When we die, our spirits go to the world of spirits. Most Christians think of it as heaven or hell. We can learn much about the world of spirits from the more than 13 million documented near-death experiences (NDEs).
Going to the scriptures and information from inspiring ancient earthworks we learn more. We find Heavenly Father’s marvelous and perfect plan of salvation mapped out before us. Understanding the world of spirits brings great insights. Most don’t know how important our communication with the world of spirits is.
Near Death Experiences
In these NDEs, they die, but come back and are able to share what they saw and experienced. Howard Storm will tell you “Hell is real!” He died as a self-serving atheist and went to hell. He saw the horribleness. Reaching out to the Savior totally changed his life when he came back. (see pp 153-154 of my book, It’s About Time, describing Howard’s experience).
In that same book in Chapter 21, I share experimental evidence that time and space are mortal constraints. When a person dies they move into the spirit world in what we call the “Eternity Domain.” This is where God and angels do their great work. The Spirit World is both close by and far away because it is in the Eternity Domain. It includes both paradise and hell.
Our Spirits are the Offspring of God
As the Apostle Paul declares to the Greeks on Mar’s Hill, our spirits are the offspring of God. (Acts 17:33-34) When Jesus taught us to pray, He said, “Our Father which art in heaven.” (Matt. 6:9) Many times when Jesus refers to His Heavenly Father, we see the phrase, “Father which is in heaven.”
As His spirit offspring, we are gods in embryo. And in the Sermon on the Mount, the Savior asks us to be perfect like our Heavenly Father is perfect. (Matt. 5:48) We cannot perfect ourselves, but Christ can, as we come unto Him. (Moroni 10:32-33) In Genesis we read that we are created in God’s image, male and female. (Gen. 1:26-27) In Hebrew tradition and in apocryphal literature we read of our “Mother in Heaven.” Our gender is determined by our spirit birth from our Heavenly Parents. That solves the transgender question!
Inspiring Earthworks Information
In 1848, Squire and Davis documented 4 ½ square miles of magnificent earthworks near Newark, Ohio. These inspiring earthworks map out Heavenly Father’s plan of salvation. These earthworks show the spirit world being a transition epoch between mortality here on earth and the coming millennium epoch.
The Jaredite and the Nephite civilizations are described in the Book of Mormon. We find that Carbon dating indicates these earthworks were first built by the Jaredites and then refined by the Nephites. The Jaredites and Nephites were so inspired by Heavenly Father’s plan of salvation and exaltation that they wanted the world to see. These earthworks show their love and gratitude to our Heavenly Father for His Perfect Plan of Happiness.
Further, these earthworks show that Heavenly Father’s plan of salvation is for all of His spirit children. They illustrate that, because of free choice, one-third of Heavenly Father’s spirit children do not receive physical birth on earth. These are those who chose to follow Satan in our pre-mortal epoch. They became the devil and his angels here on earth. The good spirits are those who have chosen to follow Christ in our pre-mortal epoch, and all of them receive physical bodies here on earth.
When we do the math, we see that there are twice as many good spirits as bad spirits. These earthworks map out our potential pathway to celestial realms of glory. And it is fascinating that depiction is all the way from our pre-mortal epoch. It took massive effort to build them. The path to paradise is depicted, as is the path to hell.
The depiction of the Celestial Kingdom is in a direction from the Millennium of 51.8 degrees to true north. It is also fascinating that angle denotes the Divine ratio. http://www.allanstime.com/Spiritual/Hopewell_Civilization_Great_Octagon/index.html It is the same angle as the Giza Pyramid, which denotes the Egyptian’s pathway to heaven. The Divine ratio is 1.618… That ratio is the distance from the base of the pyramid to the apex divided by 1/2 the base distance.
The World of Spirits
We see that the spirit world is composed of both the good and the bad. The good spirits in the spirit world include both those who have not yet been born as well as those who have died and gone to paradise. Those going to paradise (heaven) have chosen Christ during their mortal journey. As mentioned above, those who followed Satan in our pre-mortal realm are denied the privilege of getting a mortal body.
The world of spirits also includes those who are privileged to be part of the First Resurrection. As Christ broke the bands of death with His glorious resurrection, His resurrection cap-stoned the infinite atonement–providing a resurrection for all mortals. There was great rejoicing as many of the saints came out of their graves following His resurrection and went into the Holy City and appeared unto many. They are the beginning of the glorious First Resurrection. Like the Prophet Moroni, they have the opportunity to minister to us as well from the spirit world. (D&C 133:36)
The Kingdom of Heaven
The Kingdom of Heaven is perfectly organized, while the Kingdom of God is not because of us imperfect mortals, who make it up. This is why the Savior asked us to pray, “Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” The Lord also asked us, “Seek first the Kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” (Matt. 6:33)
In so doing we are asking the Lord’s angels to help us do the will of the Father, as the Savior did perfectly. Then we have His great promise that “all these things shall be added unto [us].”. The work and will of the Father is: “This is my work and my glory to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.” (Moses 1:39) And the Savior said, “Herein is my Father glorified that ye bring forth much fruit; then are ye my disciples.” (John 15:8)
The Worth of Souls
The worth of a soul is great in the eyes of God. He created the earth in the first place for His spirit offspring to gain a body. “The spirit and the body is the soul of man.” (D&C 88:18)
Only because of the resurrection of our bodies has the Savior opened the door to a fullness of JOY in celestial realms. (D&C 93:33-34; 3 Nephi 28:10) In our pre-mortal epoch, each of us was given our life’s plan orchestrated by our infinitely loving Heavenly Father to best find our way back to Him. This included when and where we would be born. (Acts 17:26)
God’s angels are there in His perfectly organized Kingdom of Heaven to assist us in our mortal journey. But because of Father’s respect for our agency (free choice), His angels will never violate our choices. It is our choice whether we listen to them or not. They speak the words of Christ (2 Nephi 32:3, 5) according to what is in our eternal best interest. Both the good angels and the bad angels are around us. It is our choice who we chose to listen to.
We are all born with the Spirit of Christ to know good from evil. (John 1:9) Often the angels that minister to us are our relatives. Our fourth daughter, Celeste had three children. Her unborn son Jonathan appeared to her and told her he needed to be born. Sarah Heinz, in her book, Life Before Life, has documented several similar experiences for women, who saw their children’s spirits before they were born.
Our Creator Created Us to be Creators
Our Perfect God, our Creator, created us to be creators. In His infinite knowledge, He knows the solution to every problem. As we meet life’s challenges, problems, and opportunities, the Lord and His angels are always there to help us. (Matt. 7:7-8)
I cannot count the number of times I have asked and received answers. I know that His answers will always be in my eternal best interest. Our prayers will be answered according to His timing, not ours. He always knows what is best for each of us.
In our innate creative abilities, we are open to endless opportunities and ideas that can help the world be a better place. However, He leaves us on our own to do so and to enjoy personal growth. As we do so, we become more like our Creator and be creators. While we create things that help bring peace, love and joy, we are taking upon us His characteristics. His main motivation is love. Following the Lord’s example, we learn to love as He loves.
Below, I share three profound examples of the ministering of spirits from the world of spirits:
Enlightenment – Faith Greater Than Pain
Example 1: I just finished a most remarkable book, Faith Greater than Pain by Lynn “Doc” ClelandThe book tells the story of Sarah Goode Marshall, who was the first Mormon handcart pioneer to reach the Salt Lake, Utah, valley. A 34-year-old widow with 6 children; the oldest of which was twelve
She was motivated by her powerful commitment to her newly found faith. A woman who left England, her family, her home, and everything she knew. Doc, who is her 4th great-grandson, was so impressed with her story, stamina, and experience that he tried to replicate it in 2009. He ate the same meager rations, and pulled a handcart like Sarah did the 1385 miles from Iowa City to the Salt Lake Valley.
My wife and I were privileged to meet Doc at the “Book of Mormon Expo” and now have him as a personal friend. Doc shared with me how it was “no coincidence” that Susan Imhoff Bird co-authored the book. It is an amazing story all by itself and could be another blog article of significant interest. Because of Susan’s and Doc’s spiritual sensitivities, they were able to write Sarah Goode’s words, as if from her never written journal. This book brings the spirit world really close and is a beautiful example of how close spirit world really is to us. The message of the book is so remarkable, a movie is planned to share it with the world.
One of the profound experiences Doc had as he entered the Salt Lake valley, was being told by a Prophet, “There are no coincidences!” Doc told me the story of how Susan Imhoff Bird became an author–helping tremendously to write the book–was no coincidence.
Heaven Is For Real
Example 2: Another must-read book is, Heaven is for Real. There is also a movie with the same title. This amazing story is of little four-year-old Colton Burpo seeing heaven, Jesus, his great grandfather (Pops), and his sister, who had died during her mom’s pregnancy. The book and the movie have inspired millions. The movie is well done. However, the book is well-documented and better than the movie. Colton had a ruptured appendix, and during the time they were operating on him, his spirit left his body and he went to heaven.
I love it when Colton sees the drawing of the Savior by Akiane Kramarik, and Colton says in his innocence, “Dad, that’s the one!” Akiane’s paintings of Jesus are the most recognized portrayal of Christ in the world. Hers are very different than what one sees across the Christian community both now and over the last two thousand years. The pictures we typically see of Jesus are not accurate; false traditions have crept in.
Akiane’s amazing art and poetry abilities are amazing gifts from God. He showed her at a very young age a scene from heaven. She painted “The Prince of Peace” when she was only eight years old. It sold in 2019 for $850,000.
She has been featured on the Glenn Beck show, on the Oprah Winfree show, and on several others. She uses her earnings in charitable ways. She was born in 1994 and has written two books. Over a billion people have visited her website: akiane.com. For her, the spirit world is nearby.
Karie Allan Clingo’s Sketch
Our daughter, Karie, sketched a drawing of what she thinks the Savior looks like. It is very much like Akiane’s.
“I love to envision the Savior’s smiling face in my efforts before Him. I believe in the promise, “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.” (D&C 93:1)
George Ritchie
Example 3: Then we have George Ritchie, the physician and psychiatrist’s account, of seeing a spiritual laboratory during his NDE. In his book, Return from Tomorrow, years later he saw these same objects be created in reality patterned after the creation of their spiritual images that he saw in the spirit world. We know so little about the spirit world, but what we know is so magnificent and exciting to realize. We see it as a beautiful part of Heavenly Father’s perfect plan of salvation and exaltation.
The Importance of Listening
As we humbly listen to others with love in our hearts, we are open to learning. As we open ourselves to listen to the good spirits that God has lovingly placed around us, we hear the word’s of Christ. (2 Nephi 32:3, 5) The Lord askes us to always have a prayer in our heart so that we don’t listen to the bad angels around us. (D&C 10:5)
In Heavenly’s perfect plan of happiness, we are so blessed to have the ministrations from His good angels to help guide our lives. They are there to help us fulfill our missions in mortality and to bring us the greatest happiness. There goal is God’s goal to lead us on that path to Celestial realms of glory and a fullness of JOY.
Except for the Lord’s cataclysmic events, it is like he told Elijah. He speaks with His angels with a “still small voice.” (1 Kings 19:11-13) He speaks in our minds and to our hearts. Love, joy and peace accompany His words.
THANK YOU, Heavenly Father for Your perfect plan of happiness in the midst of all our imperfections. It gives us great hope. May we continually treasure up thy word; then we know we will never be deceived. (JS-M 37)
David W. Allan
Photo: CC Pixabay Heaven Clouds Swelling