In 1990, when I was 8 or 9 years old, I looked at the calendar and
thought that the Second Coming would happen in the year 2000. I wasn't
sure I had enough time to prepare. When I was a teenager, I heard about
doctrines like "calling and election" and "Second Comforter." I was
extremely interested in those doctrines, but they rarely came up at
church or in seminary. I asked someone about them and I was told most
people don't make their calling and election sure till they die, and
that's when most people receive the Second Comforter too. I believed what I was told, and pushed the
doctrines to the back of my head.
I wish I hadn't.
During my search for information on how to reach a higher spiritual plane, I spent a lot of time on Google. I learned so many things I wish I had known decades ago. There are people today who have made their calling and election sure. There are people today who have received the Second Comforter. I was incredibly interested in learning all I could about these topics and how to have these experiences myself. I found a number of resources that I highly recommend. The following three people are what I would call "The Big Three." I can't recommend them enough.
LDS Perfect Day
One of the first sources I found. I probably bookmarked 50 pages on his site my first time through it. I devoured as much as I had time for, staying up late into the night reading. I couldn't fall asleep because I was so excited about what I was learning. I felt like I'd been spiritually starving and I was finally receiving nourishment. I can honestly say I've probably read 90 or 95% of his posts at least four times.
His blog's focus is on developing a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. I'd heard that phrase before but wasn't sure it was supposed to be literal. Well, yes, it is. He writes about calling and election, the Second Comforter, spiritual gifts, and much more. His more recent posts also come in podcast format.
Mike Stroud
When I was engaging in a bit of Google-stalking on LDS Perfect Day, I came across someone who said that LDS Perfect Day's voice didn't sound like Mike Stroud's. After coming across that same search result several times I finally decided to find out who Mike was. He had a website of podcasts that cover different gospel topics, but he has since removed the podcasts from his site. The above link is to an unofficial Facebook group. Many of those who love Mike's podcasts made sure to download them before he removed them, and some of them have made them available to others.
I felt the same way I did reading Mike's podcast transcripts as I did reading LDS Perfect Day's blog: like I was spiritually starving and just couldn't get enough information to satiate me. I turned Mike's podcast transcripts into an ebook and read whenever I could. Mike covers many "meaty" gospel topics.
John Pontius
I discovered John later than I did the other two. John wrote several books including one called Visions of Glory. When it came out, I read a review on Meridian Magazine that said the book was contained false doctrine. This, unfortunately, poisoned my mind against John and his books, so I avoided him as a source. However, I heard a lot of good things about him, so eventually I read Following the Light of Christ into His Presence. (I hid this book so nobody would know I was reading it. I didn't want to be caught reading something that might contain "false doctrine.") Following the Light was motivating and inspiring and I didn't sense any false doctrine at all in it. Many months later I read Visions of Glory, The Triumph of Zion, and Journey to the Veil, and loved all of them too. (And no, I didn't think Visions of Glory contained any false doctrine.) I haven't yet finished reading John's blog but what I have read has been just as inspiring as his books. His focus is similar to LDS Perfect Day - essentially becoming a celestial person through the process of spiritual rebirth/baptism of fire, calling and election, and receiving the Second Comforter.
