Aug 4, 2024

For This Purpose by Yongsung Kim

In Alma 40 and 41, Alma addressed some of the questions his son Corianton had about life after death, such as where our loved ones go and what they do between the time of their passing and the Resurrection. We may have similar questions. 

In September, my best friend passed away from complications from a heart transplant. During the two months between her surgery and death, I was able to spend time with her. She was a fighter and fought to live to the very end. However, when she found out she was going to die, she had incredible peace. She had great faith. She knew “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” (Alma 40:12).  She was ready, and she was not afraid. Her peace brought me peace; her surety brought me surety; and her confidence bolstered my confidence. 

Wilford Woodruff said, 

Death was a gloomy subject to me before I heard the gospel of Jesus Christ. It was sad to see the bodies of men and women laid away in the tomb. I did not know where they came from, why they were here, where they were going. It was taking, as it were, a leap in the dark. But, thank God, the blood of Christ has burst the bonds of death, given us power in the resurrection, and the gospel of Jesus Christ has pointed out to us the blessings, the glory and the privileges that we can enjoy in this world and in the world to come. Death has lost its gloom with me, with the Latter-day Saints.

I am so grateful for the knowledge I have of where my dear friend went and what she is doing there. It brings me so much joy to know that she is alive and I will see her again! Knowing that we live here and we continue to live there brings me great comfort, especially when I miss my friend so deeply every day. I am eternally grateful for a loving Savior who broke the bands of death for all of us!

Shauna graduated from Brigham Young University–Idaho in April 2022 with a bachelor’s degree in Marriage and Family. She has spent most of her life raising her four children and two foster daughters. She loves being a mother, and now a grandmother to three perfect preschoolers. She has a passion for marriage and family. She worked for the Wilford Woodruff Papers as an intern on the content team and was hooked. Now, she is ecstatic to continue working as the content manager. She loves the gospel and is thrilled to be a part of a project that will impact generations to come. Shauna loves hiking in the Pacific Northwest where she lives, reading, going on adventures with her husband and children, camping, and doing anything water related. She also has been an early morning seminary teacher the last seven years and loves teenagers.

The Wilford Woodruff Papers Foundation’s mission is to digitally preserve and publish Wilford Woodruff’s eyewitness account of the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ and make his records universally accessible in order to inspire all people, especially the rising generation, to study and to increase their faith in Jesus Christ. For more information, please explore wilfordwoodruffpapers.org.