The veil that separates mortals from those who have gone before is very thin. Those "on the other side" of the veil between mortality and immortality care very much about the living and are anxious to help them says T.C. Christensen, producer of a newly released movie, The Cokeville Miracle. Christensen was the keynote speaker on Friday, July 31, at the BYU Conference on Family History and Genealogy this week. Katie Walker Payne and Jenny Johnson, survivors of the Cokeville Elementary School Hostage Crisis spoke with Christensen.
The Cokeville Miracle depicts the story the Cokeville Hostage Crisis on May 16, 1986. A mentally unstable couple, David and Doris Young, entered the school in Cokeville Wyoming, armed with a bomb and rifles and held 136 children and 18 adults hostage.
During the 2 1/2 hour standoff between the Youngs and the authorities, many of the children reported seeing shining beings -- who they identified as angels -- who appeared in the room. These angels comforted, protected, and led or directed the children to safety. In addition, to directing the children to safe spots, these beings gathered around the bomb forming a shield when it exploded and sending the blast upward through the ceiling rather than outward through the walls as would have been expected. In ensuing days and years, many of the children identified those beings from family photographs as specific ancestors. Jenny Johnson was led outside by a woman. Several years later, as the family was working with old photographs in family albums, she found and identified a picture of the woman who helped her. Her mother told her that she was a favorite aunt.
That these heavenly beings were the children's own ancestors is logical, Christensen pointed out. "Who else would care more about us than our own family, and who else would who would be more anxious to step in and assist us?"
He further explained that many angels who care very much about us are all around us in this world.
He quoted Jeffrey R. Holland who said, "From the beginning down through the dispensations, God has used angels as His emissaries in conveying love and concern for His children....
"Usually such beings are not seen. Sometimes they are. But seen or unseen they are always near. Sometimes their assignments are very grand and have significance for the whole world. Sometimes the messages are more private. Occasionally the angelic purpose is to warn. But most often it is to comfort, to provide some form of merciful attention, guidance in difficult times."
For us to seek out our ancestors and come to know them and assist them by doing family history work and ordinances is essential, Christensen said
Payne agreed, referring to her "plucky" ancestor, Sarah Goode Marshall who, accompanied by her six children, pulled a handcart across the plains. Handcart train leaders didn't want to her to attempt the trip and tried to dissuade her saying said she couldn't make the trip with six kids. She said "I am going and I will beat you there." She made good on that promise as the first handcart pioneer to arrive in the Salt Lake Valley -- ahead of the train.
"Is it my job to learn about her and to find those who came before? Absolutely," said Payne. She finds inspiration in knowing the story of her ancestor. "If Sarah Marshall can pull a handcart with six children across the plains, I can overcome 2 1/2 hours of terror."
Payne further reported that many of the children in the schoolroom saw child angels as well as adults who helped with the crisis. She feels very sure that these young angels were spirits who would in future years become the children of the children in the classroom.
Not surprisingly, the horrific events in Cokeville that day left emotional scars. The angels who assisted the children that day have helped make healing possible.
"I have felt the love of those who have gone before. I testify that they are there," Payne said.
Skeptics have expressed doubt about the reality of angels at Cokeville Elementary on May 16, 1986. Payne says that such accusations do not change the facts. "We saw the angels, we know we saw them, and we cannot deny it. Amidst all the horror and terror we witnessed a miracle," she said.
Read More from the 2015 BYU Genealogy Conference
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