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Dear
Gramps, We recently lost my 16 year old grandson in a tragic accident. I
know that he is in a better place and beginning a whole new adventure, and
we will see him again when we return to live with Heavenly Father. My
grandson used to go to church with me when he was small. When he was nine
years old, he stood and bore his testimony (unsolicited) that he knew the
church was true. I believe he meant it. Even with this knowledge, this is
the hardest thing I have ever gone through.
My daughter is not a member of any church and has begun to worry
that maybe there is nothing after this life. How can I help her?
Sincerely, Phyllis |
Dear
Phyllis,
I
am sorry for the loss of your grandson, but share with you the confidence that
we will see our loved ones again in the marvelous environment of the spirit
world, soon thereafter to live again in the flesh in immortality. The wonders
of the next compartment of our existence are beyond our imagination.
These
traumatic events often cause us to reflect on the things of eternity. If your
daughter is beginning to question the eternity of existence, there are several
ways that she could be helped. First, it must be understood that the things of
eternity are known to man only through the revelations of the Holy Spirit, and
that those revelations are open to all who would seek, regardless of their
belief system. However, they must seek in the right place and in the right
way, or the object of their search will not be found.
The
answers to all your daughter’s questions are in the Book of Mormon, if she
would read that book with an inquiring spirit and an open mind she will begin
to feel the truthfulness of truths revealed therein. Here are some key
passages—
With
respect to seeking in the proper manner, your daughter might consider the
following scriptures—
Therefore
I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye
receive [them], and ye shall have [them]
(Mark 11:24).
When
reading the Book of Mormon it would be well for the person, at the beginning
of each page, to ask the Father to reveal to her if the things that she is
reading are not true. If this is done in sincerity I can promise her that the
Father will answer her prayers. Then it would be well to read of the
comparison of faith to a seed, found in Alma 32:26-43, and to consider the
great promise of Moroni,
And
when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God,
the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and
if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in
Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy
Ghost (Moroni 10:4).
With
that background, as she reads the Book of Mormon, there is no doubt that she
will see the reality of life beyond the grave, and feel the benevolence of a
kind and merciful Heavenly Father who is anxious to wipe away her tears and to
give her strength to see through the traumatic difficulties of the passage of
the life of our loved ones from this world to the next.
Gramps