To Heaven and Back

I took this book to scout camp yesterday and finished it, then passed it to Corey and he got half way through while the boys swam. It was a quick and enjoyable book. I thought it was fun that they went to Pucón, Chile, cause we've been there too! That is a treasured memory and a beautiful country. to heaven and back mary c. neal m.d. mary neal mary c neal
My favorite take away from her book is this insight: (bottom pg. 148) She was speaking with the Savior and asked him why everyone on earth isn't given the opportunity to have the same experience that she was having of seeing heaven and feeling God's love there...

It seemed that if everyone shared this experience, hatred would disappear, we would be better stewards of the earth, eradicate hunger, no longer wage wars, and generally treat one another better on a daily basis. I no longer remember his exact words, but his amused response reiterated his comments to Thomas ~

Because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed. (John 20:29)

I liked that part, cause that is me! I haven't seen heaven, but I believe it in just as much as Mary does. And in the Book of Mormon Christ says that if when we are humble and believe on the testimony of others without seeing, that is even more blessed - 3 Nephi 12:2 - So he's giving all the rest of us even more blessings! Isn't that nice? :)

Another part I liked was where she talks about forgiveness and shares Father Ubald short story - he's a Catholic priest from Rwanda who had 80 members of his immediate and extended family massacred. I thought this message was timely given the movie theater shootings in Colorado last week.

So, only one part in the book that I totally disagreed with was on page 12 -

It has taken me many years to truly learn that when everything seems difficult and feels as though you are swimming upstream, it is usually because you are not following the direction of God's will. When you are doing God's will, everything seems to happen without much effort of many obstacles.

As she tells her story though, she faced a lot of trials and obstacles while still doing her best to follow God and her faith grew during those experiences, so I think she'd probably disagree with herself there too, and maybe just forgot to edit that part out. :)



This talk above by Elder Bruce C. Hafen defines my position on trials and opposition pretty well. Quoted from Elder Hafen's talk:

Adam and Eve learned constantly from their often harsh experience. They knew how a troubled family feels. Think of Cain and Abel. Yet because of the Atonement, they could learn from their experience without being condemned by it. Christ’s sacrifice didn’t just erase their choices and return them to an Eden of innocence. That would be a story with no plot and no character growth. His plan is developmental—line upon line, step by step, grace for grace.

So if you have problems in your life, don’t assume there is something wrong with you. Struggling with those problems is at the very core of life’s purpose. As we draw close to God, He will show us our weaknesses and through them make us wiser, stronger. ⁷ If you’re seeing more of your weaknesses, that just might mean you’re moving nearer to God, not farther away.

And on a final note, as I looked for an image of her book on google, I came upon these two reviews and I thought they were pretty harsh - one and two - Number two there won't read her book yet says it's "pure junk". That's a pretty strong stance to take especially for not having read it. Reminds me of people who discredit and deny the Book of Mormon and refuse to read it. 2 Nephi 29:3. The Book of Mormon is good and true, all who read it can SEE and KNOW of that Truth for themselves.

A Glimpse of Heaven

Here's my short review of A Glimpse of Heaven by JoAnna Oblander - This book is a quick read, just 110 pages and I'm almost finished with it.  Two parts I really liked:

First is from the story of how they adopted two children from Russia - (what a rollercoaster of an experience!  It made me realize 9 months of pregnancy isn't so bad.)  They were able to find and adopt them as soon as they became available for adoption, but she had been working on it for over 6 years before they were even available, so she wondered why she couldn't have just been told to find them once they were available - why the extra years of work and worry and exhaustion? 

"However, I knew the answer even before I asked the question.  I knew I needed to have the learning experiences that my search provided me with.  Heavenly Father does not construct our life's experiences with convenience in mind.  He utilized the experiences we have as opportunities for growth.  If efficiency in getting the job done was Heavenly Father's primary concern, I could have been told to find Andrew at the time he and Dina became available for adoption.  Additionally, God could have provided me with their location and all other pertinent data He wanted me to have.  However, Heavenly Father is a master teacher.  He is completely aware of both my shortcomings and my strengths.  I am convinced that He used the experience of finding my children to further enhance my strengths and to provide me with opportunities to overcome my weaknesses."

The other part I liked is in Chapter 9 where she shares some of her experiences and tips regarding Prayer and Personal Revelation - After I'm done with the book I'm going to re-read that part with a paper and pencil in hand, as Prayer and Personal Revelation are two things I've been thinking about from the other book I'm in - Following the Light of Christ into His Presence.  I loved the things she shared about how important it is to write down our impressions and revisit them and how to say your prayers out loud (I'm going to do that more) and to take time to meditate and listen for the answers to your specific questions.

The Boy Who Came Back From Heaven

I am currently reading a book that is helping reinforce why Attitude is so important. I bought the book "The boy who came back from heaven" yesterday - Wanted to stay up reading, but at midnight told myself I should go to bed. I've been reading it most of the morning, and I'm loving it -

Brief sum up of the story setting: in 2004 the dad Kevin and his son Alex are in a terrible accident. Alex is 6 years old and breaks his spine and is in a coma for 2 months lingering between life and death, one evening it's the mom's turn to stay with Alex at the hospital - Kevin's turn to stay at home with the other 3 kids. That night there is an ice storm and the power goes out. In the dark, the dad tries to pack up a bag and they go spend the night with a family member. When he comes home the next day, there is a fallen tree blocking the driveway. With what he and his family have been through, a fallen tree is no biggie - he gets out of the car and walks around it. Sees lots of other trees fallen over. Calls his dad to say "I'm going to need your help to clear off all these fallen trees. Atleast none of them fell on the house..." and as he said that, the house comes in view and there is a tree on it and the roof has fallen in! "Um, let me call you back..."

From page 75 - I quote Kevin's father:

When Kevin called back and told me about the tree on the house, my first response was to laugh - not a laugh of calllousness, but a laugh of joy at the goodness of God. I truly mean that. For me, the question isn't, "Why do bad things happen to good people?" but "Why does anything good happen at all?" We certainly don't deserve it.

I told Kevin, "First, consider that the power went out. What a great blessing. Had it not gone out, you would have been in the house with the kids when the tree struck the roof. Second, you badly needed to replace your roof anyway, now you'll get a brand-new one, and your insurance is going to pay for it! And third, I have one question, Kevin: Which trees were taken down in this storm? All the weak ones! The strong trees are still standing. You've received a natural pruning, making your property safer and healthier, leaving the strong trees for your family to enjoy. By next July, you won't be able to tell a single tree was taken down."

The hand of God was everywhere to be seen in this situation, but, as I pointed out to Kevin, we have to be willing to see it - to receive it as God's good in our lives.

I thought that was great. Also, when Kevin's dad first came to the hospital where his grandson was laying in critical condition, he put his arm around Kevin and said "Son, many people in the world would love for this to be their worst problem." December of that year was the tsunami in Thailand, and Kevin thought "I still have Alex, I still have my home... 'many people in the world would love for this to be their worst day.'"

One last quote from Kevin's father: "Does our daily focus on the ordinary events of life dampen our awareness of the providential and miraculous evens occurring in and around us all the time?"

Isn't that great? In 2012, I'm going to continue to have a good attitude. When trials come, and they will, know that God loves you and wants to bless you, and that your trial is in fact actually a blessing. Our challenge sometimes is to see how it is a blessing.

1 Nephi 11:17 - like the prophet Nephi, I know God loves his children.

I'm going to go read some more. :)

Heaven is For Real

Corey got me this book "Heaven is for Real" for Christmas and I finished reading it today. Corey and I have read lots of books like this and they always fascinate me. Has helped my thoughts be more on Christ, who is the reason for the season, as we all know. This one was a quick read and I finished it tonight, then got online to look up the picture "Prince of Peace" that they reference by Akiane Kramarik -


which led me here, which then reminded me of some things Tomas Kofod said during a fireside that we went to back in 2000 ... (cue year 2000 journal entries -)

First, before the fireside where Tomas spoke, we had gone down to temple square to see the movie "The Testaments of One Fold and One Shepherd - Here's what the newspaper said at that time: -

Salt lake Tribune Religion Section C for Saturday, March 25, 2000. It is the main article on C1. It said that all actors who had a major role had to be temple worthy. The film maker Keith Merrill was told by President Hinckley, “It will be the most important film the church has ever made.” Then Pres. Hinckley said “I have never seen a depiction of the Savior I liked.” They said finding the right person to play Jesus was like finding Cinderella. They looked at “every available LDS actor in the world, eventually considering more than 500.” Merrill gave screen tests to 64, then selected three to present to the First Presidency. The result? LDS leaders told Merrill to “keep looking.” In desperation, the director sent a call across the Internet and received an email from Tomas Kofod, a Danish convert, asking about the part. Kofod had been an exchange student in Utah more than 10 years earlier, had lived with a Mormon family, then returned to Denmark and joined the LDS Church. He became an accomplished actor, performing with the Royal Danish Shakespeare Company. Kofod was brought to Utah for an audience with the First Presidency, and they like him immediately. Kofod’s Danish-accented voice had to be dubbed by Will Swenson. They said His blue-eyed Scandinavian looks are not meant as a church statement about Christ’s appearance, instead, viewers should see Kofod as presenting “the feelings of Christ that were acceptable to the First Presidency.

So, after reading that in the paper, I was really excited to see the portrayal of Christ. We went and saw the film at Temple Square later that month in 2000 and just loved it.

The next year, we went to a fireside where Tomas Kofod spoke on 24 June 2001 (I'm so glad I have these journal entries - making me remember that I need to keep writing and recording today cause I'm going to forget everything about my life right now and it will be lost forever if I don't write it down!!!) Just going to paste this whole entry here...

Sunday, 24 June 2001

This afternoon we went over to Corey’s parent’s house. The single’s ward where Mark and Nancy attend was having a special fireside and Tomas Ambt Kofod was the speaker. He is the man who played the part of the Savior in the Church movie The Testaments of One Fold and One Sheperd. It was a spiritual feast. I felt the spirit so strongly and felt so edified after hearing him speak. I want to come to know the Savior better. I am going to study the Book of Mormon more faithfully - President Benson said that is the tool that the Lord has give us to draw us nearer to Him.

Some things Tomas spoke about was the miracles involved in him even finding out about the part. His wife sent her very first email to her friend in Orem, and her friend got on the computer when she got home from work, which she never does, and saw the email from Tomas’ wife. She sent them information regarding tryouts for parts in the Church film, which she had seen on the internet earlier. That information was only on the internet for that one day. Everything about it was miraculous, from him finding out about the part, getting out of other acting commitments to come and try out, getting his ticket to fly over in time, and then finding a replacement after he was given the part. He said when he was getting his make-up on before his screen test, he looked out the door saw “Christ after Christ” walking down the hall, they were all tall and had deep voices (Tomas kept making jokes about how skinny and small he was). He also said he didn’t like his nose, and after taking a look at himself he asked the make-up artist to put more make-up on each side to shadow his nose a little better, and after she did and he saw himself in the mirror, he said he was looking into the eyes of his Savior. He told of how he got sick on the night before they were going to start filming, and he prayed and pleaded for help to get better, but felt his prayers weren’t getting past the hotel ceiling. It was late and so after pouring his heart out he decided it would be best to go to bed and try and get some rest. As he was laying in bed, a voice came to his mind, as clear as any voice he’s ever heard. The voice said he was sorry to make him sick, but this was the only way to make him humble enough to hear. The Lord told him he needed to be more humble and told him many other things he did not share with us. He said if a person had rebuked him that way, he might have been offended, but he didn’t take any offense, but listened to the counsel. Another time he got sick when they were filming, but it wasn’t to humble him. He was given a blessing, I think by the director, where they rebuked Satan and commanded him to leave.

One more entry of another fireside where we listened to two other actors from the film-

Rick Macy, the man who played Helam in the Church film The Testaments of One Fold and One Shepard, came and spoke, along with the lady who played Mary Magdalene, and Merrill Jenson, the man who wrote the music. It was a wonderful fireside. I invited my parents and Corey’s parents. Corey’s parents came and so did Mom and Rebekkah. The main message: it was all real. You can’t act a testimony. It was an amazing spiritual experience for all of them, and the film has truly strengthened my testimony and touched my soul. Rick Macy said that Tomas Kofod, the man who played the Savior, is such a humble and Christlike man. He was the person for the part

Then searched around online and I thought this was a book - but I think it's just in audio cd, will probably order it sometime. It is probably a recording of a fireside similar to the one I attended.

Led By The Hand of Christ

Thought I'd do a quick book review of these two books, both by Suzanne Freeman (as told to Shirley Bahlmann (Hmm?))- Led by the Hand of Christ and Through the Window of Life

I read this first one in 4 hours over the weekend. I liked it at first, then around page 84 I was like "What?! That's not right..." I was already starting to wonder how she remembered all the details about everything, started to think some of it was maybe made up or borrowed from other sources? (not sure how much the "as told to Shirley Bahlmann" added to the content...) Then on page 84 she writes about meeting Nephi: "He lives in the heavenly version of a city that the Nephites built after they left an area in the eastern United States." That's where I was like "Mmm, I'm not buying this story..." - I don't think it's impossible that she met Nephi, my doubts come cause I think the Nephites lived in Peru - (that's the current theory I'm leaning toward) so that added detail derailed my waning confidence in this book.

I haven't read anything very convincing about it being in the eastern US. (If you have anything compelling about New York feel free to share, cause so far I don't think that New York or Mesoamerica are the right locations. I read this book by George Potter and it was very compelling and lots of it rang true. I have it if you want to borrow it. Now I'm reading the Book of Mormon again with Peru as the setting in mind and so far it fits well)

...Anyway, then in Suzanne's book on page 130 she says that she chose to not remember her near death experience, but then after she's been back on earth she's been able to remember parts of it and then prays and remembers more. So to myself that validated my skepticism about all the details in her story. Just my opinion. I'd be interested to see how/if my opinion would change by seeing her in person and or hearing her speak. But as for now, meh -

So then I thought I'd read her other book (didn't know why she's have two books talking about the same experience, felt like I had fallen ploy to marketing techniques - 2 for 1 the other way around - 1 for 2 - one experience, sell two books about it) - to see what this one was about and about page 4 I was like, ohh, I'm not going to like this, and I was right, I didn't enjoy this one at all. It was a chore to read it but I felt like I had to, sort of like when I forced myself to read Twilight, just felt like I should know what everyone was talking about, like some obligation.

Twilight tangent: I did think the first book was fun, and since I started it I felt like I had to read all of them. But I didn't do the 4th book Breaking Dawn, but I remember totally just trying to get book 2 and 3 "over with", no offense to Twilight fans, I just don't have time in my life for fiction right now. And this book "Through the Window of Life" fell into my "fiction" category, cause after book 1, I started this one pretty skeptical, and as I read I just didn't like it at all. It's a short book but it took me a week to finally force myself to finish it, and I was forcing my eyes to keep looking at each word so I could turn the page and finish it - it just read like a lot of made up ideas and stories, so I didn't like it, sorry. I don't think that we'll all be crawling out of caves when the Lord comes again. He's not building his kingdom on earth (which I believe is what the restoration of the gospel is) just to destroy everything and start over again when he comes for the Millenium. The world's not ending yet, look to the living prophet and apostles for guidance. Keep setting goals and pursuing your dreams. As President Packer says in the 2nd to last paragraph of this talk:

"Sometimes you might be tempted to think as I did from time to time in my youth: “The way things are going, the world’s going to be over with. The end of the world is going to come before I get to where I should be.” Not so! You can look forward to doing it right—getting married, having a family, seeing your children and grandchildren, maybe even great-grandchildren."

When the Lord comes, I don't think it will be how people tend to think it is, which this book is an example of how I think people think it will be like, I don't agree with it. Plus, one of the apostles lives on our street a few houses down, so we'll keep an eye out on him for all of us. ...If we do see the moving van in his driveway, we'll send out the alert to all of you and we'll all pack up and follow him wherever he's driving to. ;)

So these two books are now put on the "Things I don't know what to do with" shelf in my brain. There are lots of other things on this shelf. The other shelves in my head are "things I believe are right" and "things I think are wrong". The reason why this is on my "don't know" shelf rather than the wrong shelf is cause there is a lot I don't know about this lady. I have no reason to believe she is insincere, I think it's possible she did experience many of the things she shares, I just don't believe all of it, thus it's in the "I don't know/don't get it" category.

So there's my opinion. If you want to read them and give me your 2 cents, let me know and you can borrow these copies. :) See ya later!

Book Review - I Saw Heaven

Good book, recommend it. Not much time to type now, but the author of this book is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, so since we have that in common I understood most of what he shared.

Favorite part in this book - how everyone in heaven is just learning and learning, there is a thirst for knowledge (pg 75). I liked that - I feel like I have so much that I want to read and do and learn how to do that if I stopped and only did the things I know I have on my list now, I could be busy till I die (that's not factoring in sleep or housekeeping or the things that I'll want to add to my list after I learn what I want to learn - like Einstein's "Circumference of Darkness" theory.) Wonderful to know we will live, learn, and progress forever!