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Our ultimate goal in life is to return to our Heavenly Parents having
gained the experience and Christ-like attributes that will prepare us
to collaborate with the Gods in bringing about happiness and eternal
progress for all intelligent beings. LDS teachings about the afterlife
emphasize its continuity with this one. We will be the same people there
that we are here, with the same bodies, memories, knowledge, character,
and relationships (Alma 11:43-44; 41:2; D&C 130:2,
18-19). These teachings prompt us to live now the way we would
want to live forever. In the temple, we commit to principles of modesty,
temperance, reverence, fidelity, charity, sacrifice, and consecration.
By living out these principles, we prepare ourselves to enter into the
joy of the Lord (Matt. 25:21).
Our tradition offers us different ways to understand death: as a reunion
with loved ones (D&C 137:5); as our return
home to the God who gave us life (Alma 40:11);
as rest from our toil (Enos 1:27; D&C 59:2);
or as the continuation of our service in another sphere (D&C
124:86; 138:57). Whatever may await us during death or beyond,
nothing can separate us from God's love (Rom. 8:38-39;
14:8). As we confront the experience of dying, we know that Christ
shares our experience fully and encircles us eternally in his arms (Alma
7:11-12; 2 Ne. 1:14-15).
| Come, Let Us Anew (Hymns
217) |
| Abide with Me! (Hymns
166) |
| Joseph F. Smith: We must
become more and more like [God]—more like him in love, in charity,
in forgiveness, in patience, long-suffering and forbearance, in purity
of thought and action, intelligence, and in all respects . . . It
is for this that we have come to the earth. This is the work that
we have to perform. |
| Gospel Doctrine
(Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1939), 276 |
| Samuel O. Bennion: Their
life there is a continuation of their life here. |
| Conference Report,
October 1919, 186 |
Hugh B. Brown: The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has this practical view
of religion: that religion should help us here and now; that we
should not have to wait until after we are dead to get any benefits;
that religion as understood and applied makes men and women more
successful, happier, more contented, gives them aspiration and hope;
that religion is the vitalizing force, religion is that which gives
men and women an ideal, an ideal so high that it may be seen from
both sides of the valley of life.
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| From "Final Testimony" |
Gordon B. Hinckley:
Let us live with the conviction that whatever principle of intelligence
and beauty and truth and goodness we make a part of our life here,
it will rise with us in the resurrection. |
| “‘What Shall
I Do Then with Jesus Which Is Called Christ?’,” Ensign,
December 1983, 3 |
Gordon B. Hinckley:
We form each day the stuff of which eternity is made.
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| “Pillars of Truth,”
Ensign, January 1994, 2 |
Joseph B. Wirthlin:
Seeing life from an eternal perspective helps us focus our limited
mortal energies on the things that matter most. . . . Heavenly Father
wants us to use this mortal probation to fully develop ourselves,
to make the most of our talents and abilities.
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| LDS Church News,
April 11, 1998 |
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