When the Logan Temple Filled With Light | Ancestors & Temple Work for the Dead (LDS)

Send us Fan MailDo our deceased ancestors know when we do their temple work — and can they minister to us from the other side of the veil? In this LDS (Latter-day Saint) episode, Tia Smith shares a documented Hale family story, drawn from a blog post by Stan Way (My Life in Zion) and from Heber Q. Hale's 1938 book "Bishop Jonathan H. Hale of Nauvoo: His Life and Ministry," that ties directly into this week's study of the 144,000 — and what sacrifice, consecration, and holiness really look like.Jonathan Harriman Hale, an early convert baptized in 1834, and his wife Olive both died of malaria within days of each other on the pioneer trek west, leaving four orphaned children who kept the faith and gathered to Zion. Decades later their son Alma Hale moved his family near the Logan Temple and spent years doing temple work for their kindred dead — thousands of ordinances covering seven generations of Hale ancestors. The episode recounts the messenger on a white horse who appeared near Hyde Park, Utah, urging the family's record-keeper to finish the Hale genealogy — later identified as Jonathan Hale himself from the spirit world — and the night in February 1896 when the Logan Temple was seen flooded with light from dome to foundation, a phenomenon President Wilford Woodruff declared to be an assembly of the Hale family gathered from the spirit world, rejoicing in their liberation through temple work.It's a testimony of how thin the veil becomes when we engage in family history and temple work for the dead, and of the sacrifice that marks those who gather Israel on both sides of the veil.Q: Do our ancestors in the spirit world know when their temple work is being done?A: This episode shares a documented Latter-day Saint account suggesting they do: a messenger later identified as the deceased Jonathan Harriman Hale appeared near Hyde Park, Utah, urging that the family's temple records be finished, saying thousands of the Hale family were anxious for the work to continue. It comes from Heber Q. Hale's book "Bishop Jonathan H. Hale of Nauvoo" and the Hale family journals (Church History Library).Q: Is there a true story of a temple being filled with light by those on the other side of the veil?A: Yes — in February 1896 the Logan Temple was seen flooded with light from dome to foundation on two consecutive nights, with no electric lights in Logan at the time and the temple closed for the night. Apostle Marriner W. Merrill, then the temple president, reported it, and President Wilford Woodruff declared it an assembly of the great Hale family gathered from the spirit world, rejoicing over their temple work being completed (Heber Q. Hale, "Bishop Jonathan H. Hale of Nauvoo," pp. 170–171).Q: What does the Jonathan Hale family teach us about the 144,000?A: Tia Smith uses their story to illustrate the characteristics she sees in the 144,000 — sacrifice, consecration, and holiness woven across generations. The Hale family's lifetime of gathering, enduring persecution, and completing temple work for their kindred dead models the calling and striving she believes will be echoed in the 144,000 all over the world.▶️ WATCH & LISTEN🎬 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@thinningoftheveil🌐 Website: https://www.thinningoftheveil.com🎧 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/thinning-of-the-veil/id1753511394🟢 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6jWCfMHkZXwnSwy2b98J4M🎵 Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/a0a45561-d4c2-46d3-af8d-a1e967a21a25📖 BOOKPatterns of Revelation — Spiritual Foundations for Hearing God's Voice: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BW36MG9B📱 CONNECTInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thinning.of.the.veilFacebook GroupCITATION: Stan Way, My Life in Zion, "A Spiritual Phenomenon-The Jonathan Hale Family in the Church", April 28, 2012: https://mylifeinzion.wordpress.com/2012/04/28/a-spiritual-phenomenon-the-jonathon-hale-family-in-the-church/Support the show