I'm grateful for the opportunity to speak today regarding the
topic assigned to me, the importance of Temple attendance.
Brothers and Sisters,
Throughout our lives we are blessed with spiritual experiences,
some of which are very sacred and confidential, and others,
although just as sacred, are meant to be shared. Last summer
my family had a spiritual experience that has had a lasting
and profound impact on us, one we feel must be shared. It's a
message of love. It's a message of regaining perspective, and
restoring proper balance and renewing priorities. In
humility, I pray that I might, in relating this story, give
you a gift my little son, Brian, gave our family one warm
summer day last year.
On July 22nd I was en route to Washington, D.C. for a business
trip. It was all so very ordinary until we landed in Denver
for a plane change. As I collected my belongings from the
overhead bin, an announcement was made for Mr. Lloyd Glenn to
see the united customer service representative immediately. I
thought nothing of this until I reached the door to leave the
plane and I heard a gentleman asking every male if they were
Mr. Glenn. At this point I knew something was wrong and my
heart sank
When I got off the plane a solemn-faced young man came toward
me and said," Mr. Glenn, there has been an emergency at your
home. I do not know what the emergency is, or who is
involved, but I will take you to a phone so you can call the
hospital." My heart was now pounding, but the will to be calm
took over. Woodenly, I followed this stranger to a distant
telephone where I called the number he gave me for Mission
Hospital. My call was put through to the trauma center where
I learned that my three-year-old son had been trapped
underneath the automatic garage door for several minutes, and
that when my wife had found him, he was dead. CPR had been
performed by a neighbor, who is a doctor, and the paramedics
had continued that treatment as Brian was revived and they
believed he would live, but they did not know how much damage
had been done to his brain, nor to his heart. They explained
that the door had completely closed on his little sternum
right over his heart. He had been severely crushed.
After speaking with the medical staff, my wife informed me that
our Bishop and home teacher were there and were waiting for
the doctors to give them the go ahead to administer to Brian.
She sounded worried but not hysterical, and I took comfort in
her calmness.
The return flight seemed to last forever, but finally I arrived
at the hospital six hours after the garage door had come
down. When I walked into the intensive care unit, nothing
could have prepared me to see my little son lying so still on
a great big bed with tubes and monitors everywhere. He was on
a respirator. I glanced at my wife who stood and tried to
give me a reassuring smile. It all seemed like a terrible
dream. I was filled in on all the details and given the
guarded prognosis. Brian was going to live, and the
preliminary tests indicated that his heart was okay - two
miracles, in and of themselves. But, only time would tell if
his brain received any damage.
Throughout these seemingly endless hours, my wife was calm. She
told me the Bishop had given a blessing so powerful and so
reassuring that she felt that Brian would eventually be all
right. I hung on to her words and faith like a lifeline. All
that night and all the next day Brian remained unconscious.
It seemed like forever since I had left for my business trip
the day before. Finally, at two o' clock that afternoon, our
son regained consciousness and sat up uttering the most
beautiful words I have ever heard spoken. He said, "Daddy,
hold me," as he reached for me with his little tiny arms.
By the next day he was pronounced as having no neurological or
physical deficits, and the story of his miraculous survival
spread throughout the hospital. You cannot imagine our
gratitude and joy. As we took Brian home we felt the unique
reverence for life and love of our Heavenly Father that comes
to those who brush death so closely. In the days that
followed there was a special spirit about our home. Our two
older children were closer to each other, and all of us were
very close as a whole family. Life took on a less stressful
pace. Perspective seemed to be much more focused, and balance
much easier to gain and maintain. We felt deeply blessed. Our
gratitude was truly profound.
Almost a month later to the day of the accident, Brian awoke
from his afternoon nap and said, "Sit down, Mommy. I have
something to tell you." At this time in his life, Brian
usually spoke in small phrases; so to say such a large
sentence surprised my wife. She sat down with him on the bed
and he began this sacred and remarkable story. " Do you
remember when I got stuck under the garage door?" Well, it
was so heavy and it hurt really badly. I called to you, but
you couldn't hear me. I started to cry, but then it hurt too
badly. And then the 'birdies' came."
"The 'birdies'?" my wife asked puzzled. "Yes, " he replied.
"The 'birdies' made a whooshing sound and flew in the garage.
They took care of me." "They did?" she asked. "Yes," he said.
"One of the birdies came and got you. She came to tell you I
got stuck under the door." A sweet and reverent feeling
filled the room. The spirit was so strong and yet lighter
than air. My wife realized that a three-year-old has no
concept of death and spirits, so he was referring to the
beings who came to help him from beyond the veil as "birdies"
because they were up in the air like birds that fly. "What
did the 'birdies' look like?" she asked. Brian answered,
"They were so beautiful. They were dressed in white, all
white. Some of them had on green and white, but some of them
had on just white." My wife thought this was intriguing
because Brian had no clue what the color green was.
"Did they say anything?" "Yes," he answered. "They told me the
baby would be all right." "The baby?" my wife asked,
confused. And Brian answered, "Yes, the baby laying on the
garage floor." He went on, "You came out and opened the
garage door and ran to the baby. You told the baby to stay
and not leave."
My wife nearly collapsed upon hearing this, for she had indeed
gone and knelt beside Brian's body, and seeing his crushed
chest and unrecognizable features, and knowing he was already
dead, she looked up around her and whispered, "Don't leave
us, Brian; please stay if you can."
As she listened to Brian telling her the words she had spoken,
she realized that his spirit had left his body and was
looking down from above on this little lifeless form. "Then
what happened?" she asked. "We went on a trip," he said,
"Far, far away." He grew agitated trying to say things he
didn't seem to have words for. My wife tried to calm and
comfort him, and let him know it would be okay. He struggled
with wanting to tell something that obviously was very
important to him, but finding the words was so difficult.
Finally, his eyes alighted on the picture of the Oakland
temple that hangs in the room and he ran to it "I went
there!" he shouted. "There, Mommy," he pointed to the temple.
"And I went to other ones like this. There are lots of them.
They are everywhere, and I went to some of them with the
"birdies." We flew so fast up in the air" To which my wife
said, "That's one of the temples." "YES! YES!" he shouted. "I
went to the temples." "They're so pretty, Mommy," he added.
"And there are lots and lots of 'birdies' in the temple. Lots
of them are in cages and they want to get out, but they can't
by themselves. They need us to let them out of the cages.
"Mommy, I have to go to the temple and let them out. They are
so sad and they need me to let them out. Mommy, you have to
go there now and let them out. And Daddy too. And everyone.
We have to let them out of their cages."
My wife was stunned. Into her mind the sweet spirit enveloped
her more soundly, but with an urgency she had never known.
She thought of the spirit world, the spirit prison to those
who have not had saving ordinances done, and she knew that
such spirits were relying on us to do these ordinances for
them. She thought of how Brian had said some of the 'birdies'
were wearing green and white, and the significance of that
swept her with longing and understanding.
Brian went on to tell her that the 'birdies' told him that he
had to come back and tell everyone about the temples and the
'birdies' in their cages. He said they brought him back to
the house and that a big fire truck, a little fire truck, and
an ambulance were there. A man was bringing the baby out on a
white bed and he tried to tell the man that the baby would be
okay, but the man couldn't hear him. He said the 'birdies'
told him he had to go with the ambulance, but they would be
near him. He said it was so pretty there and so peaceful and
he didn't want to come back. And then the bright light came.
He said the light was so bright and so warm, and he loved the
bright light very much. Someone was in the bright light and
put their arms around him and told him "I love you, but you
have to go back. You have to play baseball, tell everyone
about the temples, and slay the alligators." Then the person
in the bright light kissed him and waved bye-bye. Brian got
in the ambulance with two of the 'birdies'. The ambulance
doors closed after the people got in, and he said, "Then I
saw my beautiful, beautiful 'birdies' waving bye-bye. Then
whoosh, the big sound came and they went into the clouds."
The story went on for over an hour. He taught us that the
'birdies' are always with us, but we don't see them because
we look with our eyes, and we don't hear them because we
listen with our ears. But, they are there, and you can only
see them in here (he put his hand over his heart). They
whisper the things to help us do what's right because they
love us so much. Brian continued, stating, "I have a plan,
Mommy. You have a plan. Daddy has a plan. Everyone has a
plan. We all must live our plan and keep our promises. And
the 'birdies' help us do that cause they love us, so much."
In the weeks that followed, he often came to us and told all or
part of it again and again. Always the story remained the
same. The details were never changed or out of order. A few
times he added further bits of information that clarified the
message he had already delivered. It never ceased to amaze us
how he could tell such detail and speak beyond his ability
when he spoke of his 'birdies.' Everywhere he went; he told
total strangers that they had to go to the temple.
Surprisingly, no one ever looked at him strangely when he did
this. Rather, they always got a softened look on their face
and smiled.
Needless to say, we have not been the same ever since that
day, and I pray that we never will be. My wife and I have
gone to the temple repeatedly since then, and always Brian is
waiting to hear how many 'birdies' we set free each time we
go, Brothers and Sisters, of all the messages Brian could
have brought back, he brought this one - We must go to the
temple and free the 'birdies.' I testify that the things I
have shared with you today are true. They are of sacred
worth. They are of eternal consequence to us all and to the
spirits who await the work only we can do for them. May we
all go to the temple and free the 'birdies' for it truly is
the Lord's work and His glory, to bring to pass the
immortality and eternal life of man. I leave you with this
message in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.