This semester I have learned many things that have shifted my perspective on life. My Book of Revelation class has been more mind opening and perspective shifting than any other single force in my life. It tells of how dark, low, and filthy the world will become. Of how hard it will be to avoid the pitfalls that abound. Of how only those who remain faithful to the very end will survive the terror, and the glory that will be theirs. Reading section 76 of the D&C emphasized this whole idea. It illustrates with vivid detail the end result of the story played out in Revelation.

Section 76 is a major paradigm shift. So much is implied and so much is explained, it is hard to accept that all this can be real. After The Great Tribulation explained in Revelation, we will be rewarded beyond all we can believe. I believed that the Telestial Kingdom was just like the temporal earth. I was shocked to realize that the glory of even the Telestial Kingdom will be more than I know now.  Here the Holy Spirit will dwell throughout eternity. They receive the administering of angels and will be heirs of salvation. One direct quote is that “the glory of the Telestial… surpasses all understanding.” If that is the inheritance of “they who are thrust down to hell,” than what am I worthy of? What are my non-member friends worthy of?

Next, comes the Terrestrial Kingdom. Those who dwell eternally there will receive the glory of Christ. They will be denied His fullness, but those who “died without law” and “honorable men of the earth” will be with Jesus. I have family who left the church. They were moral and upright people, but they were no longer active members. Although I am not certain, since I don’t know how the judgment works, I would guess that this is where they will spend eternity. They will be in the presence of Christ, the Son, but not in the Father’s kingdom. It is so wonderful to know that good people, like some of my family and most of my friends, will receive a reward that is more than mortal minds can comprehend.

The final vision is of the Celestial Kingdom. I desperately want to be with Heavenly Father, but this is even more than that. D&C 76 describes those who dwell in the Celestial Kingdom as “after the order of Enoch… [who] shall dwell in the presence of God and his Christ forever and ever. [They are] come unto Mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly place, the holiest of all.” After reading this I turned to my reading for Revelation. In the final chapter, John states “And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him:” Without doubt, the Celestial Kingdom is incomprehensibly more amazing than I can possibly imagine or describe.

The idea of the Celestial, Terrestrial, and Telestial Kingdoms is something so well known to me, that I never expected to experience so much shock and insight from reading section 79. For the early saints it was a more radical shift, but even for me this was a whole new idea. I know that God wants me to come home. “Home” is so wonderful, so amazing, so truly awesome, that I will always be grateful for the simple fact that God is trying to help me come home.