'We were born to die, and we die to live'
"Life does not begin with birth, nor does it end with death," Elder Russell M. Nelson of the Quorum of the Twelve said at the April 1992 general conference. He quoted Alma 12:24, which describes mortality as a probationary state; "a time to prepare to meet God."
"Returning from earth to life in our heavenly home requires passage through — and not around — the doors of death. We were born to die, and we die to live. (See 2 Corinthians 6:9.) As seedlings of God, we barely blossom on earth; we fully flower in heaven," Elder Nelson said.
He noted that scriptures teach that death is essential to happiness, as proclaimed in Alma 42:8: "Now behold, it was not expedient that man should be reclaimed from this temporal death, for that would destroy the great plan of happiness." (See also 2 Nephi 9:6.)
Elder Nelson said that mortality, temporary as it is, is terminated by the doors of death. "Questions then come to searching minds of those left behind: 'Where is my loved one now?' 'What happens after death?' While many questions cannot be fully answered with available knowledge, much is known," he said.
"The first station in postmortal life is named paradise. Alma wrote:
" 'Concerning the state of the soul between death and the resurrection — Behold, it has been made known unto me . . . 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.
" ' . . . 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.' "
Elder Nelson said that some facetiously state that nothing is as permanent as death, but this is not true. "The grip of physical death is temporary," he said. "It began with the fall of Adam; it ended with the atonement of Jesus Christ. The waiting period in paradise is temporary too. It ends with the Resurrection."
The eternal laws that the Lord will employ at the time of the Resurrection make it so that the body "shall be restored to [its] proper and perfect frame." (Alma 40:23.)
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