesus that may or may not be historically accurate, but I find the words to be true.
At this time, an old woman approached the crowd, but was pushed back. Then Issa said, “Reverence Woman, mother of the universe,’ in her lies the truth of creation. She is the foundation of all that is good and beautiful. She is the source of life and death. Upon her depends the existence of man, because she is the sustenance of his labors. She gives birth to you in travail, she watches over your growth. Bless her. Honor her. Defend her. Love your wives and honor them, because tomorrow they shall be mothers, and later-progenitors of a whole race. Their love ennobles man, soothes the embittered heart and tames the beast. Wife and mother-they are the adornments of the universe.”
“As light divides itself from darkness, so does woman possess the gift to divide in man good intent from the thought of evil. Your best thoughts must belong to woman. Gather from them your moral strength, which you must possess to sustain your near ones. Do not humiliate her, for therein you will humiliate yourselves. And all which you will do to mother, to wife, to widow or to another woman in sorrow-that shall you also do for the Spirit.”
I know the above words are true. If men want to get to know the Mother, they must honor their wives. Polygamy is not an option. Great men have been halted in their spiritual progression because of their mistreatment of women. Abram (exalted father) became Abraham (father of nations), David and Solomon, Mohammed, and many men of the LDS movement have stopped their spiritual progress because of it. I have learned for myself that my wife is an older spirit than I am. She had more glory before coming here. I have seen the power of our Heavenly Parents work through her in such power that it defies description here.
Just a few weeks back my wife underwent surgery. When she woke from surgery she awoke with a smile and began preaching to the nurse in front of her like the wife of the king of the Lamanites preached to the people. She told her she had just seen Jesus and had conversed with the Father and Mother, as well as Mary of Magdala. The nurse had been prompted to switch patients with another nurse and she began to cry as my wife told her things pertaining to the nurse’s family. Soon others began listening and they wrote down the things my wife was saying.
Maybe someday she can share all of that. That is up to her to share what she learned and saw. At any rate, the nurse has become a friend to the family and she shared parts of the vision in fast and testimony meeting! During her testimony of this experience a woman in the audience had a vision. Trust me when I say the things shared are quite taboo within the LDS church. Such things are happening all the time! Visions and dreams and visitations are occurring and the Lord is setting His hand again the second time to recover His people. Right now there is still time. People are being prepared to enter into the Lord’s presence and glory. All of the posts I have written pertain to seeing Jesus Christ in the flesh. I solemnly bear witness that no one will be visited by Jesus Christ in the flesh, without being struck down as Saul and Alma the younger, unless they have received of Heavenly Mother’s spirit.
When I was told by the Holy Ghost to pray to the Mother, it was a completely new experience. At first I was timid. I did not know the Mother! I had been filled with the power of the Father and I had known that Christ was in the room with me, and I wondered why I could not part the veil to behold Him with my physical eyes. Now I know that I was a bottle half full. I remember pleading with the Mother to forgive me of all of the things I had done to hurt Her daughters, and how I had often set myself above women thinking that my spiritual experiences meant a lot more than they did. I had no confidence before Her, even though I would have walked gladly up to the thrown of the Father without hesitation.
It took time for me pleading with Her before Her spirit rested upon me for the first time. It was like being born again… again! I was filled with love and I began praying for my family and as I prayed for different people I was given understanding and discernment of them that I had never experienced. I prayed for a neighbor and I knew of his love for his son and worries that he had for him they I could have never known otherwise. I prayed for my stake president who had driven my family out of the church for our testimonies, and had warned our ward members to not talk to us, and I was filled with love for this man and saw that he would be converted to the Truth in a powerful manner soon enough. I don’t know how long I prayed for others but it was amazing!
Our Heavenly Mother is filled with love for Her children. She is very active in your life whether you know it or not, and she is okay getting no credit from anyone. More and more people are coming to know Her, and she will be revealed with great power to the world, mostly to people’s condemnation. I challenge everyone who reads this (if you haven’t already), to pray to the Father and ask if you can pray to the Mother. Get a witness from the Holy Ghost and then begin a journey that will change everything for the better. You will see the beauty in other religions, the scriptures will open up to you, and you will be filled with power to bring others to Christ, as you come to know the Mother.
After She began speaking back to me, I had to remember to also pray to the Father. I wondered if the brother of Jared didn’t stop praying altogether for years. Maybe he just stopped praying to the Father as he came to know the Mother. Together they are God. They are our Heavenly Parents. Our Heavenly Mother doesn’t care one bit what church you belong to right now, She will be there if you exercise faith in any way. I know others have found Her that are not even Christian…
The Master keeps her mind always at one with the Tao; that is what gives her her radiance. The Tao is ungraspable. How can her mind be at one with it? Because she doesn’t cling to ideas. The Tao is dark and unfathomable. How can it make her radiant? Because she lets it. Since before time and space were, the Tao is. It is beyond is and is not. How do I know this is true? I look inside myself and see.
There was something formless and perfect before the universe was born. It is serene. Empty. Solitary. Unchanging. Infinite. Eternally present. It is the mother of the universe. For lack of a better name, I call it the Tao. It flows through all things, inside and outside, and returns to the origin of all things. The Tao is great. The universe is great. Earth is great. Man is great.
These are the four great powers. Man follows the earth. Earth follows the universe. The universe follows the Tao. The Tao follows only itself.The heavy is the root of the light. The unmoved is the source of all movement. Thus the Master travels all day without leaving home. However splendid the views,she stays serenely in herself. Why should the lord of the country flit about like a fool? If you let yourself be blown to and fro, you lose touch with your root. If you let restlessness move you, you lose touch with who you are.
Teachings from the Tao Te Ching by Laotzi. READ IT
In Hinduism the Kundalini or Shakti is said to be the Divine Mother. Her power resides in us and is said to be like a coiled and sleeping serpent that needs to be awakened to bless us with love and bliss and enlightenment.
The point though now is that no one has the fullness of God. If Charity could truly be found on the earth right now in fullness, we would have no need of the “greater things” promised in the Book of Mormon. Moroni said if we have Charity we will be purified as Christ is pure. Again I know that the Mother is real. She is the only wife of our Father in heaven. She is Eternity, and She is Deliverance. Will we reject Her, and reject a fullness of the gospel by doing so? Yes these things will make many people uncomfortable, but I hope some will feel to at least find out if they are true. The Holy Ghost will lead you to the Mother if you will continue to follow. I know it. Please testify in the comments if you have had any experience with our Heavenly Mother. We will be tested. Will we honor and defend Her, and do all things necessary for the Holy Spirit?
Photo courtesy Meridian Magazine. Click link for great article on Mother in Heaven.
Great post. My comment is random and far left field.
I remember DS saying the Father has a body of spirit and glory. The son of tabernacle. It may come from LOF “The Father being a personage of spirit, glory…”. But I was just thinking if this “glory” relates… Just something to ponder on. Perhaps the female is a bigger “part of” God.
God is by definition male and female. I am sure their voices were raised in unison when they announced their son.
You used the example of the tree of life. I thought of this when I first read your comment. The tree is the Love OF God. Who is the Love OF God? The women. Or His wife. That is Gods true love.
Thanks.
-Tyson
Thanks for this post. I feel so much truth resonating in your words. The absence of the feminine divine in our worship is, in my view, the great gaping hole that we’ve managed to overlook for years…millennia, really. I’ve been following many of the recent developments in LDS theological thought (Denver Snuffer, Rock Waterman, etc) and have noticed an acute lack of discussion about Heavenly Mother. It all feels so…male-oriented…to me, like we’re asking and talking about the wrong set of questions in some way.
I felt a particularly strong connection with Heavenly Mother during my pregnancies. I had some lovely visions (not vision-from-the-heavens, but visions of my own mind/imagination that arose while I was meditating and listening to hypnosis tracks) that included a strong, powerful Heavenly Mother. Sometimes she was alone with me. Sometimes together with HF standing watch.
Anyway I hope we will learn more about her. Sadly, I don’t anticipate that will come through the institutional Mormon church. I don’t think that most of the leaders are even willing to entertain the question or even acknowledge the need for that knowledge.
I think you’d enjoy reading the book “Talks with My Heavenly Mother” by Ryxi Warrior Scribe. She’s LDS, a shaman, and an earth healer. The book records series of conversations she had with Heavenly Mother. She discovers a goddess who is funny, spiritual, sensual, playful, and powerful, one who says she was taken out of scriptures, out of the temple, out of most religions, one who is waiting for her children to discover more about her because the coming millennium will be Her Time. Very interesting read. Parts of it are really quirky. I’d say about half of it I find very useful and the other half is just so far off my own experiences I’m not sure what to do with it! (That’s the beauty of communicating with the divine, though; they speak to us in our own language and understanding and experience).
Really got my attention and have given me much to think about before discussing this with my wife and with Father.
Thank you.
MinofOne,
You have a gift. Thank you.
Elohim
Heavenly Mother: I shall work by the endowment of My power to give Your
organizations self-knowledge and they shall become living beings capable of
perception.
20.
Elohim Heavenly Mother: I do covenant with You, Elohim, to share all My
creative works with You,
that the
endowment of My power may also be combined with the endowment of Your power.
To think in a mindset when viewing all the contributions of women, that they are not formidable, is fallacy. The combined efforts of both male and female bring balance and power to the universe. It is Satan’s plan and work to reduce the woman in the eyes of a man to counteract the life giving form that is only in Heavenly Mother.
This a
great post.I love the writings of Lao Tzu, he was an amazing writer and he was a revealer of truth. I have
heard a story of Lehi stopping off to pick him up before coming to the promised
land. Only a story so far. The combination of Heavenly Mother and Heavenly
Father gives power to ponderable matter. It is true for me. Whether the entity
of the Holy Ghost is male or female is not as important to me as it is that to
discern the power and the foundation of its mission. But there is a covenant
between all 4 entities to bring to pass our progress. The world is beautiful
with understanding present. You have been a catalyst for search and many
revelations. These days should only be filled with such. “Believe all
things, hope all things…hold fast that which is good!” The Spirit will fill our void of the scriptures
that have been framed by man to be closed and only to their thinking. We are
now free. Thanks for your thoughts.
Tyson
If God is a personage of spirit and glory, then you and I are as well. All things are one form of energy or another. This earth is made from the same stuff as everything else it is just vibrating at a different frequency etc.
Heavenly Mother is a separate entity than Heavenly Father. They are sealed and there is unified consciousness and their glory radiates through everything but they are not one being.
They have a completely different spirit, a completely different wavelength or energy emanating from them. This has been known by some for millenia but it has all become corrupted. The yin and the yang. The luna and the sol in alchemy. It is in the gnostic texts etc.
Even in Buddhism they say one of siddharthas first miracles was half of his body producing flames and the other half producing water at the same time, symbolic of him finding balance between the feminine and the masculine.
Just as my wife and I are two separated entities, the Father and the Mother are as well.
Thanks for the recommendation. I love to hear testimony of the Mother and have no doubt She was with you during pregnancies. I Agree completely She is missing from Christianity in a big way and I think this is why Moroni implores us to pray with all of the energy of our hearts for Charity.
Thank you so much for your powerful words. Being somewhat of a newbie at receiving things of the spirit, I recently had an experience where, when I was praying, I not only conversed with the Father and with the Savior, I was spoken to by my Heavenly Mother also. It was short but sweet–she told me that she was always there when I conversed with either Father or the Savior. It was the first time I had been made aware of her presence.
Your beautiful post inspires me to further seek after her–to really KNOW her, as I am trying to know Father and Jesus. I am grateful for this knowledge!
My daughter Jules wrote a blog post on her amazing experience with Heavenly Mother. You can read about it here:
http://myjourneytothefullness.com/2014/05/11/honoring-my-heavenly-mother-today/
Thank you again for sharing your insights and knowledge. –Diana
This past summer I was talking with the Savior and asked him a question. He said that wasn’t his role and that I needed to speak with Mother. What followed was sacred. She laid her hands on my head and gave me a blessing. After talking with her for a long while, I asked her a certain question and she said that she couldn’t answer that, it wasn’t her role, but I needed to speak with Father. It was all very overwhelming. Thank you for reminding us of her in this beautiful post. Thank you for your efforts in bringing us to know her.
Great post! The beginning of my spiritual journey is all based on this.
Heavenly Mother has been sorely forgotten and is a the other half that we need in order to build up Zion.
For myself the Holy Spirit is the female side and the Holy Ghost is the male side. This is what I have learned for myself. It could all come from the Holy Ghost or from the se spirit but I have been taught that there are two sides and each are equally as important.
There is one point I would like to ask you about in your post though Nate. The tree of life. Could it also represent the Mother? I myself have learned by the spirit that the tree represents the father and the mother. I know of one other person that has learned the tree represents the mother as well. Could this be representing the true double portion.? Reaching the tree of life? Do we not need the father and the mother to have eternal life? Just a thought.
I believe this to be true with Jesus being hung on a tree and also the atonement taking place.
The first time I felt our Mother’s love ( a couple of years ago) it was like nothing I had ever experienced. It fills you to overflowing, it is peaceful yet strong, over-powering yet so comfortable. Thanks for your post Nate. As I was reading about your first experience above. I was wondering and contemplating the idea of praying to Her. As I was thinking on this I sensed Her near and mentally ran to Her. Again as before the strength of Her love filled me to overflowing and I just sat here at my desk at work and wept. I spoke to Her and expressed forgiveness for my recent short comings and asked for Her forgiveness and help to overcome. I felt of Her great love and concern for me. As we spoke thoughts flooded my mind… I was able to see my beautiful wife in a great new light, my love for her has increased once again (I am so amazed how it can keep increasing as knowledge and faith increase). Immediately my love and concern for others around me increased as well. The experience lasted for a while. I want to thank you for writing this post. I have been struggling (again) lately and I have been filled this morning. Makes me wonder if these types of feelings are a glimpse of living in Their presence.
That is a beautiful description of the love Heavenly Mother has for each of us. It is an unconditional love that each of us can feel.
I had a similar experience where I asked to feel of her love and what came blew me away and I cried like a baby. It was like I was a little child who reunited with his mother after a long long absence. I was and am very grateful for that experience and would not change that for the world.
After that experience I know that the mother wants all of her children to feel of her love. She truly is with us and watching over us. She is the one hidden in the darkness who fights off our demons and the adversary. She is the unseen one that loves all of her children even when we do acknowledge her the way our Heavenly Father would see fit. She is the unselfish one that cares only about the well being of her children!
I do pray to Heavenly Mother separately from the Father and sometimes I pray to both at the same time. The Holy Spirit or the Holy Ghost bring things from the Mother and the Father. It is a beautiful concept and God has blessed us with family units as an example.!
Thank you for your post as it has touched me!
Thank you all so much for the edification. These are powerful testimonies.
I have found as well that certain things are learned and given from the Mother and others by the Father. And again the laying on of hands. This is beautiful. Thank you all.
Dan- yes! I think the tree of life can represent them all. In proverbs the tree of life certainly represents the Mother. I think the waters of life represent Christ as well.
I love how still struggling wrote he ran to the Mother. That is meekness. Knowing our dependence and thirsting after their Spirit.
Another thought. Jesus taught we must become as children. What child would not speak to their Mother even if they had to tell dad to get out of the way? What Mother would stand back and watch passively if She could speak and help?
Thank you I have felt the Spirit reading some of Jules posts. Thank you for your testimony and apparently doing a wonderful job as a mother. God bless
26 And I, God, said unto mine Only Begotten, which
was with me from the beginning: Let us make man in our image,
after our likeness; and it was so. . . .
27 And I, God, created man in mine
own image, in the image of mine Only Begotten created I him; male and
female created I them.
God and his Only Begotten created man after their image one
male and one female.
Moses 5:9
9 And in that day the Holy
Ghost fell upon Adam, which beareth record of the Father and the Son,
saying: I [the Holy Ghost] am the Only Begotten of the Father from the
beginning, henceforth and forever, that as thou hast fallen thou mayest
be redeemed, and all mankind, even as many as will.
Sometimes scripture says Holy Ghost when it should say Holy
Spirit.
Well said my friend!!
I have felt the spirit a few different times tell me that there are mistranslations in the bible and even the Book of Mormon. Even If they are small it makes a huge difference in our understanding.
rixa.freeze Denver’s talk in St. George was about marriage and family. Even though he did not discuss “Heavenly Mother” per se he did make it clear how important women were in total plan. His blog post on “Women Witnesses” touched my heart and I wept for an hour. http://denversnuffer.blogspot.com/2014/06/women-witnesses.html Well worth the read.
Mino,
Thank you for your posting about Heavenly Mother,
Why do you think Heavenly Mother is not taught in Churches, especially the Mormon church. I have always believed in a Heavenly Mother and wondered why everything is so male based in all mainstream religions. Why , if She is so important and essential to our happiness, is she not being taught with a trumpet? I am confused at times and trying to understand all this. I had a dream of a Heavenly Mother and Father but do not know what it is supposed to mean.
Does Heavenly Mother have the power of the Priesthood if she is the Spirit? I am confused and who is the Holy Ghost?
TheRevenger
What is the difference between the holy spirit and the holy ghost, i am confused as usual. there is a male and female holy spirit and a father and son and a mother?
StillStruggling
Thank you for your comments.
How do you (I) get this experience like you describe?
Are you Mormon by chance? You dont have to answer, I am just trying to find my way
If only the people could read the Nemenhah records, a lot of this is revealed. Clarity above agreement as Dennis Praeger says.
I had an open vision (I was awake) earlier this year from Heavenly Mother. It was nothing I deserved, I prayed for faith to know her love and she manifested herself to me. For me It is completely different learning from her than feeling the fire which I believe to be the male side. Where the fire feels like the cells In My body are jumping around and gives me energy, the Holy Spirit (the feminine side) feels like a warm waterfall flowing inside of me and fills me with light and love. Heavenly Mother is gentle and showed me the love she has for all. She showed me multiple women in my life and the pain they are going through that I would have never known. She let me experience these pains how they feel to Each it them and how she feels them, and then she let me feel how much she loves these children. The feelings she put in me are not even of this world. The love did not even compare to love I have for my children. It was greater than any power I have ever know . Recently I had a vision while I was asleep and Christ showed himself to me and introduced me to Heavenly Father and Mother. I saw the Father and Heavenly Mother. I am a witness of them both and their glory. She is the Mother of all living things and it is her power and glory that will heal and change this world and all of their children. I was told and shown how her power which is greater than any priesthood power this earth has ever seen will come Into affect. And I was shown a dear friend of mine who will receive a blessing through myself and my daughter who is currently 7 and by the Mother’s power be healed of her infertility and conceive a child, here, in this life.
Christ’s is coming. He is showing himself to many in these last days and preparing us all. The time to come unto Him is now. All he asks is for us to have faith. No works we can do with our own hands mean a thing except it be with His direction and by power from above. Pray for faith, pray for forgiveness, pray to be humbled.
I think most churches do not teach about Heavenly Mother because they do not know about Her.
I would imagine that you had a dream about our Heavenly Parents because they wanted you to know of them. They are real! They can both speak to you.
I agree She should be preached about with a trumpet! Amen to that. She loves each of us and is willing to bless us all more abundantly as we seek greater truth.
The earth is pretty much in apostasy right now to tell you the truth. God is getting ready to gather Israel and we must each personally prepare and not judge others for what they know or how they are preparing. It is Gods work. You are seeking, therefore you will find. We must all seek greater truth and to come to know more. The truth is that only the spirit can teach us in the necessary manner. Why do you think that churches are not teaching about Heavenly Mother?
Following
What I have come to know is there most definitely are two sides of the priesthood. There is the Father, Son ( Jesus Christ ) and the Holy Ghost. That is one side. The there is the Mother, daughter ( Magdalene ) and the Holy Spirit. Both sides have their separate priesthood and are both equally important.
I don’t know why there are not any main stream religions that teach this. I know these things are true and I know that Mary and Jesus were married. I know that Men can feel of the love of their Heavenly Mother and also be guided by the Holy Spirit. I myself am a man. My spiritual journey started with me feeling the Holy Spirit. I do often feel the Holy Ghost but have been blessed greatly to feel the Holy Spirit as a guide more often.
I know woman can feel and receive the Holy Ghost as guide as well. In the end we need to have a fullness of it all no matter if we are male or female. We are all equal in Gods eyes and I know I have 1 heavenly Mother and 1 Heavenly Father
I’m with you my good friend!
Islandsister StillStruggling
Dear Islandsister, your question of how to get this experience is a very good question. I am not sure how to specifically answer t for you. She being a Mother who loves her children more than we understand wants you to have experiences with Her. I am certain She wants you to feel Her love. I would ask Father (if that is who you presently feel comfortable speaking with) in faith, believing, for an experience with Her. All prayers are answered, in a time and place that will benefit you the most. For example…The first time I felt Her love I was working as a contractor. I was actually working in a customers basement of all places. I was alone and contemplating things I was learning and trying to understand, when a feeling of love came over me so strong that I fell to my knees. This Spirit of love filled my soul to overflowing, I remained on my knees, wept, and with up lifted hands poured my heart out to Elohim in gratitude. This intense outpouring of love lasted for about next ten minutes. The feeling stayed with me for days, although not as intense (if it had stayed that intense I would not have been able to function!). So it can happen when and whenever it is right for you! So ask for it, with faith and wait for the Lord to bless you with the experience. It will happen, I can testify of that.
I am a Mormon. I do, however, think a bit differently from most Mormons. I look for truth where ever it presents itself and I feel the responsibility to find truth and guidance is my direct responsibility. I try to not reply on any mortal for truth or learning; I try to always rely on the Spirit and Father. I now look forward to learning wisdom from Mother ( and her daughter, my wife, who has more wisdom than me).
I think the meaning of the word priest is masculine. I may be wrong but doesn’t the word priesthood denote men? I think the power of the Mother would be called priestess hood or something else. I have wondered if the “daughters of Zion” referred to in scripture were priestesses. Or what exactly the “women’s court” in temples is referring to.
I think the nemenhah is also worth looking into, as well as the Kabbalah and the gnostic libraries. I have learned for myself that the “sealed portion” by Chris nemelkah or whoever is not true, although he may think it is. So I can’t recommend that. Read all things by the Spirit and only accept that which the Spirit confirms to you. If it is not received by the spirit it doesn’t mean it’s not true, just don’t put any trust in it, even if it is surrounded by other truths. Kind of like joseph smith said to read the apocrypha. I would recommend reading joseph smiths teachings the same way!
StillStruggling Islandsister
Thank you for sharing! This sounds so similar to my first time experiencing Heavenly Mother and it is exciting to hear of others experiences and also to see many striving to find The Mother. She is our Mother, she knows our hearts and hears our prays. When a mother hears her child crying out, she will come.
It is time to bear my testimony of that which I know concerning this subject.
I’m glad Minority decided to mention Wisdom. The female Wisdom was first explained to me in Russia by an elderly LDS missionary. Even before then I had been ministered to by female angels, particularly my maternal grandmother. Then while I was being taught by missionaries in Utah several things unfolded. One, is that I recorded the call I felt to minister to women concerning their divine potential. That has begun to come to pass with my soon to be wife. The second is once when I was praying and talking with God the Father, an experience happened that I can best describe as Him “handing the phone” to Her. The first thing she did is call me by name. I answered. I won’t talk much more about our conversation–but that was the first time I talked to her. There have only been two or three times since then I have felt it was appropriate to pray to Her, but I now realize I didn’t recognize when I should as much as I could have.
About that time, I thought I found by revelation that God the Father was a polygamist. I am reconsidering it now. Especially because I have no evidence save a feeling which did not ignite me. It came by vision less feeling. I will probably report back in the future.
I learned more in this post and learned how much I have yet to learn about Heavenly Mother and the female aspect of the gospel. I have a great deal to pray about and talk about with her.
Thank you for your testimony as always victor! Congrats on your soon to be marriage with your soon to be wife! God bless friend!
Minorityofone
Thank you Mino
Would you mind sharing a little about your back ground and upbringing. Were you and your family practicing Mormons or Christians of another faith? What was your family like and especially your relationship with your earthly mother and father? I ask this because I think that there might be steps I need to make to understand all this and my family. We had a mixed family and the subject of religion was occasionally taught but I have always had an interest
StillStruggling Islandsister Still Strug
I like that name by the way
That is a very personal and awesome experience about that blessing of Love that you had while working and meditating. I want that too. Thank you for sharing that
TheRevenger
Thank you rev,
My friends where I grew up were mostly Catholic and I know that the Mother Mary s a huge part of their belief and was after all the Mother of the Savior. Is she then Heavenly Fathers Wife since Jesus is their Son? Does God have a Mother and Father? How do I know what the difference is in the spirits of the Mother and Holy Ghost or God is. Why is this so confusing and crazy to me? I like the story still struggling said about love…that just seems right
StillStruggling Islandsister
I re read your post a few times and I am thinking about what you said.
“I look for truth where ever it presents itself and I feel the
responsibility to find truth and guidance is my direct responsibility. I
try to not reply on any mortal for truth or learning;” I need to know what my purpose is too . What are you supposed to do with that truth that you are searching for?
Minorityofone
I dont know why churches dont speak of a Heavenyl Mother – may be they do. I am not aware though
sfort
What is Elohim Heavenly Mother mean and is that bible verses , if so where can I find that. Thank you
StillStruggling Islandsister
I ask if you are Mormon because, the sister missionaries are wanting me to listen to them and be mormon. I hear so many conflicting things and much of what I read is confusing and at odds with what I grew up with. Some of it is just so right though and makes total sense plus they are so happy . Do you think I should let them give me their classes or teachings? They are nice but in reading these postings , I wonder if I am wasting everyones time with all this. I typed in lds blogs and this is one site that came up. I think God must have something more for me to know about. I am being torn in different directions and I Am struggling too to understand.
Islandsister StillStruggling
Sweetie, this is between you and our Heavenly Parents. Please pray and get an answer for yourself. Read all of the Book of Mormon, test Moroni’s promise see:https://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/moro/10.4?lang=eng
You may go as slow or as fast as the spirit directs. Feel free to have the discussions many times and with as many sets of missionaries as you feel is necessary. Just because you take the lessons does not mean you are obligated to join. Please pray often and with earnest in deciding what to do.
In HIm,
Lena Hansen
Hello sister: )
I was born to a family that loved me and my mother sacrificed a lot to raise me and teach me. I was raised as a Mormon. My father and mother taught me about the Mormon religion and I have two younger brothers and an older sister. As a teenager God had mercy on me and began to teach me. I am no longer a member of the Mormon faith because of spiritual experiences that have led me to this point in my life.
If you would feel comfortable I would love to hear of your beliefs (or knowledge) about heavenly Mother. How have you and your sisters learned and been taught? I am very open and believe you could teach me many things. If you do not feel comfortable I understand. You can email me at tinsta17@hotmail.com if you would like. At any rate, thank you for reading and participating in this discussion.
Islandsister My Good sister, you need not be on this blog at this time. The milk before the meat. Please read the Book of Mormon, feel its power and then ask God to tell you what to do. The Spirit is always the confirmer. Jumping ahead to all these other topics will not enhance your journey at this time. Please spend your waking hours pouring over the Book of Mormon. There will be wisdom in this. Blessings to you
Thank you for this beautiful post. There are so many things so dont understand or know yet, and we wont until our hearts are open. My eyes tear up in gratitude that She is coming forth and people are getting to know her. She morns for the world and for her daughters, they way you talk about your wife is refreshing to hear and so tender, thank you.
She has been here from the beginning and there are signs of her all around! She coming forth so much in the last 2 years and there is so much more of Her to come!
This is a post on Heavenly Mother and paper on how she has been here from the beginning and how the importance of male and female is huge!
http://returnto432.blogspot.com/2014/04/432-and-divine-feminine.html
thank you so much for your words
Tissia,
I love this picture! It says a lot. The mother is truly divine and cares for the whole world. Our Heavenly Mother has not gotten the credit that she deserves. She has been in the shadows fighting our battles. She does love us all unconditionally and forgives unconditionally. I am forever grateful for our Heavenly Mother who has been here from the beginning.
We live in a society where women have been treated as lesser than men but this is not how our Heavenly Mother and Heavenly Father want things to be.
I grew up as a Mormon. I am a male who believed the priesthood was only for men but in the last year I have been extremely blessed and have been taught by the Holy Spirit that women are the so so important in these last days. They are the example for all of us men. All husbands need to submit to their wife’s not the other way around.
My friend on this blog Sfort mentions the Nemenhah in these posts. The Nemenhah writings are of the ammonites and how they lived as a people. I don’t believe the writings are all translated perfectly but I know a lot of the principles are true within them. They teach about how important the women are in society and many other things that have to do with our Heavenly Mother.
I have been very grateful to God that he and she have been willing to teach me about my Heavenly Mother, the Holy Spirit, women and their own inherited priesthood in these last days. I had learned a lot about these beautiful concepts and I know there is much more to learn. I am always trying to open my heart to new truths and I am grateful that God is preparing me now before I am married so I may know the true importance of eternal covenants that a husband and wife take on as equals!
God is good! Thanks you for your comment as I have been greatly edified.
Tissia
Thank you! I just read the link and intend to study it further. Yes! We have been so out of harmony and balance is the key. It is beautiful to see people coming to this knowledge. Thank you for your inspiration and work on the subject. Marvelous things are starting to happen and greater things are coming as you know.
I will share quickly an experience I had praying to the Mother. I was calling out to Her and instinctively called Her the Womb. Immediately I was filled with Her Spirit and understood that Her power is in all things. She is nourishing everyone and everything and we are like babies being nourished from Her all of the time. She cares for the animals and plants and everything. She is Life!
Anyway a few weeks later I found in one of the Gnostic texts that they called Her the Womb. It was comforting to know that others have learned of such things. We may be called heretics but the truth is the truth. Thank you and God bless!
Islandsister,
I feel a bit of your pain as I have had struggles this last year in knowing what the differences are in the Holy Ghost, the Holy Spirit and all the other feelings of the “Spirit”.
I grew up with brothers that have been spiritual giants. My older brother Nate is the one who wrote this blog. I have looked up to my two brothers because of their spiritual connection that they have had with our Heavenly Father. I was searching for what they had for a long time.
I had spent much time with my older brother and was greatly edified. While I was searching to receive the Holy Ghost and have this experience I had something unexpected as my brother explains in this article above. I felt the love of our Heavenly mother and received the Spirit which is a female side of things.
Even though I am forever grateful for the amazing experience and the experiences that I have because of it I was very confused because I was experiencing things from my Heavenly mother. I was feeling the female aspect of the Holy Spirit as a guide rather than what most of my peers and family were experiencing with the Holy Ghost and the male side. I had a hard time sharing certain things with my family because I knew it was a little different.
I know that God has a plan and it is perfect for all of us. God knows us perfectly and will use us perfectly. I didn’t know why I was experiencing what I did until recently. I thought I knew what I wanted and needed from God but God knows me better than I know myself. Thank goodness!
I am interested to learn about where you are from and more about you as I have felt the spirit strongly tell me I can learn much from you. If you feel impressed I encourage you to e mail me. I would like to share some experiences with more detail. I would not feel comfortable sharing certain things on this blog. My email address is dankrivanec@gmail.com
TheRevenger Yes! that is what the paper explains at the end, is that everyone has priesthood, even women, and why not? Are we not Gods and create as well?!
Minorityofone
She has so many names! Just like Christ, and all explain an attribute about Her 🙂 Wisdom being one- the gift given to Solomon, he knew The Mother!
I
love all that you explained about Charity, it really is so much more
than we understand. At the end of that paper on that post, it explains
about Charity and Creation. Men and Women both have their roles and
Priesthoods, as it is the power of God, and I believe Charity is
connected very much to this. Its all about Charity!
Islandsister StillStruggling
I love your questions…they are very thought provoking. The answer to explain the reason I search for truth may be very long, but I will try and give a concise answer. The universe, this earth and even us were created by a loving heavenly Father and Mother. The purpose of this creation was to allow us to come here without a knowledge of our previous existence, to be tried and tested to see if we will live our lives in a manner consisted with eternal laws. Universal laws, unchangeable laws. If we could accomplish this we will be able to return to Their presence and continue our path of progression eternally. Otherwise we are stopped in our progression and have to be re-taught, re-instructed and re-tested. It is God’s work to perform this process for His children. He does this out of His tremendous love for us. While we are here there are opposing forces that do not want us to progress; that do not want us to return to our heavenly parents. In order to overcome these negative/evil influences (which are everywhere), we must learn or discover the truth. When we discover the truth or the true nature of things as they really are, we will be able to trust this knowledge. We can have faith in this knowledge or truth. When we have this type of trust or faith, we begin to see things as they really are and God is able to give us more knowledge and more light and truth until we begin to become like Him. As we begin to become like Him, we begin to discover who we really are and we desire to serve Him and to serve others. Eventually we reach a point where we want Him to shape and mold us to become the best we can be. We learn to trust Him without reservation. We learn to hear His voice and follow His every command and desire for us. We become our best selves and we further our progress in this life and in our life beyond this existence. This process brings us joy and happiness in this life and the life or existence to come after this life. So I seek truth and knowledge to learn more about Them (our heavenly parents) So I can become more like Them and try to qualify myself (get my mind and heart right) to receive grace from Them.
Thank you for sharing! I know that women can perform healings and miracles as well as anyone else! This is one of the most amazing things that I believe is coming. It is not just men that will prophesy and heal and gather. Women will be given power over the elements and silence those who have scoffed at the idea of women and priesthood.
Islandsister StillStruggling
Listen to your heart! Have courage to do what your heart tells you. The Mormon church is a very good organization to bring you to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Since you ask, I would encourage you to simply listen to the sister missionaries message and then make a decision based on what you feel in your heart. Trust me, you will not be wasting their time or your time. The search for truth takes a lot of effort and time, but is always worth it. We are all on a different, very individual path through this life. Of course you are torn in different directions, we all are. We all struggle. You are correct in thinking that God has something more for you to know. Remember the feeling you had when you first thought that. Follow that feeling as you search for truth and as you speak with the missionaries. See where it leads you. That feeling is from God and if followed it will lead you to more truth and light and knowledge. This I know.
Yes exactly! I do believe heavily in soulmates. I don’t believe men can create and become like gods without the women and I don’t believe women can become fully like god with out men. I believe in 1 husband and 1 wife and more or less than this is of evil.
Island sister,
I am so intrigued by the things you have been saying. I feel we have been going through similar things. Could we email each other and talk about these things? Tinakriv@gmail.com
StillStruggling
Thank you so much for responding to my probably grade school like questions. Sometimes I dnt know what questions to ask. Some of my fellow workers are Mormon and I have a friend that belongs to a church or group that teach against the mormons. She says they are a cult and worship Joseph Smith and dont really worship Jesus. As I am reading, I see people who were Mormon but are quitting, why? They seem to use it as a stepping stone to something else, I don’t get that. Why should someone leave something that is right or that they say I should read their book? Does God have another church then??? Sorry if I seem dumb. This is all pretty new to me.
sfort
I just ask still struggling this : Why should I read a Mormon Book if everyone that tells be that on this site are now not Mormons. Im confused as to why people say the book is important to read when they dont believe it or are warning me against the people of that church. Are you a Mormon and if not why would you ask me to read their book?
Minorityofone
Thank you for sharing that with me. Is there more than one Mother in Heaven then and does she have a mother? Could you talk to her mother or your grandmother in Heaven? Why didnt Jesus tell us to pray to Heavenly Mother and why do Catholics pray to Mary, AIso is she our Heavenly Mother too? Thanks for taking the time to help me understand.
Lena Hansen
Thank you Lena,
I just ask STILLstruggling this :
Why should I read a Mormon Book if
everyone that tells be that on this site are now not Mormons. Im
confused as to why people say the book is important to read when they
dont believe it or are warning me against the people of that church. Are
you a Mormon and if not why would you ask me to read their book?
I can tell that you are kind and concerned. What is your beliefs and understanding of a Mother in Heaven? Does the Book of Mormon talk about Mother in Heaven? If so, can you write down the pages for me?
MothersDisciple
Thank you for sharing your story about Heavenly Mother. Does she have a name? Does she have a mother too? Is her Husband the Heavenly Father that Jesus spoke to? I was asking Minority and others about these things too. What is the name of your church and how can I learn about all this? Are you a Mormon and do you know if they believe in a Mother in Heaven like you wrote about? Sorry for the bunch o questions. Probably sound like a little kid.
TheRevenger
What do you mean mistranslations? Were they in other languages and then not written correctly? Do you have an example so I know what you mean? You wrote that you felt the spirit tell you that,what do you mean by that?
MothersDisciple
You are way way to far ahead of me. You have had many visions and experiences. I replied to your posting above though. I may be can email you. I am a little nervous though right now.. A lot to think about.
Minorityofone
I dont know what most of the things you wrote are. But I will Google them to see if that helps. The lady missionaries say that the true church has the power of the priesthood and that the Mormons are the only church with the true priesthood, or true beliefs. My family doesnt know what I am asking about either?
Islandsister MothersDisciple
I think it is a good thing to ask many questions and be like a little child:)
I do the same thing all of the time! I feel I have learned things slowly and I want to know so much more. Sometimes I get frustrated with the truths that I have because I feel like I only have a few pieces to a really big puzzle. I feel like when I am confused I have a hard time listening to and feeling the spirit, so I try to take a step back and just worship Heavenly Father and his wife Heavenly Mother, Jesus Christ and his wife Mary Magdalene. I pray for faith all the time and pray to be humbled so that I can be willing to acknowledge and accept the things that I am given. I believe that there are many churches and organizations that teach God’s truths on this earth but I know that not even 1 if them has a fullness of His gospel. I live in Utah and I am 30 years old. I have been a Mormon all of my life. This past year I felt that Christ was missing at church and that I really needed to find Him and accept Him into my life. My husband had received revelations that are not accepted by the Mormon church and it brought much confusion and despair to me. It brought me to my knees in prayer as I begged to know what path I should take and where I should be. It took months of searching and praying. I had an outpouring of the spirit and was shown a vision of my Savior Jesus Christ and the love he has for me and that he atoned for my sins and that although I feel very unworthy and imperfect, in His eyes I am pure and worthy of His love and sacrifice. After this I feel that I was somehow given a baptism by fire in which God showed my how He communicates with me. It feels like electricity surging through my whole body, and it gives my energy. And it is accompanied by a voice or picture or feeling from God of a truth I need to know. Everything I have learned by this power feels like it is welded into me and i can’t deny it. If I denied it I would also have to deny that I even exist because it is a part of me. This was a new and amazing experience for me. I have since then learned many new things by this spirit. I also have felt a different spirit that I call the Holy Spirit rather than the Holy Ghost. I know that it is a feminine spirit and that it is my Heavenly Mother speaking to me. For me this feels like warmth being poured through my body like a waterfall. It encompasses me with love and life and joy. Through this spirit I have been shown and told of other people and their struggles and have been shown love for many of Heavenly Father and Mother’s children. . It is a love that Is out of this world. I recently had a vision while I was in surgery and feel impressed to share it with you if you want. I could email it to you if you are interested.
Thank you for letting me share these amazing experiences with you. I am not anyone special and I do not deserve the things I have been given. I do not know why I have been given certain truths and I do not always know what to do with them. I do know that I have a Father and Mother in Heaven who created this world and who created me and their love for me is unconditional.
These are great questions island sister
You expressed earlier that you have always believed in a Heavenly Mother. Have you felt Her love for you before?
You seem to have had some spiritual experience. First and foremost my advice is to forget a church or any books for a minute. Have you prayed to God and asked Him or Her to know if they are real?
This comes first. Then you can ask God to teach you how They speak to you. The next most important thing will be to pray and ask God to tell you if Jesus Christ is Their Son… Do you have this knowledge from a spiritual experience yet?
This will help me to know how to answer some of your questions. You do not need any church to receive answers to these questions. Then, you can begin a wonderful investigation of many things. Do not take anyone else’s words for it. And when you have experiences the Spirit of God only trust that. If you feel it with the sister missionaries or any other human being ONLY trust the thing you felt the Spirit about. Just because you feel it once means nothing else concerning anything else they tell you.
To say the Book of Mormon belongs to the Mormon church is kind of like saying the bible belongs to just one church. There are literally dozens of churches that believe the Book of Mormon. They all think the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon somehow makes their church true.
Be open and do not prejudge things. This would be prideful because we are not smart enough to know truth from heaven without divine assistance. That pertains to any matter. I know the Book of Mormon is true because God has plainly told me as much. This fact does not mean one whit concerning joseph smith or any church. We must prove all things.
I believe Jesus certainly did teach to pray to Heavenly Mother. Many things have been changed and mistranslated over the centuries. Many of the new findings of scrolls and and ancient writings suggest that praying to Heavenly Mother and learning about Her was quite common.
I do not have all the answers for you. I know that God does and He will speak to you if you open your heart humble and ask Him/Her to in a believing way. The question is if you are willing to follow God if He reveals Himself to you? Are you willing to allow Him to change you and your behaviors if it is necessary? Are you willing to give anything to experience His mighty power and the joy of the prophets who have gone before you. I can promise you it is worth it. Bow down and cry out to the Mother or Father and plead with Them to make Themselves known to you. They will if They haven’t already. Thank you for your continued interest. No human can change you or add to you spiritually. That must come from above.
I am very intrigued by everything I have read. From yourself and from others.
I know there are a lot of people on here that are great men and women that all have many spiritual gifts from god. I have been great edified and have learned a lot from Everyone on this site.
That being said I know that we all learn and teach in different ways. There are a lot of voices and opinions of what is right and what is wrong. In my opinion it is hard when there are so many angles from all these great people of what truth is.
I think it would be better for you to talk to the person that resonates most with you and what you are searching for.
If you are searching for Heavenly mothers love and learning of her I would recommend talking to my sister in law Tina (mothersdisciple) who has been writing here. She is someone that I highly respect because of the love that she has and the example of our Heavenly mother that she has with her. I have felt and learned much about my Heavenly mother while talking with her. She is a spiritual giant and loves our heavenly mother deeply! I look to her as an example and believe that there is much truth that you may find while discussing things with her.
This is just an opinion and I think you should pray about the direction you should look towards.
Just know that I will be earnestly praying for you and praying that you will find the purpose and truth that you seek, much more than you may ever know!
God bless!
Islandsister sfort
Let’s begin at the beginning. It is advisable not to refer to anyone in a label form. There really isn’t any people called Mormons. Mormon is rolling in his grave. The people here want and seek for truth. Truth can be found in the new covenant called the Book of Mormon and the Spirit, and other things as the Spirit dictates. Truth is all around us. When you get caught up in the group thing, you lose individuality, which salvation is. As I said before, discover the Book of Mormon first, understand its principles and then pray for your next step. No group of people will save you or give you salvation. Read the Book.Have a happy journey.
The Divine Feminine
I want to express my appreciation to Nate (and Tina) for this post. I was excited when I first read it and knew it was something I wanted opened for discussion on my blog. I have long wondered in my own mind why men and women feel the influence of the Lord differently. Of course, I can’t say for certain how women feel the influence of the Lord. I can only say what they tell me.
For years, I have sat in church and listened to the prayers of women focus on feeling the spirit. Their words implore our Heavenly Father to send a comforting spirit, one that causes them to feel warm and safe and loved all at once. Being married to Carol for over thirty-two years has also taught me the importance of feelings. How she feels about something is critically important.
I contrast this to the prayers of men in which they ask for enlightenment, to understand and to be edified by what they hear. I think of this quote from Joseph, “This first comforter or Holy Ghost has no other effect than pure intelligence. It is … powerful in expanding the mind, enlightening the understanding and storing the intellect with … knowledge.” Do you see the difference?
This quote from Denver also comes to mind: “The Holy Ghost does not thrill you, it informs you. It gives you understanding. … thrilling music can rouse you. A great TV show can get you thrilled and feeling goose bumps. That is not the Holy Ghost.” It seems Denver is suggesting that emotion or feeling are not part of the experience of being taught or uplifted by the Holy Ghost.
Continuing, “The Holy Ghost enlightens your mind, it enlivens your senses, it brings light into your life, and you understand something anew. Understanding, comprehension, light and truth—these are the Holy Ghost, not emotion, thrills and goose bumps.” It seems as if the idea of a comforter is foreign to this definition provided by Joseph and expanded by Denver Snuffer.
I hope the dialog continues on this subject. One of my readers asked me why I allowed this subject to be posted on my blog. I’ll tell you why. I am convinced men and women experience the Holy Ghost differently in their lives and I want to know more about it. I am fairly certain I understand it from the man’s point of view. I want to know more about the divine feminine.
I also want the sweet peaceful feelings that come from God when I have a need to be comforted. Yes, I know the role of the Holy Ghost is to help me understand and comprehend light and truth. But I also know, from sacred experiences in prayer that God can and does send the comforter to do just that – to comfort us, to cause us to feel at peace and whole, safe, secure and united.
I believe the Holy Ghost can be thought of as the mind of God, a part of our higher self and many other definitions that imply knowledge and intelligence. On the other hand, I equate the Holy Spirit with the comforter, bringing feelings of peace, helping us feel connected and as one. What do you think? Is there a difference? Is the Holy Spirit the influence of Heavenly Mother?
Tissia
The Spirit told me there is much more going on here than most people know. God bless you in your search. God bless our friend the island sister and all of her sisters in their search. The great day of gathering is upon us and the earth will never be the same. Let all people rejoice.
I really cannot help myself although I should not be the first person probably. I will state this as my opinion (I guess). If you have a thought that is accompanied with peace, this is not the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost always speaks accompanied by power. The fire is a tingly feeling that often does not come with sure understanding and spoken revelation.
The Holy Ghost is not just a profound thought or aha moment. If there is no power flowing into you, (those of you that have experienced the baptism of fire know what I mean) than it is not the Holy Ghost. The nephites were in the presence of The Lord from day to day in third nephi and they prayed for the Holy Ghost! If an angel of glory appears you will be feeled with the Holy Ghost to even abide his/her presence.
If you have to ever wonder “was that thought from God or just me”, then you have not received revelation by the power of the Holy Ghost. This is what has been warned about in the scriptures of people who “follow after their own spirit”.
That is my two cents.
Actually nope I have more. Joseph smith also said, that the Holy Ghost is “pure intelligence FLOWING INTO YOU.” What is intelligence according to what joseph smith had to say? It is the very substance of what God is made of. It is glory. No it is not just thrills and emotions and goosebumps, it is a literal power that flows through us and reveals truth upon truth in a manner that cannot easily be forgotten. Every time the Holy Ghost flows through us it sanctifies our flesh and casts out evil.
The Holy Spirit is given in the same manner but it does not have the fire. It is life and refreshment and penetrating and tender but just as powerful. It is definitely feminine.
I offer anyone a challenge. If you think the Holy Ghost is just thoughts while feeling great peace and a voice in your mind without substance flowing through you, then why not try and have that experience about ANYTHING? If I thought that that was all there was to the Holy Ghost, I could surely convince myself of anything and everything. I can bow my head in stillness and speak anything I want to myself.
Ha ha I would love a thoughtful discussion on this as well. Especially from those who know they have been baptized by the Spirit. Look up lorenzo snows baptism of fire. That is a good description. This same experience happens every single time that the Holy Ghost speaks to us…
I have felt the spirit strongly about what my brothers Nate writes! There is much here and may God bless you on your search. The curse that has been on this earth and under this earth is now being lifted! The eyes of the world are now being opened! The love of our Heavenly Mother is ever so present and ready to be spread all across the whole earth! Let the healing begin!! May God be with you in your search!!
Island sister,
There are many questions and things that you and are asking. I have been greatly edified with the spirit since you and Tissia started commenting. Thanks you for your presence.
As far as the mistranslations, there are many books and “scriptures” that we have. Many of them have beautiful teachings but over the many thousands of years and wickedness of men they had been corrupted and we are waiting for a seer to translate them correctly with the power of God.
When I speak about the spirit and feeling it it could be a lot of different things. There are many different types of the spirit and I believe in all of them. My brothers, my sister in law have experienced many gifts of the spirit. They are just different ways that god communicates with us. I know that there are angels, guardian angels, deceased relatives, the fire, the life, Holy Ghost, Holy Spirit, the spirit of the earth and so on! I know this might cause a lot of people to question but there are many gifts of the spirit and we need to seek after them all.
With all of these different types of the spirit the heavens will open and we are able to communicate with whoever the messenger may be. There is a literal power and energy that enters into te body an communicates with the soul that is within us. I have been blessed to be able to communicate with many different a types and people. I know that there
is life after this as I have spoken on occasion with my deceased grandmother and uncle. Many of my family Members have as well. We have been blessed to feel the spirit of the earth together. That being said when I say spirit it could mean a lot of different things but it all comes from the same God as all of these spirits speak by the power of the Holy Ghost!
With all of these people online there are many different opinions. What I recommend to you is to speak to my sister in law Tina (mothers disciple). She is very very in tune with our Heavenly Mother and I look to her as a great example and a mother figure! I have been so edified with her and learned much because of her wisdom. She is an example of Charity and righteousness as are most women. She would be able to answer your questions much better than I am able to. I have a hard time getting the right words when writing!
All I can say is you are prayers and have been in my prayers for a long time, much longer than you may realize! May God be with you in your personal search and my God be with you in your search at this time with your sisters!
Tim,
Thank you for this comment! I had a hard time with the difference between the Holy Spirit and the Holy Ghost for a long time. I had not been feeling the Holy Ghost as I had thought.
I made a comment to island sister below about the spirit and what I meant.
I have felt and learned so much by experiencing different things from different spirits. You are right about the Holy Ghost. It brings pure intelligence and knowledge The Holy Spirit brings truth and clarity.
There is the fire which is from the male side which is electric and casts out all evil. There is also the life which Nate mentions that brings that calm peaceful feeling. I would have to disagree some what with Denver snuffer about the goosebumps whole feeling music! I know by the Holy Ghost that that is a comforting spirit of either fire or life that comes from God! Once I prayed to know about that feeling and received and answer that it was from god I started acknowledge it to my friends and family and began to receive it more often. I thank God every single time I feel the Fire or the Life. It may not come with the revelation that the Holy Ghost or the Holy Spirit brings but it still is truth and can bring either power or peace that we all need!
Tissia,
I just read through that paper and it is awesome!! It is everything the spirit has been teaching myself, my brother and sister in law in the last year! From the higher vibrational frequencies, the ascension to heaven, the signs in the skies, ( such as the 4 blood moons ) the spirit within us. The balance needed with the priesthood of women and men, the names such as Sophia, Naomi and many others for our Heavenly Mother, building up of Zion! It’s is all just awesome! To find all of these teachings in one paper that have taken a year to learn by the spirit from many difference sources and religions is quite amazing and refreshing! It was very comforting to read this and have another confirmation that what the spirit has taught me is true! Thank you so much for sharing that paper!
1 John 4:1-3King James Version (KJV)
4 Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.
2 Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:
3 And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.
7 And ye may know that he is, by the power of the Holy Ghost; wherefore I would exhort you that ye deny not the power of God; for he worketh by power, according to the faith of the children of men, the same today and tomorrow, and forever.
8 And again, I exhort you, my brethren, that ye deny not the gifts of God, for they are many; and they come from the same God. And there are different ways that these gifts are administered; but it is the same God who worketh all in all; and they are given by the manifestations of the Spirit of God unto men, to profit them.
Let us all worship the best we know how. God will bless us all according to the desires of our hearts.
When one person says “energy” or “electricity” it may mean something entirely different than the hearer thinks. Some people say it feels electric or high energy at a concert or when we are pumped up etc. when I say energy or electricity it is the pure flowing spirit of God entering and communicating with me.
The same can be said about goosebumps or a “warm fuzzy” feeling. It all can be confusing to people. Same with “chills”. Of course I had felt all of those things long before experiencing the Holy Ghost. Such a heavenly experience is not easy to describe. Certainly if each of us is seeking and striving to find and follow God then we will be blessed accordingly. Thank you for posting this Tim despite the controversial topic. The last thing I want to do is upset Tim’s readers and if I have caused offense it has never been intended. I am going to take a bit of a reprieve and enjoy some other peoples posts. I do hope others will feel prompted to share and teach. God bless
Tim Malone
I have always wondered why they called them different things….Holy Ghost and Holy Spirit. I tend to believe that they are different spirits. I think the Holy Spirit is Heavenly Mother, woman and men do feel these two spirits differently and even women to women and men to men feel and experience things all different- because we all have different DNA. But I think women tend to learn and feel with their hearts and men more their heads, and thus comes the woman and their “feelings”. Neither is better than the other but we all are seeking for these to come into a balance and unity so that our heart and mind are one.
I cant say one way I feel Her influence on my life, there are lots of them. But maybe the biggest one right now, is the spirit of Wisdom- knowing what to do and when to do it and how- She is the giver of Divine timing and Order, and I see Her work in my life everyday and it has been a blessing. She also unlocks hearts, people just talk and spill their thoughts of things they dont normally say, like: “I dont know why I am telling you this but…”
She also is the giver of life, meaning a long life. Like the only commandment with a promise….Honor thy Father and Mother, that thy days may be long upon the land. She is the Tree of Life that brings forth the Love of God. She is beauty of life, abundance, dancing and creation. Being creative brings Her in your life, She is Creation! There are so many ways to feel and see Her in our lives.
The Holy Ghost is more pure intelligence, I may describe it as things I never would have put together or though of. Our intelligence knows so much down here and we have just forgotten it, but when we can open that and connect, that pure intelligence flows from the One Source.
TheRevenger
I am so glad that you liked it! She has been coming forth very strong in the last year and a half or so, because things have to come into a balance before Zion and these great things can come
Islandsister StillStruggling
Dear Islandsister-I can tell you have a lot on your mind. You do not seem dumb. I want to help. Do you pray? Do you know how to pray? You should first learn these things and learn to get answers directly from God. If they are not directly from God they won’t “stick” with you anyway. I want you to find truth, I want you to find God. You need to seek Him first. How can I help?
Tissia,
Did you write the post that this link goes to? Is it your blog? Thanks for sharing, there are so many amazing things on there!
sfort Islandsister
then why even have a church . is the end result to be a lone wolf or something
sfort
just checking in to see if you answered
TheRevenger
Just checking to see if you answered yet
StillStruggling Islandsister
Hi Still struggling
I am so excited..I prayed and prayed and got an answer…Beautiful and peaceful and so clear…I was thinking about many things that have been written here, and I know the answer now. Thank you for sharing your experiences. I know now that Heavenly Father Lives and that Jesus is His Holy Son.
I also know that Heavenly Father is so loving and forgiving. He loves me! I know that Heavenly Mother is a very holy and highly sacred subject and that Heavenly Father said there are steps I need to make before things open up and are shown to me. I know that even tossing her Holy name around or even referencing her should not be done lightly or disrespectfully. I also know that this is to be revealed on my path after meeting again with the sisters of the Mormons. I am calling them back today to share this. I know now that a lot of people are trying to teach me confusing things that I know now many are just lies and I am to avoid them and keep my feet on the path that was shown to me. I also know that I came to this webpage for a reason and it was to read your posting from a few days ago . It is so vividly clear, it is amazing. I cant wait to share this with the missionary sisters.
It was like I breathed in a very warm breath of clear air into my lungs on a cold day and it heated up my entire body and my mind and thoughts and eyes were seeing through pure crystal or nothing was fogging my view. My mind and body are somehow experiencing a change and I want to share it but I need to be super careful to whom I do share this. I feel a desire to pray do it again and again. How is this even possible? I had no idea what this was like when people tried to tell of their experiences. Now I cant wait to share this. I know that many of the subjects I prayed for and asked Heavenly Father about are so dear to Him that I felt like I almost was violating some trust even pursuing it. It was made so clear what path I need to take and stay on and that to go off that path would mean losing that clarity and feeling. Thank you for sharing your experience. So much to learn
MothersDisciple
Hi there, Please read my post to still struggling. I feel strongly that you need to change your screen name and be very very careful in what you share. I say this out of deep love and respect for you whom I don’t even know. After what I experienced, I am asking you out of a kind of super reverence. I know that the Son was sent for a very sacred reason and that I am to be His follower and Him alone if I am to stay on the path laid out in front of me in my visit. I am saying this with gentle care and kindness
Islandsister sfort Church in greek means assembly or gathering. The Savior said, …where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I also. The propblem is that our belief systems want a large building and large groups or many churches to constitute church. If you desire to mingle with an organization for social reasons and to help to stay strong in your belief, so be it. The largemeness of the institution does not necessarily constitute the Lord’s church.
After the restoration of the church or assembly in 1830, it became as men would have it, like what they were used to and what their belief system showed them. There is nothing wrong with the Latter-day Saint church as a chuch for social integration.. The people are kind and giving and love their prophet! For social reasons, it could be of solice for you. Read the Book of Mormon to understand what the Lord is asking of his people today. Such is my admonition to you from the start. You must think of these things in the beginning and not look towards a church for your salvation.
Islandsister StillStruggling Island Sister – I have been watching this conversation with great interest. Forgive me if I got a little lost. THere were questions (were they from you?) concerning how we could encourage someone to read the Book of Mormon and then say we have left the church (I have not left the church). I have not seen any answers to this – although it is possible that I simply missed them. The Book of Mormon is true. Joseph Smith is a prophet of God. The Doctrine and Covenants are true and teach great truths. Unfortunately, there comes a time for some when they realize that the church, as good as it is, is an institution influenced heavily by imperfect man. Some of us are realizing that we have a higher calling – the calling to build Zion. Few, if any, of us would be in a position to recognize this had it not been for the church. Unfortunately, the church today does not tolerate different opinions very well, and often people are kicked out or feel prompted to resign. This is a very sad state of affairs, but it has been predicted in the scriptures. We are living in the last days. Amazing things are going to happen. I once heard a story of how the Savior told Joseph F Smith (Joseph Smith’s nephew that all in the church had turned against Him (meaning turned against the Savior). I cannot bear the thought of turning against the Savior. CANNOT BEAR IT! I must follow my Savior, and if that means (I hope not) that I must depart from the path the Church is on, then so be it. God bless you for your honest inquiry.
Islandsister StillStruggling
Dear Island Sister
I am so happy for you! So happy! It warms my
heart! I have been praying that Father would give you an answer when
you prayed to Him. Your spiritual journey is now beginning! It sounds
like He has given you much more than I even expected. Isn’t He great?!
Now you know without a doubt what the Holy Ghost feels like. He has
brought you knowledge. You have heard God’s voice. Remember, always
remember this voice. It is the voice that will guide you. It is the
voice that will teach you. You are wise to guard these feelings and keep
them close to your heart. As you said, you must be careful with whom
you share these things. Father will guide you if you listen to Him and
let you know with whom these things can be shared. You are correct in
thinking that there are many lies and false ideas all around us. We
must follow our Father and obey His voice. This is the path of truth
and knowledge and happiness.
I enjoyed your explaining
the feeling of a warm breath of clear air. The experiences we get from
Father are amazing! I know this is from God, because the Spirit teaches
us to pray. Isn’t it great! Again I am so happy for you! If you feel
comfortable, I would like to keep in touch on your progress. There is
so much to learn, but a thousand mile journey begins with one step.
Keep the faith. Remember this sacred experience you have had. Have
courage to take the steps Father has revealed to you.
Islandsister Lena Hansen
Dear Island Sister,
Yes, I am a Mormon. I have a strong testimony of the Book of Mormon. I attend church weekly. I have a calling. I have a current temple recommend.
Heavenly Mother is found in the scriptures, but knowledge of her is symbolic. I believe she is a Holy Spirit. She and Heavenly Father are full and equal partners in: “39 For behold, this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.”-Moses 1:39 (Pearl of Great Price)
Think of her when you read about the Tree of Life in 1Nephi in the Book of Mormon.
Good Luck on your journey,
Lena
StillStruggling
Still Struggling
Whew! What an amazing day of experiences. Where I felt so hungry for a purpose and lost with out one, I now am blessed and loved beyond my comprehension. I feel changed and charged and with great purpose. I feel at one with Heavenly Father and His Son and want o be with everyone. Being forgiven makes me want to forgive and love everyone. I want to help others and love others and show reverence to everyone even those I have disliked and that have hurt me so badly. It is almost like people don’t know who they are and who they are dealing with as they walk day to day seeing one another . I never thought it was possible to love those that have been so cruel to me. Something inside of me is rooting deeper into my inside body and mind and is shaking me to the core. What ever was looking out behind my eyes from inside of me is from Heavenly Father and I am His for sure. I see like darkness outside trying to get into this conduit or protective pathway. It really is two things or powers fighting against or repelling against one another. I can tell you this, that the light is so so much stronger and safer but the blackness or this type of gravity or dark energy, if you will, is pressing at me but seems powerless to get at me if that makes sense. The light is beyond my words to write of and seems to be the very thing that is keeping me alive and making my cells and atoms move and live. It is like minute tiny particles expanding and reacting to the light and this power coming from Heavenly Father.If I could put a description on this light, it would be a clear and penetrating type of love and life. God does really live and He is Amazing and also is beyond my words to describe. Everyone needs to know this. I am not dreaming this up. I can only describe the darkness as such a polar opposite kind of energy. It is like a gravity of doom or hate and wants my particles or atoms and my attention to consume it or dismantle it somehow and destroy it. I seem very aware of the two fields and powers and it is scarey because I see now how easily I could have chosen the dark and thought it was the way to go. It is almost as if the darkness has a light or compelling gravity of its own. Its beyond my ability to give it true description. I do know what was confusing and hard to begin to understand is now so clear and somehow imprinted within me. I wish I could relate this all and the other things i have seen more clearly to you. Thank you for caring and sharing. I hope you feel the love and purpose and clarity I have seen and felt. It is like a new sense that has been given, like a combination of hearing, seeing and feeling, but even more heightened or realized. I hope I have not over shared
Island sister,
Wonderful thank you for sharing your experience with receiving an answer. It sounds like a seed has been planted in your heart and your spirit is expanding and your mind is being enlightened.
Just a couple of thoughts for you. You mentioned darkness and the adversary. You have opened up a battle against darkness. The adversary will be working against you and try to convince you that you have somehow earned this experience and have received this because of your own righteousness. You know in your heart this is not true. Christ is the only way we can have these experiences. If you continue to thirst and continually thank God for giving you this, even though you don’t deserve it, you will be given more.
The adversary will seek to convince you (sometimes through people) that some of the credit for your spiritual experience should be given to other human beings, or because of a book, or an organization. This to is a lie. This experience is happening because of God’s perfect love for you and not because of anything on this earth.
The adversary will try to convince you that because you have felt God’s love, this somehow makes you better than others and qualified to lift yourself up as a teacher. We all are called to different things and others paths may be just as valid as whichever path God leads you down. People have experienced what you are going through in hundreds of different belief systems and their experience is just as valid.
In the Book of Mormon we are taught to humble ourselves, even in the depths of humility, calling on the name of The Lord daily. This is the only way we can remain clean and continue to receive the spirit. God bless you and yours.
Island sister
Let me give a guess at what you have been going through… You have been discussing a lot with the sister missionaries and they have been telling you many wonderful things. Just recently you prayed and received the beautiful answer you have shared. You have shared that you received knowledge that God is real and that His Son is the Savior! How beautiful.
Now please consider this. Please I implore you to just take a second and think… There is no doubt the sister missionaries have told you some things shared here and around the internet are sacred and Heavenly Mother is sacred (which She is). Then they told you that Heavenly Mother is so sacred we should not talk about Her. You received an answer in prayer after speaking with the sister missionaries and so you have chosen to believe EVERYTHING they told you.
I will testify to you that God has told me and many others that the only reason the LDS church does not talk about Heavenly Mother is because the church (speaking collectively) has made themselves unworthy of Her. Polygamy was NEVER commanded by God to anybody in the LDS church. NEVER. If the sister missionaries tell you differently (despite all of the wonderful truths they might share) they are lying and bearing false witness.
You may feel to join the church and God may plan for you to do just that, but do not let your trust rest in anything but God and what He alone tells you. It sounds like what He has revealed to you is His love and reality and the reality of His Son. There are thousands of churches that know of this reality but the sister missionaries will try to convince you that this means the LDS church is true and everything they teach you is true. This is a lie. I would highly recommend that you go to speak with some evangelicals or born again Christians and talk about grace. You will have the same magnificent experience talking with them about Christ as you are with the sister missionaries.
If anyone on this earth teaches to you that the LDS church is the one true church, they are deceived themselves. That does not mean you won’t have the spirit touch you deeply about other truths they share. Please just take a this challenge seriously. What you have experienced is apparently happening while you are not a member of the LDS church. You are not a member but you are experiencing the spirit! You never have to become a member to continue with this spirit! Ask God He will tell you the same thing! Do not give the missionaries credit for what God has given you! This is exactly what the adversary wants. Jesus Christ is the ONLY reason you received these experiences because you had faith to seek God.
Now think about this, now you probably have a desire to go ask the missionaries and share with them and see what they have to say about all of this. Does this not show that you are beginning to put your trust in them!? Why would you want to know what they have to say about it?! We are not supposed to ever put our trust in human beings.
Sister, ask God in faith in the same way that you have asked if the LDS church is Gods one and only true church on the earth. Ask God if Joseph Smith was commanded to practice polygamy. You know you can get answers now. Will you do this?
To all who may feel impressed to read. This testimony was written by an “apostle” that I was corresponding with for a time. I asked him (as I have asked so many in the church) if the voice of God had ever told him word for word that the church he belonged to was the one and only true church. I know some of the experiences he shared were given of God. I apologize for the length as people often do this man tried to convince me with more ways than just his testimony. I already knew the answer before I asked him this question but I was attempted to help him think for himself. I would love to hear others thoughts….
This brings me to share what I believe I have been shown in regard to the Church of Christ and if I have been told by the Holy Ghost it is the only true church. First let me say that I don’t remember a singular experience where the Holy Ghost convicted me in plain language about the Church but it came through experiences over several years and in different ways. It would be easy to give an answer of yes or no to your question and keep it simple but I don’t think that was what you were really looking for and I am thankful to seek the Lord for the memories of experiences that have strengthened my faith. As I considered your question about my personal experience I spent part of the night asking the Lord to help me remember experiences over many years of service to him.
I grew up in the Church of Christ. As I shared with you before my great grandfather had an experience that brought him to the Church of Christ and so I am a fourth generation member of the Church of Christ. I grew up in a local congregation that was filled with wonderful and godly people, and my father had studied much to know what he believed and why, so it was easy to take the church for granted and just believe it was true. When I was 15 years old my grandfather who was very close to me passed away and it changed my life. God used that experience to make himself personal and real to me. Up to that time I had been sheltered in so many ways. Even though I had read the Book of Mormon, prayed about it, tested it and believed it, I had never had a reason to question the church. I had no idea what had happened in our history, only bits and pieces of what I had heard here or there, but really not much understanding. When I was 16 the Lord through revelation called me to the priesthood office of teacher. Suddenly it became really important to know what I believed and why I believed it was the truth. I suppose this
really was the beginning of the journey for me. My father had several experiences and was assured of them and being a strong personality, although not overbearing to me, it challenged me somewhat. My dad realized my need of my own testimony of the truth if I was to be able to really serve the Lord faithfully, so he encouraged me to seek the Lord and study the word of God for answers to my many questions.
I was impressed in a statement you made about not trusting in any man no matter what position they hold unless God tells you it is true. This is how my dad started with me. He would tell me, “don’t take my word for it read it yourself and seek the Lord about it”, then we would discuss any number of questions I had about the gospel. This was the condition of how I started my search to find God’s truth and not mans. This is when the Holy Ghost began to work in greater measure in my life and reveal the truthfulness and faithfulness of Gods’ word to me. I remember reading in 2nd Nephi where it said the words of Christ would tell us all things that we should do. I began to understand this was how Christ said the Holy Ghost would work in our lives, “John 14:26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.
Getting back to my testimony, my father often reminded me that the scriptures were written for us so we might know the word of God, and dad was always reminding me of the unchangeableness of God. Early on in my search I was convinced by study of the scriptures and history that there was an apostasy and also a need for a restoration. Having already read the Book of Mormon several times and being convinced of its’ truth, that was not a hard conclusion to reach. Next I began to read through our outline of the history of the restored church. Wow, the story of how Joseph Smith received a revelation from the Lord not to join any of the churches of the day and all the story of how he was chosen by God to translate the Book of Mormon and all those early experiences thrilled my soul. As I continued to read I became more and more aware that some of the things it said the church at that time did and believed, we did not believe or teach in the Church of Christ circa, 1980. Several times in my reading of the history of the church I was troubled by what I read. I felt like the enemies of the Book of Mormon had a lot of ammunition they could use against us in some of those things that I read. Things that were being taught that I could not recall being taught in the Bible or Book of Mormon and some things I understood were taught against in the scriptures and I would wonder, Lord how could they have gotten off the path like that? Finally I got to the part of history where Joseph Smith was killed and how the church of 200,000 members came apart and divided and went different directions and had different beliefs, each claiming to be the true remnant of the church that was established by prophecy and by God in 1830. There I was again back to a dilemma of which one or ones were true and right.
My memory can’t recall the perfect order in which everything happened in my life but several things happened that added to my witness. The Church of Christ (Temple Lot) has been small and insignificant in the world as long as I can remember and as far back as I read in the history after the death of Joseph. This was a concern to me and often my dad and I would talk about it. Again my dad steered me back to the scriptures and challenged me with the obvious question, what do the scriptures say Christ’s church should look like and be like? I knew that was a fair and right question and had heard brothers preach about it and it always sounded right but I knew I had to search it out myself. Again the Book of Mormon came to my aid with its plainness and directness. I was especially drawn to the experience the disciples in 3rd Nephi had with Jesus Christ. They had seen him and been taught by him, and Christ had left and gone to teach another group somewhere in the world, when the disciples ran into a problem. There was a disagreement among the people about what the name of the church should be called, so the disciples met together in mighty fasting and prayer to seek the Lord on the matter. I am going to quote what it says in our 1990 version of the Book of Mormon but I believe yours should read similar and since we are chaptered and versed differently I will give you the reference 3rd Nephi 27;1-22
1990 version 3rd Nephi 12:14-35
14 ¶And it came to pass that as the disciples of Jesus were journeying and were preaching the things which they had both heard and seen, and were baptizing in the name of Jesus, it came to pass that the disciples were gathered together, and were united in mighty prayer and fasting.
15 And Jesus again shewed himself unto them, for they were praying unto the Father, in his name; and Jesus came and stood in the midst of them, and saith unto them, What will ye that I shall give unto you? 16 And they saith unto him, Lord, we will that thou wouldst tell us the name whereby we shall call this church; for there are disputations among the people concerning this matter. 17 And the Lord said unto them, Verily, verily I say unto you, Why is it that the people should murmur and dispute because of this thing?18 Have they not read the scriptures, which saith, Ye must take upon you the name of Christ, which is my name? for by this name shall ye be called at the last day; and whoso taketh upon him my name, and endureth to the end, the same shall be saved at the last day; 19 Therefore, whatsoever ye shall do, ye shall do it in my name; therefore ye shall call the church in my name; and ye shall call upon the Father in my name, that he will bless the church for my sake; and how be it my church, save it be called in my name? 20 For if a church be called in Moses’ name, then it be Moses’ church; or if it be called in the name of a man, then it be the church of a man; but if it be called in my name, then it is my church, if it so be that they are built upon my gospel. 21 Verily I say unto you, that ye are built upon my gospel; therefore ye shall call whatsoever things ye do call in my name; therefore if ye call upon the Father, for the church, if it be in my name, the Father will hear you; 22 And if it so be that the church is built upon my gospel, then will the Father shew forth his own works in it;
23 But if it be not built upon my gospel, and is built upon the works of men, or upon the works of the devil, verily I say unto you, They have joy in their works for a season, and by and by the end cometh, and they are hewn down and cast into the fire, from whence there is no return; 24 For their works do follow them, for it is because of their works that they are hewn down; therefore remember the things that I have told you.
25 Behold I have given unto you my gospel, and this is the gospel which I have given unto you, that I came into the world to do the will of my Father, because my Father sent me; 26 And my Father sent me that I might be lifted up upon the cross; and after that I had been lifted up upon the cross, I might draw all men unto me: 27 That as I have been lifted up by men, even so should men be lifted up by the Father, to stand before me, to be judged of their works, whether they be good or whether they be evil; 28 And for this cause have I been lifted up; therefore, according to the power of the Father, I will draw all men unto me, that they may be judged according to their works. 29 And it shall come to pass, that whoso repenteth and is baptized in my name, shall be filled; and if he endureth to the end, behold, him will I hold guiltless before my Father, at that day when I shall stand to judge the world. 30 And he that endureth not unto the end, the same is he that is also hewn down and cast into the fire, from whence they can no more return, because of the justice of the Father: and this is the word which he hath given unto the children of men. 31 And for this cause he fulfilleth the words which he hath given, and he lieth not, but fulfilleth all his words; and no unclean thing can enter into his kingdom; 32 Therefore nothing entereth into his rest, save it be those who have washed their garments in my blood, because of their faith, and the repentance of all their sins, and their faithfulness unto the end.
33 Now this is the commandment, Repent, all ye ends of the earth, and come unto me and be baptized in my name, that ye may be sanctified by the reception of the Holy Ghost, that ye may stand spotless before me at the last day. 34 Verily, verily I say unto you, This is my gospel; and ye know the things that ye must do in my church; for the works which ye have seen me do, that shall ye also do; 35 For that which ye have seen me do, even that shall ye do; therefore if ye do these things, blessed are ye, for ye shall be lifted up at the last day.
These verses did so much for me as I considered that Christ felt it important to take the time and leave wherever he was to come answer the question directly. A simple question of what name should we call this church? From this point on in the Book of Mormon the church was called the church of Christ. I have often been surprised at how little emphasis these verses which are so plain, have been given by many in the restoration. Even when asking other members of restoration churches about it, they always have a way of walking around the obvious answer given by Christ as though it was unimportant and insignificant. These verses gave me a part of the answer I was seeking and I understood why Joseph Smith was told by direct revelation from God to establish the Church of Christ, God not willing to vary from his word. The other criteria that Christ also gave those early disciples to understand was that not only was the church to be called in His name but it had to have His gospel taught in it, or it was not His church. Lastly they were told that His works must be done in it. Each of these pieces gave me things I felt I should be looking for if I was to find Christ’s true church.
As I considered these things I begin to draw on the scriptures to remind me how Christ made His church and what he taught, and the works he did. This included the priesthood offices he called and placed in his church. As I began to look at the Church of Christ to which I was a member I could see the similarities to the scriptural pattern.
Continued….
At this time in my life, my early teens and 20’s, we had one of the older apostles in our congregation which was given of the Lord many wonderful gifts, notably prophecy and revelation. This is not intended to praise the man for he was only an instrument in the hands of God, but I saw so many times the works of the Lord in our midst. I heard speaking in tongues several times, and felt the spirit of the Lord in great power among us. Several times this man was used to stand and speak to us and began, “thus saith the Lord to you my people”, followed by a message or rebuke or sometimes encouragement when we were down and I can’t tell you how many times I felt the spirit of God in great power. I remember one time this brother was bearing a testimony to the congregation and in the middle of his testimony he stopped and began to weep, and suddenly as though he was overcome by the spirit he began to speak to a woman in our congregation, directly answering a question she had been seeking the Lord about privately. The love of the Lord for us was so often felt time after time. I even remember the Lord using this man to rebuke a minister in front of everyone during a service and the love of God was so overpowering to this brother that even in rebuke it was felt. This man immediately humbled himself before the Lord. I tell you these things Nate because these experiences as well played a part in showing me that truly the works of Christ were in our church. Since that time I have had many such experiences with the works of the Lord, and it continues to be a testimony to me that even though it is not sufficient to stand alone as my only witness to the church, for I know many churches do have similar experiences, it is part of what should be in Christ’s church.
Sometime in the early years of my ministry I had to address the history of the Church and what happened that made us so different in our beliefs, even though there were many groups who believed the book of Mormon. I wanted to know how we could remain so small and insignificant if we were really Christ church. I was surprised by what I begin to learn about the restoration movement and us. First we all shared the name The Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints at the time of Joseph Smith’s death. The church of 200,000 members began to break apart and scatter after different leaders. One fifth of the church followed the leadership of Brigham Young and left Nauvoo heading toward SLC. During the course of that journey in far west they rebaptized and reordained the members and the priesthood, causing my brothers in the church of Christ to point out that they left the church and began a new organization. As that group went into the west there began to be things taught and practiced that were foreign to the brothers back in the Midwest. Eight years after Joseph’s death in 1852 the brothers representing 5 little congregations in Illinois and Indiana felt the need to meet together and discuss what they had been hearing coming out of Utah in regards to the beliefs and practices of this group who was once numbered with them. They felt it important to declare themselves separate from the teachings and practices they felt were so offensive to God and over the course of several years and small conferences declared they would stand on the true principles taught in the Bible, Book of Mormon and the 1835 edition of the D&C.
As I read through the history sometimes it broke my heart, I could see errors and it bothered me. Yet in the midst of it there were also times when clear vision was given by God. Sometime around 1860 they readopted the name of the Church of Christ. There is not a place I can find that explains why in our history but they must have had some reason they went back to the original name. One of the main leaders of the group at that time was a man named Granville Hedrick and he had the gift of prophecy. He was given a revelation to these small groups in 1863 to prepare to return to Independence, MO in 1867. Only God could have known that the Civil War would be ended and the way opened for the return of His people to that area in safety. They followed the voice of the Lord and made preparation to return and the way was opened in 1867. They arrived in the winter of 1867 to find the Missouri river frozen over with ice but unsure if it would hold the weight of wagons. In my research this has happened very few times in history that the Missouri river in that area of Missouri would be frozen over. One brother led the way in faith, stating to the group that the Lord directed them to come so he must have provided this way for them to cross. He led the way and when safely over the rest followed and became the first group to return. They bought the original temple lots that were set aside by Joseph. I mention these things only because I could see that God had a leading hand with this group of people. Still I read on and still saw errors, but then from time to time those brothers would see another of the errors and over time they make changes in a positive direction.
Because I could see errors I sometimes struggled in my faith can we really claim to be the true church. There were two experiences I read in our history that helped my faith to finally be secure in the knowledge that God had chosen this Church and I am going to share them with you here. I told you about the experience of my great grand-father and I am going to share it with you and another experience a brother had in 1870. While reading these experiences I felt the Spirit directing them and I believe they were given these experiences by the Lord.
Continued again….
EXPERIENCE #1
Dream or Vision 1870 George E. Cole
I was baptized by Richard Hill, April 9, 1870, in Mill Creek, north of Independence. I cannot give the exact date now but not long after I had joined the church I was visiting at Brother A. C. Haldeman’s with his son Charles. That night, ever to be remembered by me, not long after we had retired for the night and all was quiet, I seemed to realize that I was on the Temple Lot high up in the air, standing on a rock.
“It was night. I could see it plain, although it was just an ordinary starlit night. Finding myself suddenly placed on that rock, for I seemed to wake up just as I was standing upright on it, I could not see anything supporting the rock up there in space, neither did it seem as though it was unreasonable or strange, and I had no fear of it falling.
“But I, being so high, began to totter as if I would fall without looking for others I lifted my hands to God and began to appeal to Him for help. And when I did I became steady, calm and without fear, although I was very high up. As I called on God for aid a voice just behind my right shoulder said to me, “That is the only way you will ever be able to stand.” The voice was kind, mild, but impressive. It became light, as if the sun was up, as he was talking to me.
“I turned to my right, facing the northeast, for at first I was facing the west, and as I turned I saw a stump somewhere near the west of where the building now stands on the Temple Lot, but at that time there was not anything on the lot, not even a switch nor fence.
“The stump was about three feet high and two and a half feet across the top. It was a beautiful stump. A small branch grew out of the stump near the top, about twelve inches long, with about six or seven large, healthy looking buds on it, ready to put forth when the time came; for this was impressed on me that that was the mind and purpose of the Lord. And as I looked steadfastly on it the voice said, “That is the Church of Christ that was organized on the sixth of April, 1830.”
“I was impressed for the tree had become defective, for which cause the tree had been removed, a small part of the blemish or defect extended a short distance down from the top of the stump, as though in cutting off the tree a part was left in the stump on the south side as broad as the hand.
“Notwithstanding it was only or looked to be two and one half feet across the top of the stump, there was quite a number of people on top of it moving around, and I knew or seemed to know the most of them.
“There were some engaged in joking, treating lightly their surroundings, and as they would come near that affected place in the stump, they would raise an axe to strike in it their light minded career, but just as they would start to let fall the axe something would hinder or stop them, and that voice said to me that the Lord would not let them.
“I was impressed again that if the Lord did not hinder them they would destroy it.
“I said, “Lord where is the top?” He said, “Look.” I looked just across the road running east and west, just north of the Temple Lot, and there lay the butt end of the tree. The top extended miles and miles, and as it extended from the Temple Lot the gradually bent to the west until the extreme top was lying in a westerly direction.
“I could see that the tree was dead and the leaves were wilted and turning brown. While I was still standing on that stone up in the air He said, “Look!” and I looked towards that dead tree. He said, “Behold the elders of Israel,” I looked and saw the day that will come when the messengers of the Lord will go through that dead top. It seemed to me that like were pruning the tree, but not as we prune a tree, for we would bring from it the dead branches but they did bring out the green twigs from the dead tree. I looked down at them while they were working; they seemed, or acted like they knew me. They were in their shirt sleeves, with pretty white, clean shirts, and now and then would stop as they would adjust their suspenders on their shoulders and look up pleasantly at me. They had noticed me standing there watching them while they were at work.”
(reprinted from The Morning and the Evening Star, March, 1916.)
An Interpretation to the Above Vision given by Apostle Daniel MacGregor, 1926
Par.1 The reader will note that Elder Cole was baptized around 1870, some 56 years ago, at which time he received the vision.
The Rock upon which he stood was located on the Temple Lot, the very place where God said He would commence the work of the gathering and the building of the New Jerusalem,–“beginning at the Temple Lot.” D.C. 83:1,2. In these times of distraction, when the faith of the saints is being shattered, we are sensing more and more that the one place appointed where to Israel may look for relief is the Temple Lot, and all that it stands for.
Par. 2 There was no visible support to that Rock upon which he stood. God, Himself, was its support. The invisible power was sustaining it. It was as the little stone of Daniel’s vision, “cutout without hands,” but is destined to fill the whole earth. That Rock was imbedded in the Temple Lot.
Par. 3 Notwithstanding the impregnability of the Rock, yet they who stand upon it must call upon God. He, only, can save them from falling, and great is the fall of those who lose their footing, because the rock is high and towering. Very few, if any, falling from the Church of Christ ever return.
Par. 4 The stump. King Nebuchadnezzar had a dream of a great tree cut down until only its stump remained. The wise men of Babylon, failing to interpret the meaning, it fell upon Daniel to reveal the secret. In the dream the king heard the Holy One cry aloud, “Hew down the tree and cut off his branches, shake off his leaves, and scatter his fruit; let the beasts get away from under it, and the fowls from his branches: Nevertheless leave the stump nor his roots in the earth.”
It was a wonderful dream which takes up an entire chapter.—Daniel, 4.
The Prophet in his interpretation announced to the king a coming calamity; that the king would be divested of his glory and lose his reason, but that later he would regain both. :And whereas they were commanded to leave the stump of the tree roots, thy kingdom shall be sure unto thee, after that thou shalt have known that the heavens do rule.”
The stump and its roots represented a return of the glory of the kingdom to the king. Even so, the stump and its roots in the vision signify a return of the departed glory of the Kingdom of God, lost in a dark and cloudy day, when the rulers of the Church forgot their Lord and wandered in ways of apostasy. The return of the glory of that kingdom will come to the Temple Lot and its people. It is the place of divine appointment for the saints of God.
Par. 5 Yes, the stump is the remains of the Church of Christ, organized in 1830. It is on the Temple Lot. The Church of 1830 is unquestionably associated with the destiny of the Temple Lot. We cannot, we must not overlook that unalterable fact. See the revelation of Sept., 1832.
Continued…
The small branch growing out of the stump represents the present work of the Church of Christ. Small as it may be, yet its growth is assured and approved, receiving as it does its nourishment from the Church of 1830.
The several “buds on the branch,” ready to put forth “when the time came,” signifies that as the strength of the natural tree is given to its buds, and therein lies its hope and its future, even so the hope and future of the Church of 1830, rests with the little branch and its buds. The future of the Church of Christ is in its missionary work, and Christ is appointing men for the task, selected “first apostles.”
It is significant that the Church of Christ has already put forth its buds, the very number as seen in the vision, and if one should fall another will take his place.
Par. 6 Truly the tree had become defective and was removed, an undoubted allusion to the evils that over ran the church in an early day, and which ended in its breaking up and the consequent rejection, in the Nauvoo development of that apostasy.
The evils of the apostasy commenced in a very early day, insomuch that it affected in a slight way the earlier beginnings of the Church. The history of the Church covering 1830-1831 reveals that introduction of errors into the organic structure that have not as yet been entirely removed.
Par.7,8,9. They upon the stump given to lightmindedness, will apply to those of the Church of Christ failing to appreciate their privileged position. In their zeal to correct errors that crept into the organic structure of the Church, they are restrained. There are some things we may remove from the Church, and some which no mortal may touch. It remains for God to correct those conditions in his own way and time. We must remember that in removing the tares there is a danger of uprooting the wheat, also. It may be necessary in certain instances to “let both grow together until harvest.” A little while ago we had an instance of the folly of some who were bent upon destroying everything that might harbor the seed of centralized control. In their inadvised zeal they overreached themselves. They attacked the general organization of the church and its general conference. Had they succeeded in their efforts it would have destroyed the Church, but the Lord wouldn’t let them.
Par.10 The top of the tree lay on the other side of the road that runs east and west of the Temple Lot. Lexington avenue is the name of that road, and across it from the Temple Lot is the Stone Church of the reorganization. There lies the top, “cut off as a church, but not as individuals.”
It is noticeable that the top is disconnected from the stump which represents the Church of 1830. It is prostrate upon the ground, an unnatural and unfruitful position.
It is large, extending for miles and miles, in striking contrast to the little branch of the Church of Christ that grew out of the stump. It is stated that this Reorganized tree gradually bent toward the west, and who can deny that the recent innovations introduced into the body of that church, notably S.D.C., is a big bend toward the west—UTAH.
EXPERIENCE #2
A Voice of Testimony
With words of soberness, and in full view of the fact that all men must give an account before the great judgment bar of God at the last day for all their words, I hereby give to the world the following testimony: …
On Sunday, the first day of May, 1927 I arose early, before the break of day, entered a room alone and engaged in fervent prayer, as I had been doing through many days. I did not pray that morning for any special manifestation or revealment to be given to the public, or to anyone; but the burden of my prayer was that I might be led of the Lord to do that which would be pleasing to Him. I arose from prayer while the breaking of the day in the East was not yet clear, and decided to take a walk. I thought to pray and meditate in the quiet morning hour while taking a stroll.
Accordingly, I stepped from the house where we resided in Independence, Missouri, and had only walked about a half block when the small voice of the Holy Spirit spoke in very definite terms and bade me return to the house and write. I replied that I knew of nothing that should be written. The second and third time I was bidden to return to the house and write. I obeyed. I took up the writing material and was scarcely able to write rapidly enough to record that which was given of the Lord. The message is not mine. It came from a source higher than man. Without hesitancy I would testify to this, if it were the last word I could ever speak on earth.
Final one….
The Message
WORD OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
Given in Answer to Fasting and Prayer
At Independence, Mo. Sunday, May 1, 1927
By the quickening power of the Holy Spirit thus is given the word of the Lord to all who will open their souls to hear my voice, saith the Lord.
Your prayers are before me, ye who have asked that I shall lead you, and behold, I am willing to lead all my people who put their trust in me, but ye must hear my voice if I am to be your leader indeed, and thus are you to know how to follow.
By my Spirit in the hearts of all those who truly feel after me I have been with the various broken factions of my Church to bless and to comfort and to shield my people from much of the power of evil.
But thus saith the word of the Lord to all my people everywhere, who will open their hearts to hear the voice of my Spirit as given through my servant in these words: Verily I have rejected the Reorganized Church, with its sins and its follies and its system-making, because they have departed from me, and by the deceptions of the wicked one their leaders’ have caused a defilement of much of mine heritage.
Verily, out of the broken fragments of my spiritual kingdom of these last days I have preserved unto myself a remnant for the carrying forward of my work unto its final completeness.
The people of this remnant of my Church on the Temple Land which has been consecrated to me, have not been wholly in accord with my will, neither do they this day fashion all their work perfectly in me, but behold, for a wise purpose in me your Lord and your Redeemer, I have held them in the hollow of mine hand.
Their priesthood and their ministry hath been preserved in me, and their ministrations among men I will continue to bless; for they are an instrument of mine own choosing.
Ye of my people and of my ministry have questioned the spiritual call of those men of the ministry chosen to be Apostles in this remnant of mine heritage. Verily, if ye will hear my word today I declare unto you, these are my chosen Apostles of this present day dispensation, and through their ministry, if they continue humble and faithful, and through this chosen remnant of my broken heritage I will from this day forward, quicken their spiritual ministrations among the people, and will continue to use these servants of mine, and this remnant to bear the message of life and salvation to the souls of men.
Thus speaketh the voice of the Spirit through my servant by whom I have chosen to deliver these words.
And they who shall hear the voice of my Spirit speaking herein unto their hearts, shall find witness in me that I, your Lord, have truly spoken. And it is by my word that all shall be judged at the last day.
Thus speaketh the voice of the Spirit unto all saints who will hear, and who will heed my word, even so, Amen.
Signed.: Elder James E. Yates
Nate, I never knew my great grand-father, James Yates in person, but I got to know him from his auto biography and I first read this experience from that source. I felt the spirit so strong when I read about this experience. I was impressed that God spoke the truth. We are not always doing things according to His perfect will. This is still my belief in answering your other question. No, things are not perfect in the church but God is working with us and since these two experiences were given long ago, I have had the privilege of seeing the fulfillment of some of these things. I have seen the wheels finally come off the RLDS church showing the truth, they were rejected by God. Today the Book of Mormon to them is a historical book with little value, women and homosexuals are in the ministry of that church and they are no longer even connected to the roots of the restoration. Yes I believe the Lord has led me to understand by the Spirit that the Church of Christ is His Church, and he has chosen us to represent him to the world in these latter days. We are small and still he works with us, corrects us and is patient with us. I believe the Lord is going through the dead top of the restoration tree and calling out those branches that are still living and allowing the Spirit to lead them, and we have seen this more and more as the world is turning away from the Lord.
I have written you a volume and I ask your forgiveness for the length of my answer to you. I have asked the Lord to help me and I felt I needed to share at least this much with you about my journey of answering the question you asked. I also thank you for taking me back down memory lane, as I have been so blessed the last few days just reliving the journey. I don’t think I could ever feel the way I do with one single experience. God bless you Nate in your search.
Joel
Ok so I want to testify that Joel is a man of God and has felt the spirit many many times. He has a powerful testimony of Christ, the Book of Mormon, Joseph Smith and many things. He has concluded that he is in the one true church.
It reminds me of the Lourdes Bernadette experiences. If you have not read them I would suggest doing so. Her visions drew thousands of people and helped God draw many people to His Son Jesus Christ.
Some time after her experiences the pope said something to the affect that these magnificent visions and visitations prove that the Catholic Church is Gods only true church on the earth. God would not send angels and visions to someone like this if they were not member of His church….
The girl was a young and innocent Catholic. God has told me plainly that Lourdes Bernadette had these visions and they were most definitely from God… Was God deceiving anyone or are we all deceiving ourselves with confirmation bias? When will a people stop trusting in men and trust in God and quit adding to what He says? It is no wonder God shuts the heavens from time to time. He speaks a word and then His children go and percent it right away and lead people astray! No wonder Isaiah called us transgressors from the womb! There is a mighty purge coming and all who will continue to trust in the flesh will not be able to stand. God help us all.
Island sister,
Minority said what I would have said. I also was taught by missionaries for years. One easy way for people to set themselves up in place of God is to say, “pray to know what we have said is true,” then they convince you that EVERYTHING they say is true. No. You must prove ALL things…
Any church, such as the baptists, can say, “pray to know Jesus Christ lives. If you receive an answer, you’ll know everything we teach is true.” Do you see the deception?
Use caution. God bless you in your efforts liberally.
Victor
Islandsister,
I am so excited for you and all that you are going through in coming unto Christ! I have so much love and respect for you and for all who seek spiritual enlightenment and choose God over men. The power and love you have described is what I live for. Once we feel something that strong and out of this world, it is so undeniable that it changes us and becomes us. This is a reason I check up on this blog, I love hearing how people find Christ and how they are changed through God’s love and power. It brings joy and energy and a need to share it with everyone. I am grateful for these things in my life and for the path I am on in following God. The things I speak of and share are things I do not take lightly.
My Heavenly Father and Heavenly Mother are the most sacred things to me. I would rather die than do anything to abuse, Disrespect, or neglect them. I have learned how they speak to me and how they guide my life, just as it sounds you are learning also. I understand that each of us is unique and has our own path laid out by our creators. The unconditional and powerful love from Heavenly parents and our Savior is possible because they know us and understand us each individually and perfectly. I live my life according to the divine guidance I receive from them. The things I have been sharing are things that the spirit has guided me to share.
My life would be so much easier right now if I chose to listen to men. To follow a church or organizations rules and guidelines or to simply do exactly what a friend or loved one says to do to make me happy. It Seems like an ok road and one with little ridicule, judgement and pain. I have chosen a different road. My journey this last year has been long and painful. But as my prayers have been answered by a loving Father in Heaven, and an all encompassing Heavenly Mother, and a Savior who sacrificed all for me, I know that to deny anything they have taught me and to withhold anything they prompt me to share would bring me misery. Even through all of the ridicule and all of the pain caused by those who judge me, I am filled with joy and love for all.
I will always choose God. The undeniable love and power he sends me that is accompanied by revelation is what I will stand by. I will die fighting in His army and I will give up everything to worship my Heavenly Mother and proclaim their love and glory to the world because this is what I have been commanded to do.
“Pervert”.
Another question to ponder… Who is more sacred, God the Father, or the Mother? Which one is more powerful? Which one needs protection? Is one of them so weak and delicate that they cannot be spoken of lest their feelings get hurt?
Missionaries might tell us that we don’t speak of the Mother because it is sin to speak openly about such a sacred thing. God tells me it is sin to not acknowledge Her in all things. Who has twisted the truth and is calling good evil and evil good? Our Mother is going to come out with a vengeance on the ungodly and those who seek to hide Her behind flattering falsehoods. Her name and glory will be shouted upon the rooftops! Of course those who don’t know Her don’t want to speak about Her and want an excuse for never learning more about Her! So much for my reprieve I guess. God can do His own work and will prove it, let us pray it is not to all of our peril and destruction. Is there any real faith on the earth?
Island sister,
Sorry I thought I had replied but my message may not have gone through.
First off I am very happy for you and your eye opening experience!! It is something that you will never forget and also something to base your testimony off of! When you have hard times or doubts you can always fall back on this truth that is most definitely imprinted on you. Something a wise person ( my brother )told me awhile ago was the road to discipleship is sometimes lonely! You may not feel understood at times with your friends or family but know you know that Christ knows you and loves you. Your Heavenly Father knows you much better than you know yourself and is guiding you to something bigger and greater!:)
As I read your comments it reminded me of my very first life changing experience with God. I had an experience where I felt of Our Heavenly mothers love for the first time. I won’t go too much into detail but it happened very early in the morning. Probably between 5:00 and 6:00 A.M.I had that spirit of pure love enter me from my head to my toes as if I were baptized. It felt like a thousand gallons of pure, warm, loving water had just entered my body and hit every particle of my being! A voice came to me as I asked if that was the Holy Ghost and it said yes. Then it entered me again with the same force and a voice said that was my heavenly mother the second time.
It’s was the most incredible thing that has ever happened to me. It was like I received new life and was born or awakened in y spirit! Right then I knew that God knew me perfectly and loved every particle inside and out of me. I knew that I could trust in that.
That morning I was so excited to go to my singles ward in the lds church that started at 11:00 p.m. I remember thinking I can’t sleep!, I am too excited to go be with people that have had this same experience. Then I remember thinking about certain individuals that I thought were so spiritual and I’d finally be able to be edified with them!
When I got to church the strangest things started happening. People that starting giving talks in church seemed to be saying the right stuff but I felt nothing. Then an innocent kid got up and gave a simple talk and bore his testimony and that feeling of the Holy Ghost came back and I knew what he was saying was true and he knew it.
This happened a many more times as time went on. I knew and know now that I can only trust what the spirit brought which was truth.
I also came to find out that the guy that I looked up to in my ward before this first experience wasn’t that spiritual at all. I thought he was the most spiritual guy I knew but sadly I found out by the spirit that he was putting on a show.
With all that being said I know I can only trust what I felt and what I know is from God:) you are on the right path and I know what you can trust in as well. Don’t trust my words as I would not want any person to ever put trust in me! Put your trust in the savior, the rock and true cornerstone of the gospel!
Thank you for sharing your experience as I am sure many more will come!
All glory to God! Our Heavenly Mother and Heavenly Father!!
StillStruggling
What a wonderful day I have been blessed with. This morning, my time anyway, Earlier I wrote a little about my extraordinary experience. I decide to take time off from work and just record the whole heavenly experience while it is fresh in my mind. Much of the experience, I will not share but that which I did share was sacred and very personal and yet I am not ashamed for sharing it, but rather felt it was my obligation out of gratitude and love to share such a experience. Never have I had such a deep and to my core interaction with God. I was so moved that I felt a need to share it and be generous with the experience so others could have the same wonderful eye opening blessing. I want to call the sister missionaries but I have not yet been in contact with them. It has been quite some time since they invited me to hear the lessons.They had nothing to do with this and did not influence me at all other than to get me thinking and questioning what I had been taught.. I have not shared this with them. I felt impressed today to pray again and to read the Book of Mormon and parts of the new testament in the bible. Again another wonderful eye opening series of lessons came to me and flooded me with light and understanding and feelings of love. I know that I must seek out all that I have injured or offended and heal the wounds I have caused. I was given a type of clarity of all my terrible faults and offenses to people I didn’t really think I had hurt. But with this communication from God and during a grateful prayer, I heard clearly in my mind and saw the words of those offenses and injuries that I caused. I was so sorrowful for the pain I caused these people that I wept in a sorry yet loving way. I know that I must make amends with them before I can move to the next step intended for me. I just happened to read some responses here to my last posting of this morning and I was saddened that many assume I am thinking of myself better than others for this experience. That is the last thing I feel. Gratitude and love are the feelings I am soaked with deeper than any previous feeling I have ever had. This is all new to me and is very special personally to me. I can not compare it with anything and do not think less of anyone who has not had this. How could I think that, since up to yesterday, I was oblivious to even the possibility. God has shown to me a firm path and steps to take. Thank you Still Struggling, your Island sister
Island sister
For the record, I never accused you of anything and have no reason to believe you have been anything but sincere. I only shared with you what the adversary would like you to think.
I will treat you the same as I would anyone else here and ask you some questions that I hope you won’t mind answering. And please know that I do not judge you with whatever decision you make on your spiritual journey. What is the path that you are to take? Did God tell you to join a church? Did God tell you that you should tell others how to behave and what they should and should not share? If you feel that He did then I applaude you.
Whatever your decision is I am grateful to God that you have come to feel something of His love and tasted of His goodness and reality. Whatever steps you feel are necessary to bring you closer to Christ I encourage you to do so. I hope you will consider praying about polygamy and whether it is a “celestial principle”, and I appreciate your comments and filling us in on things taking place in your life. God bless
Minorityofone
This comment is great. I remember once I prayed for something from Father and asked him for a specific gift. Well I foolishly added some ideas to that gift, Give this gift to be as a sign that such and such and such is true. Well that night I received that gift! I thought it also meant that such and such and such is true….. Later on it was shown unto me that I received that gift because I asked, not in response as a “sign”… In fact some of those “signs” ended up being false. But the gift itself was still given and He allowed me to also believe that the signs(truths) I asked for were true (though they were a false precept). How foolish I was to put my own preconceived notions on the things of God. I have been more specific in some questions and have now been able to learn some of the things I had asked for on those truths. Yet the prayer was still answered. The gift was bestowed.
Minorityofone Everything you said is based on a set wrong assumptions. I do not know where you received the idea that I received my answers from the missionaries or am giving them credit or that i am special and deserve this beautiful experience. I have not talked with them for a long time and that was only regarding an invitation to hear the lessons they want me to hear. I shared an intimate experience with Still Struggling and now I seem to have put you on edge for which I am sorry. The personal experience I received and the very clear instructions I received are an answer to my prayers and directly from Heavenly Father to whom I prayed. What ever you say will not change this glorious encounter or those many blessings I was blessed with today. Your tone is so vastly different from the powerful clear words of love and acceptance I received from Heavenly Father. I went before him with sorrow and sincere yearning to know things that I have been burdened with and fighting in the dark with. I am not trying to be better than you or any other, but only at one with you and with The Father and His Son who I am trying to learn more about. I wrote the post to Still Struggling and I am sorry if it hurt your feelings or offended you. That was never my intention. You are suggesting that I go to the Father and ask this and that, but I have been given direction as to what I must do for now to set my house in order and I must do that first. I can tell you this much, Heavenly Father Loves me and has given me clear directions and after I take care of one step I will call the missionaries and hear their lessons for that is what I was clearly told to do. You seem offended and worried by my posting and seem to think I am not giving credit to Heavenly Father who just forgave me of the most terrible of things. I wished you were happy for me and could share in the joy and profound peace. I will not be so presumptuous as to tell you what to do or what to pray for. I just know how glorious and powerful Heavenly Father is as well as His obedient and loving Son who is the one I am supposed to learn about and follow. I have been taught much through my prayers and tears and have been promised that I will again receive more steps to follow and understand. This is changing me and saving me so I can follow and stay on the path.I hope I never think I am better than you or make any one feel that way. It is a wonderful thing in that the more I feel loved by Heavenly Father and His Son, the more I love you and only wish you the best.
Island sister
Minorityofone
This life is all about learning for all of us. There are ups and downs. We all have our paths. The great thing as you know is God knows us and loves us. He sees everything from beginning to end. I am sure you are grateful for all of the struggles now because they’ve lead you to your experiences that you have had! Even if it’s tough and the struggles suck at the moment it’ll all be worth it if it leads us to Christ and to more truth and knowledge. there will be many more struggles I am sure but the cool thing is to know that god is taking care of us and everything that we go through wether it’s good or bad! God loves his sheep and will place them where they need to go. God’s hand is in all things and it’s such a blessing to know that because of the atonement and the love that God has for us we will all be taken care of! Thank you for sharing your experiences!
God speed!
TheRevenger
Thank you Veng for the kind support and encouragement. God Bless you too.
Minorityofone
I don’t know you and you might be a swell fellow, but I don’t know if you realize this, but for me as a new comer searching for support and directions here, you come across quite showy and like a bird of paradise, vying for attention and some kind of satisfaction in teaching me what you think I should know. You say “don’t listen to any man”, but you want me to listen to you. In reality you seem a little more to me like you might be trying to sell me on something or want my to agree with you on things to make yourself feel better. You are kind of like robbing Heavenly Father of His gift to me, by warning me not to think I deserve it by praying to Him, yet to tell me to pray to him and ask Him the questions you want me to ask Him. How can I be sincere in my prayer if it is not my question? Sorry if that is rude sounding. You are warning me of dangers right out of my spiritual chute, when I was hoping I would have found joy and encouragement in the happiness and success of others. May be I am reading you wrong. If I am I am sorry. I don’t want to argue or debate only give thanks for the amazing experience even though I probably am not as deserving or as gifted or as knowledgeable as you.
Minorityofone
Really, even I, a green new comer and the weakest and dumbest and least experienced on this blog, can tell when I am about to be set up for a fall. You are gifted at trapping and preparing fancy answers for those who engage in these negative line of questions. Why not pray to have ourselves changed and see things the way Heavenly Father wants us to see things. After such a blessed experience, I know when the dark side is working its way. I felt the love and forgiving spirit and the light from Him and this is not the same light you are trying to offer me. I know that and I am pretty dumb. I should probably stop visiting here, but I do get encouragement from many and wont throw the baby out with the bath water.
Minorityofone The answers are posted out of sequence and so it is hard sometimes to follow a conversation in real time.
My friend, it’s easy for everyone to make wrong assumptions, especially online. If there’s anything I’ve learned it’s easy to mistake people’s thoughts and feelings. I lost my home, my job, many of my friends, and even once a woman God promised was mine if she’d take me. Why?… I lost it all to following Christ through the Spirit. Only The Lord looks on the heart. Please consider only your own choices. Be slow to judge.
From one heart to another, please don’t close off any channels where there may yet be good.
Islandsister Minorityofone
island sister!
This is so funny. I believe I know exactly who you are now. It is amazing you just stumbled upon this site! absolutely wonderful. And what a miracle your English has transformed over the course of your comments.
It is very miraculous! Like I said so much more has been going on here! You have definitely caught so many people’s attention. Well done I applaude your efforts and may God bless you according to your desires and motivations.
I am trying to warn you of things right out of your spiritual chute? Ha ha that might be true that might be true. You said it not me.
If your intentions have been pure since the get go than that is glorious. God bless you and “your sisters”. Thank you for asking about my parents. That was very interesting.
I will tell you something that is absolutely sure, the “sister missionaries” will tell you that you should DEFINITELY not be on this site. This is a place where “apostates” hang out. God bless you and your close relatives.
Minorityofone
I am so sorry I was mean to you and if it hurt you, that is the old me coming out and you are right I need to know that those dark things will try and come back. I was being a little defensive because you began by celebrating with me and then things turned.I was communicating with Still Struggling and you kind of joined in and changed my mojo if you wlll pardon the weak comparison. I just found someone I was relating too and things changed. However I am glad for your insights and sharing and I will take those parts that can help me on my journey and use them gratefully. I will though do as I was told to do by my Heavenly Father.
StillStruggling Islandsister
Thank you Still Struggling
Thank you for you sharing your story and encouraging me along. I am heading to the ATL to be with my sister and her family for Thanksgiving and wont have a computer to share and ask things with . I told my sister about what happened and I think she thinks I am acting weird and all. This will be craaazyy for her to understand because we had family that was so not into church and my parents adopted most of us and we are a mixed race family. My sister and I have different ancestry from my siblings. We Jamaican Ancestry and my one brother is Cuban and we have other brothers and sisters from other cultures and ancestries. My parents are very loving and had foster children but didnt talk a lot about church or religion. I was googling up my ancestry and trying to find myself and came across a Mormon web site and anyway one thing lead to another. I used to blame and be angry with my parents who left me and my sister to be adopted but my parents helped me to understand things better. Now I have a purpose and cant wait to share my experience with my sister and may be something good will come from it. I know I was supposed to comt to this wed page, by chance I read your posting and I did pray and did begin a journey that I am excited to follow. Hopefully after my sis ta visit, I can share more. Have a thankful thanksgiving.my carpenter friend.
MothersDisciple No it is not all written by me, I have a lot of help and some very in tune friends 🙂 Its just been my journey of what Father and Mother have been teaching me. I love everyone sharing!
Islandsister StillStruggling
My Dear Island Sisiter
Thank you for sharing all you have with me. Our Father has also told me that I need to stop trying to learn too much too fast and take care of some things in my life. I have been working on these things and found much joy, support and happiness from God. Our God is great and amazing! I wish you a wonderful Thanksgiving and a safe trip. I pray that your conversations with your sister will go well and that you will be inspired as to what you should say to her. I am impressed with your willingness to forgive. You have inspired me. I have also had things in my life where I felt betrayed and hurt. Thanks again for sharing-Talk with you later. -Your friend in God….