Death, Physical

Death is an essential part of Heavenly Father's plan of salvation (see 2 Nephi 9:6). In order to become like our Eternal Father, we must experience death and later receive perfect, resurrected bodies.

When the physical body dies, the spirit continues to live. In the spirit world, the spirits of the righteous "are received into a state of happiness, which is called paradise, a state of rest, a state of peace, where they shall rest from all their troubles and from all care, and sorrow" (Alma 40:12). A place called spirit prison is reserved for "those who [have] died in their sins, without a knowledge of the truth, or in transgression, having rejected the prophets" (D&C 138:32). The spirits in prison are "taught faith in God, repentance from sin, vicarious baptism for the remission of sins, the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands, and all other principles of the gospel that [are] necessary for them to know" (D&C 138:33–34). If they accept the principles of the gospel, repent of their sins, and accept ordinances performed in their behalf in temples, they will be welcomed into paradise.

Because of the Atonement and Resurrection of Jesus Christ, physical death is only temporary: "As in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive" (1 Corinthians 15:22). Everyone will be resurrected, meaning that every person's spirit will be reunited with his or her body—"restored to their proper and perfect frame" and no longer subject to death (Alma 40:23; see also Alma 11:44–45).

See also Atonement of Jesus Christ; Paradise; Plan of Salvation; Resurrection

—See True to the Faith (2004), 46–47

• "The Dead Who Die in the Lord"

  Bruce R. McConkie, Ensign, Nov. 1976, 106–8
  We rejoice in life. We rejoice in death. We have no desires except to do the will of Him whose we are and to dwell with Him in His kingdom at the appointed time.

• "Now Is the Time to Prepare"

  Russell M. Nelson, Liahona, May 2005, 16–18; or Ensign, May 2005, 16–18
  Death is a necessary component of our eternal existence. No one knows when it will come, but it is essential to God's great plan of happiness.

• "Now Is the Time"

  Thomas S. Monson, Liahona, Jan. 2002, 68–71; or Ensign, Nov. 2001, 59–61
  The darkness of death can ever be dispelled by the light of revealed truth.

• "The Power to Heal from Within"

  Merrill J. Bateman, Ensign, May 1995, 13–14
  Death teaches that we do not experience a fulness of joy in mortality and that everlasting joy can be achieved only with the assistance of the Master.

• "Hopeless Dawn—Joyful Morning"

  Thomas S. Monson, Tambuli, May 1993, 2–7; or Ensign, Feb. 1993, 2–5
  The darkness of death can ever be dispelled by the light of revealed truth.

• "Doors of Death"

  Russell M. Nelson, Ensign, May 1992, 72–74
  Returning from earth to life in our heavenly home requires passage through—and not around—the doors of death. We were born to die, and we die to live.

• "The Empty Tomb Bore Testimony"

  Gordon B. Hinckley, Ensign, May 1988, 65–68
  Death, though bitter to observe, is not the end, but is, rather, only another graduation from which we go on to a better life.

• "Death, Physical"

  Guide to the Scriptures

• "The Atonement"

  Gospel Principles, Chapter 12

• "Jesus Christ Redeems All Mankind from Temporal Death"

  Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph F. Smith, Chapter 10