My talk for the funeral

Faye Neff is my grandmother. I am grateful for this opportunity to speak at her funeral and remember her.

I am also grateful for the knowledge that the gospel gives us about the plan of salvation, sometimes called the plan of happiness. I love that--the plan of happiness…our Father wants us to have joy, both in this life and the next!

The plan of happiness consists of several key points:
*we lived in heaven in a premortal life
*we came to Earth to be tested and to gain a body
*Our Savior came to Earth to atone for our sins and to be resurrected.
*All of us will be resurrected, and we can also gain eternal life if we repent and are obedient.

First, the plan of salvation teaches us that we lived in heaven before we came to Earth. We lived with our Father in Heaven and we learned His plan. We knew our Father and our Savior. Heavenly Father’s plan for us was for us to come to earth, receive a body and be tested and tried. In Abraham 3:22-23 we read, “And we will aprove them herewith, to see if they will bdo all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them.”
We accepted His plan.

While on Earth, we can choose whether or not to follow our Savior, Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ lived a perfect life. He set an example for each of us. He suffered for our sins in the Garden of Gethsemane and then hung on the cross. Finally, he was resurrected. Through Christ’s Atonement, everyone will be resurrected. We can also gain eternal life. If we follow our Savior, keep the commandments and endure to the end, we will return and live with our Father in Heaven and our Savior forever. We will also be reunited with our family. This plan gives us peace when a family member or other loved one dies. I know that my grandma will be resurrected and that I will be able to see her after I die. I know that she has been reunited with her parents and siblings and others who have gone before her. It is so comforting to know what happens after death and to be reassured that death is not the end.

Elder L. Tom Perry said, QUOTE “Life on earth is of limited duration. There comes a time for all of us when the spirit and the body are separated in death. But because of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, we will all be resurrected, regardless of whether we have accomplished good or evil in this life. Immortality is the gift to every mortal child of our Father in Heaven. Death must be viewed as a portal to a new and better life. Through the glorious resurrection, body and spirit will be reunited. We will have a perfect, immortal body of flesh and bones that will never be subjected to pain or death. But the glory we attain to in the next life will depend on our performance in this life. Only through the gift of the Atonement and our obedience to the gospel can we return and live with God once again.” UNQUOTE


Perhaps the most comforting and most important part of the plan of salvation is the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Our Savior, Jesus Christ, the only Begotten son of the Father, not only suffered for our sins, but he took upon himself our sicknesses, our sorrows.
Alma 7: 11 And he shall go forth, suffering pains and aafflictions and btemptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will ctake upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people.

12 And he will take upon him adeath, that he may bloose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to csuccor his people according to their infirmities.

. Because he was the son of God and he was without sin, he was able to atone for our sins. Atone means literally “at one” or to make as one. Elder Russel M. Nelson said this,

QUOTE“With this background in mind, let us now ponder the deep meaning of the word atonement. In the English language, the components are at-one-ment, suggesting that a person is at one with another. Other languages 18 employ words that connote either expiation or reconciliation. Expiation means “to atone for.” ..Reconciliation, literally means “to sit again with.”

Rich meaning is found in study of the word atonement in the Semitic languages of Old Testament times. In Hebrew, the basic word for atonement is kaphar, a verb that means “to cover” or “to forgive.” 19 Closely related is the Aramaic and Arabic word kafat, meaning “a close embrace”—no doubt related to the Egyptian ritual embrace. References to that embrace are evident in the Book of Mormon. One states that “the Lord hath redeemed my soul … ; I have beheld his glory, and I am encircled about eternally in the arms of his love.” 20 Another proffers the glorious hope of our being “clasped in the arms of Jesus.” 21

I weep for joy when I contemplate the significance of it all. To be redeemed is to be atoned—received in the close embrace of God with an expression not only of His forgiveness, but of our oneness of heart and mind. What a privilege!” UNQUOTE

What a wonderful comfort and hope that gives us to know that we can be embraced by our loving Father and live with loved ones. However, in order to partake of the Atonement, we have a responsibility to repent. Unlike our Savior, none of us are perfect. All of us sin and make mistakes. We must repent and have a change of heart to enter into the kingdom of heaven. In addition, the Doctrine and Covenants tells us that in order to be forgiven of our sins, we must also forgive others.

64: 9 Wherefore, I say unto you, that ye ought to aforgive one another; for he that bforgiveth not his brother his trespasses standeth condemned before the Lord; for there remaineth in him the greater sin.

10 I, the Lord, will forgive whom I will forgive, but of you it is required to bforgive all men.

Forgiveness can be difficult when someone, a friend, family member or neighbor has hurt us. It is especially hard when that person should be one who loves us unconditionally, but it is only through forgiving others and repenting of our own sins, that we can access the atonement and we can be encircled in the arms of our Savior’s love.

Through this plan of salvation, through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, baptism into the church, repentance of our sins and forgiving others, we can be able to return to our Father in Heaven and our beloved Savior. We will be embraced by them, and we will live with our families forever. I bear testimony that each of us, including my grandma, are beloved children of God and that this is His plan for each of us.