Page 33 - Berg_Mortuary_Bishops_Guide

BERG MORTUARY 33
Let hope and faith, transcendent, pure,
Give strength and peace beyond my tears.

3. There is no death, but only change,
With recompense for vict’ry won.
The gift of Him who loved all men,
The Son Of God, The Holy One.

TEACHINGS OF THE PROPHETS

UNDERSTANDING DEATH AND RESURRECTION
Teaching of Presidents of the Church: Brigham Young, (1997),272-78

At the funeral services of Elder Thomas Williams on 13 July 1874, President Brigham Young
spoke on the subject of death:” What a dark valley and a shadow it is that we call death! To
pass from this state of existence as far as the mortal body is concerned, into a state of inanition
[emptiness], how strange it is! How dark this valley is! How mysterious is this road, and we
have got to travel it alone. I would like to say to you, my friends and brethren, if we could see

things as they are, and as we shall see and understand them, this dark shadow and valley is so
trifling that we shall turn round and look about upon it and think, when we have crossed it,
why this is the greatest advantage of my whole existence, for I have passed from a state of sor-
row, grief, mourning, woe, misery, pain, anguish and disappointment into a state of existence,
where I can enjoy life to the fullest extent as far as that can be done without a body. My spirit
is set free, I thirst no more, I want to sleep no more, I hunger no more, I tire no more, I run, I
walk, I labor, I go, I come, I do this, I do that, whatever is required of me, nothing like pain or
weariness, I am full of life, full of vigor, and I enjoy the presence of my heavenly Father, by the
power of his spirit. I want to say to my friends, if you will live your religion, live so as to be full
of the faith of God, that the light of eternity will shine upon you, you can see and understand
these things for yourselves” (DNSW, 28 July 1874, 1).

Earthly happiness cannot compare with “the glory, joy and peace and happiness of the soul”
who departs mortality in righteous peace.

It is a great cause of joy and rejoicing and comfort to his friends to know that a person has passed
away in peace from his life, and has secured to himself a glorious resurrection. The earth and the
fullness of the earth and all that pertains to this earth in an earthly capacity is no comparison with
the glory, joy and peace and happiness of the soul that departs in peace (DBY, 370).