Journal entry, Wednesday 5 April 1995

I had a neat experience last week.  I haven't thought about Leonard Dewitt for several years.  He came into my mind last week.  It turned out to have been the day that he died.  I think that he was trying to get in touch with me.  I wish that I'd been more in tune, but I think that I got the messages.  Bishop Bingham called a couple of days later to inform me of his death in Ontario, and asked if I knew him, because he didn't.  I could have told him at that point that Leonard wanted me to speak at his services, but the bishop didn't ask until the next day.

Leonard really worked on me that day.  I couldn't think of anything else.  He wanted me to do three things.  He wanted me to speak at his funeral, he wanted me to get him dressed in his temple clothes, and he wants me to see to it that he and his wife are sealed in the temple.  Because of Bishop Bingham's not knowing Leonard, and because this is tax season for Bishop Bingham, I offered to take charge of the funeral and take it off his hands.  He was so grateful.  Leonard's non-member stepchildren had had him dressed in his street clothes.  I had been Leonard's bishop and I knew that he had been endowed.  He had moved to Ontario and no one knew where his membership record was to confirm that he was endowed.  I called Salt Lake to verify his endowment, got some temple clothes, and got Keith Long to help me dress the body.  I got permission from the family, and they were grateful that we changed his clothes because it turns out that he had requested to be dressed in white.

They couldn't locate his children.  I looked back in my journal and found his wife's obituary and where I'd conducted his wife's funeral.  I even found a nice thank you letter from his wife's daughter-in-law.  I called her in California and thus got the family notified.  They are so impressed with how the Mormons help people that two families sent $50 each as a contribution to the church.  That nicely paid for the $80.70 that it cost me to get Leonard's funeral clothes.

When I knew Leonard he was taking care of his invalid wife, Eunita.  He was so good to her that it was a real inspiration.  After she died, he remarried.  He ended up taking care of her, too.

Here is an excerpt from my journal, dated 21 June 1983, that I read at Leonard's funeral:

"It was World War II.  He was getting into a tank in Europe when it was blown up.  He was blown out and fell into the tank track.  He was badly hurt.  At that moment his father (who was still living) appeared to him and said, 'You're hurt bad but you'll come home.'

"Five thousand miles away Leonard's father at that moment saw him being blown from the tank.  He announced to his family that Leonard had been badly wounded, but that he would be all right.  When a letter arrived from the State Department ten days later informing them that their son had been killed, he reassured them that such was not the case and that shortly they'd hear from Leonard.

"While lying in the tank track a vision of a picture window appeared before Leonard.  There was snow on the other side of the window about 3-4 inches deep.  Walking toward the window were two men.  Leonard described each in detail.  One wore a gray jacket, yellow earmuffs, and 4-buckle boots which were not buckled.  The other had on a blue jacket, blue earmuffs and also wore 4-buckle boots.  Again he heard the voice of his father:  'These are two missionaries.  Do not turn them away.'

"The men came nearer.  The voice repeated the same message:  'These are two missionaries.  Do not turn them away.'

"The message was repeated three times before the vision faded.

"Leonard recovered, went home, and married.  He told his wife about the experience.  He described the men in his vision.  He told her, 'They'll come in the wintertime.  If I'm not here when they come, don't let them leave.'

"Four years passed.  Leonard was off at work.  He came home at 5:30 one evening and was met with the news:  'They were here.  I told them you'd been waiting for them and to wait while I went to get you.  They wouldn't let me, but promised faithfully to come at 7:00 this evening.'

"The missionaries did return and found in Leonard an eager convert."