When reading LDS history from the past 190 years or so, some things really jump out at me. It occurs that although God can give his children about any experience one can think of, there are a handful of repeat experiences that pop up again and again. God seems to favor handing out certain, specific experiences. He reaches into his toolbox and pulls out the same few devices. The device I’m talking about today is panoramic visions.





Panoramic visions may be something you haven’t heard of. If you have heard of them, it was probably as a piece of a near-death-experience - occurring just before the person gets zapped back into their body while promising to be nicer to people with opposing political views. Or something.





The fact that these absolute encompassing visions are so closely related to NDEs might make you brush them aside. Don’t do that. These things have happened to completely sane LDS people outside of the NDEs. Some of the people did get life reviews out of it. Some got scripture-study assistance that’s even better than those oversized seminary bookmarks. Some saw visions of things to come.





Some saw significant excerpts from Christ’s life. This one is my favorite – because you can hear it straight from the experiencer’s lips. The experiencer, incidentally, was David B. Haight. He told the story in a 1989 General Conference talk. I’ve included the video below.





First to lay some groundwork:





Enoch





“Enoch, who was preaching at the place of Mahujah, was commanded of the Lord to go to mount Simeon so the Lord could speak to him. Having ascended the mount, Enoch said, “I beheld the heavens open, and I was clothed upon with glory; And I saw the Lord; and he stood before my face, and he talked with me, even as a man talketh one with another, face to face” (Moses 7:3–4). Enoch was then shown the panoramic vision of earth’s future history , a matter to which we will yet come. Moses in like manner was caught away in the spirit “to an exceeding high mountain, And he saw God face to face, and he talked with him, and the glory of God was upon Moses; therefore Moses could endure his presence” (Moses 1:1–2)…

“Closely associated with the high mountain experience and the ritual endowment in which the prophetic participants are “taught from on high” is the idea of a magnificent p anoramic vision in which the purpose of earth life and its history is revealed. The perspective thus enjoyed seems most appropriate for those prophets called to head the various gospel dispensations and through them to be a part of the understanding had by the faithful of their day…” ( https://rsc.byu.edu/archived/pearl-great-price-revelations-god/preparation-prophets )

Now on to some of the experiences!





like so many other people! When he finished the BOM, he started reading the Bible with a seer stone study guide. The stories jumped off the page: When Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon, he used seer stones in the process –When he finished the BOM, he started reading the Bible with a seer stone study guide. The stories jumped off the page:





Joseph Smith





"After I got through translating the Book of Mormon, I took up the Bible to read with the Urim and Thummim. I read the first chapter of Genesis and I saw the things as they were done. I turned over the next and the next, and the whole passed before me like a grand panorama; and so on chapter after chapter until I read the whole of it. I saw it all!" ( http://scottwoodward.org/bookofmormon_translationprocess_debunkingmyths.html )

The panoramic scripture study didn’t end with the martyred prophet:

Harold B. Lee

I shall never forget my feelings of loneliness the Saturday night after I was told by the President of the Church that I was to be sustained the next day as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. That was a sleepless night....

And then one of the Brethren, who arranged for Sunday evening radio programs, said, “Now you know that after having been ordained, you are a special witness to the mission of the Lord Jesus Christ. We want you to give the Easter talk next Sunday night.”

The assignment was to bear testimony of the mission of the Lord concerning His resurrection, His life, and His ministry, so I went to a room in the Church Office Building where I could be alone, and I read the Gospels, particularly those that had to do with the closing days and weeks and months of the life of Jesus. And as I read, I realized that I was having a new experience.

It wasn’t any longer just a story; it seemed as though I was actually seeing the events about which I was reading, and when I gave my talk and closed with my testimony, I said, “I am now the least of all my brethren and want to witness to you that I know, as I have never known before this call came, that Jesus is the Savior of this world. He lives and He died for us.” Why did I know? Because there had come a witness, that special kind of a witness, that may have been the more sure word of prophecy that one must have if he is to be a special witness. ( https://www.fairmormon.org/answers/Question:_Did_any_twentieth_century_leader_after_Joseph_Smith_report_divine_visions%3F )

The panoramic tool is commonly associated with the life review. Your standing there with different scenes from your life flashing all around you. This one is no different:

George A. Smith

After his call to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, President Smith had a dream in which his grandfather George A. Smith appeared to him. He recalled: “I lost consciousness of my surroundings and thought I had passed to the Other Side...I began to look around, to see if I could not find someone... I began to explore, and soon I found a trail through the woods which seemed to have been used very little and which was almost obscured by grass. I followed this trail, and after I had walked for some time...[saw] in the distance...a man coming towards me. I became aware that he was a very large man, and hurried my steps to reach him, because I recognized him as my grandfather...I remember how happy I was to see him coming. I had been given his name and had always been proud of it. When grandfather came within a few feet of me, he stopped...He looked at me very earnestly and said: ‘I would like to know what you have done with my name’. Everything that I had ever done passed before me as though it were a flying picture on a screen – everything I had done...my whole life had passed before me. I smiled and looked at my grandfather and said: ‘I have never done anything with your name of which you need be ashamed’...He stepped forward and took me in his arms, and as he did so, I became conscious again of my earthly surrounds. My pillow was wet as though water had been poured on it – wet with tears of gratitude that I could answer unashamed.” ( https://historyofmormonism.com/2008/07/08/george-albert-smith/ )

And here’s a similar one:

Mission President Friend of D. Todd Christofferson

th chapter of 3 Nephi, he drifted off to sleep. He subsequently related: “Not long ago, a friend recounted to me an experience he had while serving as a mission president. He had undergone a surgery that required several weeks of recuperation. During his recovery, he devoted time to searching the scriptures. One afternoon as he pondered the Savior’s words in the 27chapter of 3 Nephi, he drifted off to sleep. He subsequently related:

a vivid, panoramic view of my life. I was shown my sins, poor choices, the times . . . I had treated people with impatience, plus the omissions of good things I should have said or done. . . . [A] comprehensive . . . [review of] my life was shown to me in just a few minutes, but it seemed much longer. ““I fell into a dream in which I was given. I was shown my sins, poor choices, the times . . . I had treated people with impatience, plus the omissions of good things I should have said or done. . . . [A] comprehensive . . . [review of] my life was shown to me in just a few minutes, but it seemed much longer.

“I awoke, startled, and . . . instantly dropped to my knees beside the bed and began to pray, to plead for forgiveness, pouring out the feelings of my heart like I had never done previously. “Prior to the dream, I didn’t know that I [had] such great need to repent. My faults and weaknesses suddenly became so plainly clear to me that the gap between the person I was and the holiness and goodness of God seemed[like] millions of miles. In my prayer that late afternoon, I expressed my deepest gratitude to Heavenly Father and to the Savior with my whole heart for what They had done for me and for the relationships I treasured with my wife and children. While on my knees I also felt God’s love and mercy that was so palpable, despite my feeling so unworthy. . . .

“I can say I haven’t been the same since that day. . . . My heart changed.”

There’s a shift here. This one shows Woodruff seeing the future through a panoramic vision:

Wilford Woodruff

I know what the will of God is concerning this people, and if they will take the counsel we give them, all will be well with them.... Speaking of the administration of angels. I never asked the Lord in my life to send me an angel or to show me any miracle.... I have had the administration of angels in my day and time, though I never prayed for an angel. I have had, in several instances, the administration of holy messengers....The room was filled with light. A messenger came to me. We had a long conversation. He laid before me as if in a panorama, the signs of the last days, and told me what was coming to pass. I saw the sun turned to darkness, the moon to blood, the stars fall from heaven. I saw the resurrection day. I saw armies of men in the first resurrection, clothed with the robes of the Holy Priesthood. I saw the second resurrection. I saw a great many signs that were presented before me, by this personage; and among the rest, there were seven lions, as of burning brass, set in the heavens. He says, "That is one of the signs that will appear in the heavens before the coming of the Son of Man. It is a sign of the various dispensations.".... Now, I have had all these testimonies, and they are true. But with all these, I have never had any testimony since I have been in the flesh, that has been greater than the testimony of the Holy Ghost. That is the strongest testimony that can be given to me or to any man in the flesh. Now, every man has a right to that, and when he obtains it, it is a living witness to him....I know what awaits this nation. I know what awaits the Latter-day Saints. Many things have been shown to me by vision and by revelation. ( https://books.google.com/books?id=f8qeAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA224&lpg=PA224&dq=%22A+messenger+came+to+me.+We+had+a+long+conversation.+He+laid+before+me+as+if+in+a+panorama%22&source=bl&ots=voB8KLcsaX&sig=SeVZ2uW6hNyU4vne7dcgox5kiAs&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiF85-33vfaAhXNz1MKHWjvBVgQ6AEILDAB#v=onepage&q=%22A%20messenger%20came%20to%20me.%20We%20had%20a%20long%20conversation.%20He%20laid%20before%20me%20as%20if%20in%20a%20panorama%22&f=false )





Here’s my favorite. It’s from what may be the best conference talk ever given. Towards the end of his life David Haight seemed to talk off the cuff during his talks. It was very casual – and kind of comfortable if that makes any sense. Here is an excerpt from the talk. The video for it is posted below:

David B. Haight

“The evening of my health crisis, I knew something very serious had happened to me…

“While still praying, I began to lose consciousness. The siren of the paramedic truck was the last that I remembered before unconsciousness overtook me, which would last for the next several days.

“The terrible pain and commotion of people ceased. I was now in a calm, peaceful setting; all was serene and quiet. I was conscious of two persons in the distance on a hillside, one standing on a higher level than the other. Detailed features were not discernible. The person on the higher level was pointing to something I could not see…

I was shown a panoramic view of His earthly ministry: His baptism, His teaching, His healing the sick and lame, the mock trial, His crucifixion, His resurrection and ascension. There followed scenes of His earthly ministry to my mind in impressive detail, confirming scriptural eyewitness accounts. I was being taught, and the eyes of my understanding were opened by the Holy Spirit of God so as to behold many things. : His baptism, His teaching, His healing the sick and lame, the mock trial, His crucifixion, His resurrection and ascension. There followed scenes of His earthly ministry to my mind in impressive detail, confirming scriptural eyewitness accounts. I was being taught, and the eyes of my understanding were opened by the Holy Spirit of God so as to behold many things.

“The first scene was of the Savior and His Apostles in the upper chamber on the eve of His betrayal. Following the Passover supper, He instructed and prepared the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper for His dearest friends as a remembrance of His coming sacrifice. It was so impressively portrayed to me—the overwhelming love of the Savior for each. I witnessed His thoughtful concern for significant details—the washing of the dusty feet of each Apostle, His breaking and blessing of the loaf of dark bread and blessing of the wine, then His dreadful disclosure that one would betray Him.

“He explained Judas’s departure and told the others of the events soon to take place.

“Then followed the Savior’s solemn discourse when He said to the Eleven: “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world…” (John 16:33.) ( https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1989/10/the-sacrament-and-the-sacrifice?lang=eng )





There you have it. Panoramic visions seem to be handed out like candy. Almost. Not everybody experiences it, obviously, but it wouldn’t be a huge surprise to hear of another one.



