Saving Souls at Christmastime

As a Church, we are engaged in the all-inclusive work of the salvation of souls on both sides of the veil. We send tens of thousands of missionaries throughout the world to teach and baptize the willing in this world. We gather them out, welcome them into our congregations and set their feet on what we have come to call "the covenant path." 

As they progress along that path they are increasingly blessed by making and keeping sacred covenants. Eventually, they enter a temple somewhere in the world (there are now 355 in various stages of completion), and are sealed to an eternal companion of their choosing. These are the ordinances of salvation, and they bind couples and posterity together, linking them to ancestors who have gone before them.

The other night, our family who were nearby gathered in a sealing session at the Mount Timpanogos Temple to perform proxy sealing ordinances for many of our deceased ancestors. Most of those ancestors were in the family of our dear daughter and sister, Kim Goates. She is a native of Brisbane, Australia, who emigrated many years ago to the United States where she met and married our oldest son Jeff. 

The picture shown here is all of us assembling for dinner after the session, and doesn't include Jake and Rich who returned home without eating with us. 

The date December 19th is significant in two ways - it's our original sealing date in 1969, when I married Patsy, and it's also the birthday of son Steve. 

Since her conversion to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Kim has been instrumental in her search for all her extended family in Australia. Those names have been compiled and the other night we all participated as a family in procuring those sealing ordinances for each deceased member of her family, a work they could not perform for themselves. We were blessed in that session to be assigned to a sealer whose first mission was in. . . wait for it. . . Brisbane, Australia. Truly, the "divine coincidences" we routinely encounter in this work of salvation cannot be overstated. Someday I hope to learn more about how all those intersections seem to collide in such marvelous ways. 

From the Church's website, we glean this explanation:

What Is the Work of Salvation?

The work of salvation is Heavenly Father’s work “to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man” (Moses 1:39). This important work includes member missionary work, convert retention, activation of less-active members, temple and family history work, and teaching the gospel. Too often, we think these aspects of the gospel are unrelated. But in The Work of Salvation: Worldwide Leadership Broadcast on June 23, 2013, Elder Russell M. Nelson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles taught that “the work really is indivisible. These efforts are not separate; they’re all part of the work of salvation.”

The phrase “Hastening the Work of Salvation” - the name of the broadcast’s companion website (hasteningthework.lds.org) - refers to the Lord’s promise: “Behold, I will hasten my work in its time” (D&C 88:73).

Essential priesthood ordinances - baptism, confirmation, ordination to the priesthood for men, and temple ordinances - stand as milestones along our path to return to our Heavenly Father. As we participate in the work of salvation, we follow and inspire others to follow this covenant path.

I couldn't help thinking about the gathering that was surely taking place in the spirit world among Kim's ancestors as those ordinances were being performed. Some, who look in on this "impossible" work of salvation for the dead simply cannot digest the math. There are so many more dead people than living people, they reason, how can you possibly think you will even make a dent in those daunting numbers. I know, it truly does seem impossible. The odds are never in our favor as disciples of Jesus Christ. And it has ever been thus. Christ was only ONE. We are only 17 million against a living population of 8 billion, and multiples more who are dead. What are we thinking?

I wrote about the impossible gospel years ago, and we are undeterred against all the insurmountable odds. Having lived my lifetime of experiences, and with the perspective gained from hindsight, the onward and upward momentum of the work of salvation is something truly breathtaking to behold in these latter days. 

President Russell M. Nelson is leading the armies of Israel in all parts of the world today. His priesthood keys are being shared now in an exponential way I never could have envisioned in my younger days. The Kingdom of God on earth is expanding. The world of spirits is actively "recruiting" among those of us who have seen our loved ones graduate to a higher and holier place. They are engaged in the same way we are. 

In fact, the other night as I performed proxy sealings I was kneeling across the altar in turn from three of my daughters, Dianne, Tina and Allie. I could remember all those times it was Patsy kneeling across from me, and I was invigorated and energized by those memories. It was truly a joyful and wondrous work we were doing. Can we really refer to it as "work" when it is so much fun?

That's what the temple experience is designed to do for us. We bless others and are blessed by them. 

And at Christmastime the work of salvation is just that much more delicious.

And Then She Was Gone. . .

I write today to inform the world of the passing of my spouse and eternal companion, Patsy. Her passing came upon us all suddenly and without much warning. Those who have heard about it have asked, "Was she sick?" The answer is simple: not until in the last twenty-four hours when sepsis filled her body.

I met Patsy Hewlett when she was a student at East High School, one year younger than me. Until she drew her final peaceful breath on Earth, she loved me and her whole family completely, absolutely and wholeheartedly without any reservations. She was an emissary of Jesus Christ, a true angel on Earth. Easily the most spiritual woman I have ever known, she was on intimate terms with the Almighty.

One night recently, we settled down in front of the TV to watch a movie together over dinner. I asked her to say the blessing on the food while I paused the movie. There is a counter that tracks the minutes between the pause button and the play button. When we looked up again, the timer had exceeded 15 minutes. And that was a prayer over food, but so much more! Her individual prayer roll grew longer with each passing month. I used to tease her that she left out the tribe of Reuben. Oh, what prayers we have shared together over the years! Her final act on Earth, I believe, was to die, return to the spirit world and begin answering her own prayers on behalf of all for whom she prayed. Don't be surprised if you discover a new guardian angel who is pleading your cause before the Throne of Divine Grace. Without even knowing it, you may have been on her mind and in her heart. 💗💗 She loved, loved, loved hearts.

How I love this dear companion! Our first date by all accounts should have been recorded as a complete disaster. They ran out of food before we got there, the dance band had taken a break just before we arrived, and there was nothing to do but take up a spot on the side of the dance floor and talk. And oh, did we talk!

Our conversation expanded into the early morning hours on our way back home. It was soul-searching, deeply spiritual, and wide-ranging. I was amazed at the depth of her soul, the strength of her testimony, and the power that spilled forth from her all night long. When quizzed by my mother the next morning, she asked, "What was Patsy wearing?" I stammered out a response, "I think it was a yellow gown." I quickly assured her my memory wasn't bad, but that we were engrossed in a spirit to spirit deep connection I had never encountered. 

One of our younger sons said to me yesterday that he has been lamenting his children would not know or be able to remember Grandma Patsy. I said to him, "Don't worry, I will write the exhaustive seven-volume series about her and I won't leave a single stone unturned." I pray I may live long enough to complete that joyous work for our posterity.

As an example of her thoughtfulness, I took her to the emergency room in the Park City Hospital only last week when she was complaining of intense chest pain. I thought she may be having a heart attack, but it was only pericarditis, an inflammation of her heart lining, and I took home a regimen of anti-inflammatory medicine to treat it. Behind us in line came a middle-aged mother accompanied by her daughter. The mother was crying out in agonizing pain, gently holding her arm which we later discovered had been broken. Without even thinking, Patsy instructed me to let her go first in line ahead of us. And that's what happened. She always thought about someone else ahead of herself. It was instinctive with her, a reflexive act of charity.

We had a family gathering this last Sunday afternoon in our home. I had received permission from our bishop to offer her the sacrament after which we shared testimonies with each other. She was sedated for pain in her hospice bed, but even with her eyes closed, she said "Amen" when each one concluded, and she mouthed the words of the hymns we sang. It was a spiritual, peaceful outpouring of love for the Savior, the gospel and for each other. She loved every minute.

Then later that night she sat up, spoke with her beloved son, Andrew, who is a highly skilled surgeon. He told her he was concerned about her lungs. She said, "Yes, so am I." He asked her if she would like to return to the hospital for further testing to see if he could make her stronger. She said she would, and we packed her as gently as we could into the car.

That was the beginning of the end. They discovered three infectious sites in her body, including pneumonia in her lungs, none of which had been evident in her most recent blood workups. 

"Dad," whispered daughter Melanie early the next morning, "She's gone."

And with that simple notification she had left quickly, quietly and without disturbing anyone or being a burden to anyone - it was on her own terms and her own way.

People ask me how I'm holding up. The answer is also simple - I am being borne up as on the wings of angels all around me. They are my family, friends, and nearly everyone who has heard about her passing. And most of all, I am being sustained by my dearest Patsy who continues to minister to my needs in a higher and holier place.

 

Julianna Hayes Hewlett - Home at Last

This week we said our final farewells to our adopted Mother and Grandmother, Julianna Hayes Hewlett. She departed this life at age 82, after a forty-year separation from her eternal companion, Patsy's father Lester F. Hewlett, Jr. We came to love her as our own. I am publishing her first-person life sketch here so that many of her beloved students and their families will have the funeral information. Feel free to share the link with everyone who may have interest.

Viewing: Larkin Mortuary (260 E. So. Temple St., Salt Lake), Sunday July 9th 6-8 p.m.

Funeral: Salt Lake 11th Ward (951 E. 100 So., Salt Lake), Monday, July 10th, viewing 10-11:30 a.m., followed by the funeral services at noon.

Interment: Woodland Cemetery, Woodland, Utah 84036

Life Sketch of Julianna Hayes Hewlett

I was born January 21, 1941, in Montpelier, Idaho, the only daughter of William Earl and Verona Schmid Hayes. I had three brothers, Deon (who died at eighteen months), William Dorain Hayes, and Elwyn “Chip” Hayes. Only Chip remains behind in our little family with my passing, and how I have adored him and his wife Sandy! If Chip ever missed a day calling me in the last forty years, I do not remember it.

We moved many places in Idaho and Wyoming following my father’s Union Pacific Railroad occupation. At age four, my mother found me “practicing the piano,” using the arm of the sofa as my keyboard, as we had no such instrument. At that point my parents felt I should be taking lessons as soon as there was money to rent a piano. Fortunately, the Bancroft chapel was being remodeled, and Father requested that our home be used as a place to store the ward piano. Thus began my lessons, and a continuing lifetime interest in music.

I graduated with honors from BYU and began teaching music at Hillside Junior High School in Salt Lake City. My first class in public school teaching was a Boys’ Choir of 103 voices from the 7^th, 8^th and 9^th grades. It proved to be a year of MY education learning how to deal with teenaged mentality.

In 1968, while recuperating in Idaho from a spinal fusion I received a call from President Florence Jacobsen to serve on the General Board of the MIA. Traveling and speaking in many regional conferences, writing lessons and manuals for the MIA, and beginning work of the new LDS hymn book, were highlights in that phase of my Church activity. I also conducted a regional young special interest choir in the Tabernacle for a regional conference.

In 1969, I took a Sabbatical Leave and traveled to Germany with the University of Oregon, where I lived with a German family, toured the famous music schools of Europe, and later received a master’s degree in international music and art education.

I transferred to Highland High School in 1975, teaching choirs and beginning a Humanities class, studying the arts, philosophy and history. I began taking summer tours to Europe to study the wealth of art, music and literature in the world’s greatest museums.

I was reluctantly and unexpectedly lined up on a blind date in 1977, with Lester F. Hewlett, Jr. It was an amazing spiritual recognition, and I cancelled my summer tour to Europe to be sealed in the Salt Lake Temple on July 6, 1977. My father said in April of that year I would be married before summer’s end. His prediction came true. It was truly a match made in heaven.

Les had been the mission president in the Australia South Mission and had previously served on the Young Men’s General Board and on the Church Athletic Committee. Having been one of the first missionaries to open Alaska to missionary work, Les thus began a lifelong love of missionary work. After returning from Australia, he continued volunteering on Temple Square as a tour guide, where his love of the gospel and commitment to missionary work focused his continuing service.

We moved to the Graystone Condominiums in 1978, where Les was the teacher of the high priest group, and I taught the Relief Society cultural refinement lessons. How I loved bringing the joy of music, art and literature to the sisters in the Grant 4^th Ward (later became the Forestview Ward). Traveling with Elder LeGrand Richards for the dedication of the Orson Hyde Memorial was truly one of the highlights of our six years together. At the insistence of Elder Richards, I led the group in “Master the Tempest is Raging” as we crossed the Sea of Galilee and afterward sat in a testimony meeting on the shore. I realized once again the truthfulness of the gospel, and better understood the love Les and I shared in Church service.

Les and I belonged to the Dinnerset Group, and on December 9, 1983, Les and I were the chairpersons of the annual Christmas party at the Lion House. Associating, as the Hewlett family had done for many years with many of the members of the Quorum of the Twelve, we sat with Elder and Sister Neal A. Maxwell singing Christmas carols. I conducted the music in my new red shoes that Les had just bought me.

The next morning, I awakened to find that Les had slipped to the other side of the veil while he slept. The shock was multiplied by the fact he had not been ill. As Elder Maxwell stated at his funeral, “He was blessed not to have tasted death. He was a guileless man.” He loved and gave many blessings to the widows in our ward whom he served as their home teacher.

The years since his passing have found me continuing to teach at Highland, conducting tours occasionally to Europe with students, serving as gospel doctrine teacher, ward music chairman, ward chorister, and teaching Relief Society cultural refinement lessons.

One of the highlights of my music and Church service was in October 1990, when I was invited to conduct a Young Women’s Choir for the afternoon session of General Conference in the Tabernacle. I led 400 young women from the Bountiful and Val Verde Regions, united in beautiful voice and spirit to praise the Lord. It was more memorable by having chosen the hymn, “We Ever Pray for Thee,” and then finding President Benson had been taken to the hospital that weekend. The choice of that hymn had been made by me in July, well before President Benson became acutely ill.

In 1991, a grandson, Ben Pahnke, died of leukemia. Our family was comforted in knowing Les was there to welcome eight-year-old Ben to his heavenly home. Again, in 1993, our seven-week-old grand-daughter Adrienne Goates, was taken home, and Les was seen at her funeral by members of his extended family. It is an incredible comfort knowing the veil is thin and eternal love is strong.

As the years have brought Les’ four children and their families much closer together, I have enjoyed the plethora of grandchildren and great-grandchildren. I have loved and been loved as I never could have imagined in my younger single years. All the children, Nancy Pahnke, Patsy Goates, John Hewlett and Ernie Hewlett, have homes at the Ranch above Woodland, where Les and I spent our summers and where the spirit of FAMILY is so intense and loving.

My calling to the Salt Lake Temple as an ordinance worker has been the highlight of my retirement years.

These last years have been filled with physical challenges, but I have used faith, prayers and priesthood blessings to endure to the end. “When upon life’s billows we are tempest tossed, when we are discouraged thinking, all is lost, count your many blessings, name them one by one, and it will surprise you what the Lord has done.”

That ends Julie’s obituary in her first-person narrative, but as her adopted Hewlett family we would update the record to state she won a place in all our hearts. She might easily be the most fiercely independent, tenacious and strong-willed woman any of us will ever encounter. However, as she lived her life to its conclusion in the early morning hours of June 29, 2023, we are constrained to conclude in her 82 years of living she filled the full measure of her creation, and she finally and gleefully entered the eternal embrace of her beloved Les after a forty-year absence.

The Greatest Love Story in the Universe

Today is Valentine's Day. It's the season of love. We spoke yesterday in our sacrament meeting at the request of the bishopric. They asked us to address the topic of eternal marriage and eternal life. 

So that started me thinking about what the greatest love stories in the universe might be. Would we think about a famous couple in history like Cleopatra and Mark Antony? Or Robin Hood and Maid Marian? Or maybe the fictional characters of Romeo and Juliet? Or Joseph and Emma Smith? Or how about John and Abigail Adams? What about Abraham and Sarah? Or even Dave and Patsy?

Then I looked a little deeper into the ramifications of love. It has to be more than platitudes in cards and candy shaped like hearts, or boxes of chocolates and dozens of roses. The greatest love of all involves a willingness to sacrifice all for the ones we love. If you're me, it could mean making a bed with way too many throw pillows on it. It means forsaking all others and focusing our affections on those for whom we have such natural affinity that we will willingly give all for them regardless of the cost.

Given those simple thoughts, I have to conclude that the greatest love story in the universe involves the love our Father in Heaven exhibits for each of His children in offering to them exaltation through the intervention and atonement of His Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ. Over the span of a lifetime it has settled on my heart that the magnitude of that gift is truly incalculable. Through Him we overcome spiritual and physical death. Would any of us like the role of being the Father and standing by as He watches His Son brutally tortured and nailed on a crude wooden cross and hung to die while bystanders ridiculed and tormented Him? Or would any of us volunteer to take the Savior’s place as the One crucified for all the sins of all the children of God? The cost seems too enormous to pay, either as the Father or the Son. But each paid that cost for us.

When we are born into mortality we come as William Wordsworth expressed it:

Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting;

The Soul that rises with us, our life’s Star,

          Hath had elsewhere its setting

               And cometh from afar;

          Not in entire forgetfulness,

          And not in utter nakedness,

But trailing clouds of glory do we come

               From God, who is our home:

We lived as premortal spirits with our Father in Heaven. We knew Him. We spoke with Him. We were tutored by Him. Pure and innocent we were, but we yearned for a mortal experience where we could take upon ourselves a physical body and learn to distinguish for ourselves between good and evil. We knew there were risks, and we knew there would be hardships to endure, but none of that deterred us. We knew since the fall of Adam and Eve that a Savior and Redeemer would be provided to allow us to repent and do better day by day if our faith in Jesus Christ were in evidence. We knew we would be free to choose. We were among the seraphic hosts of heaven who shouted for joy when Adam and Eve were cast out of the Garden of Eden into the lone and dreary world. As we grow and develop, experiencing all the challenges, trials and temptations of mortality, we can be forgiven if we wonder now what everyone in heaven was shouting for joy about.

We progress to the day of baptism, when we pass through a “gate” and enter into the covenant path that stretches out before us as far as the eye can see ahead. We hear it referred to as “the strait (or straight) and narrow path” and we are anxious to walk in light and truth. (See 2 Nephi 31:15-21).We are given the promise of a spiritual guide, even the Holy Ghost, the third member of the Godhead, as our constant companion to help us discern between truth and error. We stumble along the path in spite of our gift of the Holy Ghost, and we are surprised at how weak we are in our mortal bodies, but we get back up and continue walking in faith.

As we fail at this or that endeavor in life, we are reminded of the blessed assurance that we are redeemed in this world as soon as we repent. But the atonement is not reserved alone for sinners. We can find comfort in the days of our fears, our anxiety and our disappointments of all sorts. We are promised divinity lies ahead of us in spite of ourselves or the unkindness of others. So we struggle on, at times feeling all alone, in the hope deliverance can be obtained.

We wonder how we, so feeble and pathetic, can possibly be worthy of such heavenly intervention, but we grow and develop until we meet our eternal companion and we go to the temple of the Lord together. We are amazed at how marvelously delicious this other person is, as though he or she was the part we had been missing that now makes us complete. Truly, this is love, we think. There can be nothing better than this, we assert.

We marry in God’s temple. We are promised eternal life, or the life which God our Father lives. Indeed, “Eternal” is one of His names. We can live “Eternal’s life” if we are faithful to the gospel covenants we make. We begin this step in our progress by taking upon ourselves the new and everlasting covenant of marriage. We are “sealed” to one another. I love that word “sealed”. There is something so permanent in the word. We are sealed for time and for all eternity with power to come forth in the morning of the first resurrection, clothed in glory, immortality and eternal lives. 

We are also admonished to “cleave” unto one another in marriage and to become “one flesh.” We are commanded, “Thou shalt love thy wife with all thy heart, and shalt cleave unto her and none else.” (D&C 42:22). Jacob also promises, "Wherefore, my beloved brethren, I beseech of you in words of soberness that ye would repent, and come with full purpose of heart, and cleave unto God as he cleaveth unto you." (Jacob 6:5). “Wherefore, it is lawful that he should have one wife, and they twain shall be one flesh, and all this that the earth might answer the end of its creation.” (D&C 49:16). We are told if we are faithful we “shall inherit thrones, kingdoms, principalities, and powers, dominions, all heights and depths.” (D&C 132:19). 

But the sealing is conditional, conditioned upon being sealed by the holy spirit of promise. (D&C 132:19). None of us can deceive the Holy Ghost. When he places his seal of approval on our sealing, then it is binding. The promises in the sealing ceremony are big ideas. There is nothing small about it. There are no half-measures. What more is there beyond what God promises - that we will become in time joint-heirs with Christ possessing ALL that the Father hath.

Back in December, Patsy and I were on Temple Square. We looked down into the gaping chasm surrounding the Salt Lake Temple as it is thoroughly being renovated. The banner on the fence proclaims, "Thinking Big." I looked at the scope of the current project and I thought, "Yes, President Nelson is indeed thinking big here." Then just as quickly I had the thought that President Brigham Young must have also been thinking big back in his day. What in the world would have possessed him to consider such an enormous task of building that temple in the middle of nowhere? But Brigham had a vision. He saw that magnificent structure standing where he designated with his cane that it should stand, and they set to work. For forty years those early pioneers toiled at the task without any readily available materials, tools or engineering expertise. Brigham was thinking big, indeed!

Brigham described his vision of the Salt Lake Temple:

This I do know - there should be a Temple built here. I do know it is the duty of this people to commence to build a Temple. Now, some will want to know what kind of a building it will be. Wait patiently, brethren, until it is done, and put forth your hands willingly to finish it. I know what it will be. I am not a visionary man, neither am I given much to prophesying. When I want any of that done I call on brother Heber - he is my Prophet, he loves to prophesy, and I love to hear him. I scarcely ever say much about revelations, or visions, but suffice it to say, five years ago last July I was here, and saw in the Spirit the Temple not ten feet from where we have laid the Chief Corner Stone. I have not inquired what kind of a Temple we should build. Why? Because it was represented before me. I have never looked upon that ground, but the vision of it was there. I see it as plainly as if it was in reality before me. Wait until it is done. (Brigham Young, April 6, 1853 General Conference, Journal of Discourses, Vol.1, pp.132 - 133).

Then I recalled how details of the creation are given in each endowment session in the temples. It's not merely His prophets who are big thinkers, the God of Heaven, Jehovah and Michael were also big thinkers. There is nothing small about their plans for us. We are promised that all the blessings of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are ours if we follow the covenant path leading to exaltation and eternal life. These are all big ideas, much bigger than we are capable of obtaining on our own. The Abrahamic Covenant is summarized in the Pearl of Great Price, (Abraham 2:8-13). How many stars in the heavens, and how many sands on the shores? Big ideas if you're numbering your posterity in eternity.

And then the children begin arriving in our home. They bring joy unsullied and uncompromised. They grow and eventually they leave us behind to take up their life journeys. We are sad to see them go, but we are also exhilarated to see them take their place in the world without us. Sometimes we see them stumble and sometimes they are saddled with health challenges and they suffer often for years without relief. We see our families sometimes bruised, broken, fractured, and we wonder how any of these promises can possibly be ours to claim. And then we remember that we worship our Redeemer. He mends broken things. We must trust in Him.

And we can pray for them, and we can enlist the faith of those faithful saints who attend the temples and offer prayers for their well-being. We can extend our love and affection. We often wish we could ease those burdens and erase that suffering. In short, we become more and more like our Father in Heaven as we pursue parenthood in mortality, preparing the physical bodies for the spirits created by God and Jesus Christ. (See Moses 1:39). We participate as partners in the creative process by creating the mortal bodies for the eternal spirits of our Father in Heaven to possess: “For behold, this is my work and my glory - to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.” There can be no immortality or eternal life without first obtaining a physical body from our earthly parents.

Truly, there is nothing greater as a demonstration of a Father’s love for His children, than holding out for us an inheritance that spans beyond this life. We can take nothing of this earth’s treasures with us when we die, but in the dying we step forward into the eternal realms ahead and a vast realization of blessings beyond imagination. The magnitude of our blessings is on a scale as unimaginable as staring down into the excavation around the Salt Lake Temple and wondering how any of it can ever be put back together again. Brigham Young had the vision of that building, and so does President Russell M. Nelson. 

How can there be any greater love story than this?

The White Wedding Dress

This past week our granddaughter wore her grandmother's wedding dress. Ashley Bayles was a beautiful bride, as she and Tyler Johns solemnized their wedding vows in the Mt. Timpanogos Temple. I hadn't seen that dress in forty-four years, and the mere sight of it brought with it an unexpected rush of emotions and memories.

Ashley Johns, Dianne Bayles, Patsy Goates, Peggy Weight

Patsy and her mother picked the dress in an exclusive shop in Melbourne, Australia, where she was living with her parents while her father was serving as a mission president. They brought the dress home and we were sealed on a warm sunny day, December 19th, 1969. And now here we were together with our granddaughter and her husband on December 21st, 2013! Time had collapsed around us. Four generations of faithful women stood together shoulder to shoulder.

The dress had been carefully tucked away for many years but was in need of cleaning. A careful and thorough dry-cleaning and a few nips and tucks here and there restored it to its once former radiant glory. On a dreary cold and snowy Saturday December day it was luminous and dazzlingly white. As she and Tyler exited the temple to greet friends and family waiting on the grounds outside for pictures, there was a catch in my throat and tears began to flow. Could it be possible that my bride had worn this same dress forty-four years ago?

Ashley and Tyler Johns

As we walked around to the front of the temple I was bombarded with memories of that day and all the days that followed. I reflected on how much I loved the woman who had worn it first so long ago. I remembered and relived the emotions of our wedding day. We had embarked on our eternal marriage journey full of hope in an uncertain future that awaited us, like all newlyweds. What would the future hold? Were we prepared for what life would bring us?

And now instead of looking forward with all those uncertain feelings, I found myself looking back over the path we had walked together with a sense of gratitude, calm and sweet serenity. I found I had forgotten everything that seemed fearful, uncertain or foreboding. In its place my memories were sweet and fulfilling, the culmination of forty-four years together with the same bride I cherished then. The love I felt then which seemed so all-consuming was merely a foretaste of the love I now feel. Patsy's white hair had replaced the white dress, an enduring testament to her constant purity and goodness. Her life had become the embodiment of what her white wedding dress had only symbolized so many years ago. The promise of what it once suggested had been delivered.

I wish I had words to express to young people what it means to live a life of virtue and selfless service. To know Patsy is to understand it without words. Ashley has expressed it beautifully in her tribute to her Grandma Patsy in this blog post of her own.

Ashley Johns and Grandma Patsy

I find there is only one way to communicate what it means to embrace the covenant relationship with God. It is to obey, sacrifice, walk the daily gospel path, remain chaste and to consecrate one's self to the task of building up the kingdom of God on the earth. It is to cleave to one another and to none others, and it is to cleave unto God and no other gods. It is to walk on a straight and narrow path that leads to eternal life in a very far distant day. It is to believe and to trust God. It is to embrace God's ways, His attributes and His Son. It is to come to know Them through all the twists and turns of mortality. It is to lean into the fierce winds and the howling voices of opposition that assail us in an increasingly hostile world and to remain true and faithful through it all.

Together Patsy and I have come down that path of mortality a very great distance. We now have more to look back upon than to look forward to. We have sown our seeds in fertile gospel soil, we have nurtured the seedlings, and we are now harvesting the mature crop. It is a rich harvest as we survey our vast fields. As we harvest the good memories, we also see before us many little blades of new green shoots popping up, assuring us the future will continue to produce nothing but good fruit.

When we stand in a mirrored chamber within sacred precincts, we now find ourselves in the unique position of understanding even better today than we did forty-four years ago what it is to see into eternity in both directions. In so many ways the symbols of the temple have found fulfillment in our lives. We know what it is to accept the torch of faithfulness from our ancestors, carry that torch for two or three generations, then pass it along for future generations.

As we witnessed Ashley and Tyler's sealing ceremony, I came closer to understanding what my Grandfather must have experienced that day, emotions spilling over as he uttered the words, "Be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth." In that room on Saturday sat the fulfillment of what had once only been the hope that posterity would eventually come to us. We had lived long enough to be surrounded by the embodiment of goodness and purity and joy. There is nothing to compare with the peace and serenity of a righteous posterity. Nothing. No other compensation can suffice.

The temple symbol of a white dress had become a reality in the lives of our children and grandchildren.

Captured Prisoners and Triumphant Atonement

Matters of life and death have preoccupied me lately, and no, I'm not speaking about the future of America here. I am guessing the hearts and minds of many parents and brothers and sisters are weighed down with the burdens they carry for the sins of their family members.

I hope I can begin to offer more light and hope to such in this post.

The Great Plan of Salvation

The great plan of salvation, synonymous in The Book of Mormon as "the plan of redemption," "the plan of mercy," "the plan of happiness," "the great plan of our God," (see Alma 42), involves more than merely hoping for someday "being in a better place." In the covenant relationship there is work involved on our part too. However, when one we love was incapable of doing the work required here, let us be assured that life continues beyond the veil.

I don't know how many times we heard, "He's in a better place now," in the final farewells to my brother Drew, but they were many. However, the scriptures are clear on this point regarding our works in the flesh when we depart from this life:

Now, concerning the state of the soul between death and the resurrection — Behold, it has been made known unto me by an angel, that the spirits of all men, as soon as they are departed from this mortal body, yea, the spirits of all men, whether they be good or evil, are taken home to that God who gave them life.
And then shall it come to pass, that the spirits of those who are 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.
And then shall it come to pass, that the spirits of the wicked, yea, who are evil — for behold, they have no part nor portion of the Spirit of the Lord; for behold, they chose evil works rather than good; therefore the spirit of the devil did enter into them, and take possession of their house — and these shall be cast out into outer darkness; there shall be weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth, and this because of their own iniquity, being led captive by the will of the devil.
Now this is the state of the souls of the wicked, yea, in darkness, and a state of awful, fearful looking for the fiery indignation of the wrath of God upon them; thus they remain in this state, as well as the righteous in paradise, until the time of their resurrection.
. . . there is a space between death and the resurrection of the body, and a state of the soul in happiness or in misery until the time which is appointed of God that the dead shall come forth, and be reunited, both soul and body, and be brought to stand before God, and be judged according to their works. (Alma 40:11-14; 21, emphasis mine).

In that merciful "space" we know as the spirit world there is agency, progression, repentance and continuation beyond the grave. A better place? Perhaps, but there is only hope commensurate with the desires of one's heart, and that's a piece of judgment that is hard for us to measure. I would bet most of us desire to do better than we do. We know better, but we are routinely subject to the desires of the "natural man," aren't we? (See Mosiah 3:19). Works can be seen, but desires of the heart are God's business, as the Lord makes clear in D&C 137:9: "For I, the Lord will judge all men according to their works, according to the desire of their hearts."

On one occasion some years ago, we joined together as a family and cast out some evil spirits who were still habitating a home. It was pretty obvious some dark happenings had occurred there, and when we cast them out one in the group asked, "Dad, when you cast out evil spirits where do they go?" It was a good question, and as I thought about it the answer seemed obvious. Lost and disembodied spirits whose tendencies were to do evil during their mortal probation could be invited to seek out the missionaries in the spirit world who have the fulness of the gospel to teach. Since then, that's what I've done -- invited the evil spirits to learn the gospel. I'm not certain what that would mean for unembodied spirits, but I suspect disembodied spirits who are looking for truth can be helped on the other side. For these reasons, I suspect the spirits of those who chose to do good are the missionaries and those who chose to do evil are the investigators. In order for that work to proceed in the spirit world, there is little doubt they would interact with each other.

President Lorenzo Snow

President Lorenzo Snow offered this bit of consolation and insight into the condition of the souls of our family members who may stray in this life:

"God has fulfilled his promises to us, and our prospects are grand and glorious. Yes, in the next life we will have our wives, and our sons and daughters. If we do not get them all at once, we will have them some time, for every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus is the Christ. You that are mourning about your children straying away will have your sons and your daughters. If you succeed in passing through these trials and afflictions and receive a resurrection, you will, by the power of the Priesthood, work and labor, as the Son of God has, until you get all your sons and daughters in the path of exaltation and glory. This is just as sure as that the sun rose this morning over yonder mountains. Therefore, mourn not because all your sons and daughters do not follow in the path that you have marked out to them, or give heed to your counsels. Inasmuch as we succeed in securing eternal glory, and stand as saviors, and as kings and priests to our God, we will save our posterity. . . . God will have His own way in His own time, and He will accomplish His purposes in the salvation of His sons and daughters. . . . God bless you, brethren and sisters. Do not be discouraged is the word I wish to pass to you; but remember that righteousness and joy in the Holy Ghost is what you and I have the privilege of possessing at all times." (Lorenzo Snow, General Conference address given 6 October 1893, as quoted in Collected Discourses, 4 vols., comp. Brian H. Stuy [Sandy, Ut.: BHS Publishing, 1987], 3:364-65, emphasis mine).

We have before us the teachings of Amulek, who reminds us the same spirit or disposition we have in this life will be with us in the world to come (see Alma 34:31-35). Continuing in an evil addicted course would make it incredibly difficult to change, especially when the body and spirit are separated at death. But I would ask is it impossible? Too often, I believe, we tend to deny another the opportunity to change, but we all know people who do change here. Why would they be unable to change hereafter in the spirit world?

President Joseph F. Smith

During the past couple of weeks, I've been thinking and pondering, praying and reading about President Joseph F. Smith's vision of the post-mortal spirit world. I've been imagining how "the chosen messengers went forth to declare the acceptable day of the Lord and proclaim liberty to the captives who were bound, even unto all who would repent of their sins and receive the gospel." I believe that word "all" is instructive.

Then I thought about this verse: "Thus was the gospel preached to those who had died in their sins, without a knowledge of the truth, or in transgression, having rejected the prophets." (D&C 138:31-32; emphasis mine). That's descriptive and non-restrictive.

This same principle is echoed in the words of President Wilford Woodruff: "I tell you when the prophets and apostles go to preach to those who are shut up in prison, thousands of them will there embrace the Gospel. They know more in that world than they do here." (Joseph F. Smith, "In the Presence of the Divine," as quoted in Messages of the First Presidency, 5:6-7; emphasis added).

I've thought about so many like Drew, weighed down by challenges and crosses, circumstances, injuries inflicted by others' abuse of agency, wrenching and difficult life situations that only God can see and comprehend. That is true of members of the Church as well as non-members without distinction. Our spectrum of knowledge of the true facts in people's lives is so limited. We see and smell with our senses what is obvious; the sweet aroma of cigarette smoke on someone's breath, drunken behavior, drug abuse and a thousand other behavioral shortcomings, but few if any of us know the back story.

Why does a person become addicted? Why do some reject the gospel? Why does a child rebel and stray from home? Can we discern accurately? Are we in a position to pass appropriate judgment and close the doors to future recovery and reconciliation? Any drug rehabilitation expert will tell you about the high recidivism rates among those they treat on this side of the veil. Could we hope for better results in the spirit world.?

I have been reconsidering my perspective over the years as I have witnessed the breakage in so many lives of good people. Based upon my personal observations and the word of scriptures and prophets, I believe when a person passes through the veil of death, one who has a sincere desire to rise above wickedness but was tormented by his sins in this life, they will see things differently and more accurately than they ever did here. All the impediments and challenges and crosses to bear that were beyond one's power to control — sexual abuse, drug addiction, neglect, immoral environment, false traditions of the fathers, etc. — all of it will dissolve. Then perhaps they shall, as President Woodruff suggested, see and feel things that they could not see and feel before. Remember, these spirits may be as old as this universe, (2.555 billion years, said Joseph), and to think our performance in this brief mortal probation is the only accurate data point in our eternal existence makes reason stare.

President Boyd K. Packer

President Boyd K. Packer offered this contemporary insight:

"It is a great challenge to raise a family in the darkening mists of our moral environment. We emphasize that the greatest work you will do will be within the walls of your home, (see Harold B. Lee, in CR, April 1973, 130) and that 'no other success can compensate for failure in the home.' (See David O. McKay, in CR, April 1935, 116). The measure of our success as parents, however, will not rest solely on how our children turn out. That judgment would be just only if we could raise our families in a perfectly moral environment, and that now is not possible.
"It is not uncommon for responsible parents to lose one of their children, for a time, to influences over which they have no control. They agonize over rebellious sons and daughters. They are puzzled over why they are so helpless when they have tried so hard to do what they should. It is my conviction that those wicked influences one day will be overruled. . . .
"We cannot overemphasize the value of temple marriage, the binding ties of the sealing ordinance, and the standards of worthiness required of them. When parents keep the covenants they have made at the altar of the temple, their children will be forever bound to them." (Boyd K. Packer, in CR, April 1992, 94-95).

While it is true Satan captures many prisoners these days in the battles for the souls of men, he will one day be overthrown and the captives will be set free. Jacob tells us about the ultimate victory:

Yea, I know that ye know that in the body he shall show himself unto those at Jerusalem, from whence we came; for it is expedient that it should be among them; for it behooveth the great Creator that he suffereth himself to become subject unto man in the flesh, and die for all men, that all men might become subject unto him.
For as death hath passed upon all men, to fulfil the merciful plan of the great Creator, there must needs be a power of resurrection, and the resurrection must needs come unto man by reason of the fall; and the fall came by reason of transgression; and because man became fallen they were cut off from the presence of the Lord.
Wherefore, it must needs be an infinite atonement — save it should be an infinite atonement this corruption could not put on incorruption. Wherefore, the first judgment which came upon man must needs have remained to an endless duration. And if so, this flesh must have laid down to rot and to crumble to its mother earth, to rise no more.
O the wisdom of God, his mercy and grace! For behold, if the flesh should rise no more our spirits must become subject to that angel who fell from before the presence of the Eternal God, and became the devil, to rise no more.
And our spirits must have become like unto him, and we become devils, angels to a devil, to be shut out from the presence of our God, and to remain with the father of lies, in misery, like unto himself; yea, to that being who beguiled our first parents, who transformeth himself nigh unto an angel of light, and stirreth up the children of men unto secret combinations of murder and all manner of secret works of darkness.
O how great the goodness of our God, who prepareth a way for our escape from the grasp of this awful monster; yea, that monster, death and hell, which I call the death of the body, and also the death of the spirit. (2 Nephi 9:5-10, emphasis mine).

Salvation, Exaltation, Eternal Life

Throughout the scriptures the various prophets have set forth repeatedly what it means to be "saved" and how men and women may qualify for exaltation or eternal life.

Joseph Smith

Joseph Smith taught:  "Salvation is nothing more nor less than to triumph over all our enemies and put them under our feet." (TPJS, 297).

He said on another occasion: "Salvation is for a man to be saved from all his enemies; for until a man can triumph over death, he is not saved. A knowledge of the priesthood alone will do this." (TPJS, 305).

In his Seventh Lecture on Faith, the Prophet Joseph taught:

"As all the visible creation is an effect of faith, so is salvation also — we mean salvation in its most extensive latitude of interpretation, whether it is temporal or spiritual. In order to have this subject clearly set before the mind, let us ask what situation must a person be in in order to be saved? or what is the difference between a saved man and one who is not saved? We answer, from what we have before seen of the heavenly worlds, they must be persons who can work by faith and who are able, by faith, to be ministering spirits to them who shall be heirs of salvation; and they must have faith to enable them to act in the presence of the Lord, otherwise they cannot be saved. And what constitutes the real difference between a saved person and one not saved is — the difference in the degree of their faith — one's faith has become perfect enough to lay hold upon eternal life, and the other's has not. But to be a little more particular, let us ask — Where shall we find a prototype into whose likeness we may be assimilated, in order that we may be made partakers of life and salvation? or, in other words, where shall we find a saved being? for if we can find a saved being, we may ascertain without much difficulty what all others must be in order to be saved. We think that it will not be a matter of dispute, that two beings who are unlike each other cannot both be saved; for whatever constitutes the salvation of one will constitute the salvation of every creature which will be saved; and if we find one saved being in all existence, we may see what all others must be, or else not be saved. We ask, then, where is the prototype? or where is the saved being? We conclude, as to the answer of this question, there will be no dispute among those who believe the bible, that it is Christ: all will agree in this, that he is the prototype or standard of salvation; or, in other words, that he is a saved being. And if we should continue our interrogation, and ask how it is that he is saved? the answer would be — because he is a just and holy being; and if he were anything different from what he is he would not be saved; for his salvation depends on his being precisely what he is and nothing else; for if it were possible for him to change, in the least degree, so sure he would fail of salvation and lose all his dominion, power, authority and glory, which constitute salvation; for salvation consists in the glory, authority, majesty, power and dominion which Jehovah possesses and in nothing else; and no being can possess it but himself or one like him. Thus says John, in his first epistle, third chapter, second and third verses: 'Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.' Why purify themselves as he is pure? Because if they do not they cannot be like him. . .

"These teachings of the Saviour most clearly show unto us the nature of salvation, and what he proposed unto the human family when he proposed to save them — that he proposed to make them like unto himself, and he was like the Father, the great prototype of all saved beings; and for any portion of the human family to be assimilated into their likeness is to be saved; and to be unlike them is to be destroyed; and on this hinge turns the door of salvation." (Lectures on Faith 7:9, 16, emphasis mine).

This is but one sample of the use of this word "salvation." In virtually all cases (there are only a few exceptions), salvation is synonymous with the words eternal life, exaltation, and eternal lives. Consider more examples:

In Alma 11:40, Amulek instructs: "And he shall come into the world to redeem his people; and he shall take upon him the transgressions of those who believe on his name; and these are they that shall have eternal life, and salvation cometh to none else." 

In D&C 6:13, we read: "If thou wilt do good, yea, and hold out faithful to the end, thou shalt be saved in the kingdom of God, which is the greatest of all the gifts of God; for there is no gift greater than the gift of salvation."

In D&C 14:7, this passage: "And, if you keep my commandments and endure to the end you shall have eternal life, which gift is the greatest of all the gifts of God."

If Joseph Smith meant to tell us something different than the precise usage of the words he used, he easily could have done it. Almost always, salvation and eternal life are equated; they are the same.

Elder Bruce R. McConkie

Elder Bruce R. McConkie stated:

"We are ofttimes prone to create artificial distinctions, to say that salvation means one thing and exaltation another, to suppose that salvation means to be resurrected, but that exaltation or eternal life is something in addition thereto. It is true that there are some passages of scripture that use salvation in a special and limited sense in order to give an overall perspective of the plan of salvation that we would not otherwise have. (2 Nephi 9:1-27; D&C 76:40-49; 132:15-17). These passages show the difference between general or universal salvation that consists of coming forth from the grave in immortality, and specific or individual salvation that consists of an inheritance in the celestial kingdom. All men will be resurrected and all men (except the sons of perdition) will thus be saved from death, hell, the devil, and endless torment. But only those who keep the commandments will "be raised [both] in immortality [and] unto eternal life." (D&C 29:43).

"Since it is the prophetic purpose to lead men to full salvation in the highest heaven of the celestial world, when they speak and write about salvation, almost without exception, they mean eternal life or exaltation. They use the terms salvation, exaltation, and eternal life as synonyms, as words that mean exactly the same thing without any difference, distinction, or variance whatever. Thus Amulek says that 'no unclean thing can inherit the kingdom of heaven,' and then asks: 'How can ye be saved, except ye inherit the kingdom of heaven?' He teaches that men 'cannot be saved' in their sins; that Christ will come to 'take upon him the transgression of those who believe on his name;' and that 'these are they that shall have eternal life, and salvation cometh to none else.' Having thus spoken of the salvation which the saints seek, he also says: 'The wicked remain as though there had been no redemption made, except it be the loosing of the bands of death,' meaning they shall come forth in immortality. (Alma 11:37-41). Thus all men — except the sons of perdition who are cast out into an eternal hell — are saved, in that they become immortal and go to a telestial or terrestrial inheritance, but only those who believe and obey become inheritors of that celestial rest which the whole body of revealed writ speaks of as salvation." (The Promised Messiah, 129).

As we recognize our fallen condition and humble ourselves, we claim the merits of Christ's perfection in our covenant relationship. The brother of Jared understood perfectly and speaks of his weaknesses in the flesh because of his fallen condition: "O Lord, thou hast said that we must be encompassed about by the floods. Now behold, O Lord, and do not be angry with thy servant because of his weakness before thee; for we know that thou art holy and dwellest in the heavens, and that we are unworthy before thee; because of the fall our natures have become evil continually; nevertheless, O Lord, thou hast given us a commandment that we must call upon thee, that from thee we may receive according to our desires." (Ether 3:2).

Aaron taught these truths to King Lamoni  in Alma 22:13-14: "And Aaron did expound unto him the scriptures from the creation of Adam, laying the fall of man before him, and their carnal state and also the plan of redemption, which was prepared from the foundation of the world, through Christ, for all whosoever would believe on his name. And since man had fallen he could not merit anything of himself; but the sufferings and death of Christ atone for their sins, through faith and repentance, and so forth; and that he breaketh the bands of death, that the grave shall have no victory, and that the sting of death should be swallowed up in the hopes of glory; and Aaron did expound all these things unto the king."

If The Book of Mormon is ever accused of being anything, it should be accused of being "The Book of Deliverance," preaching nothing but the merits of Christ's atonement and His mercy and patience.

Abinadi challenged the priests of wicked King Noah's court with the question about how salvation comes. He asked them was it by the law of Moses? And then answered his own question in Mosiah 13:27-28:  "And now ye have said that salvation cometh by the law of Moses. I say unto you that it is expedient that ye should keep the law of Moses as yet; but I say unto you, that the time shall come when it shall no more be expedient to keep the law of Moses. And moreover, I say unto you, that salvation doth not come by the law alone; and were it not for the atonement, which God himself shall make for the sins and iniquities of his people, that they must unavoidably perish, notwithstanding the law of Moses."

Elder Bruce R. McConkie offers this explanation: "Now let us suppose a modern case. Suppose we have the scriptures, the gospel, the priesthood, the Church, the ordinances, the organization, even the keys of the kingdom — everything that now is, down to the last jot and tittle — and yet there is no atonement of Christ. What then? Can we be saved? Will all our good works save us? Will we be rewarded for all our righteousness?
"Most assuredly we will not. We are not saved by works alone, no matter how good; we are saved because God sent his Son to shed his blood in Gethsemane and on Calvary that all through him might ransomed be. We are saved by the blood of Christ (Acts 20:28; 1 Corinthians 6:20).
"To paraphrase Abinadi: 'Salvation doth not come by the Church alone; and were it not for the atonement, given by the grace of God as a free gift, all men must unavoidably perish, and this notwithstanding the Church and all that appertains to it.'" (Sermons and Writings of Bruce R. McConkie, 76).

The Apostle Paul reminds us, "That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:
"In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:
"That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.
"In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
"Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory." (Ephesians 1:10-14, emphasis mine).

On occasions like Drew's funeral, we are reminded with a token down payment where we are transported momentarily and given a glimpse of the glories of eternity that lie ahead, that we are the "purchased possessions of Christ" when we claim Him as our Redeemer. Salvation is in Christ, which is eternal life and exaltation. There are few requirements beyond our best efforts to live the gospel, keep the commandments, repent when we don't, serve others and live so we may someday be comfortable in His presence. The truth is we are already in His presence, we just can't see Him (see D&C 38:7-8).

President Brigham Young

In the meantime, while we continue to toil here below, a word of counsel from Brigham Young in conclusion:

"It is present salvation and the present influence of the Holy Ghost that we need every day to keep us on saving ground. When an individual refuses to comply with the further requirements of Heaven, then the sins he had formerly committed return upon his head; his former righteousness departs from him, and is not accounted to him for righteousness: but if he had continued in righteousness and obedience to the requirements of heaven, he is saved all the time, through baptism, the laying on of hands, and obeying the commandments of the Lord and all that is required of him by the heavens — the living oracles. He is saved now, next week, next year, and continually, and is prepared for the celestial kingdom of God whenever the time comes for him to inherit it.
"I want present salvation. I preach, comparatively, but little about the eternities and Gods, and their wonderful works in eternity; and do not tell who first made them, nor how they were made; for I know nothing about that. Life is for us, and it is for us to receive it today, and not wait for the millennium. Let us take a course to be saved today, and, when evening comes, review the acts of the day, repent of our sins, if we have any to repent of, and say our prayers; then we can lie down and sleep in peace until the morning, arise with gratitude to God, commence the labours of another day, and strive to live the whole day to God and nobody else." (JD, 8:124-5).