Chapter 44

Big Things Start to Happen

The little things done by James and Beth in the gospel start to become big things—Glimpses of
heavenly visions are there just beyond their reach.

What is the sound of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ as it rings down powerfully to
earth from heaven?

Trumpets blaring, a powerful chorus of angels singing, a large ensemble of church bells
clanging?

What does it look like?

What does it feel like?

These are the questions to ask as we look upon the home of James and Beth and see the
foundation of Zion being laid in their ward.

Perhaps the thinking of those around them was that for James and Beth to spend this
amount of time and effort working towards such a goal in the gospel, their lives beforehand must
have been devoid of anything else interesting, important, or fun. For why else would they have
chosen this path in life? And the assumption, by extension, was that they would then ultimately
tire of or see the folly of their labors and come to the realization that the ideal of Zion was a
fool’s errand. Thus, the expectation was that, at some point, they would need to correct
themselves—keeping their noses clean with more traditional family goals in the Church—and
just be content with what normally happens in a typical ward’s execution of the gospel.

This was the assumption of many, but, in fact, something much different was happening
to them.

As the years passed, the Lord looked upon James and Beth and what they were doing and
decided to bless them beyond anything they could have ever imagined. As we have seen, the
little things in their lives were quickened by the Spirit. But it was not long until much bigger
things––greater blessings than ever before––started to occur in their lives.

As the two of them lay down to sleep at night, the Lord opened up their eyes and their
understanding through dreams. At other times, when they were just lying there awake, they were
able to perceive things of the Spirit whether their eyes were closed or not.

On one such occasion, James turned toward Beth and made the following comment,
pointing to the ceiling.

“I sense that we are on the verge of seeing really amazing things through the Spirit. I
can’t really describe it, but I can feel it––glimpses of heavenly visions are there just beyond our
reach. It’s like a planetarium of the celestial world is right there above us every night.”

Through a whisper, they each, individually, could hear the voice of the Spirit speaking to
them. It became so commonplace that it was as though the Lord was right there with them a few
feet away every night. But each time it happened, it was still a slight shock to their bodies.
Taking naps during the day or lying down to sleep at night was often the time when these
spiritual events happened. But not always, for such things could occur at any time of the day and
in any frequency. They were feeling and enjoying, moment by moment, family-level revelation
and manifestations of the love of God––little phrases, little comments, little teachings by the
Lord on every subject imaginable. They recorded all these things in their family spiritual journal
and enjoyed them fully.

When they went to church, or when they went to the temple, there was an added element
of the Spirit, making them feel happy seemingly for no reason at all.

On one such occasion after returning home from the temple, Beth looked at James and
exclaimed:

“It’s just amazing how happy I feel every day!

“It’s funny, I can’t even describe it! I love everything and everyone!

But this was only the start. Greater blessings than these were on the horizon; the brief
description presented here can hardly suffice.

There are no limits to the blessings we can receive from God in this life. “No limits” is
exactly what James and Beth were receiving.