After This Life
Answers to Some Questions
Heavenly Father’s plan can give us perspective and peace about life after death.
Illustration by Thomas Arnaud
What happens after we die?
This is perhaps the question in all of religion. The answers that we have through Jesus Christ and His gospel are powerful. This life is not the end. Because Jesus Christ was resurrected, our spirits will reunite with our bodies, and we will all be resurrected one day.
Of course, there are other details about life after death that have come to us through modern revelation that can answer other questions we may have. Here are a few such questions, along with some brief answers.
What are spirit bodies like?
Spirit is a kind of matter, only “more fine or pure” (Doctrine and Covenants 131:7). Spirit bodies look like adult human bodies.
Where is the spirit world?
What goes on in the spirit world?
Among other things, spirits who have accepted the gospel are organized to preach the gospel to spirits who have not accepted the gospel. Those spirits can choose to accept or reject it.
What are resurrected bodies like?
Resurrected bodies cannot die, are flesh and bone, and are perfect. They are glorious and beautiful. “There is nothing more beautiful to look upon than a resurrected man or woman.”
What goes on in the celestial kingdom?
Those in the highest degree of the celestial kingdom become like our Heavenly Father and experience a fulness of joy. They receive all that the Father has. They participate in His work and glory. They were sealed in marriage for eternity and now live in eternal families, having eternal spirit children of their own.
What about people who never marry in this life?
Heavenly Father is perfectly just and merciful. “The Lord has promised that in the eternities no blessing will be denied his sons and daughters who keep the commandments, are true to their covenants, and desire what is right.”
My parents were sealed in the temple, but now they’re divorced. Whom am I sealed to?
You may have been “born in the covenant” (that is, born after your parents were sealed in the temple), or you may have been sealed to your parents in the temple after they were sealed to one another. In either case, your blessings remain in force even if your parents choose to divorce and have their sealing canceled.
Your parents’ choices don’t affect your blessings. The important thing is for you to remain faithful and seek the blessings of the temple yourself. Regarding your family relationships, you should “trust in the Lord and seek His comfort,” knowing that “Heavenly Father will ensure that each person receives every blessing that his or her desires and choices allow.”
What happens to people who die by suicide?
We don’t know what happens to people who die by suicide, and we can’t judge them (just as with all people, ultimately). “Despite the best efforts of loved ones, leaders, and professionals, suicide is not always preventable. …
“It is not right for a person to take his or her own life. However, only God is able to judge the person’s thoughts, actions, and level of accountability (see 1 Samuel 16:7; Doctrine and Covenants 137:9). …
“Those who have lost a loved one to suicide can find hope and healing in Jesus Christ and His Atonement.”