One of the most difficult of trials that face families is the death of a loved one. Anyone who has lost a family member or close friend has likely experienced the strong emotions and mentally asked the poignant questions that naturally follow the removal of someone whose existence has significantly impacted his own. When a parent, a sibling, a child, or other relative or friend passes, we are faced with a strong tendency to want to know where he or she is now? I’ve had this experience on a few occasions when I have attended funerals for associates and friends. For the more rare opportunities I’ve had to attend funerals for a family member such as my grandfather, who died at age 68 of a heart attack, I’ve been inclined to more earnestly wonder, “Where is he now? What is he doing? Can he witness the grieving that is taking place because of his sudden, unexpected departure?”
Fortunately there are answers to questions like those. The teachings of the scriptures, especially modern prophets, give great insight into what happens when life departs from a person.
The explanation of what happens to family members, friends, and eventually to us when we die would be harder to understand without the context of the existence of the human soul before being born. The scriptures teach that we existed as spirit children of God, who was and is our literal father. The prophet Jeremiah was taught in the Old Testament that before God formed him in his mother’s belly, he knew Jeremiah. God had even foreordained Jeremiah to be prophet previous to his entrance into this earth. From the Book of Abraham we learn that we were sent here to our current existence to have our obedience tested. Understanding these principles, which frame this earth as a probationary period that is part of a larger plan, helps us be prepared to learn that death is just as much a part of life as birth is. The latter introduces us into the mortal stage in or eternal progress. The former moves us back into the eternal part of the spiritual continuum and prepares us to become immortal.
Knowing that our spirits exist before this life gives us insight into who we are. During the 80 or so years that we live on earth, we are a combination of a real, nearly tangible spirit and a physical body composed of the dust of the earth. At death, the spirit sheds the deceased body and continues on as a living entity. The spirit is composed of material substance, but it is finer and purer than our mortal senses can normally detect. The scriptures give us some beautiful insights into what happens immediately after we die and in later stages of our eternal development.
Alma 40:9-13 The spirits of mankind depart from earth at the time of death and “are taken home to that God who gave them life”. In this stage, which we often call the spirit world, the spirits of people who were good enter into a state of rest, a paradise void of the troubles, cares, and sorrows that are so common in mortal life.
Other scriptures give more details about this condition. In the Doctrine and Covenants, we are told that the separation the body from the spirit is seen as a kind of bondage. Evidently it is impossible for us to continue to progress to our full potential without being resurrected, or having our bodies reunited with our souls in the resurrection.
Many other scriptures detail what happens during death and describe its place in God’s plan for individuals and families. A good place to begin studying is the Bible Dictionary description of death.
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