What I learned - Our Father's Glorious Plan

Our Father’s Glorious Plan

April 2017 General Conference

By Elder Weatherford T. Clayton

Of the Seventy

 

Because of God’s holy plan, we know that birth and death are actually just milestones on our journey to eternal life with our Heavenly Father.

 

What a reminder for me.  During our lives, it is easy to see birth as a beginning and death as an ending.  It can be hard to find the comfort that we need as we struggle with grieving.  I really liked this talk because it reminded me that so much of what we think are beginnings and endings are actually just milestones along the way. 

He talked about being a physician and being with people when they just had a baby and also with them when they died.  I too, have experienced both.  I have to say that death itself doesn't hold any fear for me.  I think I will miss it here, but I am not afraid.  If I have any fear at all it is in the wonder of how painful it might be.  I am honestly not that fond of pain. 

I had a discussion with someone the other day.  She is terrified to die.  For her it is an ending of the only story she has known.  She can't even imagine life after death and isn't sure that is what really happens.  That made me sad.  I suspect that my beliefs sustain me through this part of my trial. 

I loved listening to Elder Clayton as he talked about the three pillars.  The first was the creation of the earth and the setting for our mortal journeys.  The second was the fall of our first parents, Adam and Eve.  Because of that fall, we all receive marvelous blessings.  We have the opportunity to receive bodies of our own and we have the chance to make our own choices and to grow and learn. 

The third pillar was the atonement of Jesus Christ.  That through Him all mankind may be saved.  That we would not perish, but have everlasting life.  I love the remembrance of the emptiness of the tomb.  There was nothing there.  He was and is a resurrected being.  He is the Savior of us all. 

There truly is so much more to our existence than just birth and death.  I have had the privilege of being with those who have passed away.  I have held their hands and felt their peace and acceptance.  I know that this life is not the end.  It is only a stopping place along the way, a learning place if you will. 

I am so grateful to a Heavenly Father who loves each and everyone of us and wants us to have the opportunity to come home to Him.