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The Day I Heard Angelic Choirs
I was baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on 25 December 1976, just before my 43rd birthday. About 18 months later, I had an unforgettable and miraculous experience that saved my life and strengthened my faith.
I was carting sand and gravel in my five-ton International tipper truck from Inala to a builder at Redland Bay in Queensland, Australia. I was almost at my destination when something very unexpected happened: I suddenly heard angelic choirs singing. The memory is vivid. I remember exactly where I was: the junction of Manly and Wandell. I distinctly remember how beautiful and calming the singing was, even though I could not distinguish the words. Although I couldn’t see who was singing, I felt surrounded by those angelic voices. It was a wonderful feeling. Though I had not thought I was in any danger, I felt protected by the power and beauty of the presence of such heavenly music.
The unexplained euphoric presence remained with me even after the experience ended and immense joy followed me the rest of the day. Unaware of the significance of the event but touched by the emotion that it stirred within me, I mused on how beautiful the experience was.
The following day, my truck was due for its annual mechanical check and service, so I drove it to Rocklea for the assessment. After parking my truck over the examination pit and watching the inspector descend into the pit to carry out his assessment, I was surprised to see the inspector suddenly climbing back out looking as white as a ghost.
The inspector exclaimed, “You should be dead!” The king pin on the vehicle was broken. The king pin serves as the pivot point which attaches the wheel spindle to the axle beam. The king pin is the most critical component of the axle assembly and a broken king pin is extremely dangerous.
As soon as the inspector shared this discovery, I felt the Holy Ghost fill me and was instantly enlightened as to the cause of my experience the previous day. Heavenly angels had descended upon the junction of Manly and Wandell streets and protected me in my faulty vehicle. Their heavenly intervention allowed me to safely carry out my work assignment and deliver my load to the appropriate place without injury to either myself or the truck. Their divine protection continued even after the singing could no longer be heard, allowing me to safely deliver my vehicle to the check-in point the following day. All of this was done as I was completely oblivious to the fact that a serious, even fatal accident could have occurred at any time because of a corrupted king pin.
I am now 85 years old, and I remain forever grateful for the visitation of this angelic host that saved my life that day. The experience left me with a lasting impression of God’s love and of His goodness to His children. I do not know why I was spared from almost certain death, but since that miraculous day, I have spent 42 years bringing the saving ordinances of the gospel to thousands of my deceased relatives through years of family history and temple work. We all have a mission on this earth, and perhaps we all have heavenly hosts watching over us as we do our best to fulfil it.