End-of-Life Experiences
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Time will not permit me to say a great many things that I have on my mind. I see the time is nearly expired. But I wish to say that we had an existence before we came here. “But,” says one, “I do not remember anything about it.” No, you do not. You do not remember the day you were born on the earth, yet you will not deny that you had an existence at that time. When you were a year old you do not remember beginning to walk, yet you will not deny that you had an existence then. God, in His wisdom, has withdrawn the recollection of these things from us. If we could understand the glory we once had with our Father in heaven we would be discontented in dwelling in this condition of existence. We would pine for the home we left behind us. Its glory and its beauty, its heavenly graces and delights were of such a character that we would pine for it with that homesickness that men have some partial knowledge of here on the earth. It is said that at one time in the French army, the bands were forbidden to play certain airs because of the effect they had upon the Swiss soldiers whom they employed. These Swiss airs would arouse such sensations of homesickness as to cause the Swiss to throw down their arms and desert and go back to their native valleys and mountains. Now, if such a feeling of homesickness can be brought about in that way, how much more would it be the case if we could recollect our association with our Father and God in the eternal world! Wisely, in the providence of God, this knowledge is withdrawn from us. We can have a glimpse occasionally, through the revelations of the Spirit to us, of the glory there is awaiting us, and sometimes when men and women are approaching death—when they are ready to step out of this existence into the other—the veil becomes so thin that they behold the glories of the eternal world, and when they come back again—as some have, we all probably have met those who have been snatched from death—they come back to this mortal existence with a feeling of regret. They have had a foretaste of the glory that awaited them; they have had a glimpse of that glory that is behind the veil; and the love of life is so completely lost—the love of earthly home and friends is so completely taken from them, that they desire with all their hearts to take their exit from this life into that glorious life which they knew was on the other side of the veil. Has not this been the case in many instances? Certainly it has. Therefore our God in His wisdom has withdrawn this knowledge from us, and left us to seek for and obtain that aid and strength necessary to enable us to successfully battle with and overcome the powers of evil that assail us on every hand.
President George Q. Cannon
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When I was a freshman at Utah State, living in the home of my grandmother, Louise Ballif Benson, who spent most of her time working on genealogical research and temple work, I remember coming home from a party about midnight. As I entered the door, I could hear someone speaking in Grandmother’s room and I wondered who could be there at that time of the night. As I got closer and heard her voice, I realized that she was praying, thanking the Lord that He had extendéd her life for a few years after her husband had gone on so she could complete the family temple work. She also prayed that she might see the last of her thirteen children married in the temple. This had now been accomplished and she would now like to go to her husband if it was pleasing to the Lord. As I left for a mission a few months later and as I shook her hand, I had the distinct impression I would not see her again in mortal life. A few months later in England, I got an impression that Grandmother had passed away. I mentioned it to my companion. He said, ‘‘She has been ill, you are just worried about it.”’ “No, she has not been sick,’’ I replied. Ten days later I received a letter from Father saying that she had passed peacefully away. As near as I could tell, it was the same day on which I received that impression. Yes, the veil is very thin, brothers and sisters. (“‘Temple Memories,’’ Ogden Utah Temple Dedication, 18 January 1972.) Later in that same community I formed an acquaintance with another great temple worker, my mother-in-law, Barbara Smith Amussen. She had spent twenty-three years officiating at the Logan Temple. So thin is the veil that this good woman knew the time she was going to leave. She announced on Thursday or Friday that the following Thursday she would be leaving mortal life. She had had a dream or a vision of her husband telling her it was her time to go. It is my feeling that every good and righteous person has a specific time to go. I don’t think it applies to everyone. (‘‘Temple Memories,’’
President Ezra Taft Benson
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