A Book Of Mormon Experience

I had been to the temple. Upon my return home I picked up the Book of Mormon and began to read. Suddenly I realized I had two paragraphs of scripture attached to my left fore finger. I could move the scriptures up and down the page.

The first scritpture read:

In the last days you will have the privilege of smelling the colognes of the Spirit World in the temples...

The second scripture read:

Do not take sleeping pills that you may be alert and enjoy the Angelsof Heaven when they wisit you that you will be able to hear their messages...

Ed Cloward Lays An Egg

When I was teaching my genealogy class, I collected a few chickens and I would name them after my aunts, uncles, grandparents, etc. One day I came home from church and I needed an egg to prepare my dinner. I went to the chicken house to see if there was an egg.

My chicken, whom I called Ed cloward, was setting on a nest. I could hear my dad, who is dead, laugh so hard he couldn't get his breath. He said to me in gasps, "Old Ed Cloward just laid an egg."

He was teasing me. Roosters don't lay eggs.

THE WILLIAMS FAMILY REUNION IN VERNAL, UT

We were attending a Reunion for the Williams family in Vernal, Utah. There were Bascom family members from as far away as Canada in attendance. Grandma Williams was a Bascom before marrying. We had met at the Colton Pavilion. They were calling the roll. With my spiritual eye I could see Grandma Williams and where she was standing with her spiritual family. But, when her name was called, I couldn't see her and the spiritual family members gathered around her. I was so disappointed. I was standing by my cousin Ted Williams. He was a little short fellow. I leaned over on the top of his head and let out a whimper. It was such a special moment I had an over whelming desire to cry. Why couldn't I see my grandmother? I knew exactly where she was standing.

We had taken my granddaughters, Michelle and Stephie, to the Reunion with us. The next morning we drove to Salt Lake City. We found a nice hotel to stay in. That night we took the girls on a tour of the city in a horse drawn cart. We had a great time. The next day we drove on to Alamo where home was, at the time.

During the night an angel came to me and took me on a long flight high in the dark, cool sky, going towards Tonapah, Nevada. Soon we started to descend in pine trees and the country side of a mountain. We came to a beautiful valley. The angel and I lay flat on our stomachs as we watched Grandma and all of her family who had attended the family reunion in Vernal. I knew everyone there. I was so close to them, I wondered why they couldn't see me. Grandma was wearing a beautiful long white dress and a large broad rimmed white hat. Beautiful! Grandpa was dressed in a white suit. All their children were there. Eight boys and four girls. We watched for a long time and finally the angel and I started our flight home to Alamo. I was permited to see all the family that was in attendance at the Family Reunion, after all. One of the important things I learned from this experience, the family members in the Spirit World are in attendance at the Reunions whether we can see them or not. I've thought of that many times and I came home knowing why it is important to have family Reunions....

I FLEW TO KENTUCKY WITH AN ANGEL

I was writing the history of my dad's life. I was desperate to learn anything I could about Kentucky, the state where my dad was born. I couldn't find any information whatsoever. One night I was in bed asleep. I felt the presence of someone. I opened my eyes and looked and lo and behold there was an angel. He motioned me to go with him. I got up, and leaving my body, I hooked arms with him and we began to fly. The night was so dark and it was so very cold. I found myself wishing I had a pair of long-jons to protect me from the cold.

We flew a long, long distance. I still didn't know where we were going. Then we came to a wooded area of maple trees. I left the angel and floated through the clump of trees 'til I came to an opening. There before my very eyes was the little farm the Nickell family lived on. I could see their little cabin in the distance. The cotton field in front of me looked like it had just been cleared as there wasn't a stock of cotton standing. I watched as my Grand parents and their three children walked across the barren field. I couldn't help but notice, the clothing the family wore was all the same color. Material my Grand parents had made from the cotton they had grown. History says they had scutched the cotton before it had become yards of material.
The word scutched left the dictionary, years ago. It was a word the country folks used.

Grand father wore pants and shirt and his outfit was topped off by wearing a homemade hat. Grand mother was wearing a skirt and blouse that was called a middy. Milton, about 12 yrs. old was a blond. He wore nothing but a long shirt past his knees the way the boys dressed in those days. Zinnie was about 10 yrs. old and she wore a middy dress. She was a beautiful girl with long dark ringlets hanging down her back. Ambie was 8 yrs. old. Her hair was blond and her hair was also in ringlets hanging down her back. Jim was 6 yrs. old. He was wearing his long shirt the same as his brother. He had a full head of black wavy hair. I watched as he lagged behind picking up rocks and anything he saw he could play with.

As the family left the little valley, I floated back to the thicket of maple trees and hooked my arm with the angel and we began our cold flight home. As I arrived home I stood at the north window in the living room and looked out at the blue sky and all the stars and thought about where I had been and my family I had seen. It was just midnight. The next day I began writing my dad's story.....

THE BACK YARD ROADS

This is one of my mother's favorite stories of the old days. When people first started to settle in Vernal, Utah, they built their houses anyplace they wanted to. One liked facing the east, another liked building on a hill or on the creek, etc. When the county came in and began building roads, I guess it was a feasco. Mother would start laughing telling the story of the county roads. Some roads would go by your Out House, between your house and your garage or between your pig pen and your cow shed, by the back door. Of course it helped her story to know all the neighbors. You can just imagine what Vernal looked like. Grandpa tore their house down which was standing in the toolies and replaced it with a big brick house facing the road. I spent my teenage years living in the lovely brick house....

COUSINS HAZEL AND FRED THOMPSON

One night in my sleep, I heard a knock at the back door. I got up and went down stairs and answered the door. There stood Fred Thompson. He was married to my cousin Hazel. They had married in the temple. We had heard they were getting divorced. The had lived apart for quite sometime. By now, both Hazel and Fred had passed away. He said to me," I just got word today Hazel and I can be together." He was so happy. He came in my house and sat down at the piano and began to play some pretty dance music.

The next day I got in my truck and scurried to St. George to tell the family my experience. I found all the cousins visiting on a sidewalk. God bless little St. George. Cousin Verona and her husband had just arrived home from an extended trip they had taken across the USA to learn from each family member what should be done about the sealing of Hazel and Fred. They came home with the family blessing that the children should get a temple divorce for Hazel and Fred. After hearing my story they changed their minds. I had delivered Fred's message to the family just in the nick of time.....

MY FATHER, JIM NICK

My father's full name was James Nickell, but everyone called him, Jim Nick, even his kids. Jim Nick died in the year 1970. That was the year I decided I would get serious and do my family genealogy and write the family history. I was living in Las Vegas at the time. One night, I was awakened by my mother and she spoke to me and told me she and my dad had gotten together and talked and he had asked her to be sealed to him. I said, " he did?" I was surprised because they had been divorced for years before either of them died.

The second night I was in the spirit world with my mother. Angels were gathered around her curling her hair and fitting her with a beautiful white dress. She was preparing to go to the temple. She was so happy

.

The third night I was in the spirit world with my father and my older brother, Clifton. I could see a temple across the street from the big building we were waiting in. My dad said, "hell! I wouldn't know what to do without my kids!" So, they were sealed in the St. George Temple and the serious part of the family genealogy work began.

It was my dad's birthday and I was on my way to the temple to celebrate his birthday. It was raining and suddenly a huge ray of sunshine hit the dashboard of my truck. I ducked my head and looked out at the sky and there was Jim Nick in the clouds. I saw so much in those clouds in the years to come.

My genealogy soared into doing temple work for thousands of family relatives. I'd go to the temple once a month and do ordinance work for as many as 400 family members in two days time, many times over. Often, coming home from St. George I would come upon a beautiful cloud sitting in the road waiting for me. It was a very exciting time in my life.

One night I awoke to see multitudes of angels gathered around my bed. Walls of the house had disappeared and I could see angels for two miles down through the valley. I could hear the voice of a man talking and he was saying, "God has told us now is the time to get the family history written and I know she will do it!" I knew they were talking about me. The man turned towards me and it was non-other than Jim Nick. He told me exactly what I was to do with the book right down to having it bound in red leather.

I started the history by going to the big library in Salt Lake City. There I learned Jim Nick's descendents came from Russia. These people knew Christ was coming for the second time and they started on the move to where they thought that place would be. They moved by caravan to England, then to Ireland and ended up coming to America. In America they settled in Virginia and Kentucky. That was pretty close. Almost the bull's eye where the Saints were. They met the missionaries in secret and they helped my dad's family move to Vernal, Utah. My dad missed the murder of Prophet Joseph Smith by about 10 years. This is where I came in. Even as a little girl, I'd hide behind my mother's chair and listen to the older parents and what they had to say about the family. I remembered what they said with clarity. My brothers and sisters and cousins would be outside playing Cowboys and Indians and whooping it up. I'd be inside getting filled with knowledge of my family.

I've been working steadyily for the past 45 years on the family genealogy. My Book Of Remembrance is a big one. I am up to 100,000 names I've done the temple work so far. I can't carry the book anymore it is so heavy. One day I had a call from Mick, my faithful genealogist. He said, " Lela, I think you have done enough genealogy. Why don't you quit?" I thought about it for a moment and then I answered, "I think you are right. I'll quit." That night I found myself in the spirit world. People were gathered all around me. One young woman was crying and screaming, "YOU CAN'T QUIT! YOU QUIT AND THEY WILL NEVER FIND ME!" I thought of what she had screamed to me and I knew there will never be a "quitingtime" for me. I told the young lady I wouldn't quit. I would keep doing my genealogy work 'til I died.

In a couple of months, Mick sent me a batch of names. Among the names was a Craig family. As I was preparing the cards to take them to the temple, I was sitting a lone at my kitchen table and a man with a gruff voice spoke to me, "PAY ATTENTION!" I looked and I was holding a card of a young women born in Virginia in 1830. I had the strange feeling this was the young woman I had hoped for. Since then, all has been quiet. I've never had an experience like that before nor since..... .......