Zion on Earth

This week I had the exciting opportunity to take a road trip with my husband and kids to Disney Land. I’ve been trying to plan this for the last three years and it finally happened. For the most part the kids were pretty good and the drive was very enjoyable. What I love most about road trips is all the time I have in the car to talk with my husband. The kids watch movies and fall asleep and we get to have some really good conversations.

I brought along three new books that I bought (all about near death experiences) and was able to read two of them in the car to my husband. The first being The Message by Lance Richardson, which a couple posts ago I had mentioned kept coming into my life and I felt I was supposed to read it. The other, I Saw Heaven by Larry Tooley which I liked even more than The Message.

Wow! I love books that talk about life in the Spirit World. I have so many and they are all very similar in their description. I Saw Heaven was very enlightening on the topics of our Heavenly Mother, premortal life and the three degrees of glory.The events were very detailed and the descriptions very vivid. It was so uplifting and it made me love and appreciate my family even more.

The Message, was all about service and how that is what is most important in this earthly life – serving others. These books inspired me to look for the good in all people all around me. It wasn’t hard at Disney Land. Everyone there was so happy and nice. In fact, even in Las Vegas (where we started)regular tourists smiled, waved hello, opened doors for us and offered to take pictures for us with our camera. As I began to notice and appreciate the good in all the world around me, I saw that is was everywhere. It was contagious. I passed the kindness right along everywhere I went. I thought about each and every person that came my way and saw them as a child of God. I felt equal to everyone and truly felt a small glimpse of a Zion society all around me.

At Newport beach, we stopped in at Subway for lunch. The man making our sandwiches looked about 50 years old with bleached blond surfer hair and tattoos all over. He was the friendliest man ever and was passionate about making our sandwiches delicious for us. He loved his job, he loved his life, he was so happy and kind. I thought to myself, “If everyone were as friendly as him, this would be heaven on earth”.

Another thought that came to my mind this week was about angels. The books I have read talk about our close friends, family members and ancestors who are usually our protective angels on the other side. I began to think that I might have been someone’s angel in the premortal life. As I thought about this, I also realized that everyone around me also had that opportunity in the premortal life and that again in the next life, they may again assist in helping others on Earth. Wow, I was truly walking amongst angels, children of God. And how many times does the Lord use people in our everyday lives to help answer our prayers and bless us. I didn’t need to anticipate what heaven will be like but rather bask in the beauty and joy of life on this earth. I had waited so many years in the preexistence to come here, receive a body and have an earthly experience. I was now having this experience.

I realized that I could no longer take this earthly opportunity for granted and that I needed to really enjoy it and make the best of it. As we continued on our vacation, I took every moment with my family and soaked it in. It was the happiest week of my life and I plan to continue making my days and weeks happy ones!

I know that this life really is just a twinkling of a second in the span of an eternal perspective. It goes by so quickly. What matters here doesn’t matter at all in the next life. Families and relationships are what matter most. If we can master that here then our transition into the spirit world will be much easier. I know that families are key to the plan of salvation and happiness. Families are everything and they are eternal. I say this in the name of Jesus Christ amen.