"My friend just died. Where did she go?"

The other day we got to talk to a mother who's daughter had just lost a friend suddenly in a shooting.  Naturally her daughter had so many questions about death and the after-life, but she felt that she didn't have the answers. 

When we stopped by, she asked us the same questions and we discussed our thoughts on the subject.  We were able to share these scriptures from the Book of Mormon:

"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 the life." -Alma 40:11 (pg. 308)

"Ye cannot say, when ye are brought to that awful crisis, that I will repent, that I will return to my God.  Nay, ye cannot say this; for that same spirit which doth possess your bodies at the time that ye go out of this life, that same spirit will have power to possess your body in that eternal world." -Alma 34:34 (pg.295)

Across time our lives are paralleled  with those before and after us.  These verses are the response of a father to his questioning child and they have been revealed and recorded so that those who come after don't have to search in darkness without hope or comfort.

I know that the words of Alma are true.  There is a Spirit World that we will return to after this life where we are able to see God again.  I know that we will be the same person there as we are here with all of our memories, desires and personalities. 

Q:"My friend just died. Where did she go?"

A: She has gone back "home to that God who gave them life".