In my previous letter, I described the strange symptoms I was dealing with following the Great Eclipse in August 2017. As I mentioned, the most frightening symptom occurred a few times each day, when my surroundings would freeze for several seconds before catching up to reality. I wasn’t able to remember anything about what actually happened while I was “buffering.” I was praying for a resolution, but this condition continued for several weeks.
On a Sunday evening in November 2017, we held our weekly dinner with all of our children. Both of our daughters had gotten married earlier in the year, and we loved having them and our new sons-in-law join us. We set up a folding table and chairs in the front room so we could all eat together. After a delicious meal, we cleared away the dishes and gathered around the table again to play a card game.
During the game, someone made a humorous comment. As we were all laughing, I suddenly felt myself elevate above the room and float to the ceiling. I was now looking down at my son who had been sitting across from me. Then my view shifted, and I could see through the outside wall toward the highway, where I saw a spirit dressed in black watching me intently. She seemed to recognize I could see her, and she laughed delightedly at what was happening. This whole incident seemed to take about five seconds.
Then instantly I found myself back in my body, sitting in my chair at the table. However, the entire family was surrounding me with very anxious looks on their faces. They worriedly asked me if I was all right, and I was confused. I asked what was going on, and one of my sons-in-law said I should go to the hospital and get checked out. I said I felt fine, and I didn’t understand what all the fuss was about.
Everyone started talking at once, explaining I had been laughing along with the rest of them. Then I went limp and slumped forward against the table. My face had turned purple and I wasn’t breathing. The others had stopped laughing and watched me for a few seconds, wondering whether I was joking around. Then they saw the color of my face and knew something was seriously wrong.
Two of them jumped up and grabbed my shoulders, pulling me into a sitting position. They looked at my face, and my mouth drooped open. My eyes were glazed and vacant, as if no one was home. Then I suddenly jolted back to life, wondering why they were acting so concerned. I told them it felt like only five seconds had passed, but they shook their heads, saying it was about a minute in real time.
The incident disrupted the game, obviously, but once it was clear I was feeling okay, Tammy and my children were ready to start playing the game again. My new sons-in-law were somewhat bothered by our seeming lack of concern for my health. They were dismayed I didn’t want to be examined by a doctor. Tammy explained to them that this kind of thing was somewhat of a run-of-the-mill occurrence when it came to me!
My chest did hurt, though, and after another round of the game, I excused myself and went into the bathroom. I lifted my shirt, and I was shocked to see a bright red circle on my skin about three inches in diameter, right above my heart. After I lifted my shirt, the circle began tingling as if I had been branded. I called to Tammy to join me, and I showed the circle to her. I explained I had seen a female spirit along the road who seemed happy I was out of my body.
Tammy suggested I had been shot by what the scriptures describe as a spiritual weapon. She felt it was possibly a fiery dart of the wicked. It made sense to me. I didn’t fear death, but I knew it wasn’t my time to depart this life. In fact, I soon realized this event had rebooted my body and spirit, just as I’d hoped and prayed for. The strange “buffering” stopped, and I felt comfortable driving on the highway again.
Also, the incident helped motivate me to finish writing the final volume in my fictional “Times of Turmoil” series. I worked diligently throughout the winter, and the book was ready for publication in early 2018.
Seagull Book had always been a big supporter of my books, and the company was eager to advertise the entire series now that it was completed. Seagull’s corporate office arranged for me to do book signings throughout the spring at each of their stores in Utah and Idaho.
There was a Seagull Book store in the Phoenix area, but I wasn’t sure it was worth the long trip to do a single book signing there. Then I remembered Melanie Gibb’s offer to have me speak to a group there. I checked my phone contacts, and I still had her number. I called her and asked if she was still willing to help me set up a speaking engagement in Mesa. She was happy to help, and within a few days she had arranged for us to use a large school auditorium. She also contacted another author who could speak that evening as well, and she felt the two of us would draw a large audience.
So in July 2018, I flew to Arizona and had a wonderful time meeting new friends. Melanie did a great job in organizing everything, and she even arranged for me to be picked up at my hotel and taken to the event.
I appreciated Melanie’s enthusiastic attitude, which greatly contributed to the event’s success. Several hundred people were in attendance, and both of the presentations went well. Afterward, the other author and I stayed for a while to chat with the attendees and to sell copies of our books.
This was the first time I met Zulema Pastenes, a pleasant woman from Chile who was friends with Melanie. I told her I had served an LDS Church mission to New Jersey among the Spanish-speaking people, and Zulema responded by saying something to me in Spanish. I had no idea what she said, and we had a good laugh about how my language skills had eroded. She bought one of my books, and I felt like I had made a new friend.
Once we had cleaned up the school and put everything back in place, Melanie and another woman drove me back to my hotel so I could fly to Idaho early the next morning. I thanked Melanie for all of the time and effort she had spent in my behalf.
During the drive to the hotel, Melanie mentioned she was going to help with an event in October in St. George, Utah. I told her I had already been asked by the event organizers to be one of the speakers, and I was happy she would be there. We arrived at the hotel, and I shook the women’s hands and told them I looked forward to seeing them in a few months.