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Life After Death

© Rebecca Talley

Recently the woman that raised me, my grandmother, suffered a massive stroke. She hovered between life and death for ten days before peacefully passing away in her sleep. During those ten days I found myself relying a great deal on the teachings of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Since I first joined the Church at age ten, I have been taught the Plan of Salvation. We, as members of the Church, believe that we lived in a pre-mortal existence with our Father and our other brothers and sisters. Then, each one of us was born into mortality to make our own choices and follow, of our own free will, our Savior Jesus Christ or Satan. During our mortal lives, we are constantly challenged by trials and tribulations to see if, even during the most difficult times of our lives, we will follow the Lord. "For behold, this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God; yea, behold the day of this life is the day for men to perform their labors." (Alma 34:32) As we navigate the turbulent waters of life we can also find great joy, happiness, and peace in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

When it is our time to leave mortality, we believe we lay our mortal bodies in the grave and in our spiritual form enter into either spirit paradise or spirit prison, depending on the choices we made during mortality. "Now concerning the state of the soul between death and the resurrection-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, yea, the spirits of all men, whether they be good or evil are taken home to that God who gave them life. And then it shall come to pass, that 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. And then shall it come to pass, that the spirits of the wicked, yea, who are evil-for behold, they have no part nor portion of the Spirit of the Lord; for behold, they chose evil works rather than good; therefore the spirit of the devil did enter into them, and take possession of their house-and these shall be cast into outer darkness; there shall be weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth, and this because of their own iniquity, being led captive by the will of the devil. Now this is the state of the souls of the wicked, yea, in darkness, and a state of awful, fearful looking for the fiery indignation of the wrath of God upon them; thus they remain in this state, as well as the righteous in paradise, until the time of their resurrection." (Alma 40:11-14)

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