The Book of Mormon Teaches About Death

President Thomas S. Monson "Precious Promises of The Book of Mormon"

(October 2011 Ensign)

"Many years ago I stood at the bedside of a young father as he hovered between life and death. His distraught wife and their two children stood nearby. He took my hand in his and, with a pleading look, said, “Bishop, I know I am about to die. Tell me what happens to my spirit when I do.”

I offered a silent prayer for heavenly guidance and noticed on his bedside table a copy of the triple combination. I reached for the book and fanned the pages. Suddenly I discovered that I had, with no effort on my part, stopped at the 40th chapter of Alma in the Book of Mormon. I read these words to him:

“Behold, it has been made known unto me by an angel, that the spirits of all men, as soon as they are departed from this mortal body, … are taken home to that God who gave them life.

“And … the spirits of those who are righteous are received into a state of happiness, which is called paradise, a state of rest, a state of peace, where they shall rest from all their troubles and from all care, and sorrow” (Alma 40:11–12).

As I continued to read about the Resurrection, a glow came to the young man’s face and a smile graced his lips. As I concluded my visit, I said good-bye to this sweet family.

I next saw the wife and children at the funeral. I think back to that night when a young man pleaded for truth and, from the Book of Mormon, heard the answer to his question."

Matthew 26:39 Expounding on "Let this cup pass..."

Matthew 26:39

"And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt."

“God is unchangeable, so are also his laws, in all their forms, and in all their applications, and being Himself the essence of Law, the giver of law, the sustainer of law, all of those laws are eternal in all their operations. . . . Hence, the law of atonement had to be met as well as all other laws, for God could not be God without fulfilling it. Jesus said, ‘If it be possible, let this cup pass.’ But it was not possible; for to have done so would have been a violation of the law, and he had to take it. The atonement must be made, a God must be sacrificed. No power can resist a law of God. It is omnipresent, omnipotent, exists everywhere, in all things..” (Taylor, The Mediation and Atonement, pp. 168–69.)

Great talk by Elder Hales also expounding this scripture found HERE

Go to the Scriptures

Image courtesy flickr.com creative commons license by tingsteph March 2008

"Going to the scriptures to learn what to do makes all the difference. The Lord can teach us. When we come to a crisis in our life, such as losing a child or spouse, we should go looking in the scriptures for specific help. We will find answers in the scriptures. The Lord seemed to anticipate all of our problems and all of our needs, and He put help in the scriptures for us—if only we seek it."

Henry B. Eyring, "A Discussion on Scripture Study", Liahona, July 2005, 8

Consider the Lilies

El Vendedor de Alcatraces By Diego Rivera
(Image courtesy creative commons license http://www.diego-rivera-foundation.org/)

D&C 84: 81-84 "Therefore, take ye no thought for the morrow, for what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, or wherewithal ye shall be clothed. For, consider the lilies of the field, how they grow, they toil not, neither do they spin; and the kingdoms of the world, in all their glory, are not arrayed like one of these. For your Father, who is in heaven, knoweth that you have need of all these things. Therefore, let the morrow take thought for the things of itself."

I loved this picture the moment I saw it a few years ago.Originally, Diego Rivera meant it as a more political piece symbolic of the burdens of the Mexican people. However, art is art. I appreciate it in a different sense. I see a woman with a tremendous load, yet it is a beautiful load. And she is not alone, she is never alone. Deity is behind her, helping her bear the load and lifting it. She has fallen to her knees and it is a good thing. I look at this picture everyday and am inspired.

Not yet as Job...

"When he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold." Job 23:10

In the Scriptures- Death

"O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?"

1 Corinthians 15:35