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Hello, welcome to Follow Him Favorites. This is where John and I are sharing a single
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story to go with each week's Come Follow Me Lesson. John, it's Easter. Here at Follow
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Him. I thought I would share with you a story that I think will speak to what we all
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hope. We hope and expect that our loved ones who we have lost are interested in us. We
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will have those reunions one day. This story was told by our friend Robert Miller, who has
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been on our podcast many times. He starts his story this way. He says answers to prayer
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usually come in quiet ways to mortals through the mediation of the Holy Spirit and through
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the intervention of other mortals. There are times, however, when God chooses to do the
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unusual. He says this is an intensely personal experience. He was talking about he and his wife,
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they were praying for one of their children because this child, this son, had completely
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separated himself not just from the church, but from his family entirely. He became addicted
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to drugs and buried himself in a hellish world that held out little hope for him. John,
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not just like religion, but life to live, yeah, to have a happy life. It said they tried
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to reach out to him. Where is he? Is he in prison? Is he lost? He said we didn't hear from him
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for months. Can you imagine, John, as a father and mother, the worry and the pain? Here's what
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Bob says. One night, Ashana and I knelt in prayer, broken and torn emotionally from worry.
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We wept through our prayers and pleaded long and hard once again for the good shepherd to
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lead his wandering sheep home. He says we went to bed and slept in sorrow.
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Sometime that night I found myself dreaming. My father, who had passed away several years
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before, came to me in my dream, embraced me. Both you and I know Bob well. He is a careful
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teacher. He is not prone to hyperbole. When Bob told this story, I thought, wow, he said
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my father came to me in the dream, embraced me, looked me in the eye and said quite
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forcefully, son, pull yourself together. I am going to help you with those children
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of yours. Be patient. I woke immediately and sat up in my bed. My movement awakened my
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wife, Shawna. What's wrong? What happened? I explained that I had seen Dad in a dream
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and he had told me he would help with our son. Days later, the phone rang in the middle
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of the night. Our son's voice. I can't live like this anymore. Can I come home? We were
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thrilled to hear from him and grateful that he was alive. We felt no need to set terms
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or specify conditions. We simply welcomed him home with tenderness. One evening, a few
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weeks later, he and I were sitting on the sofa in the living room and he turned to me and
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said, hesitantly, Dad, I need to share something with you. I encouraged him to tell me. He
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continued, this is going to sound strange. But one night, sometime back, I was on the verge
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of doing something that would have cost me my life. Dad, and I think he thinks it's
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a little weird, John. He says, Dad, I heard Grandpa Millet. I heard his voice say, don't
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you do that. You have been taught better. Now, get up and go home. This is back to the
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son. Dad, I know that sounds weird. Could that possibly be true? With some emotion,
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I answered it was not weird and added, I have a story to tell you. I then told him of
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my dream. We both felt the spirit resting upon us and sense that the entire experience
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was true and from God. Is that beautiful, John? When we think of Easter, we think of our
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loved ones who have passed on. And Bob's story is yet another testament that they're interested
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in us. They're gone physically, but they're not gone. It reminds me of Elder Jeffrey
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Arhaun's statement, do not underestimate your family on the other side of the veil.
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Wow. They're interested. They're interested and working in our behalf.
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Well, we hope everyone listening will have a happy, wonderful Easter. We have a treat
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this week. If you'll come over to our full podcast, we're with the director of the chosen,
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his name is Dallas Jenkins, not a member of our church, but a faithful believer in Christ.
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Absolutely. You are going to love what he has to say, not only about his show, but about
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the Easter season. Then come back here next week. We'll do another follow-in favorites.