The only mediums I know remind me of the imaginary-but-probably-real guy who scammed off an entire ward. I know some people earnestly believe in that gift, and some have it, but those who abuse it far outweigh any benefit given to me.

Especially since it still brings back to what I shared on another post–why would God speak to someone else when he could speak to me?

Read Moroni 10:

8 And again, I exhort you, my brethren, that ye deny not the gifts of God, for they are many; and they come from the same God. And there are different ways that these gifts are administered; but it is the same God who worketh all in all; and they are given by the manifestations of the Spirit of God unto men, to profit them.

9 For behold, to one is given by the Spirit of God, that he may teach the word of wisdom;

10 And to another, that he may teach the word of knowledge by the same Spirit;

11 And to another, exceedingly great faith; and to another, the gifts of healing by the same Spirit;

12 And again, to another, that he may work mighty miracles;

13 And again, to another, that he may prophesy concerning all things;

14 And again, to another, the beholding of angels and ministering spirits;

15 And again, to another, all kinds of tongues;

16 And again, to another, the interpretation of languages and of divers kinds of tongues.

17 And all these gifts come by the Spirit of Christ; and they come unto every man severally, according as he will.

18 And I would exhort you, my beloved brethren, that ye remember that every good gift cometh of Christ.

19 And I would exhort you, my beloved brethren, that ye remember that he is the same yesterday, today, and forever, and that all these gifts of which I have spoken, which are spiritual, never will be done away, even as long as the world shall stand, only according to the unbelief of the children of men.

I don’t see any reason why someone couldn’t have the gift of speaking to the dead. That may be precisely what is meant by “ministering spirits” in verse 14.

Bookslinger,

I’m not even sure where to begin… I’ll start with your list of points at the bottom of your comment.

“But not all spiritual gifts are from God. There are several tell-tales:

1. if the person charges or asks for a donation, they are not legit.
—-What if someone has a gift to give but in order to do it she has to pay a babysitter or give up time from their 9to5 job? Is it right to expect that type of spiritual gift to not receive compensation? What about a talented musician with a spiritual gift of music, should they not charge for the enjoyment or use of their spiritual gift? I agree that many that charge money for something like this are not what they say they are, however, that does not mean that all of them are frauds. And tithes don’t count as donations?

2. if the person doesn’t do things in the name of Christ, they are likely not legit.
—-You yourself said “God is not a respecter of persons.” So as far as you’re concerned most of humanity doesn’t have a chance to enjoy the spiritual gifts from God. Interesting. There are a lot of amazing experiences you could learn about since your name is Bookslinger I would encourage you to read Paramhansa Yogananda’s autobiography called ‘Autobiography of a Yogi’ and see what you think of those spiritual experiences. BTW I believe there are many names and expressions for Christ.

3. If the person doesn’t ascribe their gifts to God the father of Jesus, or to Jesus, they are likely not legit.
—-This is basically the same point, I won’t repeat myself.

4. If they are not a practicing Christian of any flavor, they are probably not legit.
—-Again, this is basically the same thing. I would add that I could draw the same conclusions that a lot of ‘Christians’ and ‘Mormons’ that I have met were liars, cheats and scoundrels. Should I conclude that they all are?

I’m just saying that like anything one consumes do it with awareness of what you are consuming and judge it critically. If it is good for your personal well-being and progression then it is good.

mcq: re: non-christians with spiritual gifts. I have met some very godly/pious non-christians. So I may have to re-think that part. God does indeed bless us when we live up to whatever light has been given us.

And I agree that the gift of discernment, that is the ability to judge whether someone else is operating by the Spirit, is also _available_ to those who believe the gospel, and especially to those who have the Gift of the Holy Ghost. However, I don’t know if that translates into the _right_ to receive the gift of discernment (ie, “on demand” so to speak), as a parallel to the gift of the Holy Ghost.

For instance, a bishop has a _right_ to the gift of discernment, whereas, for the rest of the ward, I think it may be an optional gift, unless it directly pertains to their calling.

Does the gift of discernment automatically and always correspond to the gift of the Holy Ghost? I don’t know. Even then Elder Hinckley, and other church leaders I suppose, was taken in by fraudster Mark Hofmann. So I would say that spiritual gifts are not always active.

If even the apostles can be taken in by fraudsters, the rest of us should be on our toes.

I’ve been to many psychics since James died and I’ve had some pretty remarkable experiences. I’m a believer, but I also know there are charlatans. I think whatever gets one through the night.

One really freaky thing regarding psychics happened when my sister died. My other sister was at a fund-raiser fair type of event the day of Dessie’s death and this man, unknown to my sister, came up to her and told her that her sister was happy in the spirit world. She blew him off (he is a psychic, turns out) but of course we lost Dessie. At that time we didn’t even know she was sick. And no money changed hands.

Which general authority said something about everything being in the present? I believe we all have gifts of the spirit and availability of the spirit, some more than others.

Some are shocked at my psychic obsession (I don’t go to them anymore) but it was one way of coping.

I’m learning to read palms. VERY interesting.

Well, has anybody you loved died? It’s a pretty universal need to see and speak with them, especially at first. I need a medium because speaking to the dead isn’t one of my spiritual gifts.

Like I said, it got me through a few days.
I didn’t get the answers I wanted, but in the long run, I realize I did get some answers.

And God was on my shit list because James had died and didn’t mind me when I demanded that He send my son back, this instant!

Mormons are unique among Christian religions in our matter-of-fact acceptance of the spirit world and countless anecdotes about interactions with those who have passed. It’s not occult; they are with us. Some are more aware than others. I’ve paid some psychics and haven’t paid others.

There are times in our lives when God seems very uncaring and distant. I didn’t sell my soul to the devil or commit any sins. I was in the midst of supreme agony and I was surviving any way I could. I think God handled it okay and we’re back on speaking terms now.

Although, He has yet to run over with a bus all the people I’ve prayed that prayer for—–go figure.

Chad, your confusion is hard to understand. When my friend lost most of his family in a car wreck, he prayed harder than ever before just to be able to talk to them for one minute. He finally got an answer that they had work to do and so did he and he should get off his knees and get to work, as they were doing. His desire to speak to them is obvious to me, and anyone else who has lost loved ones. The answer he got also seems right to me. I’m sure those who are in the spirit world have plenty to do, and are mostly not hanging around just to chat for our benefit, but if someone did have the gift of getting a message to or from them, that would be a great gift, and one that many people would desperately want to use.

Tiger, you don’t know what you would personally do if someone you loved deeply died. One can feel quite desperate. I have some pretty serious unaswered questions about my son’s death.

I’ve had a couple of experiences that were pretty striking in my quest. Once while on a trip, I contacted a local woman known for psychic abilities. She came to my motel, didn’t know me from Adam—not even my name. She immediately brought up one strange fact that she couldn’t have known any other way. She didn’t charge.

Another time, at a fair at the local park, I did pay $30 to a psychic who read tarot cards. It was a pretty standard “you’re going to travel, etc” reading when she interrupted herself to tell me she was not a medium and didn’t speak to the dead but there was a spirit named David who wanted to tell me not to be so hard on myself. My first husband’s name was David.

I haven’t changed my life because of any of my psychic visits. Truthfully, I haven’t gotten much comfort, either. As Mcq said, I begged, demanded, cussed at God for just one minute.

It’s important to keep a healthy skepticism, I think, but I’m not going to fault myself or anybody else who’s grieving.

I hesitate to bring this up, but I’m a believer.

Years ago I was sitting in my bed minding my own when to my lovely surprise my grandpa appeared. By appearing I mean more that I knew he was in the room with me because I was aware of the energy of his spirit.

Let me give a little background to my grandpa. He got cancer of the esophagus when I was 5 or 6. By the age of 7 he passed away. When my dad told me I cried and cried and cried. It devastated me. I was so sad. About a year or so after he died there was a tragic accident involving (sorry annegb) a young child and a bus. She got hit and died. I knew her sister and felt so sad for her. Every night, or when I remembered, I would say my prayers. After I talked to Heavenly Father I would ask to speak to my grandpa. In my childhood mind I saw him walking to the pulpit so I could speak to him. I would ask him questions about how he felt. How life was up there and then when this young girl died I would ask to speak to her too. I don’t know why. I doubt I ever ‘really’ got answers from them, but it helped my 7 year old mind deal with the tragedies.

Throughout my life I’ve always been interested in the hereafter. There used to be a show on TV about spirits and encounters with spirits. Most of the time the spirit of the show was good but a few times they talked about some really evil things, and I could tell.

Back to my grandpa, I was sitting on my bed writing in my journal. Things in my parents life were very stressful. My dad had lost his job and was going back to school to get his masters. Money was so tight, my mom was addicted to prescription drugs and my dad was depressed. My grandpa popped into my room and said “Sunshine, tell your dad I’m with him.” We talked for a second he left and I thought…what in the hell am I supposed to do now. I can’t tell my dad that. He’ll think I’m a freak. I poured over this experience for a couple of days until I decided that I would write my dad a letter. Yes, write him a letter and tell him what had happened. The phone rang. It was my dad. The conversation, not by me, was directed to the spirit realm and was it even possible to communicate with spirits after they had died. After a few probing questions I said, “Dad, I have something to tell you.” I relayed the experience I had had with his father and I could hear my fathers voice quiet and choke up. He thanked me and told me how he was struggling and the prayers he had offered to the Lord. Apparently this was an answer.

I have a friend that can speak with spirits. My friend takes donations. She doesn’t feel like it’s something she can ask money for. If it’s a gift meant to help others than she is willing to share. If they feel like they need to pay her then it’s of their own accord. Like I said previously I have talked to spirits before. There have been some amazing and very healing conversations I’ve had with some of my ancestors. Just like almost everything in the gospel everyone is entitled to have these gifts. Some, much like talents (and the parable of the talents), come easy and some must be worked for.

I think there is a gentle line that needs to be observed in communicating with spirits, but I don’t think they are anything that should be feared. Use the spirit guide, which for most LDS baptized people, is the Holy Ghost.

Oh, and I love Long Island Medium. I think she’s the real deal.