President Russell M. Nelson on the necessary process of death

President Russell M. Nelson (born Sept 9, 1924) was an internationally-renowned heart surgeon when he was called to serve as a member of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles in 1984. He became president of that quorum on July 15, 2015. Following the death of President Monson, he was set apart as president of the Church on January 14, 2018.

"Anyone who studies the workings of the human body has surely 'seen God moving in his majesty and power' (D&C 88:47). Because the body is governed by divine law, any healing comes by obedience to the law upon which that blessing is predicated. (See D&C 130:21) ...

"If the body’s capacity for normal function, defense, repair, regulation, and regeneration were to prevail without limit, life here would continue in perpetuity. Yes, we would be stranded here on earth! Mercifully for us, our Creator provided for aging and other processes that would ultimately result in our physical death. Death, like birth, is part of life. Scripture teaches that 'it was not expedient that man should be reclaimed from this temporal death, for that would destroy the great plan of happiness' (Alma 42:8). To return to God through the gateway we call death is a joy for those who love Him and are prepared to meet Him. Eventually the time will come when each 'spirit and ... body shall be reunited again in ... perfect form; both limb and joint shall be restored to its proper frame' (Alma 11:43), never to be separated again. For these physical gifts, thanks be to God!"

- Russell M. Nelson, "Thanks Be to God," General Conference April 2012
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President Nelson is particularly qualified to testify of God's miraculous creation in the human body, having studied it so thoroughly as part of his professional career. As a man of deep faith, he truly sees a witness of God's hand in the intricacy of creation, and can testify of the miraculous inherent power in the body to heal and recover—as well as the power of the Priesthood to aid in that process.

However, he also understands God's eternal plan for His children well enough to know that our bodies are designed to eventually fail in mortality:

What a fascinating concept: God's plan for His children would not leave them "stranded here on earth" when there is eternal progress to be considered! We must pass on to the next stage of our eternal existence in order to achieve the fulness of our potential.

Though we sometimes struggle to comprehend the timing of that transition, there is no question that it is ultimately necessary. And as President Nelson testifies, we are assured that the separation of body and spirit, like the separation of us from loved ones who pass on ahead, is temporary in God's eternal plan!

(Compilation and commentary by David Kenison, Orem, Utah, 2019)