Episode Fourteen: In His Gaze: Tresta Neil's Journey of Divine Awareness
In this episode of Latter-day Miracles, hosts Haley Hatch Freeman and Misty Smith welcome guest Tresta Neil, an author and mother of eight with over 20 years of experience in gospel-centered education. She recounts miraculous moments from her life, including divine intervention during her challenging times in nursing school, the heart-wrenching yet faith-affirming experience with her son's liver transplant, and her relentless pursuit to understand the plan of salvation. Tresta’s stories highlight the power of faith, the importance of recognizing a divine pattern, and the realization that we all have a unique role in God’s mission. Join us for an episode filled with inspiration, hope, and the reaffirmation of divine awareness and love.
Tresta Neil
Neil Family
Tresta’s son, who was born without a bile duct.
John Young’s diagram of the Plan of Salvation
Tresta’s book, this book and others available on her website.
Contact Our Guest
https://calledtolearn.com/Academy/
Tresta has a book about Easter - contains poetry, activities, and a Resurrection basket
She has a book on symbolism found in the creation story
She is writing a story about how the Biblical Tabernacle contains God’s Plan for us, still, today (out by Christmas 2025).
Transcript
Intro: Welcome to Latter-day Miracles, where we share true stories of angels and marvels. Get ready to enjoy accounts from everyday people that remind us of divine love, that we're never truly alone, and the power of faith in these latter days. I'm Haley Hatch Freeman. And I'm Misty Smith. Sit back, open your heart and prepare to be inspired.
Haley Freeman: Hi, welcome to Latter-day Miracles. We have a special guest today that has accomplished some amazing things and her stories are beautiful. So I'm excited for you guys to share in her wisdom today. Her name is Tresta Neil, and I'm gonna have Misty read her bio before we turn the time over to her.
Misty Smith: Okay.
Tresta Neil mother of eight has spent over 20 years championing gospel centered education, once skeptical of homeschooling, [00:01:00] she now teaches online classes in language, math, science, history, and her favorite symbolic math while mentoring homeschool mothers in education, parenting, and mental health. A BYU Idaho, and Weaver State graduate
She served a mission in the Netherlands and later drew on her nursing training while caring for her critically ill son. Tresta is the author of God Saw that It Was Good and other homeschooling books With her husband, Thom, she co-founded called to Learn Academy, an online school patterned after the temple, where they also host faith promoting events rooted in gospel learning and Hebrew traditions.
She loves teaching, writing, and telling God's story, and yes. She once sat on a cactus. You're gonna have to tell us a a little bit about that last part.
Haley Freeman: Definitely.
Tresta Neil: I had to [00:02:00] put some humor in there.
Misty Smith: Love it.
Tresta Neil: So, yeah, when I was at a family reunion, there was this. You know, prickly pear cactus that lays on the ground, you know, that sits on the ground.
And it was really big. It was like this big. And I remember when we parked there, I'm like, okay, make sure nobody walks over there. You know, we make a mental note and we were gonna put a table over top of it and it so that nobody would get on the cactus. And then I went and played. And then my mom calls me and says, okay, Tresta, come back and you gotta help me move this table.
And I'm like, okay. So I ran over to the truck and I picked up the table and I'm walking backwards. Oh. And I trip on the cactus and sit on the cactus.
Haley Freeman: So, did you have to go to the
ER to,
Tresta Neil: uh, no. That's, this is also my most embarrassing moment in my life because I was age 16 as you can. Oh. And, um, the truck had the bed, you know, and so I laid out on the bed and my [00:03:00] mother pulled down my pants.
Oh, and she picked out all of the, all of those little thorns out of my bare butt in front of the whole camp.
Misty Smith: Well, I love that. At least we all know now your most vulner vulnerable part.
Tresta Neil: Yes. You know, I think, I think the funniest part of the story is that I was. So embarrassed about that. I mean like very embarrassed for years.
I can imagine that. I made up another story instead of that, I fell on it and on my sThomach, I landed on my sThomach and my mother had to, I did not wanna tell about the bare butt.
Misty Smith: That's so great.
Haley Freeman: Oh, we love it.
Misty Smith: Well, do you wanna go ahead and let us know more about your miracle stories
Tresta Neil: thank you. Um, [00:04:00] I've chosen three, I believe in miracles and I believe in angels and
Haley Freeman: absolutely
Tresta Neil: I know that they happen and I like the prophet expect miracles and I see them all the time.
Haley Freeman: Agreed.
Amen.
Tresta Neil: So, yeah.
And so I just went through my life and I'm like, okay, what are three that I feel that I could share?
And so I chose these three. They're very moving in my life and, and life changing for me. So, um, the first one is what, in my years in college, I graduated from BYU Idaho and then I moved to Weber State, Ogden, and there I took nursing school and it was a rigorous, rigorous. I was working full time. I moved 13 times.
I was having a very hard time keeping up with my grades, and I didn't understand nursing to save my life. Like I was the only single person. Everybody else had two or three children. They knew what birth was like, they knew what nursing was like. I didn't know anything. [00:05:00] And so it was really a hard time for me, and I remember just feeling incredibly down one day, and I just thought, what's the use like,
i'm no good at anything. Right. I remember feeling I'm no good at anything that I used to, like in BYU Idaho, I was like, at the top of my class, I was really, but here in the nursing school was just too hard. My professors didn't like me. They didn't want me to talk to the patients. They wanted me only to chart and chart was boring and I mean, it was just really hard.
So I live near a mountain, and one day I just said, I, I gotta go. I, I'm not, I'm tired of studying it. This is useless. So I wasn't suicidal. I wasn't planning on killing myself or anything, but I was depressed, like really, really down. And I'm like, something has to change. Like has to change because I can't live like this.
It's awful. It's hard. Boring. It's just, [00:06:00] yeah, and just awful. So I remember walking up this trail, up this, of this mountain, and I just was crying and frustrated and thinking, what am I gonna do? Like, what can change? I don't, I can't think of anything in my life that can change and unless I quit everything and move and, and I don't wanna be that drastic.
And, and as I was turning around the corner, I slipped. It was a cliff and I fell down the cliff and I landed underneath a tree, so it wasn't a high cliff, it was about 10 feet. So I fell, slid down that cliff and under a tree, and I just lost it. I completely lost it, just cried my eyes out and said, I can't do this anymore.
Nothing's right in my life. And just, just yelling and screaming and just angry and frustrated. And, I had cried out, you know, just no more tears were left and I was just, just sat there and all of a sudden I heard a really. You know, still small voice is what you hear from the [00:07:00] scriptures.
Right? A still small voice. It was a male voice. It was on my right side. He was standing right here and he said these words to me, you have a work that no other can do. Now get up and do it.
Wow. I and I remember the song, right? It's a primary song and that says you have a work that no other can do.
Do it so well, so bravely, so kind. The angels will hasten God's story to tell. And I went, I need to tell God's story.
Haley Freeman: Wow. Beautiful
Tresta Neil: If God loves me, right? And that's the message I got from that. God is aware of me. God knows me. He has a role for me in his plan. And I can do it because He does. He trusts me to do it, then I can do it.
Because if He asks me to do it, then there is a pathway for me to do it and I can do it. And I remember just feeling like. [00:08:00] Just, you know, it was from seconds hate, awful, horrible frustration to Wow, I have a mission, I have a joy, I have this amazing thing to accomplish, and just black and white, you know, and I got up and I walked home.
So light and so filled with, I don't know what it's gonna be. I don't know who I'm supposed to talk to. I don't know what it's gonna be. That's gonna be different. But I knew that I was a changed person from that moment forth.
Haley Freeman: That is incredible because just our last episode, I had such a similar situation where I was so depressed.
I was to the point of suicide and I actually had a near death experience where I was shown a purpose and it just changed just like that. Just like you, I was so excited to go complete my mission and I realized the, the same thing you did. Like that each child of God has a mission. That only they can complete.
[00:09:00] Mm-hmm. And how individualized it is and how important it is for us to realize our purpose and to be able to go and complete our missions. And how once you internalize that, like you did in that instant. It gives you such a joy and an excitement to go and complete it and how it can flip like a switch.
Mm-hmm. From this hopeless depression to all of a sudden excitement to go and complete that mission. And we were just talking about this our last episode, and it was just so familiar when you were saying all those words. I'm like, yes, I get it. I get it.
Misty Smith: So Tresta. I have a question for you with that, did you know your mission right off then?
Did you feel like you've been able to carry that after or did it take you a little bit to
Tresta Neil: Oh yeah, it took me some time. It did. But this is what I knew at that moment. I knew I didn't have to worry about the how or the what. Hmm. I didn't have to worry about that because [00:10:00] God had it. Right. God had the plan, He had the plan.
All I had to do was implement it and, and that would be daily, right? Just one step at a time. Daily the things. So I did know that I was supposed to go on a mission like
Haley Freeman: wow.
Tresta Neil: I knew that from the time I was eight years old. Mm-hmm.
Haley Freeman: Really?
Tresta Neil: Yeah. But it was during this time that I got caught up in some really bad things.
I'd lost my testimony. I lost my way, I lost my way, completely lost my way. And it was at that moment I turned my life around and I went back to church and I got worthy again, and I went and served a mission. So I did know my first step was to serve a mission.
Misty Smith: I love that. Thank you for sharing that.
And Haley, what you added with that with our last podcast, if you haven't heard it, please do, because that's, it touches on your purpose and I think this world keeps you so busy that it messes with your purpose and what God needs you to really listen to. So I love that you were in stillness when you [00:11:00] heard, yeah.
For your purpose and that you were valuable. Thank you. Tresta.
Tresta Neil: Also this idea that it's not our mission, right? This is God's mission.
Haley Freeman: Yes.
Tresta Neil: We play a role in His mission and and that changed it for me. Like I don't have to worry about what am I supposed to do? Who am I supposed to talk to? You know, all of these questions that come up and what is my mission or what is my purpose, but I just need to find my role in God's mission and God's plan.
And that really changed for me. Yeah.
Misty Smith: Love that.
Haley Freeman: And I think it's true. When people ask you what's your greatest fear, I think my greatest fear is going like, after I die, and God saying, you didn't complete your mission. You didn't complete your purpose. Like that is my biggest fear right there.
Yeah.
Well, is it still a, is it still a fear?
Um. I think sort of, but I do know, like I'm like, why I'm doing my podcast right now is because God [00:12:00] said this is your next thing. So I do feel like I'm doing the checklist when I fill the promptings, like he said. Go write a book check. He said, do a podcast check. So I hope, I hope I'm on the right path.
Tresta Neil: Well, I, I don't think you need to hope anymore. I think you're doing it right and I think Thank you. I think you're able to, if, if you want to, you are, you can let go of that fear. Right and accept that faith that God's got. He's got the plan. You don't have to worry about that plan and that you are already doing what you're doing.
If you are pointing people to Christ and miracles like you're doing. You're doing what God wants you to do, and you can let go of that.
Haley Freeman: Thank you.
Misty Smith: All right, Tresta. Well, that was beautiful. Do you wanna share another one? I'm excited to hear more.
Tresta Neil: Okay. Alright. So I have to give you some background on this one too. Um, my seventh [00:13:00] child, I have eight, and my seventh child was born without a bile duct. So in other words, you can't release toxins out of your body.
Right?
Haley Freeman: Wow.
Tresta Neil: So because from your liver it goes into your bowel, you didn't have any way of releasing those toxins. Mm-hmm. So his body just filled up with toxins. He became bright, bright yellow, and to where the liver failed, and he had to have a liver transplant.
They did try to do at two months old, one month old actually, they tried to put in a new bile duct and it's, so he goes into this major surgery, right. And there's 33% chance he'll die.
33% percent chance he'll live and 30% chance it won't work.
Misty Smith: Wow.
Haley Freeman: Oh my goodness.
Tresta Neil: So we got that 33% chance that it didn't work, so,
Haley Freeman: oh, no.
Tresta Neil: Yeah, so he lived, but it, but this procedure was a failure,
Misty Smith: so
Tresta Neil: we waited on the waiting list for 18 months, and he was 19 months old when he got his liver transplant. But for that time, [00:14:00] during those time periods when we were waiting, he was very sick.
Misty Smith: Hmm.
Tresta Neil: Like, I don't know. Do you guys remember those Ethiopian babies? The mm-hmm. When, we were little kids, they would show those Ethiopian babies on television where they had these really big stomachs.
Haley Freeman: Yes.
Tresta Neil: Tiny little arms and legs. That's what he looked like.
Yeah. And so he just got worse and worse. His stomach just kept bloating and his legs and arms kept shrinking, and he was just sickly, sickly, sickly. What that means is they're malnourished, right? Yes. He wasn't digesting his food, it was just going right through him.
Misty Smith: Oh my.
Tresta Neil: And so they had to put in a feeding tube except for not into your stomach, because his stomach's not digesting it.
Right. It was into his veins intravenously, and they were putting food into his veins.
Misty Smith: Wow.
Tresta Neil: And I didn't want it like. Everything in me, like I know I'm a nurse
Misty Smith: mm-hmm.
Tresta Neil: But I was, I was a natural naturalist by that. Mm-hmm. Okay. I, I really loved the Nature's Way. I loved o [00:15:00] essential oils. I loved doing herbs. I loved, and I, I believe that I could heal him, or that there should be a way that we could get him to digest his food.
And I did not want him to go on this artificial. Stuff, right? It it is. They call it gold. They call it the gold bag. You know, it's a big yellow bag that they put on in him, and I didn't want him to go on it. I just had everything in me was just screaming, don't put these chemicals into your son's body. And I, I, I didn't, I just didn't wanna do it.
And so I did everything in my power to to talk them out of it. And they, they of course thought I was a fool and mm-hmm. Um, so I started giving my son aloe vera and a whole bunch of different herbs to help him to see if that could work. And I took him to a doctor in California that it was a, that was an, um, an alternative medicine doctor, and he gave me some things to give him.
And it's just, I spent months doing this, [00:16:00] you guys, and nothing worked. Hmm. So finally I told the doctors what I was doing. I'm like, look, I'm putting it off because I really thought I could help him these other natural ways. And they got mad, like so mad. So mad. Yeah. And they, so I had to go into the hospital.
He had to have another blood transfusion 'cause he was leaking blood too. And so he, so I went into the hospital and they put me on, um, arrest. They arrested me to the room. And they called in a psychologist from New York City
Wow.
To come in and give me an evaluation and to teach me the ways of the world.
And um, and they also sent in a whole bunch of other doctors to teach me so that I could be educated. 'cause I was foolish. Right. And so it was during this time where I felt alone like. [00:17:00] I can never think of another time in my whole life that I felt completely alone. Like my family couldn't be there with me.
Nobody that believed like I did. I have lots of friends that believed like I did. I have doctors that believed like I did. But at that moment, no one was with me that believed like I did. Right. I, I, I just, I was alone against the world that was saying, you are doing it wrong and you will do it my way or you will not leave with your child.
And I remember thinking, if I'm have to give into their way, do I just escape? Like.
I didn't know I was gonna say this much. Sorry. Do I just escape and run away and take my children and move to Mexico, you know, or move to Canada, move out of the country and, and, and save them. And I didn't know the answer. Like I didn't know what to [00:18:00] do because I'm like, I, I'm so torn with what my heart says and what I'm being told by these men and.
I remember thinking, I've got to do something. And so I just prayed and prayed and prayed, right? And I remember thinking, this is my Goliath. This is my Goliath. Goliath is huge. He's big, he's unbeknownst to anybody and nobody can defeat him, but Tresta God gave you this mission so you could defeat it.
And I was like, wait, wait, wait.
Misty Smith: Wow.
Tresta Neil: Uh, oh my gosh. I don't know if I can. And um, he says, you can, you can. I just felt like I, I can and it will pass like Goliath. It was over, right? It just took a few moments and it was over, and this too will pass. And I was like, hmm. Oh, oh my goodness. Okay. So I, I got some strength from that.
But then, um, when I [00:19:00] felt the, the most alone, and I was laying on the bed with my son and he was just this little baby, right? Just this little infant. And I was laying on the bed with him and he was almost asleep. I was still nursing him. And, he was almost asleep and he, and I just said, father.
Help. I don't know what else to do. And this nurse came in. She was the liver clinic nurse, so she knew me quite well and she goes, Tresta, I just had to come over and see you 'cause I have to tell you my story. And she shared her story with her son and how her son was in the hospital, really, really sick. And the doctors just kept coming in, coming in and saying, this is wrong, and now this is wrong.
And another doctor, this is wrong. And she goes, I just built a bubble. I built a, like I imagined being in this bubble and inside this bubble it was just me and my son, and they could just bring anything they wanted, bring it on, bring it on, is what she kept saying, bring it on. We've got this bubble and we're not gonna, [00:20:00] oh.
And so I, I thanked her for that and we prayed together and then she left. And I'm like, heavenly father, build me a bubble. Just like Dawn had build me a bubble and I remember almost physically feeling this bubble just go up around me and my son and I surround us just like surrounding, and I was able to sleep for the first time in days.
And as I fell asleep, just as I was falling asleep, I remember feeling this man in the room and I like to imagine that it was the Savior.
Misty Smith: Mm-hmm.
Tresta Neil: But I don't know who it was exactly, but it was a man and he just, he gave me a blessing and he says, you're gonna be just fine. It's going to work out and you're gonna be okay and this bubble will protect you because it's [00:21:00] gonna get worse before even better.
Misty Smith: Wow.
Tresta Neil: And it did like, it really did. They really hammered me and they brought me into this big, huge room with all of these people and, ugh, it was so bad, but. I also remember thinking, I can't leave the country. I've got six kids that can't live outside of the country and think of those six children.
You can't just think of this one. So I ended up signing the papers. I gave my, my son's life over to them. Mm-hmm. And I didn't want to, but I did. So I, I, I complied with their wishes so that I could save my six children and. It's been a rough road. He's 18 years old now, and it's been rough, but we've survived and we're still in Utah.
We're still here and it's still working, so Yeah. [00:22:00] But had it not been for that night, like he told me what was gonna happen, right? He says you're protected and it's going to get worse. Because I knew those two things without any doubt. I was able to just take it and handle it and
God
knows what's gonna happen and if he knows, I don't have to worry.
Misty Smith: Right. I think that's incredible when sometimes we're guided to know what's ahead of us, but not exactly. I feel like we could get through it. Because we know that God's stamp of approval is on it, I guess you could say. I don't know. What, what helped you on those hard times? Was it remembering that those sacred moments
Tresta Neil: mm-hmm.
With yeah. That knowledge that it was gonna get harder before it got better, and knowing that my Savior knew who I was and mm-hmm. And was handling this He already knew what was gonna happen before I did. Right. And I didn't have to worry about the future. [00:23:00] I love that. I learned also something else really major in my life at that moment is that I had a voice.
So before that I was, you know, a timid mother living in a basement apartment with six kids, right?
Yeah.
And I didn't talk to anybody. I didn't have a voice. And at that moment, I learned how to stand up for myself. I learned that I have a voice and that I have a message that I needed to share, and God let me know in a very hard way, mm-hmm.
That I can stand up for myself and that I, I can stand up to these people, the world that is going to shoot arrows at me the whole time that I had a voice. And after that. Yeah. You know, before, so that was in 2011. In 2000, uh, well I guess eight is when he had the thing. But in, by 2011, I had my own school.
I had my own, um, podcast, and I had my own homeschool conferences that I put on, and I, I had a voice. Right. Right. It was just, I changed drastically. God [00:24:00] needed to show me how to open my mouth 'cause I didn't know how and I was able to, I was able to through that experience, so.
Misty Smith: So what you're saying is the difficulties can actually help us grow.
Haley Freeman: Darn it.
Misty Smith: It's a good thing. There's always like that silver lining or the, you know, the light at the
end of the tunnel, I think. Yeah, I think when things get so hard, we forget. Sorry. Um, because I've been there. I, I hear you and I feel, I feel for you and that alone time, and honestly, I feel for those that listen and feel that way.
Yeah. Because Satan is so good at locking us in this lonely space. He is. But that's not where God wants us. I truly do believe [00:25:00] that we are intended to be in people's lives, and at this point, so much, so many, or I don't know how to put it, but so much of the standards of this world keep us alone if it's alone in our homes doing our work, or if it's so busy that we forget to look at others or talk to others.
Yeah, and so your story is a great reminder that God does send people at the right moments. Like the nurse, right? Yes, exactly. And that we have a purpose for each other to help one another as we all struggle through our difficulties, but God's allowing us to touch one another and help one another.
So thank you so much for reminding us that we are truly not alone. We're there to help one another and God doesn't forget us. Thank you.
Tresta Neil: Yeah, you're welcome.
For sure.
Misty Smith: Yeah.
Tresta Neil: So much fun.
Misty Smith: [00:26:00] Well, so that might lead us to your next miracle. I'm assuming you've already had some crazy amazing experiences that shaped you, so I'm excited to hear this next one.
Tresta Neil: Yeah, so this one starts before all of them.
Misty Smith: Oh, okay.
Tresta Neil: So, um. Well, first of all, I didn't know that I loved studying. Right. You know, you take those personality tests and you're either a red or a yellow or a blue.
Misty Smith: Yes.
Tresta Neil: I thought, okay, well I'm a red with some yellow, and so that's my role in life, right?
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. And, and I took it as a teenager and thinking that's who I am. And then I realized that no, I'm not either ones. I mean, not any of those. Like I love to study and I love to learn, and I didn't know that about myself until, gosh after I was married with children, you know, I didn't even know that I loved that, but I did because even in high school I was like questioning everything and, and [00:27:00] my teachers didn't know the answers to, or they were like, oh, don't question that or don't answer that.
Mm-hmm. Right. I don't know the answers. So there you can't an, you know, all this stuff. Mm-hmm. So, one of my questions when I was a young girl, just a really young girl, I was younger than 10. I had this question about the plan of salvation. If we could have the plan of salvation be a diagram.
Mm-hmm. What would it look like? It was so simple, right? It's just a little girl's dream. Well I can't even tell you how many times I drew a diagram like pillars of the plan of salvation from President Packer, right? Or I read President Packer's dream like when he was talking to BYU and he said, the great plan of happiness.
Everyone should teach that at the beginning of every school year, and we need to work on it. In fact, I want you guys to go home and make a great plan of Happiness Notebook. Well, guess what I did? I made Plan of Happiness notebook because man, I'm [00:28:00] on it right? And I started collecting all the plan of salvation pictures, diagrams, notebooks, via whatever.
And I still have them, um, pictures of all of the plan of salvations, but none of them were right. Does that sense? None of them were, were. The one, you know?
Mm-hmm.
I remember one I drew and I drew pebble stones. Like, although, so there's three pillars, right? The creation, the fall, and atonement, and then there's this walkway, and I drew on the walkway.
I drew all these little pebbles, and every pebble was a principle of the gospel. So faith being kind and light, and you know. Mm-hmm. That's too messy. It can't be right. That can't be right. So, um, anyway, I've just been looking for this plan, you know, looking for a diagram for all these years, for throughout my high school years, through [00:29:00] seminary, through institute.
I graduated with institute with millions of credits and still never had it. And I knew I had to go on a mission I told you, and so I served a mission. I'm like, maybe on my mission I'm gonna find it. And it wasn't. I was on my whole mission and I didn't get it. I, we found some other diagrams, we found some other forms and stuff like that.
I'm like, oh, I know. I know, like I knew in my soul that there was a diagram out there and I just wasn't finding it. Well, I came home from my mission and I had already met my husband Thom, and he waited for me on my mission, and when we came home he says. You know, I just really think that you should come to institute with me.
And I'm like, Thom I graduated and he goes, no, I really think you're gonna like this teacher. And I was like, all right. So I attended one class, you know, thinking I'll just see, you know,
yeah. [00:30:00]
Also have problems with pride, you know, like, oh, I'll see. You know? Mm-hmm. Yep. Anything well. I fell in love and I ended up going another five years with this one teacher.
Misty Smith: Wow.
Tresta Neil: Five years. Even with babies, even delivering children. I went every single week to this.
Misty Smith: Good for you.
Tresta Neil: Some times twice a week because it was that good and I learned so much. In fact, I have a notebook just of his it. What I learned from John Young, well one of them was the biblical tabernacle. Now I learned the biblical tabernacle in seminary and you know, I had learned that, but I did not know that it taught me the plan of salvation.
he showed me the diagram,
so
we start in the Holy of Holies.
Misty Smith: Mm-hmm.
Tresta Neil: And we go through the veil into our home [00:31:00] where we learn about the gospel and then we go, when we sin, we go outside those doors into the earth.
And if we continue to sin, we go into the world. Right? But then when, what was repentance mean? Repentance means to turn around, right? Mm-hmm. So we turn around and we go back through the gate. Get washed and repent at the altars, then we can go back through those doors and be in the terrestrial world.
' cause literally when we become, when we get the gift of the Holy Ghost, we are terrestrial beings living on a terrestrial world, right? And in the terrestrial room is where you learn the gospel, and then just before you go into the veil, you are to share the gospel. It's called the Peace offering. And so we go through the Sin offering, which is repentance.
Then the burnt offering, which is dedicating ourselves to God, and then the peace offering is sharing what we already know and in every aspect of our lives we go through that same three [00:32:00] realms . Like Faith, hope, charity, ask, seek, knock. Right? They're the, all of those have that same, the sin, the burnt, and the peace, and in those same three rooms.
And so where are we at with tithing? You know, you could be at the sharing part of it or. Where you add in the word of wisdom, you could be at the learning part right in. In every aspect we have, we're learning at these things. It's kind of like that spiral staircase that Brother Bednar teaches us, and until we go through the veil and see and be back in the presence of our Father in Heaven.
Misty Smith: Interesting.
Tresta Neil: And it's simple. It's simple. Yeah. It's easy and it's one eternal round.
So good.
Like the course of God is one eternal round. It's big circle, right?
Misty Smith: Yes. Yeah. I love that. I love that. And that's so impressive that it took you so long to get there when you got it.
I feel like it clicked, right? Clicked for you.
Tresta Neil: Oh, it, it clicked.
It was like, oh. This is what I've been looking for in my, [00:33:00] it was so cool and so beautiful and so like, wow, why did it take so long for me to just see this? It was so simple. Right? And, and, and that's how answers to prayers are, right? Oh, the solution to this was so simple.
Yes. But yet it was so. Huge. Right? And so big and so enlightening at the same time. So I just, I uh, I just love it. I I love that he gave me those answers. And that's, that's my lesson that I learned is that answers to prayers are like Brother Bedner says, or Elder Bedner or whatever, turning on a light switch.
They can be that fast or they could be slow and dim, just like the sunrise, right? And my, my, that one was a sunrise. It was a really slow sunrise, and it took. Over 25 years to get right. Mm-hmm. But I got it. And, and he did give me that answer, but it did come line up online, precept on precept, little by little.
Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Misty Smith: Yeah. That's so good. [00:34:00] I love everything about learning because you are testifying, but sometimes that truth comes after some time, and I am an anxious learner. I'm always like, okay, once I wanna know, I dig and dig and dig, and sometimes it takes years and it's sometimes not fair to me. So way to go.
What is a way to set an example?
Tresta Neil: You know, there's something else in the waiting, and I learned this when I was reading Alma 32. You know, when, when, so Alma 32 is all about the, the planting a seed and it will grow, right? Mm-hmm. In the end, he says, and while we waited, we received patience, diligence, and long suffering.
And I went, wait a minute. Those are gifts of the spirit. And I just understood for the first time, I'm like, oh. Whoa. This is so cool. While we're waiting for the Lord, right? Waiting means we're serving him. [00:35:00] Mm-hmm. We're serving the Lord. While we're serving the Lord, we are receiving the gifts of the spirit.
Mm. That was powerful to me to understand that one little thing. So while I was waiting for that, I was receiving lots of gifts of the spirit and now I'm able to share it and I even wrote a book about it even,
Misty Smith: well, I'll have to take a look because that is something I think I glance over when I read that part.
I'm like, yes, yes, yes. Again, my an anxious learning part of me like, okay. But now that you brought that up, that's true. It's true. You have the gifts of the spirit while you're waiting. I thank you for sharing that. That's enlightening to me.
Haley Freeman: Yeah, and we'll definitely put links to all of her books and all of her amazing things she's doing in the show notes, because I know everyone's like, well, I want that book now.
Yeah.
Tresta Neil: Yeah, it's actually not in print. It's in the editors right now, so I
Haley Freeman: Oh, that one is Okay. I know you have other [00:36:00] books available.
Tresta Neil: I have other books, but that one specifically is at the editors and the design. They're designing it, they're making it really pretty for me
Haley Freeman: Okay, well, we'll have work on that patience.
Yes. Yes.
Tresta Neil: Yeah. And, and I'm hoping by Christmas, that's, that's the goal.
Haley Freeman: Okay.
Tresta Neil: In November and hopefully by Christmas we'll be able to sell it, so.
Misty Smith: Perfect.
Haley Freeman: Awesome.
So do you have any tips for listeners that might be going through some similar trials that you went through?
Tresta Neil: yeah it start at the basics, right? If you're questioning or if you are in doubt or if you are struggling in any way. I always go to my foundation. And my foundation is these five questions. Is there a God? Yes. Okay. Check, right. Check. Mm-hmm. Was there a falling away? Yes. Check. Is there a Satan that's trying to stop me?
Yes. Check. Is there a Savior provided that helps me [00:37:00] come back to that God that I long to be with again? Check. Yes. Am I trying to be like Him? And that's usually the one I can't answer. Yes. Right? Mm-hmm. And so when I can make sure my foundation is strong and I know all of those four things, then I can work on number five and then I can build up from there.
Mm. And of course there's a lots of other ones on the foundation, but those are the basic, basic. And I have to remember that I am doing the best I know how, and this will all work out. Even if it takes to the millennium, this will work out. And I just have to trust Him and my foundation's solid. I know my foundation is solid and I'll work on, you know, all the stuff that I need to work on.
But if my foundation's solid, I, doesn't matter what happens around me, I can do that. No, and I know that your listeners often feel that way, right? They often feel, we all feel like right. What's, what are we standing on? Everything's falling apart, right? Yes. We can have our foundation strong [00:38:00] and, and know those answers without any doubt.
Then we'll be able to stand and not fall when Satan throws those darts at us.
Misty Smith: Amen. Thank you. Well, thank you for teaching us, letting us sit in a part of your lesson with us, and we've learned so much and felt the spirit. So much.
Haley Freeman: Do you have one final takeaway that you want the listeners to take? If they can only take one final message that you want them to take?
Tresta Neil: Yeah, I do. So in Doctrine Covenants 57 :11, it says, I have a pattern. It doesn't say I have patterns, a pattern. He has designed a pattern for our lives. He has designed it, and we just need to recognize it. So my invitation is find that pattern, recognize that pattern, [00:39:00] and come to Christ, come back.
Haley Freeman: Absolutely.
Tresta Neil: I told you it's actually 52 :14. That was another one. Sorry. D&C.
Misty Smith: You're good. You're good.
She's very good. Well, we really appreciate your stories and your wisdom and you taking the time to be with us.
Tresta Neil: Thank you very much. I appreciate what you guys are doing, and thank you for spreading the gospel to others and giving people hope.
I love that about you.
Haley Freeman: Thank
you.
Tresta Neil: You're very welcome.
Outro: Thank you for joining us on Latter-day Miracles. If you have a miracle story that you feel inspired to share, we'd love to hear from you. Contact us on our website at latterdaymiracles.net or message us on social media. Until next time, keep your heart open to the miraculous and may you feel the presence of angels in your everyday [00:40:00] life.
