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I believe that reported hauntings, poltergeists, and the possibility that spirits are stuck between our world and the next are Satan-inspired.
He wants to mislead our Heavenly Father’s children into thinking that there is no order in the kingdom of God, our Heavenly Father. He
wants us to doubt the words of Christ regarding the state of those spirits when they leave their physical bodies. At death, those spirits go
to paradise or to a spirit world where they will "rest from all of their labors," or if they have not yet heard the gospel of Jesus Christ, they
will be taught that gospel in the spirit world. (See 1 Pet. 3:3, 18-19; and 1 Pet.4:6.)
What we do know is that Satan who wants to lead us away from believing in Christ and keeping His commandments, often misleads and
tricks people. He sometimes does so by sending his angels to certain individuals for the purpose of that trickery or misguidance. The
more people believe in the actuality of disembodied spirits floating around in the stratosphere, unable to make their way to the spirit
world, the more control he will have over their minds as to their belief in the gospel of Jesus Christ.
We know in the scriptures that Christ cast evil spirits out of certain people who were possessed by them, and even in these days, there
are no doubt certain individuals who are possessed by evil spirits.
As to what we believe about the "white light" which you spoke of, we believe that it is the light of Christ that enlightens all men and
women. Long before we came to this earth, we knew who Christ was; we believed in and loved His doctrine. When we depart this life,
to reassure us and welcome us home, His influence, or that white light, is experienced by those who have lived righteously while they
were on this earth.
You also asked about the theory of evolution, and what about the evidence of cave men and dinosaurs? The theory of evolution is just
that, a theory. To suggest that evolution is a knowledge by which we should live suggests that God is not all-knowing and all-powerful,
and that when He created this earth, He was still "experimenting" with possibilities. To make that assumption limits God’s power and
omnipotence. There may be bones of countless people who have died centuries ago, which certain scientists choose to call "cave men,"
who may have actually lived in caves. But I firmly believe that mankind did not evolve from some "pre-historic creature;" they were
placed on this earth just as we read in Gen. 1 of the Old Testament.
As for dinosaurs, I is without a doubt that there was a period of time centuries ago in which dinosaurs roamed this earth. The bones of
them prove that. But, I have little confidence in the carbon-14 dating of those bones, and the scientific community apparently disagrees
among themselves as to the possibilities on dating and to the absolute validity of these certain tests.
Your final question was, what are we to believe? My answer is relatively simple. Believe in God, believe that He is, believe that He
created all things both in the heavens and in the earth, believe that He knows all things, and that He created mankind and put within our
mortal bodies our spirits which He created in our pre-earth life. God is a God of order. His Son, our Savior Jesus Christ, came to this
earth to atone for our sins if we would keep His commandments. Because of His death and resurrection, we will all live immortally as
resurrected beings after we leave this life. My advice to you, Nancy, is to study the gospel in its fullness, and the Spirit of the Holy
Ghost will bear witness to you that it is true. If I can be helpful to you in introducing you to representatives of our church who will teach
you, I would be happy to do that for you.
Sincerely,
Donny Osmond
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