Messages From Deceased Relatives

[freedom_of_religion]

I have a friend that's mother died about 10 years ago. He told me that his grandmother wants to come visit him, because his mother (her daughter)keeps coming to her and wanting her to give him a message. He knows that I'm an active LDS and has asked what our beliefs are about messages from deceased family members. He want's to know why she didn't just come to him instead, possibly because he lives a "fast life"? I don't really have an answer to give him, thus my post. I am no Peter Priesthood by any means. I got to church each week, don't attend the temple and have never fasted (I did once), I'm the worlds worst Home Teacher to. I have a lot of room for improvement, I know. My own son passed away 8 years ago and I have never had a single visit, vision, dream or anything from him. Why a 2 year old little boy couldn't come to mend a father's broken heart and why some others get to stumps me. So, I don't have an answer for him, as I have the same question. Can anyone offer any suggestion for me to answer him? to answer me?

[inquiringmind]

I have a friend that's mother died about 10 years ago. He told me that his grandmother wants to come visit him, because his mother (her daughter)keeps coming to her and wanting her to give him a message. He knows that I'm an active LDS and has asked what our beliefs are about messages from deceased family members. He want's to know why she didn't just come to him instead, possibly because he lives a "fast life"? I don't really have an answer to give him, thus my post. I am no Peter Priesthood by any means. I got to church each week, don't attend the temple and have never fasted (I did once), I'm the worlds worst Home Teacher to. I have a lot of room for improvement, I know. My own son passed away 8 years ago and I have never had a single visit, vision, dream or anything from him. Why a 2 year old little boy couldn't come to mend a father's broken heart and why some others get to stumps me. So, I don't have an answer for him, as I have the same question. Can anyone offer any suggestion for me to answer him? to answer me?

Have you actually seen (or heard) his grandmother (and how do you know it was her)?

Did you know her in life?

Have you ever seen a picture of her?

Were you able to tell your friend anything that confirmed to him that it was his grandmother?

[emeliza]

Um...that is a hard one. I would imagine that the grandmother also just wants to visit her grandson.

After Lamanite's thread the other day I started thinking about those few in my ward that state they have seen manifestations of ancestores and such. I used to think they were bizarre and probably a bit loonie. I don't think that so much anymore. Nowadays I think that maybe they are just different. I don't know if they see the things they claim or if they want to see them or if they have an illness or if they just want attention. I do know that I do not see such things. Even when those close to me have passed away. I was also under the impression that we should keep spiritual things such as that to ourselves if we do have them.

Anyway I have decided that it could be possible, but it isn't likely. And if it does happen, no one outside of my family should be visited by a spirit and if they are, I will say thank you and that I will look into it myself. It is similar to the idea that no one else without authority over me would receive revelation for me, I don't think anyone outside of my family will be visited by my relatives.

And lastly, I will no longer make fun of such people. So long as they are not trying to 'help me' to see or communicate with the dead, I will think of it like I do other abilities. Some people are great with language or math. I am not. I guess there is the possibility that some are good at communicating with their own dead relatives. I am not.

Anyway, I wouldn't feel bad that you son who passed on has not visited you. If such things do happen, they are quite rare and to be honest, I don't really think they happen.

[freedom_of_religion]

Have you actually seen (or heard) his grandmother (and how do you know it was her)?

Did you know her in life?

Have you ever seen a picture of her?

Were you able to tell your friend anything that confirmed to him that it was his grandmother?

I think I must have confused the issue some, sorry. His grandmother called him and said that she wants to come and see him, because she has a message from his mother. His mother died of cancer in her early 40's, and his grandmother is still alive. His grandmother said that his mother (which is her daughter) has a message for her to relay to him. Why his deceased mother went to the grandmother instead of directly to him is his main concern. His other concern is does he trust what his grandmother has to say to him is truly from his mother.

[MelvinCJohnson]

Messages and visitations from deceased relatives have been by personal report 'common' happenings among some members of my family both LDS and non-mormon. Most often the 'visitor' does not have a form but rather manifests itself by a strong presence. One person reported that his deceased mother's presence 'appeared' while he was driving and asked a question pertinent to and resolved that particular situation. Personally, three 'visitations' to me have been from malignant presences but were made to depart without much difficulty..

[Duncan]

Messages and visitations from deceased relatives have been by personal report 'common' happenings among some members of my family both LDS and non-mormon. Most often the 'visitor' does not have a form but rather manifests itself by a strong presence. One person reported that his deceased mother's presence 'appeared' while he was driving and asked a question pertinent to and resolved that particular situation. Personally, three 'visitations' to me have been from malignant presences but were made to depart without much difficulty..

Without getting too personal on a MB, we had a Non member family member killed in a War and a message was relayed to his Non-Mormon mother and she was comforted and not suprised when they got the official news of his passing

[Questing Beast]

I have a friend that's mother died about 10 years ago. He told me that his grandmother wants to come visit him, because his mother (her daughter)keeps coming to her and wanting her to give him a message. He knows that I'm an active LDS and has asked what our beliefs are about messages from deceased family members. He want's to know why she didn't just come to him instead, possibly because he lives a "fast life"? I don't really have an answer to give him, thus my post. I am no Peter Priesthood by any means. I got to church each week, don't attend the temple and have never fasted (I did once), I'm the worlds worst Home Teacher to. I have a lot of room for improvement, I know. My own son passed away 8 years ago and I have never had a single visit, vision, dream or anything from him. Why a 2 year old little boy couldn't come to mend a father's broken heart and why some others get to stumps me. So, I don't have an answer for him, as I have the same question. Can anyone offer any suggestion for me to answer him? to answer me?

Metaphysical events are just that: they never manifest in the empirical world. Dreams are the common mode: look at Joseph Smith's first vision: it was a dream from which he awoke on his back gazing into the sky.

Anytime someone asserts that they have been "visited" by a departed/dead person, count on it being no more than just a dream. And yes, it is possible to dream on your feet, in the daytime, when you think you're wide awake. It doesn't really matter if an actual visitation occurred: the metaphysical quality remains, part and parcel, to the event. If you ever see your little boy before you die, it will be just like that. Some very vivid dreams I have had "feel" like memories of actual events; they are that real; but they are still only dreams, because afterward I could not say anything more certain than, "whether in the body or out of the body I cannot tell".

Why some people seem possessed of recurring metaphysical "visitations" and others (such as yourself and moi) never get so much as a "peep" from "the other side", must have more to do with the differences in "gifts": some of us are hyper spiritual, and most of us are rather more hypo spiritual, i.e. ordinary, boring, humdrum, mundanes :: sigh :: ....

[bookofmormontruth]

Metaphysical events are just that: they never manifest in the empirical world. Dreams are the common mode: look at Joseph Smith's first vision: it was a dream from which he awoke on his back gazing into the sky.

Anytime someone asserts that they have been "visited" by a departed/dead person, count on it being no more than just a dream. And yes, it is possible to dream on your feet, in the daytime, when you think you're wide awake. It doesn't really matter if an actual visitation occurred: the metaphysical quality remains, part and parcel, to the event. If you ever see your little boy before you die, it will be just like that. Some very vivid dreams I have had "feel" like memories of actual events; they are that real; but they are still only dreams, because afterward I could not say anything more certain than, "whether in the body or out of the body I cannot tell".

Why some people seem possessed of recurring metaphysical "visitations" and others (such as yourself and moi) never get so much as a "peep" from "the other side", must have more to do with the differences in "gifts": some of us are hyper spiritual, and most of us are rather more hypo spiritual, i.e. ordinary, boring, humdrum, mundanes :: sigh :: ....

Joseph Smith was "day-walking" and then had a dream on his feet.

Is that new "theory" for anti-Mormons? Talk about desperation.

[Bill “Papa” Lee]

I have a friend that's mother died about 10 years ago. He told me that his grandmother wants to come visit him, because his mother (her daughter)keeps coming to her and wanting her to give him a message. He knows that I'm an active LDS and has asked what our beliefs are about messages from deceased family members. He want's to know why she didn't just come to him instead, possibly because he lives a "fast life"? I don't really have an answer to give him, thus my post. I am no Peter Priesthood by any means. I got to church each week, don't attend the temple and have never fasted (I did once), I'm the worlds worst Home Teacher to. I have a lot of room for improvement, I know. My own son passed away 8 years ago and I have never had a single visit, vision, dream or anything from him. Why a 2 year old little boy couldn't come to mend a father's broken heart and why some others get to stumps me. So, I don't have an answer for him, as I have the same question. Can anyone offer any suggestion for me to answer him? to answer me?

I wish I could hear from my dad.

[MelvinCJohnson]

Without getting too personal on a MB, we had a Non member family member killed in a War and a message was relayed to his Non-Mormon mother and she was comforted and not suprised when they got the official news of his passing

Duncan, I am doing a review of a work on Wilford Woodruff and his life, and he made many claims of supernatural visitations and messages. The lifes and times of both John Taylor and Wilford Woodruff are very interesting. Here are BYU Symposium links on the lives of Taylor and Woodruff that I think any reader (whether pro-mo, no-mo, anti-mo, Bob-mo) would like to read: http://rsc.byu.edu/archived/champion-liberty-john-taylor and http://rsc.byu.edu/recent/banner-gospel-wilford-woodruff

I found very uplifting Taylor's personal commitment to Christian perfectionism, rooted in his grasp of the Atonement, and Woodruff's ability to seamlessly mingle the sacred with the temporal worlds.

[MelvinCJohnson]

I wish I could hear from my dad.

I do, too, Pa Pa.

[freedom_of_religion]

So, when is a dream a dream and a vision a vision? How does he know if his mother really did come to his grandmother and has a message for him?

Is their a litmus test for this sort of thing? I've heard that if a spirit comes to you and you want to know if it's from the devil to extend your hand to them.

[Garden Girl]

The one experience I've had was the night my mom died of a sudden, massive heart attack as we were bringing my folks up here to Oregon from So Cal for a visit. We were just north of San Fran. I was still at the hospital with my dad as the local bishop had gotten up out of bed and come down to the hospital to meet with my dad and see if he could be of help.

I was sitting in the hospital chapel praying deeply and asking for spiritual strength to deal with my 85-year old dad (I was still inactive), deal with the coroner, deal with the funeral home, get my mom shipped back to So Cal, etc etc etc.

All of a sudden during my prayer, my mind was "opened" and I saw my mom... I could see her head and shoulders... she looked younger and her eyes were fixed slightly upward like she was looking toward something... her smile and expression on her face was absolutely joyous... joyous... and then the image closed. It had lasted about 15 seconds before it was gone. But I was comforted and from then on I was strong and steady... and I returned to Church after just over 30 years.

At about the same time (I learned later from my sister 2500 miles away), upon learning of my mom's death from my phone call, my sis ran out onto the front lawn and fell down, sobbing. Suddenly she felt as if she was being enveloped in such love and she heard mom's voice say... I'm all right; I'm really all right...

My sis and I both are thankful for the "gift" that was given to both of us that night that eased our grief and comforted our broken hearts.

from the beach... GG

[Duncan]

Duncan, I am doing a review of a work on Wilford Woodruff and his life, and he made many claims of supernatural visitations and messages. The lifes and times of both John Taylor and Wilford Woodruff are very interesting. Here are BYU Symposium links on the lives of Taylor and Woodruff that I think any reader (whether pro-mo, no-mo, anti-mo, Bob-mo) would like to read: http://rsc.byu.edu/archived/champion-liberty-john-taylor and http://rsc.byu.edu/recent/banner-gospel-wilford-woodruff

I found very uplifting Taylor's personal commitment to Christian perfectionism, rooted in his grasp of the Atonement, and Woodruff's ability to seamlessly mingle the sacred with the temporal worlds.

Thanks! I love both Pres. Taylor (he lived in Toronto) and Pres. Woodruff(so many neat experiences)!

[DarkScythe]

personally I do think it is believable for many reasons I will not mention right now. Family members, Friends and yes even pets can come to you in your dreams.