What Are The Mormons View of The Afterlife?

So many people believe that there is just heaven and hell. You either go one way or the other. If you go to heaven you sing happy songs, you live with God, you pick flowers...things like that. And if you go to hell you are tormented throughout all eternity. You are being whipped with chains by demons inside a boiling lake of lava, and you are being poked with pitchforks by horned people with the bottom half of a goat. Also what about the people who never got to hear about Jesus Christ and except him? Most churches say 'Well, that's sucks for them. They're still going to hell."

Well I'm hear to ask you this. Does that sound like a merciful God to you? In Nehemiah 9:31 it says, "...for thou art a gracious and merciful God."

The thing is it's not just heaven and hell. It's not just fire and brimstone or puppy dogs and flowers. Because if God was not merciful, then He would yet to be God.

But here is how life after death really is. You have the Spirit World, which consists of spirit paradise and spirit prison. Then you have judgment, where our Father in heaven will open your Book of Life and judge you based on the works you have done. Then after we are judged we will be placed into one of three places. The Telestial Kingdom, Terrestrial Kingdom, and the Celestial Kingdom.

Now let me explain a little about these kingdoms.

Telestial Kingdom- Are for those who continue in their sins and do not repent. They will receive a place in the telestial kingdom


Terrestrial Kingdom- Is for people who refuse to accept the gospel of Jesus Christ but who live honorable lives. They will receive a place in the terrestrial kingdom.

Celestial Kingdom- Our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ reside in the celestial kingdom. If you live according to the gospel of Jesus Christ and are cleansed from sin by the Atonement, you will receive a place in this, the highest kingdom. You will live in God’s presence and know complete joy.

Now I don't know about you but I want to to the the Celestial one. But even if we have been placed into one of the other two kingdoms we will still know happiness and joy. Because we will be comfortable where we have been placed. Look at it this way. How would you feel living next door to God knowing all of the bad things you've done in your life. I know I would feel extremely uncomfortable. So this is why he has given us these three kingdoms. To be happy within our own surroundings. I mean bikers hang out at biker bars because they like the atmosphere, and they like the people they are with. Well if you are someone who hates bars and hates bikers you wouldn't be comfortable there now would you?

Now some of you are thinking, "Well what about hell? What about damnation?". Well I'll tell you. Do you know what the definition of 'Dam' is?  It means to hold back or to obstruct something. Meaning, to stop progression. By being placed into either the 'Telestial Kingdom' or the 'Terrestrial Kingdom' you will be damned. You will stop progression towards God. In the Celestial Kingdom though, that is where we will be able to learn and to progress to become more like our Father in heaven. 

So now that I've explained the Three Kingdoms, let me get to the Spirit World. Now I like to think of the Spirit World as a kind of place that is sectioned into two parts. Spirit Paradise and Spirit Prison. In my personal opinion there will be no physical boundary between Prison and Paradise. But it will be a Prison and a Paradise within ones self. If you have lived a good and and honorable life and you feel like you have done well on earth, you will be in a personal state of Paradise. But if you lived a horrible, evil, rotten life. You will be in a personal state of Prison.

Remember earlier when I was talk about people who never got the chance to hear or even learn about 

Christ? Well maybe you're wondering what happens to them. Those people get the chance in the Spirit World to learn about Jesus Christ. They also get the chance whether to accept Him or not. When the time of judgement has come, no one will say "Well I've never heard of this Jesus guy."Everyone will get the opportunity to hear His name and learn about Him. 

Now from what I have written, does this sound like a fair and merciful God to you? I believe it is. Because a

merciful God is one who loves continually. A merciful God doesn't condemn people to hell for trying to strive to be good, and yet falling short. He has given us these three kingdoms for our happiness. This plan that he has for us has two names. One is the Plan of Salvation, the other is the Plan of Happiness. "Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy." (2 Nephi 2:25)

Why Do Mormon Churches Have Steeples?

So quite recently my companion and I had this question raised to us. To be honest it caught us a bit off guard. We were in a lesson when the question arose. The lady we were teaching asked us "Do you know why Mormon Churches have steeples?" My companion and I looked at each other dumbfounded and confused. But luckily the person we brought to the lesson with us spoke up and asked her, "Why do you think the churches has steeples?" Her response was, "So that when God and His Angels come during the Second Coming they will be impaled and die." We weren't trying to be rude but we all laughed a bit at the answer. Afterwards we explained why we had steeples on churches. Below is the actual reason why steeples exist on church buildings.

Hundreds if not thousands of years ago people used to tell time by sundials, but depending on where you

were located (even if 10 minutes away) the time could be significantly different. The only time you could truly tell what time is was is sunrise and sunset. So those where the only times when church members would worship. Back when Constantine had made Christianity the state religion, the people wanted to start worshiping during the day. So the idea of a steeple was created! Can you guess what was in them? BELLS!!! The steeples were created so that they could store bells. When it was time for church the pastor, minister, bishop, or whomever would ring the bell, signaling to the people what it was time for church. And this went on until the early 19th century. During the early 19th century we began to carry watches on our person so that we all could tell what time it was. Bells were no longer required to tell the people what time church started. Gradually over time the steeples became decorative.

To the LDS people steeples are yes decorative, but as well they have a meaning behind them. We believe that the steeple symbolizes our connection to Heavenly Father. In fact they point straight upward reminding us of who's children we are and where we can one day live again!