YOUR PROGENITORS WILL BE PLEASED

Peter B. Johnson

      I was called on a mission to the Southern States in the spring of 1898. I reached Mississippi the twenty-second of June, 1898. On the eighth of August I was taken down with the chills and fever, which turned to malaria. I became so low that the president sent his counselor and two elders to see me in relation to being released and sent home. The yellow fever quarantine came on; I was not able to leave; and then I had the following experience:


I was lying on a bed, burning up with fever, and the elders who had been sent to ascertain my condition were very much alarmed. They stepped out of the room and held whispered consultations. They were so far away that under ordinary conditions I could not have heard what was said; but in some manner my hearing was made so keen that I heard their conversation as well as if they had been at my bedside. They said it was impossible to think of my recovering, and that I never would go home unless I went in a box. They therefore decided they might just as well notify the president and make necessary arrangements.
     The following day I asked to be removed into the hall, where it was cooler. I was lying on a pallet (or bed). There was an attendant with me, the others having gone to Sunday School which was being held about one hundred yards away. Soon after they had left, I was apparently in a dying condition, and my attendant became so fearful of my appearance and condition that he left me. I desired a drink of water but of course was unable to get it myself. I became discouraged, and wondered why it was that I was sent to Mississippi and whether it was simply to die in the field. I felt that I would prefer death, rather than live and endure the fever and the agony through which I was passing. I thought of my people at home and of the conditions then surrounding me, and decided that I might just as well pass from this life. Just as I reached that conclusion, this thought came to me'. "You will not die unless you choose death." This was a new thought, and I hesitated to consider the question; then I made the choice that I would rather die.
     Soon after that, my spirit left the body; just how I cannot tell, but I perceived myself standing some four or five feet in the air, and saw my body lying on the bed. I felt perfectly natural, but as this was a new condition, I began to make observations. I turned my head, shrugged my shoulders, felt with my hands, and realized that it was myself. I also knew that my body was lying lifeless on the bed. While I was in a new environment, it did not seem strange, for I realized everything that was going on, and perceived that I was the same in the spirit as I had been in the body. While contemplating this new condition, some thing attracted my attention, and on turning around I beheld a personage, who said, "You did not know that I was here." I replied, "No, but I see you are. Who are you?" "I am your guardian angel; I have been following you constantly while on earth." I asked, "What will you do now?" He replied, "I am to report your presence, and you will remain here until I return." He informed me, on returning, that we should wait there, as my sister desired to see me, but was busy just at that time. Presently she came. She was glad to see me and asked if I was offended because she kept me waiting. She explained that she was doing some work that she wished to finish.
     Just before my eldest sister died she asked me to enter into this agreement: That if she died first, she was to watch over me, protect me from those who might seek my downfall, and that she would be the first to meet me after death. If I happened to die first, she wished me to do the same for her. We made this agreement, and this was the reason that my sister was the first one of my relatives to meet me. After she arrived, my mother and other sisters and friends came to see me and we discussed various topics, as we would do here on meeting friends. After we had spent some little time in conversation, the guide came to me with a message that I was wanted by some of the apostles who had lived on the earth in this dispensation.
     As soon as I came into their presence, I was asked if I desired to remain there. This seemed strange, for it had never occurred to me that we would have any choice there in the spirit world as to whether we should remain or return to the earth life. I was asked if I felt satisfied with conditions there. I informed them that I was, and had no desire to return to the fever and misery from which I had been suffering while in the body. After some little conversation this question was repeated with the same answer.
Then I asked, "If I remain, what will I be asked to do?" I was informed that I would preach the gospel to the spirits there, as I had been preaching it to the people here, and that I would do so under the immediate direction of the Prophet Joseph. This remark brought to my mind a question which has been muchdiscussed here, as to whether or not the Prophet Joseph is now a resurrected being. While I did not ask the question, they read it in my mind, and immediately said, "You wish to know whether the Prophet has his body or not?" I replied, "Yes, I would like to know." I was told that the Prophet Joseph Smith has his body, as also his brother Hyrum, and that as soon as I could do more with my body than I could do without it, my body would be resurrected.
     I was again asked if I desired to remain. This bothered me considerably, for I had already expressed myself as being satisfied. I then inquired why it was that I was asked so often if I was satisfied and if I desired to remain. I was then informed that my progenitors had made a request that if I chose, I might be granted the privilege of returning to again take up my mortal body, in order that I might gather my father's genealogy and do the necessary work in the temple for my ancestors. As I was still undecided, one of the apostles said, "We will now show you what will take place if you remain here in the spirit world, after which you can decide. When we returned to the place where my body was lying, I was informed with emphasis that my first duty would be to watch the body until after it had been disposed of, as that was necessary knowledge for me to have in the resurrection. I then saw the elders send a message to President Rich, at Chattanooga, and in due time all preparations were made for the shipment of my body to Utah. One thing seemed peculiar to me, that I was able to read the telegram as it ran along the wires, as easily as I could read the pages of a book. I could see President Rich when he received the telegram in Chattanooga. He walked the floor, wringing his hands, with the thought in his mind, "How can I send a message to his father?" The message was finally sent, and I could follow it on the wire. I saw the station and the telegraph operator at Price, Utah. I heard the instrument click as the message was received, and saw the operator write out the message and send it by phone from Price to Huntington. I also saw clearly the Huntington office and the man who received the message. I could see clearly and distinctly the people on the street. I did not have to hear what was said, for I was able to read their thoughts from their countenances. The message was delivered to my aunt, who went out with others to find my father. In due time he received the message. He did not seem to be overcome by the news, but began to make preparations to meet the body.
   I then saw my father at the railroad station in Price, waiting for my body to arrive. Apparently he was unaffected, but when he heard the whistle of the train which was carrying my body, he went behind the depot and cried as if his heart would break. While I had been accompanying the body en route, I was still able to see what was going on at home. The distance apparently did not affect my vision. As the train approached the station, I went to my father's side and, seeing his great anguish, I informed my companion that I would return. He expressed his approval of my decision and said he was pleased with the choice I had made.
   By some spiritual power, all these things had been shown to me as they would occur if I did not return to the body. Immediately upon making this choice or decision, my companion said, "Good. Your progenitors will be pleased with your decision." I asked the question why, and I was told that it was their desire that I should return to the body, hunt up my father's genealogies, and do their work in the temple. Just how my spirit entered the body I cannot tell, but I saw the apostle place his hands upon the head of my prostrate body, and almost instantly realized that the change had come and I was again in the body. The first thing that I knew, I felt a warm life-giving spot on the crown of my head, which passed through my entire body, going out to the tips of mv fingers and toes. I then heard distinctly the same words that had been pronounced by Elder Grant when I was set apart for my mission, "Go in peace and return in safety." After entering the body, I saw no more of the messengers who had been accompanying me, but I had a vivid recollection of all that had taken place.

               Relief Society Magazine, August 1920, pp. 449-455.