1) those my dead ancestors who’ll want to kick my spirit butt for not getting around to their temple work.

2) the ancestors of people who join the church through the book-slinging and who remain faithful to do their folks’ temple work.

So maybe those other peoples’ ancestors will protect me from getting beaten up by my ancestors.

Back to what atheists might think…

That will have to be a big shock to atheists. I think it happens one of two ways. Just guessing here. One way would be to go to sleep (or go unconscious) here and then “wake up” on the other side. Or a second way might be to consciously pass through the veil and be mentally/spiritually aware of the transition, like walking through a waterfall, or going through the wormhole on the Star Gate TV show.

I think one of the unwritten thoughts that went through Alma Junior’s mind during his period of conversion while he was unconscious was: “Oh no! Dad was right!” (Personally, I think Alma Jr and his buds already had a testimony, and knew the church/gospel was true. You don’t get angelic visits until after you “know.” They were intentionally rebellious, sinning against the light, and were in big trouble because they were going against what they knew to be true. Therefore, the angelic visit didn’t prove/convince them of anything they didn’t already know. The visit just forced the issue of them dealing with the truth they already knew.)

Can you imagine the look on people’s faces if Spirit Missionaries in the Spirt World (at least those who serve people who die nowadays) wear business suits and black name-tags with the name of the church on it?

“Oh no! Not the Mormons!”

I wonder who make up the welcoming committees and who are in authority in the area of the spirit world or spirit prison where the non-believers, atheists and unrepentant go.

If a spirit is in a place and condition where he/she can hear the missionaries, is it obvious that the missionaries have authority or are telling the truth? Or do spirit missionaries (‘dead missionaries’ if you will) of various churches and religions get to go around saying “No, don’t believe them, believe us.”

Even before I saw the Southpark skit on the cruise director in hell, I often pictured the spirits of those who were non-believers in mortality asking someone in authority “so which religion was right, or the closest?” And the answer being, “Uhh, let’s see, during your lifetime it was ‘The Mormons.’”

Let’s remember that there were a lot less atheists in Western (Anglo and western european) societies in the 1800′s than there are today.

Today a lot of honest-in-heart people have been deceived by the craftiness of men. I believe that the initial shock of “Hmmm, so there is life after death” will in itself convert a lot of atheists almost immediately after death into believers in some higher power. The main question for them will be “Ok, so which religion or church was it?”

The time it takes them to convert and repent may depend on how much “competition” is allowed in the Spirit World.

I also wonder what will happen to lazy believers like me who haven’t submitted the names of known ancestors to have their temple work done. If I don’t get my paper files entered into the computer and submitted before I, er, “cross the veil”, I could imagine meeting up with some angry ancestors, who would want to kick my spirit butt for not getting their temple work done.

Unless someone has had a vision of the Spirit World and Spirit Prison, I don’t think we can assume much. I don’t know if Parley was speaking from his own visions or whether he was extrapolating the doctrines taught to him by Joseph Smith.