My second near-death experience happened in the summer of 1993. Eight years had passed since I had jumped off the cliff at Flaming Gorge Reservoir. I was now nearly 25 years old. Tammy and I had moved to Ogden the previous year when I was hired as a copy editor for the Standard-Examiner newspaper, and we now had a one-year-old son. Ogden is about a 90-minute drive from Springville, so we felt we were on our own, but still close enough to visit our families regularly.
I really enjoyed my new job. I had been the City Editor during my senior year for BYU’s Daily Universe newspaper, but going to the Standard-Examiner was a major step up. The company was a full-scale operation with a bustling newsroom and dozens of employees, and I was right on the front lines in producing the newspaper each day. This was an exciting time when computer typesetting programs were being introduced, but when I first started working there we still actually cut and pasted the newspaper together.
On the Copy Desk we would design the pages, edit the stories, write the headlines, then send the articles to the production room. If an article ended up being too long for the page, I would be called to the production room to decide which part of the story to cut out. Then with an Exacto knife we would literally cut the text to fit and paste it onto the page board.
There was a lot of stress as the daily deadline approached, with people running everywhere and shouting to each other as we all tried to do three things at once. I would be editing a last-minute article on my computer but listening for someone to shout, “Chad, get back here and cut this story!” or “That headline isn’t long enough! Rewrite it!”
So the job was invigorating, and I was getting a hands-on crash course in writing, editing, and publishing. The eight-hour shifts went quickly, because we rarely had time for a break. Since I had an interest in sports, I became the main copy editor for the Sports section. I thrived in the excitement each weekend as we scrambled to get in all of the high school and college stories and scores before the deadline. On those nights I usually designed each page and wrote every headline in the section. It was high- pressure at times, but rewarding when we put together a great section.
I got along well with my colleagues, and I expected to steadily work my way up the corporate ladder and remain with the newspaper for several years. Tammy had made some good friends in Ogden, and we enjoyed exploring northern Utah together. I was focused on my career and my young family.
Then my parents invited us to join them on a vacation to San Diego, California. I had spent my first two years of life there while my father was serving in the U.S. Navy, and the area has remained a special place for our family.
One spot we liked to visit was La Jolla Cove, where we’d play on the beach and look for seashells. When we arrived on this particular day, it was low tide and a jagged rock outcropping had been exposed. I climbed out onto the outcropping looking for shells that might have gotten trapped among the rocks.
The ocean had been calm, but I suddenly looked up to see a towering wave bearing down on me. I had no way to avoid it. For a moment I considered trying to ride the wave to the beach, but I knew I would surely be sliced apart by the jagged rocks.
Over the roar of the approaching wave, I heard an audible voice shout in my ear, “Get down and cling to that rock.” I grabbed hold of a nearby two-foot-wide boulder just as the monstrous wave crashed down on me. The force was incredible, and it took all of my strength to not get ripped away by the water.
Then my surroundings instantly changed, and I found myself out of my body inside a tunnel of light. It wasn’t a bright white light, but more like a yellow heat lamp. It felt like I was wrapped in a warm blanket, and I felt extremely happy. I saw two men in robes standing about ten feet above me in the tunnel, and I instinctively knew them. One was my Grandpa Keith Daybell, and the other was my great-great-great grandpa Finity Daybell. They had died before I was born, but it was like reuniting with old friends.
I levitated up the tunnel to where they were, and the tunnel opened up into a room. They smiled at me, but they seemed to be in a hurry.
Keith began speaking to me and gesturing with his hands. He mentioned my five children and the roles they would play in the future. It was a strange conversation, since Tammy and I only had one child at the time.
Keith also explained the tasks I needed to accomplish in my lifetime. As he talked, I saw snippets of future events on a set of screens in front of me. The rush of images was almost overwhelming. It felt like they were being downloaded into my mind. Keith asked me if I would be willing to fulfill the assignments he had outlined, and I agreed to do so.
Finity didn’t speak, because he was keeping an eye on my body, which was now tumbling among the rocks. I could also see my body, but I had lost all interest in it. I was too busy enjoying this family reunion. Then I saw Finity give a nod to Keith, who made a motion with his hand. I was suddenly back in my body, which had washed closer to the beach.
I felt wrapped in a soft, protective cushion as another wave propelled me over the rocks and onto the beach. I credit this cushion for helping me escape additional serious injuries. Then the pain hit me. I looked at my hands and saw my fingertips were shredded from being ripped away from the rock. The left side of my back had large bloody gashes, and I had a deep cut on my chin. My family helped me to the car and took me to the hospital to be examined. I didn’t have any broken bones, but I got a lot of stitches!
This brief adventure out of my body felt like an urgent business meeting where Grandpa Keith poured information into me, while Finity allowed the meeting to go on just long enough before I would have drowned. It seemed like there should have been an easier way, but I guess they seized the opportunity!
I was pretty banged up, so Tammy and I decided to end our trip at that point and head home. On the drive back to Ogden, I told her about what had happened with Keith and Finity. She was very intrigued and started asking many questions. As she did so, the snippet pertaining to each question would play in my mind.
I told her about the five kids, and she was happy about that. She asked when they would be born, and I explained I hadn’t been given any dates, but I had seen we would have three kids in Ogden before moving back to Springville. So we estimated we had at least a few more years living in Ogden.
Once we returned home, most of the snippets were taken from my mind, and even now I only have access to them on a need-to-know basis. Tammy and I wished we’d talked more about it on the trip home and found out more. But we would have one answer soon enough. Little did we know during our trip that Tammy was already pregnant with our second child, and the third one would quickly follow!
I had seen enough in the Spirit World snippets to raise my curiosity about one future job option, but it seemed highly unlikely to happen anytime soon. During my sophomore and junior years at BYU, I had a part-time job at the Springville Evergreen Cemetery. During the school year I would attend classes in the morning and work there in the afternoons. Then I would work full-time during the summer. Over time all of my brothers also worked there, so it became a family tradition in a way.
The cemetery sexton was Denny Pickering, and he supervised all of the cemetery operations. These tasks included sprinkler repair, lawn maintenance, digging and filling graves, coordinating with mortuaries and headstone companies, and helping families purchase burial plots. I became Denny’s assistant and took care of these matters when he went on vacation. In the summer, there was a five-person crew to help maintain the cemetery, but in the winter it was just the two of us. I shoveled a lot of snow!
About two years after my La Jolla Cove experience, and soon after our third child was born, my brother called to tell me Denny had announced his retirement. The city was looking for his replacement, and my brother thought I might be interested in applying for the job, since I had knowledge and experience other candidates might not have.
This would definitely be an unusual career change, but Tammy and I felt it was the right time to make a move. I interviewed for the position and was hired the next week. When things fell into place so quickly, we knew it was the right decision. So with our growing family, we moved back to Springville in late 1995.
Bookshelf
The late 1980s and through the 1990s were a unique time, when truths about the Spirit World were being revealed from seemingly every direction. The Berlin Wall came down, and the rapid changes in the Soviet Union brought feelings of hope and peace as we headed toward the new millennium. A spiritual awakening emerged across the world as these life-changing events unfolded.
Angels were a major topic of conversation on daily talk shows, and TV programs such as “Touched By An Angel” were very popular. Meanwhile, dozens of books about angels and visits from the Other Side filled the nation’s bestseller lists. Many of these books were written by LDS Church members who either shared their own personal experiences, or who compiled the experiences of others. Here are some of the more notable spiritual books written by LDS authors during that time (links have been provided for each.):
Embraced by the Light by Betty Eadie, (paid link)
I Stand All Amazed by Elane Durham, (paid link)
The Message by Lance Richardson, (paid link)
I Saw Heaven by Lawrence Tooley, (paid link)
The Beyond the Veil series by Lee Nelson, (paid link)
Coming from the Light by Sarah Hinze, (paid link)
Echoes of Eternity by Arvin Gibson, (paid link)
The Life Before by Brent L. Top, (paid link)
After my second near-death experience, I devoured these books and many others like them. I felt I had discovered a group of people who could relate to what I’d been through. Each one of these books is excellent, covering heavenly topics from different angles but with the same general theme of a vast world beyond this one.
I later had the privilege of getting to know and work on books with Lee Nelson and Sarah Hinze. They are among the best people I’ve been associated with. Lee is a good-hearted, down-to-earth cowboy, and Sarah is a sweet, kind, thoughtful person. She’s a true angel herself!
Musical Notes
Suddenly after three years at the Standard-Examiner, I was Springville’s cemetery sexton at age 27. Although I had been anticipating a transition back to my hometown after the birth of our third child, I was surprised at which job had opened up. I had been looking at jobs in Utah County related to my Communications/ Journalism degree. I had actually been offered a position on the Provo Daily Herald staff a couple of months earlier, but it didn’t feel right and I turned it down. The cemetery job had been in the back of my mind, but I figured Denny Pickering wasn’t going to retire anytime soon.
Denny stayed on the job during my first two weeks to overlap a bit and answer any questions I might have. It was great to reconnect with him. My brothers and I always regarded him with great respect, but also as a wise guru, because he would share various sayings and phrases about life that were equally puzzling and profound. He would often tell us, “Enjoy.”
That’s it. No elaboration or explanation. If we asked, “Enjoy what?” he would simply repeat “Enjoy” and walk away. I finally decided Denny meant for us to enjoy each moment and appreciate life. So, I pass on that message to you. “Enjoy.”
After Denny’s final two weeks, I was on my own. I tried to not feel overwhelmed at first. The Springville Evergreen Cemetery is very large with thousands of headstones. People sometimes think the sexton job is easy, but as I described in the letter, there are many responsibilities tied to the position. But I quickly adapted and enjoyed the sunshine and fresh air after sitting at a desk and staring at a computer screen for three years.
The biggest change for me was being much more aware of the otherworldly nature of the profession. When I had worked at the cemetery during college, I hadn’t had my La Jolla Cove near-death experience yet. Any Spirit World interactions at the cemetery had been rare before, but now I could feel there were plenty of “friends” hanging out in the cemetery. When I was alone in the cemetery building, I often sensed visitors from the Great Beyond joining me.
On bad-weather days I would work in my office to catch up on my record-keeping, and invariably I’d soon notice the hair on the back of my neck standing on end. It was as if someone was leaning over my shoulder reading what I had written. I know these ghostly friends didn’t mean any harm, and I would smile when I’d return from my lunch break to find my pen had been moved across the desk from where I’d left it. Sometimes I would arrive in the morning and see that my day planner was already turned to the correct day. That must have taken a lot of effort!
I generally sensed five male spirits hanging around me. I understood they had lived in Springville many years earlier and had been friends during their mortal lives. They considered themselves the guardians of the cemetery, and I appreciated their help. But there were days when I just had to say, “Guys, get out of here! I’m trying to get some work done!” And they would oblige.
A few years ago, Rick Astley release a gospel album titled “50.” (Yes, the “Together Forever” singer from the 1980s who is now well-known for the “Rick Roll” internet phenomenon.) The album is fun and joyful, especially the song “Angels On My Side.”
Rick sings, “I got angels, you got angels, everybody got their angels on their side. Everything’s gonna be all right.”
I dedicate the song to my cemetery friends from thirty years ago who watched over me, and also to my current friends who I sense are helping me and protecting me now. Yes Rick, everything’s gonna be all right.