Four Sets of Stone Tablets
When I returned, Lance was telling of his visit to Hopi Land in Northern
Arizona's Old Oraibi. They tell of how when the "Massau"
[Messiah] appeared to them, he gave them a set of stone tablets.
Apparently there are four of these on the earth -- perhaps representing the
'four winds' from which the tribes of the earth will be gathered from whence
they were scattered. Lance has been able to locate all four,
interviewing three of the cultures who are current custodians of the
tablets. But one of the cultures -- the one located in Sion in the Alps
-- has been obliterated so far as we know.
The Hopi Story
I'm getting ahead of myself here. Let's begin with the Hopis.
I've been to visit them too, so I have a special respect for how much time
Lance was able to spend with the elders there, confirming their story as it
was told to him by other people such as Zula Brinkerhoff, who I have also had
the privilege of meeting.
The Hopis are very guarded in what they share, having been burned so many
times by their smooth-talking white brothers. They decried the
desecration of their land, mentioning specifically the New Agers who leave
their crystals and other paraphernalia hanging about as if it belonged.
Where The Hopi Came From
According to their oral history (which they are as fastidious to keep pure
as the Jews have been in transmitting the Torah), they did not migrate to this
land but came in ships, arriving in what is now Central America. They
were a bloodthirsty people, continually at war with their brother
tribes. Then came a time when they decided to change their ways.
They buried their weapons in the ground, and make a covenant to not shed blood
any more. Because they had such a long history of violence, their
enemies did not believe their change and came upon them, slaughtering
them. But as they saw their sincerity in their conviction, that they
would not lift up their swords to defend themselves, many of their brothers
joined with them. They moved to a new location further North and their
brother tribes made a pact with them to protect them, and they in turn gave
them food.
They eventually moved North until they came to where they are today.
If I remember correctly, it was there that the 'Messau' appeared to them and
taught them skills of living and told them prophecies of the future.
Hopi Prophecy
They describe three 'shakings' that are obvious references to World Wars I,
II and III. The third would not happen if the people turned to God,
learning from the first two; but if not, it would be far worse than either the
first or the second. The first two were as if with 'one hand,' while the
third shaking would be 'with both hands.'
I would like to write up an account of their prophecies separately as it is
deserving of more full attention. For now I will just touch on some
highlights.
The nation that dropped the 'gord of ashes,' destroying everything where it
landed, during the 'second shaking,' would in turn have a 'gord of ashes'
dropped on it during the third. They were instructed to not become too
dependant on the marvels of technology including electricity and running water
that these people would bring forth because during this third shaking these
conveniences would be taken away. They were told to store enough food
and water to last 'three seasons.' Then, when it would look as though
this great country would be completely taken over, their 'white brothers from
the West' would save the country from destruction. Then the Messiah
would come to them and join them with their white brothers and they would
build the city of Zion.
Hopi Ceremony Parallels
One of the things Lance enjoyed sharing was an account of some of the
ceremonies held by the Hopi that hold remarkable parallels with ceremonies
held in the LDS Church but which are not usually found in other Christian
churches. I am a little cautious in taking Lance's account here at face
value, as I get the impression he is taking some liberties in interpreting
what he heard to make it fit better the way he wants it to, though I am not
surprised that there are some parallels. I would be curious to hear the
verbiage used by the Hopi in describing these various things.
According to Lance, in the Hopi 'Kiva' they hold what they call 'washings'
and 'anointings.' They are also given a new name and a new garment,
though their wearing of this is now only during ceremonies. They even
have a marriage ceremony that binds the couple not just for time but for
eternity. They also perform what amount to baptisms for the dead, though
they do not perform such for the living, hence the 'in' for LDS
missionaries. However, because of inconsistencies between the teachings
and the actual way of living among the church members in general, the Hopi
don't have that great of affinity for the church structure, though they
recognize that there are a few of their true brothers among them. Nearly
25% of the Hopi have joined the LDS church, but of those only 10% are active.
Tibetan Cousins
Lance also spoke of his three-day interview with the second assistant to
the Dalai Lama. They tell a story as well of a visit of a 'Great White
Brother,' though the person Lance interviewed did not personally believe that
this visitor was God in the flesh, though others do believe that. There
was about a 200 year period of peace following that visit.
According to their legends, their final destination is not Tibet, but in
the West where they will go after a time of destruction to join their true
brothers. They (paraphrasing) 'will fly on birds with metal wings to
another land to build the city of Zion.'
If I remember correctly, these Tibetans also have one of the stone tablets.
The African Kikuyus
Another place Lance spoke of where a set of these stone tables is found
among the Kikuyus of Afrika. These people, the Kikuyus tell of a time when
their people came by boat from another land to inhabit this land. The
Kikuyus told Lance of the 'Comoros Islands,' located near Kenya. The
capital city is called Moroni. [These names predate Lehi,
but are an interesting synchronicity nonetheless.]
Sion of the Alps
Lance then told of his opportunity to attend the recent International
Convention for the Family, which was held to counter the anti-family agenda of
the United Nations. He said there was an good spirit there as people
from such wide diversity of cultures and religions came together under the
common purpose of strengthening the family.
While they were there, Lance thought it would be good to try and locate
where a historic utopian group had existed in the Alps. They had no idea
where to go. They pulled out a map to try and get some kind of a
'sense,' perhaps a nudge by the Spirit. Then Lance' father pointed to a
small town near the Italian border called 'Sion.'
"No, would it be that obvious?" they asked each other?
"Why not?" came the quiet reply.
So they packed up and drove to Sion. There was a fog so thick when
the arrived that they had to stop their car. When Lance's father got out
and stretched, looking upward, he gasped, for there, poking through the fog,
was a cathedral high up on a hill with lights shining on it. It was an
image one might expect to see upon arriving in heaven.
As they then began asking around, no one seemed to know the history of that
town between the time period of 0 and 300 AD. Finally, they found an
archeologist who said he knew of the people who lived there during that
time. Apparently, Paul had come among them and they established a
communal way of living that began to exert so much of a positive effect on the
surrounding peoples that Rome began to fear their influence, so in 269 AD they
came in and destroyed them. Where the cathedral now sits was once a
temple. The archeologist also showed them a set of stone tablets on
display in a museum there.
I'm thinking that if they are indeed the 'fourth' group of the four who
represent the four winds of the earth, by virtue of being guardians of one of
the four stone tablets, then they most likely also were privileged to receive
a visit from the Resurrected Lord among them as the other three had -- though
these peoples were certainly not the only who received such a visit.
Later in his presentation, Lance told of his interview with some
Peruvians. In their account, the words of the Resurrected Savior to them
were couched in vernacular they could understood: "Other Llamas I
have which are not of this flock."
Lance's Son Miraculous Healing
As Lance began telling us the story of his near death experience his son
came into the room, a bandage dangling from his neck. Lance took the
opportunity to digress and tell us about what had happened to his son just
recently. He had developed a tumor on his neck and shoulder.
Several doctors said that there was a 99% chance that the boy would die, and
that there was nothing they could do at this point. The boy was given a
priesthood blessing, and within two days the solid mass as hard as bone turned
to liquid and began draining. The lump is almost completely gone now.
Lance Dies and Visits the 'Other Side'
Lance died when one of his lungs burst after being clogged several days
with blood clots, stemming from an operation of his hip following a motorcycle
mishap.
His spirit came and went actually several times while his body was in a
coma for many days. He was told his spirit needed to be inside his body
during certain phases to facilitate the healing process.
Meanwhile he was able to get the royal tour of the Spirit world as well as
review what he was to do with his life once his spirit returned to his body.
As he told of the huge mountain and waterfall that he saw upon arrival, his
first comment was that the place was probably 'every bit as big as our world,'
hence the tremendous variety of experiences that are relayed by people who die
and then come back. Each person's experience is going to be a little
different from another.
In Lance's experience, one thing held in common by everyone he met was a
belief in Jehovah, the Son of God, the Savior and Redeemer, who came in the
flesh to die that all mankind might live. Notwithstanding the tremendous
diversity of cultures and beliefs that he saw, they all held this belief in
common. He was the primary personage there, whose love radiated in and
through everything and everyone. The Father was called Elohim, but very
few people actually spurred the desire to behold him because of their lack of
preparation to do so.
Lance did not speak of his visit with deity, being told that these
experiences were too sacred and that he must not share them with the world.
He described how when we pray to God, he sends those who love us the most
and who are sufficiently qualified to answer those prayers -- usually through
our family members who have departed. He said that genealogy is very
important there as well in helping to create and unbroken link to join the
family of man together, for, he said, we are ultimately all one large family.
But there are others as well such as departed friends or even the great men
and women of history who might be sent to address times of particular
need. He was amazed at the extent to which these angels unseen by men
help them, planting thoughts in their mind, protecting them.
He watched in the Idaho Senate floor as a spirit personage leaned over to
his father, who is a senator, whispered in his ear that his son needed a
blessing and he had 20 minutes to catch his plane, and how his father, intent
in the debate at hand, then suddenly looked at his watch and went running from
the floor and was able to catch his plane with the assistance of the
angels because usually the trip would take at least 25 minutes under ideal
circumstances.
It was the blessing given by the father that turned the course in Lances'
body's struggle with death, when he began a rapid recovery. (The doctors
said his recovery would take at least a year in the hospital. He was out
in a month.) Lance was able to share this experience later with his Dad,
who was astonished that Lance knew every little detail of what transpired for
a few minutes that day.
Lance was also given a view of our pre-mortal life in what is called 'the
council of heaven.' He said that each person who would be born to the
earth went in front of the bar of God, one by one, with arm raised to the
square, agreeing by covenant to endeavor to accomplish certain things uniquely
suited to their gifts and talents while in mortality. Each person was
known individually to God, and is accountable individually to God.
In the Spirit world there is no idleness, but neither is it a rat race like
we see often here on earth. There is a balance in life with time spent
in a variety of endeavors, including diversions such as golf -- yes golf . . .
in heaven. "You wouldn't believe the courses they have here,"
one departed friend excitedly said to him.
About 1/3 of their time is spent there, 1/3 spent working with mortals, and
1/3 is spent laboring with the spirits in 'spirit prison,' which Lance saw
only briefly as though a dense fog. That is where departed spirits
reside who "haven't figured it out yet," having turned their backs
on God and refusing to go to the light.
One friend Lance visited with sent him back with a message to his wife that
"everything is the way it is supposed to be," for she had become
very bitter toward God. But he had agreed beforehand to pass on early so
as to be able to help his son from the other side of the veil to accomplish
what he needed to accomplish in mortality.
At this point, a person in the room asked Lance if all deaths are
foreordained. He did not have recollection of instruction from the other
side on this matter, but gave his opinion that the most important gift God
gives us is our agency, and if we choose a lifestyle that is detrimental to
our health and longevity, then he will allow that.
While in the Spirit World, Lance was shown many things regarding both the
history and prophetic destiny of this nation. He was shown a group of
men who were assembled together with the explicit purpose of bringing the
destruction of this nation so that it could be integrated into a world
dictatorship. He said that some men are set on taking away that which is
God's most precious gift to us -- liberty.
Satan targets the United States because it is foreordained to become the
base of operations in establishing the New Jerusalem -- God's government of
peace. Lance spoke of how the Founders knew they were laying the
foundations for Zion.
While he was in the Spirit World, he visited with several men who fought in
the American Revolutionary War. They were dressed in battle fatigues, to
symbolize the sacrifice of blood they paid in establishing this as a free
land. They told of how disappointed and hurt the Founders were by the
many false stories and twisted portrayals being made of them and their
intentions in laying the groundwork for the freedoms we now take for granted,
and which we are on the brink of losing. Their sobering statement to
him, that he was to pass on to us as one of the conditions for his return, was
that "This country stands on the brink of self destruction. They
have allowed morals to be destroyed. They say that truth is relative,
but that is false. Truth is absolute and eternal." They said
that we must turn to God or we will be destroyed. And the way that we do
this most effectively is by serving one another. Free will service is
the most important principle behind every Zion society that has ever
existed. When we start serving one another, then our country will
change.
A friend that Lance visited there said, "Every prophet since the
beginning of time has yearned to see your (meaning our present day and time in
history) day.
They have all yearned to live in that great day when Zion would come forth,
never to again depart."
The feeling of unsurpassed peace, love, and joy that he felt there in the
Spirit World is going to be achieved here on the earth. And many of us
are going to live to see this brought about.
That is one of the things that was so hard for Lance in coming back was the
'homesick' feeling he had for the heaven he had experience. But he is
motivated by the thought that this heaven is going to be established on earth
too.
Let us help him make this dream come true.
Sincerely,
Sterling D. Allan
March 9,10, 2001
Introduction
