My Journey to Beholding the Face of God and Receiving the Second Comforter

by Carol J. Ehlers

You could say my journey to come unto Christ began at the age of twelve when I began to study the scriptures in earnest.  From the beginning, I believed what the scriptures said.  By age fourteen I rendered my will unto the Lord asking only to know His laws so I could keep them.  I prayed the Lord would protect the man I would marry and keep him pure for me.  The man who was to become my husband and I knelt and prayed together on my front porch on the night of our first date.  We married two years later and all of our children were born "in the covenant".  We were active members of our church, always taking our children to church with us.  Life was good!

It was when great trauma hit my life that I began to study more than a token daily reading of the scriptures.  Additionally, I read Bruce R. McConkie's Messiah Series of six volumes.  It took me a year to study each one in depth which was how long my son was in the hospital not expected to ever walk again.  I burned with the spirit that whole year notwithstanding the sorrow and anguish for my child.  The first and last two chapters of the first volume, THE PROMISED MESSIAH, spoke not only of our privilege, but our responsibility to Seek the Face of the Lord and become living witnesses of Him.  From that day I realized the reality of that charge, and it became the earnest of my existence.  I remember sharing that desire with one in authority, and he warned me not to feel bad when it didn't happen.  But I knew the scriptures were true and I hadn't the slightest doubt it would happen.  Many years later, someone ask me if I hadn't wondered if it was not available for women.  That thought never had even entered my mind.  I had felt His love all of my life.  I had no doubt He loved His daughters as much as His sons, and I knew I would see His face while yet in mortality to receive the promise of my place with Him for the world to come.  And I knew the very purpose of seeing Him face to face was to receive the promises of calling and election from His own mouth to me.

I had already received the Baptism of Fire, so overwhemingly sweet, yet so intense I thought I might be consumed and die, but not caring at that moment if I died, because the event was so overpoweringly euphoric I was filled with nothing but joy.  I remembered Joseph Smith stating that water baptism is but half a baptism without the Baptism of the Fire or the Spirit.  It had been an undeniable specific event!  I could record the date and time in my personal journal.  I also knew it was a prerequisite to obtaining the promise of Calling and Election.

So in my logical female mind I took out cards from my recipe box and placed my name on the top of several of them.  I broke my life down into categories and placed a category next to my name on each card.  Then I made an "add and subtract list" of what I prayerfully felt I needed to do or delete in each facet to qualify for the promises.  What, I asked myself, in each of these areas, could be keeping me from the promises? At the same time I took inventory of my material possessions.  Did they represent "exceeding fine" or "idolatry"?  Would they be considered "more" than my peers possessed?  In other words, did they comply with the Zion society description of  "there were no rich or poor among them."  I gathered up what didn't fall in that category (exempting my graduation gift watch from my mother and my wedding rings from my husband--as I determined they were "gifts," and when we reject a gift we reject the giver of the gift...) I placed my material wealth such as it was, and gave some to friends, and the rest I took to Deseret Industries.  I went inside and found a woman about my size and invited her to my car and gave her the rest.  I'm not saying this is necessary for anyone else, but I felt it was necessary for me. I had only begun to work on my "add and subtract list" when I had a dream in which the Savior was standing in my home, smiling at me and handing me pure white cards.  He said, "I see no disorder here."  I realized He was very much aware of my quest and He knew exactly how I was trying to do it!

The next event took place when I had become very ill.  I was six weeks pregnant and had bronchitis.  I was afraid to take too much medication for the sake of the baby  within me.  I had to sit up all night to breathe.  I became so exhausted one night I heard myself almost involuntarily say, "I give up." I immediately had the sensation I was lying face down in a dark pit.  Fear gripped me and I suddenly came back to myself and was upon my bed.  I both saw and heard the Savior standing at the foot of my bed dressed in white.  He said, "Your garments are made white in the blood of the Lamb".  It was so real, it left an indelible imprint upon my heart and my mind.  I honestly did not know if I had seen and heard it with my spiritual or my physical eyes or heard it with my spiritual or physical ears.  But I knew I burned with the Spirit in validation of its source.  I wondered at the time if I had needed the added humility of being so sick to be worthy of that pronounced designation?

Joy filled my heart, but I wasn't sure if this represented the fullness of the available promise.  Was it the "crowning event" of Calling and Election?  I continued to pray with all the energy of my soul to know my place with Him.  All together it was three years from the time I began the quest in earnest until I knew without a shadow of doubt the promises were mine.

I had a recurring dream that my husband and I were sitting in sacrament meeting and were asked to come to another room.  Then the dream would end.  One night the dream began again, but this time it did not end.  I awakened in the midst of it and it continued in open vision.  I was literally "caught up in the spirit" and taken to a room where "washings and anointings" were being given.  I was so excited to be there.  The other women didn't seem to be as excited as I was.  I determined they were from the spirit world and had waited a long time.  It wasn't that they were not happy, but not as excitedly happy as I was to be there from mortality.  After receiving spiritual washings and anointings, I found myself in a hallway with open doors on either side.  I was standing before the first very tall and large doorway with huge ornate double doors opened.  I saw individuals seated in graduated seating, and I just seemed to know they were the General Assembly, or in other words the authoritative body of the leadership of the Church of the Firstborn on the other side of the veil.  They acknowledged my presence.  I then found myself further down the hallway and looked into a room where people were weaving glorious luminous fabric on very large looms.  I again just seemed to understand it was the fabric for the robes of the righteous. Farther down the hall on the same side I saw people folding robes into packets.  On the other side of the hallway, in yet another doorway, I was bidden to enter, and I sat down on a chair before a table that seemed to go on forever.  On the other side of the table was a male angelic individual dressed in white who told me to hold my hands forward.  I did so, and he placed hot coals in my hands.  It did not burn, and I determined once again I must surely be in the spirit, or it would have hurt.  He placed steel rods in my legs, and again I noted it did not hurt.  Then he handed me a packet of clothing with robe and dress and not a veil, but a crown.  Suddenly I was back in my bed and fully awake and as if afire with the Spirit.  I was excitedly pondering what had just happened when suddenly an angel was standing in my room holding forth what appeared to be two jackets in  white and green color.  He said as he held them forth, "From this day forward, both you and your husband will have the designation, Members of the Church of the Firstborn."

I understood it had all been a "spiritual experience", experienced in the spirit.  But it was far more real and vivid then and in memory now than any physical experience.  When Moses, the classic example of one who had both walked and talked with God as one man talks face to face with another, stated in Moses, Chapter 1:11: " But now mine own eyes have beheld God; but not my natural, but my spiritual eyes, for my natural eyes could not have beheld; for I should have withered and died in his presence..."

The swellings of the Spirit lasted for weeks.  Every time I pondered the experience, I felt overpowering floodings of the Spirit.  I did have one concern.  What if I make a mistake?  I have received the promises and worried even the smallest of transgression might place me in the category of sin against the Holy Ghost, and a daughter of perdition.

I once again turned to Bruce R, McConkie's writings.  In the  third volume of the DOCTRINAL NEW TESTAMENT COMMENTARY, in the section on Second Peter, under the heading "Calling and Election", I found greater insight.  It stated that even the sanctified need daily, hourly repentance and the atonement of Jesus Christ continues to cover it.  He further specified only murder or adultery after having had the heavens opened and receiving the "divine pronouncement" from the Lord's own mouth to your ear would constitute the unforgivable "sin against the Holy Ghost."  He also stated those who had been made partakers of this "divine gift" of calling and election now enjoyed a new status with the Lord. They would receive angels, the spirits of the just made perfect, and the Son would take up His abode and even bring the Father from time to time.

The "crowning event of receiving  your calling and election is not the end, it is but a glorious  beginning.  Such individuals are taught from on high, shown the visions of eternity, are ministered to, are caught up to the spirit world and the very throne of God.  They are shown events of the past and things yet to come.  The beginnings of the Book of Revelation lists the promises to the righteous.  I testify these are real, they are ministered unto those who have qualified.  He places before them  "an open door", and they receive the "Morning Star" who is Christ, the Second Comforter.  They receive a "new name" and "there eyes are anointed with eyesalve" by the angels themselves.  They partake of "living waters" received from the Lord's own hand, and "hidden manna" and He wraps them in His robe, and "carves their name upon the palm of His hand".  Volumes are filled and new ones started to record the blessings shed forth upon them.

As I pondered your invitation to share my experiences, I wondered if it would be appropriate to share that which is sacred on the internet.  But I have seen His tears because even so many of those who have qualified do not seek His face because they don't know they are supposed to.  I feel if even one more soul determines to COME UNTO CHRIST through my testimony, it would be of great worth.

Carol

Epilogue Note:

Carol did not find it requisite to leave her church, and in very fact credits its teachings with the incentive to enter upon her personal quest to "seek the face of the Lord" and the promises of calling and election.

The last post was copied off the ELLIAISON web site and was a short story of Amonhi.  I could have copied off a long story of Amonhi's experiences with C&E, Second Comforter and Church of the Firstborn: however, I already have two LONG experiences and thought a short one was in order.

This is something that happened to me today.  Last night I prayed "deeply" that I wanted to know what the Father would have me to do and to please answer me in a dream (I don't dream or at least I don't remember dreams) or in a vision or whatever.   Today I had two separate answers and I am shaking just thinking about them.  A Gospel Doctrine teacher (we have 6 of them in our Ward--3 classes--) called me and asked about John 14:16 as he did not understand it and after I explained it by quoting Joseph Smith (T of the PJS  p. 151), he asked if I would take about 7 minutes Sunday during his lesson to explain it.    Then 30 minutes later I went to the church to report my home teaching and ran into a member who shook my hand and then pulled me aside and said that he wanted me to explain what I believed was coming.  He wanted to meet me for lunch and have a long conversation about it.   I do not think that these 2 will be the last and I believe I have received at least a partial answer to my heartfelt prayer.

I figure I had better put my money where my mouth was, so here is how I got it.

While receiving a revelation on another topic, I was told among other things, "Blessed art thou Amonhi, for thy work is found acceptable to the Lord and thou shalt have eternal life."

It was witnessed by the Holy Ghost, and I knew it was true.

I have since that time received all the blessings associated with the Second Endowment. (D&C 76:50-70)

Amonhi

(Amonhi's testimony of his receiving his C & E as well as The Second Comforter, and his membership in The Church Of The Firstborn is witnessed in his many posts on LDSFF and Elliaison).

Dear whomever may benefit from this,

The long story of our background is worth the time to hear, but is far too extensive for the purpose of this Post. So here is the short version: 

Mrs. Seeker and I were both born and raised as active members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 

Seeker's Brief Background:

Both Mom and Dad were persecuted by members of their family because of their devotion to the church. Regardless of these persecutions, they remained active and strong in their testimonies and church activity. They met at the Reno Institute during their first year of college and were married 3 years later in the Provo Temple.

Growing up, we were considered the role model family and the envy of many parents whose kids were not so perfect. (If they only knew...LOL) This was partly because my Father was a well respected Bishop and high council member multiple times and my mother held various ward and stake callings in which she also gained significant recognition. The byproducts of such notoriety were that their children were expected to be proper bishop's children. Our family also had "higher standards" than others aside from required appearance of good portrayed to others.

Prior to serving a mission I met a foreign exchange student from Sweden named Cornelia. She was beautiful, smart and active in the church. She stole my heart during a youth conference dance. I immediately began dating her and continued to date her for 2 months before she returned home to Sweden. I then continued to communicate with her via regular letters and weekly phone calls which I paid for myself. This went on for over a year.

When I was 19 and a half, I received my mission call to the Ireland Dublin mission. A week before I left on my mission I called Cornelia for the last time in 2 years. I "broke up with her" over the phone. I told her that I loved her but that I could not give my all to the Lord as I served on my mission if I was trying to maintain a relationship with her. I told her not to expect anything from me and to date freely. I couldn't make any commitments to her and let her know it.

My brothers and I had a rude awakening when while serving missions, we found that not all missionaries are created equal nor do they all have testimonies or even desire to serve. My trainer had a girlfriend in the ward we were serving in and plans to marry her after he got home. I didn't realize it at first, but found out later that he would make opportunities to kiss her and who knows what else.

I finally figured out that I wasn't better than they were, even though they were not keeping the mission rules while I was. I had my own challenges caused by being at the other extreme. I learned a lot from these backward missionaries, but never broke the rules like they did, (if at all possible).

I also had some companions that were incredible. I still keep in touch with my favorite companion. We had many revelations and miracles as we served together. One experience we had together was when I was sick. I was upstairs sleeping while he was praying downstairs. I heard his prayer and saw the glorified being that answered his prayer. I'll share that in another post.

That night he received his promise of exaltation which is known as "making your calling and election made sure." He also met the savior. He tried to tell me about it the next day but realized that he needed to ponder it in his heart for the time being as I wasn't quite ready to hear it.

We had many, many other wonderful and miraculous experiences. For both of us, it was our favorite companionship. 

Shortly after returning from an honorable mission, Cornelia who I had written and received letters from throughout my mission, visited me in the U.S. (Reno) we reestablished our relationship and began courting again before she returned to Sweden. In my mind, we were engaged without a ring. 

I loved everything about her except that she could not relate to my many spiritual experiences. She would listen intently to what I would share and seemed to think it was wonderful, but she couldn't really relate and didn't seem to have any similar experiences. Although I found her lacking in spiritual experiences, she was a strong member with a testimony and by far a better match for me in all other areas than anyone I had found up to that point. In every other way we seemed to be well matched. This was a difficult settle for me as I had seen how my mom and dad were not spiritually compatible and the effect this had on their marriage and family. I really didn't want that in my own eternal relationship. And so I remained not completely committed to marrying Cornelia...

Mrs. Seeker's Brief Background:

Mrs. Seeker's Dad was born and raised in the church and was an upstanding long time business man in their community. He was faithful and steadfast from birth to death. He was an intense gospel scholar and constitutional/political freedoms guru. His Mother's side of the family were faithful pioneers going back to Eliza, Lorenzo, and Erastus Snow's parents.

Mrs. Seeker's Mother was raised non-LDS but converted in early adulthood. Her Mother and Father were also baptized and then sealed together in the Temple because of the influence of their youngest daughter Mrs. Seeker's mom. Mrs. Seeker's grandmother was an extremely spiritual woman with some extraordinary spiritual gifts from birth.

Both of Mrs. Seeker's parents have served the church in many ward and stake callings.

Mrs. Seeker was raised to stand for right and freedom and each evening consisted of lively political/spiritual discussions. Her Father had many visions that he would also share with the family during meal times. Mrs. Seeker followed in his footsteps and also had many dreams and visions, many of which foretelling the future. From a very young age she actively participated in making decisions that would benefit the family because of her proven ability and accuracy in these matters. 

She gained her testimony of Temples, Sealings and the Eternal Nature of the family at the age of 5 through an incredible vision which she has only told to two people in her lifetime. Her Mother and myself.

Mrs. Seeker had had various dreams of her future husband since about 5 years old, (as well as various spiritual experiences through which she could relate to me). From a very young age, she had told her family all about her future husband, tried to draw him and had a list of about 200 attributes and qualities he possessed. She knew him both by physical appearance, personality and intimate spiritual details. But she hadn't met him in this life and by the time she was 21, she was finally convinced that she'd somehow missed finding him. 

On a lighter note, she was engaged 6 times before we met! (This is why her family were holding their breaths as she said "yes" over the alter! They wondered if she would once again "run".) When we met, she had been engaged to a friend of hers who really hung around and wanted to marry her for about two years. She had put that relationship on tentative hold because he was not committed to a Temple marriage as she was and she was very frustrated with the men she was hooking up with in Las Vegas. 

Finally she had decided to go on a mission and was considering the option to just never marry. And that was when she came to Provo at the request of her sister to go out with a friend, sort of a blind date. Through a convoluted series of events, she ended up at my apartment for a party with my roommate (who she didn't even know) and that's when she met me. 

Our Brief, (very brief), Story:

The night we met was magical. It was a Saturday night Mrs. Seeker had a date at the governor's mansion that fell through and was invited to go with a friend to a "Tuba Party" with the BYU orchestra's tuba players. It so happened that this small party was being held in my apartment as my room mate was one of the tuba players.

Mrs. Seeker fit right in with new people and had been getting to know my roommate. She placed a call from our apartment phone to her sister at who's house she was staying for the weekend, (visiting from Monticello Utah), and told her where she was and not to wait up for her. 

Looking around, she saw some pictures on our wall including one of Cornelia and me taken before my mission. My roommate told her that it was a picture of his roommate and his fiancé who lived in Sweden. (This is how when I came in she knew I was the roommate from the photo who was engaged to a Swede.) 

I (Seeker) was out visiting the other apartments in the complex trying to get a group together to do something fun and had found that everyone was busy with other things which was typical for a Saturday night. Finally realizing that my plight was hopeless, I returned home to my apartment where the small tuba party had already begun. 

Although she had never met me in this life, when I opened the door and walked in, Mrs. Seeker immediately recognized me as the man from her visions. She felt like her spirit stood up and her heart raced. (She didn't tell me any of this until after we were married.) I was initially oblivious to the fact that I was in the presence of my future bride. To me, she was just another pretty face.

My roommate who was a tuba player for BYU saw me enter and immediately invited me to join the party which was more of a social gathering which included eating pizza and light conversation. I have never been one to turn up pizza and having nothing else to do was excited to be invited, even if it was a "tuba party".

Mrs. Seeker was dying to know everything about me that she could and began to subtly guide the conversation into deeper water. She would bring up a subject among the group and then ask for various peoples' opinions and then ask for my thoughts so as not to appear over zealously focusing on me. 

Her inquisitions continued on various subjects and I was oblivious. One question she had asked was, "How many kids do you want?" She didn't ask me directly as that would have been very awkward, and to this day I can't remember how she brought up the subject without seeming awkward. But she asked the group focusing on my roommate and then someone else and slowly work her way to me. 

When she asked me, I said for everyone to hear, "Well, there are two that I know of", referring to some experiences I had had. I didn't expect that anyone would catch what I was saying or they would interpret it according to their own understanding and I was right, except for Mrs. Seeker who heard and understood exactly what I meant. She moved closer and said, "Two that you know of?" She felt that I had seen a vision and had spiritual experiences that caused me to say it in that tone; and this intrigued her. She also had an intuitive sense as to what I had experienced concerning these things. 

I was shocked and she had gotten my attention. I knew that people don't recognize things they were not familiar with and the fact that she recognized and could so easily relate meant to me that she was familiar with such things. The same thing happened 2-3 more times where I would say something to the whole group and only she would recognize the depth of my response and each time she waited for the group to move on to other discussion and then she would let me know that she heard and understood what everyone else had not heard. This left me more and more surprised and curious.

Within an hour we were sitting at a table having a lively and deep private conversation. I was mesmerized and she seemed to be enjoying our interaction quite well also. Then a curious thing happened. Suddenly without reason she stood up and announced that she was ready to go. (She had proven conclusively in her mind that I was in fact "THE ONE" she thought I was, and realizing that I was engaged and therefore taken, she was too late and didn't want to endure any further pain in this realization.) 

Her friend was happy to oblige as he wanted to spend more time with her alone. As they got ready to leave I informed her that it was only 11:30pm and that the BYU apartment curfew was 12:00am which only meant that women were not allowed in the men's apartments and that we could continue our conversation outside. It was completely incomprehensible to me that she would want to stop short such a deep, rare and fluid discussion. But she was adamant that she leave and right away

From her perspective she knew who I was and through our conversation she had removed all doubt. She had loved me since the first time she had seen me in vision at 5 years old. And she had mostly given up hope ever meeting me and here I was telling her all about how I was planning on marrying another woman. She felt that God was showing her what she could have had but wouldn't get because she had lost faith and gotten engaged to another man/men. She realized that she was only torturing herself and didn't want to make it worse for herself. So she left.

As she was walking out the door, she turned and looked one last time only to see me standing in bewilderment with eyes pleading for her to stay. She realized that I wanted her to stay and considered that I might not be quite as dedicated to Cornelia as my words had expressed.

I had met this person now who was relating to me on a spiritual level that I had never experienced with Cornelia, and here I had only just met her. I was dumfounded at our connection.

When she arrived at her sister's house, her sister was still up. Mrs. Seeker walked in the door and her sister instantly felt what had happened and said, "You met him didn't you?!?"

Mrs. Seeker immediately began to cry and told her sister that she did meet me but that I was engaged. They had a long discussion reviewing the night and all the details. Her sister told her that "Engaged" was not "Married" and suggested that she make arrangements to spend more time with me. But Mrs. Seeker had no way to contact me. She knew where I lived, but it didn't make sense to show up at my door hoping I was available. Nor had she ever had to take the pursuing roll with the opposite sex, and didn't believe in doing so AT ALL, even in this circumstance.

Then her sister realized that Mrs. Seeker had called for my apartment and that my number should be on the caller ID. They went to check it and found that her sister's husband had already deleted the call log. Knowing that they checked through what was left on the log and found that all the calls both before and after her call from my house were deleted but the call in question was still there and for unknown reasons was not deleted. 

Her sister convinced Mrs. Seeker to call me on Sunday morning even though Mrs. Seeker had never called a guy who had not called her first. While I was at church, she left a message on my apartment's voice mail stating that she was staying in town and would like to get together before she left.

My good friend Lamar had been dating a girl for some time and wanted to ask her father for permission to marry her. Lamar was going to drive an hour to sit on the door step of his girl friends father until he came home from church. He wanted me to drive with him for moral support. I agreed to go as long as I could take someone with me to keep me company while he waited and talked to his future father-in-law.

I had gotten the voice mail from Mrs. Seeker, but thought that it might be awkward having only met her, so I wasn't sure I wanted to take her and risk 3-5 hours being stuck with her if it didn't go well. I had one other person in mind who I had known for months and knew would be good company but she was not available.

I decided that I would be able to deal with the awkwardness of bringing Mrs. Seeker if she could and that if our time was anything like the night before then we would both enjoy ourselves. Mrs. Seeker was extremely nervous to go with two men she didn't know, most especially Lamar, but since she felt the deeper connection with me she agreed to come along. So we left with Lamar driving and us in the back seat. 

Lamar was so nervous and requested that we each say a prayer and bare our testimonies to each other to help him have the spirit and hopefully gain courage and calmness. This was a typical request from Lamar and I was used to it, but Mrs. Seeker was not. However she calmly participated.

We arrived and Lamar sat on the front porch while Mrs. Seeker and I walked to a nearby park and talked. We talked for about 5-6 hours before Lamar returned. We talked about our experiences, philosophies and ideas. We talked about relationship concepts, what makes them work, what destroys them. Visions (in a general sense, not a lot of specifics at this juncture) revelations, and other spiritual manifestations we had experienced throughout our lives.

I was amazed by her during the few hours of conversation we enjoyed the evening we first met. We spent 12 or more hours on Sunday together talking as well. She lived in Monticello UT and was going back on Tuesday, so I took work off and we spent the entire day Monday together too. Within these 2 days of visiting with her I was strongly questioning my decision to marry my Swedish girlfriend. I soon realized Mrs. Seeker was everything I wanted and had been looking for in my wife and over the course of about 6 days over a 2-3 week period, we called our previous engagements off and got engaged to each other. Feeling inspired, we got married two months later against the strong suggestions of others.

Within about 6 months of being married, we found ourselves engaged almost full-time in spiritual pursuits. Mrs. Seeker was serving in the Provo temple between 30-48 hours a week as an ordinance worker performing various priesthood ordinances such as Washings and Anointings on other women, acting as a Veil worker, and "officiator" for the women's endowment, and being a general "Temple Angel" with all the other women ordinance workers that worked in the Provo temple, etc...

We were both called as Gospel Doctrine teachers in our young married couples ward, 100% home and visiting teachers, and basically being the best people we knew how. We both had a veracious appetite for learning true principles and discussing everything! While I was at work, (and when Mrs. Seeker was not substituting for other workers at the temple), she spent her time reading books included in the Gospel Link Library reference program. She would read from it during the day and we would discuss it during the evening. In this way, she was able to read every book in the entire digital library once through and I was able to benefit from that study as well. We learned incredible things!

Revelations were very common regarding fulfilling our callings, understanding various principles and in achieving our missions and personal goals. And so was opposition, which came mostly from my family who didn't seem to like various inspired decisions we were making like not sending Mrs. Seeker to work to put me through college and our decision for me to drop out of college and become a certified network engineer. Somewhere along the path in my life, I must have learned to be comfortable doing what I knew was right regardless of the opposition of others. 

I believe that following our personal revelation which led us in a contrary path to society/family norms and having gained new view points on applied gospel principles from our extensive studies largely caused us to be labeled as "the black sheep". But we continued to happily follow what we felt was revealed to us.

During this time we decided to study the temple endowment in detail. We focused on understanding the covenants we each made. We searched the "law of God" and "the law of Christ" and pondered on questions like, "Why do the women covenant to obey one law and the men another?" 

While seeking for these answers, Mrs. Seeker recommitted to do what God expected of her. She gave in and sincerely told the Lord that she would do whatever was required even if it was against her personal wishes. At that moment, she received a revelation that said she would not have to live contrary to her own desires and that she would have the eternal life which she had seen in her previous visions. The revelation also included the promise of eternal life, but we didn't recognize it at the time.

A week later, while we were both discussing the Temple Covenants, we both received the same revelation together. It included new insights and a reiteration of the revelation Mrs. Seeker had received a week before. The main part of the revelation was a promise that we would be exalted and have eternal life. 

This was the most incredible experience of our lives, (up to that point in time). The result of which was that we were given the promise of eternal life and exaltation. We had heard of this promise and were pretty sure it was call Calling and Election made sure. But it didn't happen the way we thought it would. We were also far too young to have received a promise that we thought took a life time to achieve. I was 22 and Mrs. Seeker was 21 at the time and we had only been married about 6 months.

(Mrs. Seeker later realized that she had received the same promise about a week before and didn't recognize it as her Calling and Election made sure. (This and other experiences made us realize that because people don't know the doctrine regarding this blessing, they focus on the wrong criteria or often times receive the promise, but don't realize it, like the "Lamanites who were baptized with fire and the Holy Ghost and knew it not", 3Ne. 9:20.) 

As we discussed what had just happened, we couldn't believe that we had actually received the promise. My dad and Mrs. Seeker's parents had sought it much of their lives, and at that point had not received the promise for themselves. We weren't anyone special! Also, it didn't happen the way we were told or expected it should and finally we didn't feel we qualified, (we were basically questioning God's judgment because we thought we knew ourselves better than God did - LOL). After sincere and serious study of the subject we received another major and very spiritual experience in which we were given the promise again and having studied the topic extensively for 2 weeks, we knew for certain what it meant. 

We were also told/commanded to share our experience with our family and later others with the intent of helping them to receive the same. This was and always has been a difficult task. As the "black sheep" or as my younger brother lovingly says, "more like gray sheep", we never/rarely met the expectations of others. We have a hard time with sharing such precious pearls with people who see us with darkly colored glasses. 

We first shared with our parents on both sides with mixed results. Dad was very supportive and Mom wasn't. (We didn't really know how to share this as we weren't very practiced. Like young missionaries.) Mrs. Seeker's dad was a gospel scholar who had studied the blessing and when we talked to him and his wife, the spirit was very strong. At first he believed us but because he knew so much about how, where and who gave the blessing he soon forgot the spiritual witness and relied on his extensive study, just as we had. He also got stuck on, "Why them and not me?" It took about a year of emails and discussions and study before he finally accepted that what we were telling him was true. In the process, we learned the doctrine very well. (He eventually received the same promise shortly before he died.) 

A very short time after receiving the promise for ourselves, we had our first visit from Christ and received the second comforter. (We might share some of those experiences later.) 

We began to learn faster and faster through personal revelation, angel or messenger visits and various assignments we were given. These among other things were new and exciting experiences at first but then became more common place and a part of normal living. We found that receiving our calling and election made sure was not the end that we expected it to be. It was in fact a new beginning. Everything became new and we were again like children learning and growing faster than ever. 

As we continued to study and ask questions, we began to slowly understand the meaning of the blessings we had received and how it enabled us to progress faster. Our spiritual experiences increased in frequency and insight. What others consider miracles became part of our daily lives.

In conclusion, we add our voice to the throng of ancient and modern prophets by encouraging you each to receive the same blessing for yourselves. Learn to listen to the many comments in conference talks, manuals and throughout the scriptures which are so often teaching the principles and doctrines related to this blessing, but above all, listen to the Holy Spirit which will teach you all things and show you all things what you should do. 

This is a very important blessing to receive and is essential to our exaltation. D&C 76 tells us that only those who receive this promise which happens when we are "sealed by the holy spirit of promise" are made Gods and will come forth in the resurrection of the just with all the blessings of the Celestial Kingdom.

We leave you with our special witness of the Christ. Christ lives! We have seen him, we have felt his hands and side, and we have walked with him and talked with him. We have been held in his loving embrace. We are excited with the hope that through the sharing of our testimony you may receive the same and also come to feel comfortable sharing your own experiences with us.

With Love,

Mr. & Mrs. Seeker

This is on the internet.  It is an excellent example of a person who qualified for exaltation.

The Second Comforter

My Testimony

By Daniel Rogers

I share this testimony in the spirit of friendship to any fellow seeker of Christ.

I am a normal lay member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  I have no presiding authority to teach or command within the organization of the church.  Within the stewardship of the organization, I respect the authority of those presiding authorities, and I keep these experiences to myself.   I share unrestrained to my friends and my family. Spirituality and the gospel are greater than any organization.

I served an honorable mission, married in the temple, and have a current temple recommend.  I have been and remain an active member of the LDS church.  I have no intentions of leaving it.

I have been asked to post this testimony here.  I hope that this will be a one-post declaration of the grace Christ has bestowed on me.  I have no intention to publicize this beyond a few family members and friends.  I am not a great example.  I have no secret to share that has been hidden.  All I can do is testify that knowing Christ literally is possible.  This is not a full record of my experiences, but what I share here did happen.

Background

I started college at BYU as a freshman in 1994.  I had one full school year before my LDS mission.  During that freshman year, I took up reading the Book of Mormon for a half hour every day.  I soon recognized an invitation to know the Lord personally as did Lehi, Nephi, and many others contained within that book.  This invitation to know the Lord is explicitly made in D&C 93:1.

D&C 93:1 Verily, thus saith the Lord: It shall come to pass that every soul who forsaketh his sins and cometh unto me, and calleth on my name, and obeyeth my voice, and keepeth my commandments, shall see my face and know that I am;

The invitation in this scripture impressed me so much that I included it on my missionary plaque.  From that time, seeing His face and knowing the Lord has been my goal.  I sought after this goal for nearly 18 years.  This desire has not been merely a new whim.  I am not a kindergartner seeking a crash course in calculus.

Joseph Smith taught “for God hath not revealed anything to Joseph, but what He will make known unto the Twelve, and even the least Saint may know all things as fast as he is able to bear them, for the day must come when no man need say to his neighbor, Know ye the Lord; for all shall know Him (who remain) from the least to the greatest.’ ” Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, page 149.

I believed him.

I didn’t have a name for what I went through during that period at BYU until many years later.  Though I was baptized by water when I was 8, it was during that year, at age 18, that I received the Baptism of Fire and the Holy Ghost.

This is how in 2012, I found myself pleading for truth and wisdom.  That prayer led me to a book called The Second Comforter: Conversing with the Lord Through the Veil by Denver C. Snuffer Jr.  I recognized The Second Comforter as a manual.  I saw in it many experiences that I had already gone through. It was like a map.  From reading it I saw where I had been on the path, where I was, and what else I could expect to experience.  It was then a simple matter of pondering, identifying, and working on the areas I had identified.

My Witness

On April 14, 2012, I was carried away into the heavenly temple.  I shook the hand of the angel that was my guide.  I saw and heard the Father and the Son speak to me.  This experience involved sight, touch, sound, and smell.  It was as real as anything I have experienced in my day-to-day life, only the glory and intelligence conveyed is indescribable.  This was not my last encounter beyond the veil.

I am a witness that Jesus Christ lives.  He is a real, knowable person.

If you seek and accept His messengers to prepare the way, He will come suddenly to His temple and reveal to you His glorious body of burnings.  He is talkative.  He wants to know you more than you want to know Him.  I know this because I have experienced this as a man speaks to another.

Jesus Christ is the Second Comforter. He literally came to me and has comforted me.

This is not a full statement of my witness.  I share my testimony so that you may know that Christ lives and His work is to save imperfect people.  I hope that this testimony will allow you to exercise faith enough to lay hold on these blessings.

The Doctrine of Christ

The path to knowing Him is simple.  The Book of Mormon calls it the Doctrine of Christ.  It is faith, repentance, baptism, and then to actually receive the Holy Ghost.  Once you have actually received the Baptism by Fire and the Holy Ghost you must do everything the Holy Ghost says until Christ manifests Himself to you.  This is the end or goal to which we endure.  It is to know Him literally.  He has a ministry to accomplish with you personally.

You cannot get there by following any program or man.  It is a matter of working on what one thing the Holy Ghost tells you to do each day.  We are commanded to press forward to this goal with steadfastness.

2 Nephi 31:20 Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life.

If you are expecting to know Christ in death when you have not known Him in life, you will be disappointed.  While being martyred, Stephen would not have been welcomed by Christ in His glory had Stephen not known Christ in his life.

Alma 34:32 For behold, this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God; yea, behold the day of this life is the day for men to perform their labors. 33 And now, as I said unto you before, as ye have had so many witnesses, therefore, I beseech of you that ye do not procrastinate the day of your repentance until the end; for after this day of life, which is given us to prepare for eternity, behold, if we do not improve our time while in this life, then cometh the night of darkness wherein there can be no labor performed. 34 Ye cannot say, when ye are brought to that awful crisis, that I will repent, that I will return to my God. Nay, ye cannot say this; for that same spirit which doth possess your bodies at the time that ye go out of this life, that same spirit will have power to possess your body in that eternal world.

The Book of Mormon contains this doctrine within its first six verses.  Page after page, example after example, we can see how normal people had the desire and faith to know the Lord while in the flesh.  Study Nephi’s last discourse in 2 Nephi, especially chapters 31-32.  Study Moroni Chapter 7 and the ministry of angels.  Study the whole book with the idea of how you can obtain what the authors obtained.  They were not satisfied until they knew God while during their mortal lives.

The Lectures on Faith – A Neglected Treasure

I highly recommend the Lectures on Faith.  It is scripture and was accepted as such by all quorums and the general membership of the church.  It was edited, written, and approved by a man that had communed with Jehovah.  The Lectures on Faith set out in methodical form keys or knowledge to knowing Christ and His Father.

Without Faith There is No Ministry of Angels – A Key Offered

In the months that followed, a heavenly messenger came to my bedside and taught me from the scriptures, primarily the Book of Mormon and Isaiah.  This happened on three different nights over a period of two months, each time repeating the prior message and adding more.  The best one line summary of the hours-long conversation is “the Gentiles in the Book of Mormon should be understood as referring to the LDS”.  Please understand that this is a very inadequate summary.

Moroni 7:37 Behold I say unto you, Nay; for it is by faith that miracles are wrought; and it is by faith that angels appear and minister unto men; wherefore, if these things have ceased wo be unto the children of men, for it is because of unbelief, and all is vain. 38 For no man can be saved, according to the words of Christ, save they shall have faith in his name; wherefore, if these things have ceased, then has faith ceased also; and awful is the state of man, for they are as though there had been no redemption made.

Ask the Lord to show you what unbelief you have.  If you ask with a sincere heart, He will answer you.  A sincere heart means that you are willing to accept the answer no matter what it is without preconceptions.  Work on casting aside that unbelief.  This is the hard part.  We have accepted many traditions that are unbelief.  The Book of Mormon will be your key.  It was written to you, its reader.

In the period that has followed, my mind has been completely blown by the knowledge communicated from heaven.  I had to lay down long-held beliefs that were really philosophies of men.  A quality that is attractive to heaven is an openness to learning.  I have also learned that if Angels have not come to you, then it is because of some unbelief that you are holding onto.  Unbelief is more than not believing, it also includes belief in errors or incorrect belief.  You may not even be aware of what it is.  You may think it is truth when it is not.

Whose Connection to Heaven Matters?

To those who rely on others for their connection to heaven, the standing of any apostle, president, parent, bishop, or any other person, whether they commune with God or not, will not matter for your salvation.  What matters is your own connection to heaven.  If every person magnifies his calling and converses with the Lord, it will not matter to you if you do not do the same.  God is no respecter of persons; you cannot be in the same kingdom as Nephi, Lehi, Abraham, and others without having had the same experiences.  There is never any safety in following men.  Even followers of true prophets find themselves in the telestial kingdom (see D&C 76:98-101).

Lectures on Faith 6:8 It is in vain for persons to fancy to themselves that they are heirs with those, or can be heirs with them, who have offered their all in sacrifice, and by this means obtained faith in God and favor with him so as to obtain eternal life, unless they in like manner offer unto him the same sacrifice, and through that offering obtain the knowledge that they are accepted of him.

The True Standard of Righteousness

Regarding righteousness, a person can try to live up to every law and commandment both cultural and scriptural and it will be insufficient.  At the end of the day, after all we can do, we are saved by Christ’s grace.  Why did Nephi labor so diligently to teach of Christ?  Why did he and his people believe in Christ and talk about Him so much?

Nephi spoke of Christ because all we do amounts to basically nothing.  No amount of compliance with any law will be sufficient to save us.

Assume your height was a visible measure of your righteousness.  You could compare yourself to others and say, “Look, I’m six feet tall and everyone else is five feet, therefore I am righteous.”  This is in essence what we do; we compare ourselves to others and find comfort in being “taller”.

Christ is the Empire State Building or Mt. Everest. From His perspective the difference between the best of us and the worst of us is so insignificant that we all equally fall short. You can’t even tell from the top of the Empire State Building just who is taller than the other.

This is the standard of righteousness that heaven uses. We all fall so far short of it that it is purely by Christ’s grace that we are saved.

You will not save yourself by saving up for that bicycle. The amount you offer is nothing compared to the standard of Righteousness. The only thing you can offer is a broken heart and contrite spirit. You must be willing to set aside anything and everything to know Him, including your cherished but incorrect beliefs.

To the Critics of the Church

For those of you aware of facts that have shaken your faith in Joseph Smith or The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, faith in a man or an institution is idolatry.  The only object worthy of faith is Jesus Christ.  To have your faith shaken in an idol is a good thing.  Joseph Smith defined Mormonism as truth:

Mormonism is truth; and every man who embraces it feels himself at liberty to embrace every truth. Consequently the shackles of superstition, bigotry, ignorance, and priestcraft, fall at once from his neck; and his eyes are opened to see the truth, and truth greatly prevails over priestcraft…The first and fundamental principle of our holy religion is, that we believe that we have a right to embrace all, and every item of truth, without limitation or without being circumscribed or prohibited by the creeds or superstitious notions of men, or by the dominations of one another, when that truth is clearly demonstrated to our minds, and we have the highest degree of evidence of the same.

– Joseph Smith -Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith, page 264,

The truth is, your skepticism of men and institutions puts you in good company.  In 1830 the Lord called the church “true and living” (D&C 1:30).  By 1832 the Lord stated that the church is “condemned” (D&C 84:54-57).  By 1841 the Lord says He has taken the fullness of the priesthood away from the church (D&C 124:28).  The Lord promised that if we did not repent, we would “by [our] own works, bring cursings, wrath, indignation, and judgments upon your own heads, by your follies, and by all your abominations, which you practice before me, saith the Lord.” (v. 48).

You have learned truth and that truth is confirmed by the Lord’s own words.  We were moved out of Nauvoo and have suffered cursings by our own follies.  With this knowledge of truth you can refocus your faith in the proper place, Jesus Christ.  Jesus Christ is an expert at saving fallen things.

If you do not accuse each other, God will not accuse you. If you have no accuser you will enter heaven, and if you will follow the revelations and instructions which God gives you through me, I will take you into heaven as my back load. If you will not accuse me, I will not accuse you. If you will throw a cloak of charity over my sins, I will over yours—for charity covereth a multitude of sins. – Joseph Smith -Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, page 193

We all need this cloak of charity.

I am not an Example

I am not an example because I am more righteous or perfect or more virtuous.  I am not.  I am utterly unworthy of any heavenly attention as to myself and am certainly not worth any earthly attention.  I only share my experience so that others may know that no matter how low you are, Christ will save you if you let Him.

Christ’s work is to save you.  He is good at what He does.  Let Him work with you.  Be patient and teachable as a little child.  Children do not have all the preconceptions and false traditions we have.  Try to read the Book of Mormon without any preconceptions about what it means.  I know that is very hard to do.  I still have weaknesses.  We all do.  We are given weaknesses to humble us.  Let yourself be humble.

I have no stewardship to reveal anything to any member of the church.  I am not a presiding authority, and therefore nothing I share would be of any force to anyone.  I believe I had stated that clearly, but I do so again just to be clear.

The Lord has asked me to share these thoughts here, but only in the capacity as a friend and fellow seeker, and not by way of commandment or revelation.  The only tool I have is testimony and persuasion.  I do not consider myself an expert, special, more righteous, or anything other than an ordinary LDS guy.

My only goal in writing here is to increase faith in Christ.  I believe the preeminent doctrine worth talking about is the Doctrine of Christ — Faith, Repentance, Baptism, taking the Holy Ghost as your guide until Christ manifests Himself to you.  Christ is real and employs no servant at the gate.

2 Nephi 9:41 O then, my beloved brethren, come unto the Lord, the Holy One. Remember that his paths are righteous. Behold, the way for man is narrow, but it lieth in a straight course before him, and the keeper of the gate is the Holy One of Israel; and he employeth no servant there; and there is none other way save it be by the gate; for he cannot be deceived, for the Lord God is his name.

If my words have caused anyone to have less faith in Christ, then I beg for your forgiveness and ask you to ignore me.  Of all my mistakes, which are many, it yet remains that I experienced what I did.  To echo Joseph’s words — I know it and I know God knows it.

I do not fault nor accuse anyone for disbelieving me.  Christ is the only one worthy of belief. Believe in Him. Seek after Him.  He has promised that He will come to you.  Please do not be satisfied with anything less than His literal presence.

John 14:23 – Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.
D&C 130:3 – John 14:23—The appearing of the Father and the Son, in that verse, is a personal appearance; and the idea that the Father and the Son dwell in a man’s heart is an old sectarian notion, and is false.

Please do not stop casting out unbelief until the Angels come and Christ manifests Himself.  These things are absolutely necessary for your eternal salvation.  Christ has a work to do that no earthly man or program can provide.  There is no servant at the gate.  There is no substitute for conversing with the Lord through the veil.