My friend, let's call him Joe, and I, both see spirits in the afterlife. I assure you that this is not a joke and that I am telling the complete truth. If you don't believe me, then just think of this as a good story. Anyway, we both kind of have a set day that we began seeing spirits. For me, it was in my bedroom when I was six or seven years old. For Joe, it was when he was fifteen at a certain church event. This is his story...

It all started June 25, 2002 on a cold day. Our church was doing a pioneer re-enactment on an old dusty trail. It was a youth event, supervised by adults, but no adults could help. The object was to learn how the pioneers felt as they crossed the plains and to get a new perspective on how we looked at it.

The start of the trail wasn't too bad; flat broad plains that went for miles. The only issue was the cold as it was abnormally cold for this time of year. After all, it was June and should have been hot, right? After pushing and pulling hand carts full of supplies and sick and injured kids, the group was worn out. The worst was yet to come.

They were approaching a very dangerous part of the trail which had actually killed a lot of settlers while crossing the plains. I don't recall the name of it, but I'm sure it was Devil's something because the kids felt like they were in hell. The adults could not help pulling or pushing the carts, but they could help the injured. They put the sick and the injured kids in the only car there - a large four-wheel drive jeep. The jeep was right behind the group.

When the group was about to try to make it up the very steep hill, my friend Joe, who was pushing his cart, lost his footing and slipped, skinning all of his shin on a sharp rock. He was immediately carried to the jeep, bandaged up, and allowed to rest. He remembered staring up at the ceiling of the jeep feeling useless. 

They need me... he thought. How are they going to get up the hill without me?

Then he remembers someone whispering in his ear. "It's okay, they have extra help now." Joe thought it was another sick kid in the jeep, but when he turned to look, he discovered that he was the only one inside. When a light came inside the jeep, Joe noticed that it was really bright outside all of a sudden. To his amazement, when he looked outside, he saw that it was snowing and raining at the same time and the hill was now muddy. He saw kids slipping and sliding as they attempted to push and pull the cart up the hill, but there was somebody there catching the kids as they fell and helping them get the cart up the muddy hill.

Angels. Angels helped those kids that day get up that hill and throughout the treacherous canyon pass.  Joe rolled down the jeep window and yelled at the nearest person he saw. "HEY! Do you see them?" The adult walked over and told him that he was seeing things because of the altitude and to get some rest. He did not believe her... she had to be wrong. Joe sat there the rest of the trip through the pass, watching them. When the kids had made it through, the Angels turned into beams of light and vanished.

Joe still sees Angels to this day, mostly around church buildings. He sees them when someone needs comfort or help. He sees them with the sick and the elderly. He sees them in church when someone is nervously trying to give a talk. He sees them, and other spirits who are not as glorious in appearance, every day. 

I have not seen many Angels in my lifetime, but I suppose that Joe is more spiritual than I am. Angels do exist. Please don't take this story lightly.