After enduring the recent death of his wife, Elder Russell M. Nelson said he has a very important lesson to share with members of the Church: "Now is the time to prepare to meet God."
"Then, when death comes, we can move toward the celestial glory that Heavenly Father has prepared for His faithful children," said Elder Nelson of the Quorum of the Twelve.
Speaking Saturday morning, Elder Nelson talked about his wife of 59 years, Dantzel White Nelson, who died "suddenly and unexpectedly" at their Salt Lake City home Feb. 12.
During his remarks, Elder Nelson said the Church was restored — and the earth was created — so that families could be sealed in holy temples. "We came to be tried, to be tested, and to choose," he said. "Our decisions determine our destiny. We 'are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator . . . or to choose captivity and death' " (2 Nephi 2: 27).
Those who choose the Lord's way, he added, will likely endure persecution, but their reward is certain. They shall "inherit the kingdom of God" (2 Nephi 9: 18).
"Sister Nelson has earned that reward. What comfort that brings to me and our family, . . ." he said. "Sister Nelson prepared throughout her life for the time when she would return to God. She lived each day as though it were her last. She cherished every hour, knowing that time on earth is precious."
Elder Nelson said one can begin his or her preparation for death with repentance. "Scripture declares: 'If ye have sought to do wickedly in the days of your probation, then ye are found unclean before the judgement-seat of God; . . . no unclean thing can dwell with God' " (1 Nephi 10: 21).
Now, he added, is also the time for one to show "reverent respect" for his or her physical body. "It serves as the tabernacle for one's spirit throughout all eternity. Physical appetites are to be controlled by the will of one's spirit. We are to deny ourselves of all ungodliness."
Because of the frequent and frightening calamities in the world, some people doubt the existence of God, Elder Nelson added. "But, in fact, He is trying to help us. 'How oft have I called upon you by the mouth of my servants, and by the ministering of angels, and by mine own voice, and by the voice of thunderings, and . . . tempests,. . . earthquakes, . . . great hailstorms, . . . famines and pestilences of every kind, . . . and would have saved you with an everlasting salvation, but ye would not' " (Doctrine and Covenants 43:25).
Elder Nelson said God's hope for His children is eternal life. "We qualify for it by obedience to covenants and ordinances of the temple — for ourselves, our families and our ancestors. We cannot be made perfect without them. We cannot wish our way into the presence of God. We are to obey the laws upon which those blessings are predicated."
Elder Nelson said God's plan is fair and merciful. "Now is the time to enroll our names among the people of God," he said. "Now is the time to align our goals with God's goals."
Death, continued Elder Nelson, is a necessary component of one's eternal existence. "No one knows when it will come, but it is essential to God's great plan of happiness."
Celestial glory awaits those who have been faithful to God's gentle commands, he added.
"Brothers and sisters, we live to die and we die to live — in another realm. If we are well prepared, death brings no terror. From an eternal perspective, death is premature only for those who are not prepared to meet God."
