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What will happen after I die?
From Come, Follow Me:
Corianton had some questions about what happens after death. His concerns led Alma to teach the principles found in Alma 40–41. As you study, make a list of the truths you find about things like the spirit world, resurrection, and judgment. Consider reading these chapters from the perspective of someone who, like Corianton, needs to repent—after all, that’s true for all of us.
“Heavenly Father prepared a plan of salvation that teaches us where we came from, why we are here, and where we are going after mortality. Understanding our place in the plan of salvation helps us develop faith and find joy in a world with many inequities. We can use our knowledge of the plan of salvation to help us in our earthly challenges.” Read more here.
This activity works for families, groups, and wards. Ahead of time, reserve a church meeting house or another place with several available rooms. Prepare the menu and materials for the "carnival." Collect discarded keys or make paper cut-outs. You will need two keys for each participant, except for one or two adults who know ahead of time that they will not get keys. Find a place to begin such as a church building or temple grounds. A home will also work.
Step #1: PRE-MORTAL EXISTENCE
Bring a picture of the temple (representing life before we came to earth), or if you live near a temple visit it if possible and do Step #1 outside the temple. Explain what the premortal life was like (see Abraham 3:22-28 and Moses 4:1-6). See The Family: A Proclamation To The World.
We felt happy and secure there in the care of our Heavenly Father, and we shouted for joy when we heard the plan. We knew our Savior would help us through mortality and be the means by which we could return to our Father in Heaven. "... in the Grand Council of Heaven He loved us and was [so] wonderfully strong, that we triumphed even there by the power of Christ and our faith in the blood of the Lamb." Jeffrey R. Holland, This Do In Remembrance
What specific things can we do in our home to rely on the Savior? What were our hopes in premortal life, and how does the Savior make it possible to reach our dreams? At this point, give each group member three keys and tell them that they are important.
Step #2 BORN INTO MORTALITY
As you gather and go toward the next room (or return from visiting a temple), share stories of what it was like to welcome new babies into your family.
Explain that the purpose of mortality was "for spirit sons and daughters to obtain a physical body and gain earthly experience to progress toward perfection and ultimately realize his or her divine destiny as an heir of eternal life;" (see The Family: A Proclamation To The World). Explain why the "veil was drawn and why we don't remember what the premortal existence was like. Discuss Alma 43:32.
You are all now "born" and the room representing "mortality" could be set up like a big carnival with food, party hats and decorations, tokens to play games that are available, and birthday cake because it is your collective imaginary "birthdays." Earth life is filled with wonderful opportunities! Give out plenty of tokens (tickets) for games and prizes for those who win games. You could also go to a fun venue for this part.
During this phase, some of the adults could try to talk others out of the keys by offering to trade three tokens for one key. Some of the kids will figure out that the keys must be very valuable, and they will keep them. Some may trade them for tokens.
Step #3: DEATH
Suddenly it will be time for mortality to end. At the end of life on earth, all the material prizes, food, party hats and decorations, etc. must be left behind. Discuss death and its part in the plan of salvation (See Romans 5:12). Have everyone walk to the next room without anything extra except keys they still have. Discuss what mortality was like. What do the treats, games, prizes, and decorations represent? (worldly pleasure) What do the keys represent? (ordinances and covenants).
Step #4: THE SPIRIT WORLD
In the "Spirit World," begin by asking those who have keys if they are prepared for their reward. Make sure that one or two adults did not get keys. This is a prime opportunity to explain that there are those people who do not have the knowledge of the gospel, or who did not have the opportunity to understand it fully.
Those with keys represent people who have made covenants and received ordinances. In D&C 138:32-35 we learn that in the spirit world, those who did not have the gospel in mortality will have an opportunity to learn about, understand, and accept the gospel.
Invite (or this may happen naturally) those with keys to share the gospel with those who don't have keys. Explain that only through the atonement of Jesus Christ, our Savior, can the opportunity to receive exaltation be possible for all of us. Talk about missionary and family history work on both sides of the veil (see Families Gathering Families on video Both Sides of the Veil).
Step #5: THE FINAL JUDGMENT, RESURRECTION, AND ETERNAL LIFE
We will all be resurrected (see Revelations 20:12, 1 Cor. 15:22, D&C 93:33, and Alma 40:23). So, because keys were shared to those without keys, everyone now has them, and everyone receives his or her symbolic reward (treat or gift)! That is what missionary work and temple work is all about - gathering Israel on both sides of the veil!
View any other relevant videos from the ChurchofJesusChrist.org Video Collections. Share what it is like to lose a loved one, and the glory of the resurrection. Visit the grave of a loved one or view online, tell family history stories, rejoice together in the fact that we can repent and be forgiven, and that through temple ordinances, families can be together forever!
Sing: Families Can Be Together Forever
See more activities relating to repentance and forgiveness in Week 3, 2023.
"The facts of Jesus' death and Resurrection are hailed by those of Christian denominations as fundamental tenets. However, what Jesus' immortal spirit did after His death and before His Resurrection is a mystery to all but the Latter-day Saints. And the significance of what He did during those hours provides the doctrinal foundation for building temples across the earth." Spencer J. Condie, The Savior's Visit to the Spirit World. Read more here.
"By which also he [Jesus Christ] went and preached unto the spirits in prison." While the gospel may be accepted by spirits in the spirit world, the ordinances of salvation must be performed for them by those who are living here on Earth (1 Pet. 3:18-20). See also D&C 138:16–19.
In The Family History Guide, see Temple Opportunities for help with every aspect of finding and taking names to the temple. Learn how to use the FamilySearch fan chart to discover and research those in need of ordinances.
Learn more about Temple Baptism and Confirmation for the Dead, Temple Endowment, and Temple Sealings. See Find Ancestors in Need of Temple Work in the Family Tree using the fan chart. Check out Ordinances Ready and Ordinances Ready on the FamilySearch App.
See also Descendancy Research and Creating Family Groups to collaborate.
Decide how you and your family will accomplish doing the temple work for those you find who need your help.
From Come, Follow Me:
Do your children know someone who has died? Maybe you could talk briefly about that person. Bear your testimony that someday they—and everyone else—will be resurrected because of Jesus Christ.
The following video offers a simple way to explore the lives of your ancestors.
See also: 10 Ways To Discover, Gather, and Share Ancestor Stories.
Open FamilySearch and create your own account if you haven't yet, and fill out four generations (starting with you), and then have tons of fun with FamilySearch Activities.
In The Family History Guide, explore hundreds of activities for families, individuals, youth, and kids. Here are a few of the links to the 200+ ideas (activities marked by asterisks require little or no preparation). See also the Activities Index.
Do research or play a family history game from the BYU Family History Technology Lab:
See The Family History Guide’s Weekly Family History Activities - A Come, Follow Me Companion, and watch The Promised Blessings of Family History. See also the blessings listed by Elder Renlund in Family History and Temple Work: Sealing and Healing, and the activity explained here.
Write (or audio-record) one story about your life as you study each Come, Follow Me lesson to have 52 by the end of the year and add it to your FamilySearch memories to preserve it. Use your own questions, those from (or inspired by) Come, Follow Me, or the #52 Stories Project to help you contemplate and remember. For example: