Doug Tales 13: Earthbound Spirits, Part One

Doug Mendenhall’s paternal grandmother was a full-blooded Native American, so he was always interested in anything involving those of similar ancestry. Many years ago, he drove to the next county fifty miles south of his home in Mt. Pleasant, Utah, and ended up helping some Native American spirits who were still bound to this Earth. They, in turn, helped Doug in an unexpected way for a season, as he explains in I See…Awake! (2015), pp. 197-200:

One day I was at a gifted/sighted friend’s home chatting when the Spirit told me to drive to Salina, Utah, which was about a one hour drive from my home. She had heard the request by the Spirit and asked me what was in Salina and why the Lord wanted me to go there.

I responded that I had no idea. I left her home, went to my house to tell Dianne that I needed to go to Salina and didn’t know why.

While I was driving south on Hwy 89, a vision opened to my mind of a cemetery that was surrounded on three sides by hills. On those hills I saw thousands of Lamanites or Native Americans. The cemetery and surrounding hills reminded me of the old University of Utah football stadium, shaped like a “U” filled to capacity with these ancient people on the hills. I wondered where it could be.

As I drove through Salina, the Spirit told me to turn left at the stop light. I had been through Salina many times but never stopped there except to get fuel and food. I drove several blocks east and finally entered what I thought was a construction yard. On the other side of the construction yard was a cemetery surrounded by hills on three sides. It was exactly what I had witnessed in my vision!

I drove to the end of the cemetery and was told to get out and pray for the Lamanites that were on the surrounding hillsides. Finding the largest headstone at the east end, I got out and knelt down behind it, embarrassed that someone might “see” me kneeling and praying. Later I thought this would not be strange for others to see someone kneeling near a grave, but at that time I was embarrassed.

The prayer didn’t last very long. I prayed by the Spirit and by the power of the Priesthood released them from their prison. I really didn’t understand the words that were given to me to say. Instead of “Heavenly Father,” it was “Great Father.”

Afterward I got into the car and drove back to my home. As I drove I could feel most of these Lamanites following me home. When I got home, I told my wife of the experience but never mentioned it to anyone else.

A few weeks later my daughter, Denise, came up to me and said, “Dad, our yard is full of Lamanites. Do you know why?”

I told her my experience, and she was satisfied. I asked why they had followed me home and were staying in our yard. She said they were there to protect us, and she walked away.

Several weeks later some good friends were flying to Hawaii and wanted blessings before they went. I voiced blessings on both of them, a mother and her daughter. Both were told that half of the Lamanites in my yard would accompany them to Hawaii to protect them and be with them. I thought that was unusual, but didn’t say much about it.

After they had been home from Hawaii for about a week, Denise came up to me and said, “Dad, you remember those Lamanites that I told you about in our yard?”

“Yes, I remember them,” I said.

“Well about half of them are now wearing hula skirts and are doing the hula. They don’t do it very well.”

I told her about the blessings to our friends and how half of the Lamanites went with our friends to protect them.

“Oh, that explains the hula skirts,” she answered.

The back story: Denise explains the story behind the story: “These Lamanites lived in the Salina area during Book of Mormon times and were involved in a battle in which they had been killed. Like many earthbound spirits that die a sudden death, they did not know they were “dead” for a long time. Every day they would have battles again with their enemies. This went on for a long time.

“Somehow they realized they were dead and asked for help. That is when the Lord inspired my Dad to go to Salina and do what he did. After they “went to the light” some of them asked the Lord for permission to come and be a protector for our family. We progress on both sides of the veil by doing service for others.

“So one day I noticed that there were huge muscular Lamanites in our yard. I asked my dad if he knew why they were there and he told me about going to Salina, the cemetery, blessing and releasing them.

“I asked them what they were doing in our yard, and they said that they felt an obligation to my dad for releasing them at the cemetery. They were going to stay in our yard to protect our family. They actually stood shoulder to shoulder all the way around our yard. They were huge and powerful.

“Later I noticed that half of them were gone. I didn’t think much about it. They weren’t shoulder to shoulder any more, but still were protecting our property and family.

“Then two weeks later all of them were back in our yard again, but this time half of them were wearing hula skirts and trying unsuccessfully to do the hula dance.

“I asked my dad again and he told me about the blessing for our friends that went to Hawaii. That explained the hula skirts on the Lamanite warriors. They were funny and liked to play around. After a few months all of them had moved on.”