"This is not a Gospel of Angelhood."

I am embarrassed to admit that there are times that I feel frustrated on this mission for the Lord. Members and non-members alike are waist-deep in Babylon's quicksand, half-asleep, chasing the things of this world and putting the Kingdom of God last in their lives (if at all). They act terrified of using their faith in Jesus Christ because that would require effort of a different sort.

So, what is it we do as Missionaries? We invite others to come unto Christ.

Inviting others to come unto the Lord isn't a very complicated concept. These young Elders and Sisters are stunningly effective in their teaching! So it's quite possible to do…easily. So it seems.

Yes, all of us need to accept the Atonement and obey the  commandments in order to live eternally in the presence of the Father. With our families, and NOT as separate and single angels. As I heard The Apostle Bruce R. McConkie say in a Stake Conference years ago, "This is not a Gospel of Angelhood."

Sure, the need to come unto Christ to be forgiven of our sins is understandable. 

To enter the Highest degree of Glory in the Celestial Kingdom is certainly the stated goal of all converted Latter-day Saints. To be with our families, our wives or our husbands, and have the association of our children with their families, and our fathers and mothers…Eternally.

Easily stated. Then, on page 410 in APPROACHING ZION, that rascal, Dr. Hugh Nibley, says this:

Mormon doctrine presents the Latter-day Saints with a challenge: What will they be doing in eternity? Many find themselves stuck in a strange predicament. They imagine the eternal family as the typical young household with a number of little children that can never grow up. Yet many a patriarch had sons and grandsons whose ages surpassed his own; are they always to remain daddy's little men? So what will we do forever? The movie studio imagines something like an eternal family reunion held in the city park with everybody sitting or standing around in old-fashioned nightgowns in an exchange of insipid smiles and small talk. After twenty minutes of that, anyone would settle for inferno.

If the question of what we will be doing in eternity stumps us, it should. That's the whole point: if we knew the answer we'd have little enough to look forward to. The only way to know what fun lies ahead on the other side is to experience it, because, as Paul tells us, as long as we are here we can't even begin to imagine what any of it is like: "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of men" (1 Corinthians 2:9). No use trying to figure it out; you will just have to wait and see. And the gospel invites us to move toward the unknown.

Oh yes, I believe Nibley is messing with us here. To make us think about what we really want. And in the context of Missionary work,  to know why we would want others to come unto Christ.

While I cannot really imagine what it will be like to be Exalted, I know I don't want anything less. 

I do not want to be a separate and single…Ministering Angel. Or less.

May I invite you to come unto Christ?