Usually the revelations that come to me are flashes of inspiration.  They are bits of light and knowledge that come as I write.  They are thoughts that I've never had before.  Or sometimes they are thoughts that I should do something, especially something that I should do for someone else.  Very occasionally the revelation is a dream or an inaudible, but very plain, voice.  It is these experiences that I would like to record here.

The first experience that I had with that voice was following my firt-ever prayer.  It was a 4-hour-long prayer of desperation as I traveled across central Oregon in October 1966 in the company of a brilliant rainbow that lasted as long as the prayer.  I rounded a curve, caught the rainbow, and a voice said, “Everything is going to be all right.”  I was so astonished that I pulled over to the side of the road and shook.

That prayer, that rainbow, and that voice were my introduction to the gospel of Jesus Christ.  The message delivered by that voice proved to be the understatement of the century.  Things since then have not been just “all right,” but astonishingly wonderful.

I was extremely shy, and overly nervous about being in front of people.  It was in Texas, while a member of the San Angelo Branch, that I had a dream in which I was standing in front of a congregation of people conducting a meeting.  It was terrifying.  A few days later I was called to be second counselor to the Sunday School president, and found myself conducting Sunday School.  I knew from whence the call came, and was comforted.  All went well with that first experience, and my confidence level increased dramatically.

I treasure the memory of the voice that I heard as I conducted a temple recommend interview with Larry Warburton at Union in 1994.  Out of nowhere, and completely out of context, the voice said, “This is Debbie's husband!”  Debbie was Marjorie's niece, a single mother with two children.  I was so astonished that I could hardly complete the interview.  Circumstances were not such that I could then tell Larry what I'd heard, but in a very short time Larry and Debbie were sealed in the temple, and have been happily married for nearly 28 years.

I don't recall if it was before or after our mission that I was called upon to give a priesthood blessing to a comatose woman in the hospital.  I learned a great deal about the priesthood from that experience.  I have never felt so completely befuddled as I felt as I sealed that anointing.  I struggled for words as my mind seached everywhere for anything sensible to say.  All that came out of my mouth was a jumble of nonsensical words.  I was horrible embarrassed.  As I fled from the hospital I berated myself for my failure, and searched my mind for the sin that had made me unworthy to give the blessing.  I was in my car, and probably praying, a mile from thehospital when a voice said, “I have no blessing for that woman.”

Suddenly I understood.  The problem was not me.  It was her.  She was apostate, negative, critical of her leaders, and had taken her fine sons out of the Church.  I learned that I am not necessarily the one giving the blessings when doing so in Christ's name and by the authority of His Priesthood.  He is in control.

What a horrible position to be in for the Lord to say, “I have no blessing for that woman.”

While on our mission in tropical Vanuatu, my wife developed an itchy rash on her leg which drove her crazy.  The rash got bigger, and spread to her other leg.  An Australian doctor that we consulted had no solutions.  I could see where this problem might impact our mission and cause us to go home early, so one evening I prayed about it.  During the night I had a dream in which I saw myself bathing her legs with vinegar.  IN the morning I suggested that she wash her legs with vinegar.  She did so, and the rash immediately disappeared.  We later learned that vinegar is the premier treatment for fungal infections back in the United States.  That wasn't anything we knew at the time, but the Lord did, and told me.

I learned yesterday that my friend, Deon Strommer, fell off a roof, and broke a rib.  His experience is what prompts me to write this article.  I recall that several weeks ago I was sitting in priesthood meeting as he taught the lesson.  I told of a ladder experience that I had last fall, and ended with the statement that I understood that falls from ladders are the number one cause of accidental death for men over the age of 60.

My experience was that I was standing on my ladder replacing the fascia of the eaves on the north side of my house.  I was making great headway, doing a good job, and had about four hours of work ahead of me as I ripped the old fascia off and replaced it.  Suddenly there was that voice again.  It said simply, “You should not be up here.”

My hammer paused in mid air.  I was being careful, and I was entirely capable of doing the job.  But I knew that voice.  I contemplated the message for about 15 seconds, climbed down off the ladder, and disappointedly went into the house to send an email to my family reporting on the voice I'd just heard.  Within minutes grandsons David and Gideon came running down through the field.  Ammon came zooming into the driveway from Haines.  The three of them climbed up on my ladders and had the 4-hour job completed in just 20 minutes.

And I was still in one piece!  I was unspeakably grateful for that voice, and for my grandsons.  The Bradford boys came again this fall and replaced the plastic covering on our greenhouse to keep me from being tempted to get up on a ladder—which I'm not.  Because of that voice I don't expect to ever be up on a ladder again.  I feel so very badly that Deon didn't learn from my telling of the experience.

On other occasions it hasn't been a voice or a dream that delivered a message from the Holy Ghost, but rather an intense burst of knowledge where I've suddenly known something.