Where did they go and what will they be doing?

On the path of starting a publishing business, writing blogs and books, and homeschooling our children, life decides a detour is in order.  But death is more than a detour; it is a passing from one existence to another, from mortality to immortality.  Today, December 13, marks the day of death for two wonder women in our lives. Two women who momentarily left us in this life, that is, until our paths once again merge with theirs in the next.

Denielle’s dear aunt, Jan Wepf, left us this evening at 8 pm due to Luekemia.

Three years ago this day (12.12.13), my sister Barbara Dawn Morey Baum temporarily lost her battle with depression and took her own life.

Both women were beautiful in life and, I am certain, are even more beautiful in eternity.

Having read about Barb’s life and death in my book, Ask God, a good businessman, mentor, and friend emailed me this morning a thoughtful note of encouragement.  “I am thinking of you on this day,” said he.  He then shared the following poem:

Last night while I was trying to sleep
My sister’s voice I did hear
I opened my eyes and looked around,
But she did not appear.

She said:” Brother, you’ve got to listen,
You’ve got to understand,
God didn’t take me from you,
He only took my hand.

When I called out in pain that night,
The instant that I died,
He reached down and took my hand,
And pulled me to His side.

He pulled me up and saved me
From the misery and pain.
My body was hurt so badly inside,
I could never be the same.

My search is really over now,
I’ve found happiness within,
All the answers to my empty dreams
And all that might have been.

I love you all and miss you so,
And I’ll always be nearby.
My body’s gone forever,
But my spirit will never die!

And so, you must all go on now,
Live one day at a time.
Just understand-
God did not take me from you,
He only took my hand.

Although this poem brought much comfort and was most appreciated, I would change only one line: My body’s gone forever“, thanks to Christ, should read:

My body’s temporarily away

but will again be mine someday

Our bodies and spirits will reunite thanks to Christ

Is this not the message found in Christ’s resurrection?  Our spirits and bodies reunite and become perfect–as He is perfect–thanks to Him.  This is a gift–thanks to Christ’s atonement, death, and resurrection–offered to all who have ever lived or will live on this earth. It’s free for all.  Yes, even the most wicked of us all will again see their bodies and spirits perfectly reunited.

The question is, what will they, and you and me, be doing with our immortal bodies for eternity?

What we do in eternity is our choice

That’s where God’s plan of salvation comes into play.  Barb, Jan, and all of us will one day come before our loving God, resurrected with body and spirit, to be judged.  Think of it.  God is perfect and loving.  That makes Him a perfectly loving judge.  The odds are in our favor.  Eternal life is before us.  Thanks to Christ, it is our choice.  The scriptures tell us we can all be joint-heirs with Christ (Romans 8:17).  This promise entitles us to all that He has.  How awesome is that!

Four steps to our salvation

To obtain the highest level of heaven God has in store for us, we are commanded to have faith, repent, be baptized and try, try, try to keep His commandments to our very mortal end.

But what of Jan?  She has not been baptized by one who has authority. Would a loving, perfect Judge doom her to a lesser fate in heaven simply because she was unable or even unwilling to be baptized in this life?  She has a good heart.  She tries to do good things.  She provided for and continues to love her family.  Is that it?  Is that just?

Perhaps.  Or, perhaps not.  Thanks to Christ, grace and mercy come into play.  And family members, those who are willing to live by standards set forth to do so, can take the names of their ancestors, like Jan, to the temple and be baptized on their behalf.  That is why Denielle and I are found weekly in the temples around this world, doing the work of salvation for our dead ancestors.

The dead still have reason to hope

Thankfully, Jan still has a choice. She can choose to reject or accept the baptism just as she could choose here.  But there is hope.  Christ himself, as detailed in the Bible, organized a mission to Spirit Prison in an attempt to save the dead (see 1 Peter 3:18-22).  What did His emissaries do while there?  They taught the dead about faith in Christ, repentance, baptism, and commandment keeping (see Doctrine and Covenants 138).  Why teach the dead if their fate is already sealed based on decisions made in mortality?  Because they, like us, still have hope.  Hope in their salvation.

Christ loves Jan.  He wants her back home with Him.  That means He is sending His best missionaries to teach her about Him.  Christ will give Jan every opportunity to believe and accept Him.  Then, a year from now, Denielle and I will take Jan’s name to the temple.

For and behalf of Jan Wepf

What will we do while in the temple?  Denielle and I will enter a font found within the confines of a temple (perhaps the one here in Louisville where Jan hails from).  Denielle will place her hand on my left arm as I raise my right arm to the square and say, “Sister Morey, Having been commissioned of Jesus Christ, I baptize you for and in behalf of Jan Wepf, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.” I will then immerse Denielle in the water and bring her quickly back up.  This necessary ordinance for Jan’s salvation will take less than thirty seconds.  Thirty seconds of work in exchange for an eternal life with God–not a bad trade, if you ask me.

By this time next year, I fully believe that Jan both will have been taught and have accepted Jesus Christ as her Savior.  It will take some work on her side.  She will not be forced, even if God’s love is big enough to want to do so. He will only invite, as He always has.  She can then accept the baptism we will perform on her behalf.

So beautiful in its simplicity

If nothing else, this beautiful doctrine of salvation for all God’s children is yet another reason why I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  I can think of no other service more satisfying or eternally rewarding than that of being a tool in God’s hands to help save His children–in this life, or the next.  How exciting and humbling it is to know that God allows us a job in His workshop–the workshop of salvation.

Two wonder women, although no longer with us in mortality, are traveling on their path to immortality.  Thankfully, they both have The Good Shepherd for their guide.

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What do you think you will be doing for eternity? 

Do you have hope in those who were never baptized or accepted Christ in the life?

Who do you think will be there to greet you when you die?

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