At a recent funeral for an elderly man, a mourner was heard to remark how she had noticed that "Mormons are not a cemetery-going people."
This was not meant in a disparaging way. Certainly, members of the Church visit the graves of their loved ones. They decorate them on Memorial Day and other special occasions about as frequently as others do.
And they mourn for loved ones who have passed on, as admonished in scripture, "Thou shalt live together in love, insomuch that thou shalt weep for the loss of them that die …" (Doctrine and Covenants 42:45).
But among Latter-day Saints, there is little obsessing about the resting place. This, the observer meant, was the result of an inner peace and understanding that few others in the world seem to possess.
Indeed, among the most important doctrines restored to the earth during this dispensation is the knowledge of the Plan of Salvation, with its details of life beyond the grave.
The Book of Mormon plainly states, "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" (Alma 40:11).
But the restored gospel goes far beyond this basic understanding. Not only is death most certainly not the end of existence, but mortality itself is just one necessary stage in an eternal progression of the individual. We lived before we were born. In a glorious vision to Moses, the Lord revealed man's place in the cosmos:
"And worlds without number have I created; and I also created them for mine own purpose; and by the Son I created them, which is mine Only Begotten" (Moses 1:33).
And why did He do so? "For behold, this is my work and my glory — to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man" (Moses 1:39).
That plan of immortality and eternal life includes the family unit, with an eternal bond among those who love one another here on earth. The Lord revealed to Joseph Smith, "And that same sociality which exists among us here will exist among us there, only it will be coupled with eternal glory, which glory we do not now enjoy" (Doctrine and Covenants 130:2).
Elder Russell M. Nelson of the Quorum of the Twelve said, "We often think of death as untimely or tragic. But death, like birth, is part of life. Scripture tells us that 'it was not expedient that man should be reclaimed from this temporal death, for that would destroy the great plan of happiness' (Alma 42:8). To return to God through the gateway of death is a joy for those who love Him" ("We are children of God," October 1998 general conference; Ensign, November 1998).
Given the many precious truths of the Restoration, the sorrow of death becomes a sorrow that focuses on the loss of immediate companionship. Faith and modern revelation swallow up the uncertainties and help to replace grief with the promise of a much happier future — one that will last forever.
Taken together, these truths change a Church member's view of a grave site. It becomes not only a reminder of a loved one and of happy times that have passed, but also a reminder of the hope for an eternity of joy that lies ahead.
