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When I was a boy, on warm Montana nights I would lay on my back, hands behind my head, staring into star-studded skies. My eyes wandered from the big dipper, to the milky way, to the north star. Some evenings, the skies filled with wavering curtains of green, yellow, and red-the aurora borealis. Occasionally the brilliant light of a shooting star flashed across the sky, disappearing behind the Rocky Mountains. What stories that shooting star could tell about the vast regions of space it had come from; O felt that I, too, had come to earth from somewhere far away. Where did I come from?–I wondered. What was it like there? Why did I leave? Would I ever return?
Join Harold A. Widdison in his search for answers to the first great question of our existence: “Where did I come from?” In Trailing Clouds of Glory, Widdison intersperses an insightful review of our doctrinal understanding of our premortal existence with first-hand accounts of premortal life.
This book is the result of seven years of interviewing, researching, and writing. It is based on first person accounts of what people saw and learned, usually during near-death experiences, about our true origins. There are answers to the haunting questions of why we experience disabilities, handicaps, and abuse, and what role adoption and abortion play in the eternal scheme of things. These and many other subjects are addressed by people who visited their original home–Heaven–and conversed with some of its inhabitants including relatives and a personage some identified as the Supreme Being.
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Preface
Acknowledgments
1. Our Original Home, 11
Types of Information Collected, 16
Near-Death Experiences (NDEs), 16
Pre-Birth Memories (PBM) and Pre-Birth Experiences (PBS), 16
Near-Death Awareness (NDA) and Deathbed Visions (DBVs), 16
After Death Communications (ADCs), 17
Adult’s Reports of a Heavenly Home, 17
Children’s Reports of a Heavenly Home, 22
Summary Thoughts, 25
2. The Appearance of the Heavenly Home, 27
Why We Do Not Remember Our Heavenly Home, 27
What Our Heavenly Home Is Like, 29
Cities, 29
Buildings, 32
Vegetation, 34
Inhabitants, 36
The Being of Light, 36
Summary Thoughts, 41
3. Life in the Heavenly Home, 43
Types of Activities, 45
-Teaching / Learning, 45
-Escorting Spirits to Earth, 47
-Watching Over Those On Earth, 47
-Escorting Spirits Home, 47
-Keeping Records, 48
-Working, 48
-Serving on Councils, 49
-Relationships, 49
The Appearance of Premortal Beings, 66
Summary Thoughts, 67
4. Preparations for Earth Life, 69
Assignments & Missions, 69
Adversity, 75
Covenanting With God, 78
Saying Goodbye, 80
Summary Thoughts, 81
5. The Mission Begins, 83
Contacts With Prospective Parents, 83
Birth Order, 95
Departure Delayed, 100
Summary Thoughts, 107
6. Leaving Home, 109
Apprehensions About Leaving Premortality, 109
Plans to Meet on Earth, 114
Final Instructions, 115
The Place of Departure, 118
Waiting to Leave, 119
Summary Thoughts, 122
7. The Journey to Earth, 125
Summary Thoughts, 136
8. Arriving on Earth, 137
The Birth Experience, 139
First Impressions, 145
The Physical Body, 147
Recognizing Mother, 148
Impact of Parental Actions, Thoughts, and Feelings on the Unborn, 150
Summary Thoughts, 153
9. Children’s Memories of Their Heavenly Home, 155
Jesus and God, 155
Heavenly Relationships, 160
Selection of Parents, 163
Summary Thoughts, 168
10. Unique Qualities Brought to Earth, 169
Talent & Abilities, 169
Character Traits, 173
Names, 175
Summary Thoughts, 188
11. Why Adversity?, 189
Summary Thoughts, 207
12. Why Disabilities and Handicaps?, 209
A Choice, 210
A Protection, 218
To Help Others Grow, 221
Summary Thoughts, 228
13. Comfort From Home, 229
The Death of a Child, 229
Stillbirths and Miscarriages, 235
Suicide, 239
Abuse, 248
Medical Problems, 256
Summary Thoughts, 259
14. Protection From Home, 261
The Deceased as Protectors, 261
The Unborn as Protectors, 272
Angelic Beings as Protectors, 277
Summary Thoughts, 284
15. Assurance That a Child is on The Way, 287
Summary Thoughts, 304
16. Parental Visits with Their Unborn Children, 305
Summary Thoughts, 321
17. Playful Visits From Home, 323
The Playful Giggling Child, 323
The Invisible Playmate, 329
Summary Thoughts, 335
18. Adoption, 337
Summary Thoughts, 351
19. Abortion, 353
Summary Thoughts, 375
20. Returning Home, 377
What It Is Like To Die, 377
What The Dying See, 378
Summary Thoughts, 387
21. Missions Completed: Our Final Reward, 389
The Life Review, 389
What Is Important In Heaven, 392
Multiple Heavenly Realms, 395
The Being of Light, 400
The Being of Darkness, 404
Summary Thoughts, 409
Epilogue, 413
Sources Cited, 417
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