A near-death experience: Many encounters with angels have occurred during near-death experiences. Joan Wester Anderson's favorite story is that of Leonor and David Reyes.
Shortly after they were married, David was sent to Vietnam. While he was gone, Leonor underwent surgery to remove a growth from her neck. Leonor reported that when she was on the operating table, "I began rising. 1 could see my body lying on the table with my neck still open, and my head tilted way back. Then 1 entered a place where there was total light. Others seemed to be around me".
Leonor said she realized she was in the presence of angels. They told her not to be afraid because she was going to meet someone who was very special to her.
The angels took her to a beautiful meadow where she was met by a figure dressed all in white. She recognized Him as Jesus. He told her, "I know you have been tired, sick and worried. Would you like to come and be with me now?"
Leonor was overcome by joy and wanted to stay, but a longing for her new husband held her back. She said she was given three choices: She could stay by herself, her husband could join her there or both could return to the physical world together.
The angels then took her to Vietnam and showed her David, who was lying in a bunker on a hill and engaged in combat.
Told to make her choice, Leonor said she wished she and David could return home and be with their families. At that instant, she saw a hand reach down and over a grenade that had landed next to David.
Suddenly, she was back in the hospital with doctors and nurses calling her name. The malignant growth had been removed and the operation was a success.
When David returned safely, Leonor asked him if he was ever in a bunker on a hill with another soldier when a grenade fell near him .
"Only once," he replied. "But it was a dud."