In the discussion from Elder Oak's recent conference talk, Michelle Craig shared a quote that she had taken from a funeral for a young man that Elder Holland spoke at several years ago. I really loved the truths that it succinctly shares and wanted to have it written down!
“One of the benefits of attending a funeral is that we get a tremendous reminder that this world in not our home. And no one in this room ought to think that it is. Nobody came here to stay and nobody’s going to do so. We sometimes live and act like this is home, and everything we can accrue and everything we can accomplish in a material or temporal or even a civic way is the be all and end of all of life. Our mortal deeds and accomplishments are important . They’re valuable. The best of them are gifts form God and we have a wonderful world. It’s meant to be wonderful. But it is a wonderful way station and not a final destination. I will share the lessons that Ben left with me about how you get ready to move on. .what you spend your time doing, where you put your focus and how much you need to remember that this is the Telestial kingdom and not Celestial. He taught us that we ought to use the former to prepare for the latter. When it comes down to it, there aren’t many things you can take out of this world and a funeral is quick to remind us of that. As near as I can tell you take three things. Your character, including what you’ve learned and what you’ve done, who you have become. To build character is one of the purposes for which we are here. You can take the ordinances (covenants) of the gospel, and because of the ordinances, the third things we pray we can take and plan to take and want to take is our family. “
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