The Pearl of Great Price — with only 61 pages — contains some of the most hopeful teachings of the Lord about life and death. The late Elder LeGrand Richards of the Quorum of the Twelve spoke during October 1974 general conference about finding comfort and hope these these teachings.

Elder Richards spoke of the heartache he and his wife felt at the death of a young daughter. "When I think of this little one that we laid away when she was 3 1/2 years old, I thank God I have the faith to believe that God reigns in the heavens above and in the earth beneath and that this little one will ultimately enter into her glory and be equal to any of her four sisters who have tarried here upon this earth and raised their families.

"I think of the statement of Moses as recorded in the Pearl of Great Price: 'For behold, this is my work and my glory — to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.' (Moses 1:39.) I wonder sometimes if we ever stop to analyze that statement. I think we can understand what 'to bring to pass immortality' is, that we will never die after we come forth in the resurrection. . . .

"But what about eternal life? As I interpret this, I find in it the feeling that all that God has ultimately planned for His children who are faithful and true shall come to them in His own due time.

"We read in the Book of Mormon that we are not all born at the same time (and that doesn't matter) and that we don't all die at the same time. (See Alma 40:8.) I think of the words of Abraham when he saw the placing of the spirits here upon this earth, that the Lord would prove them to see if they would do all things whatsoever He had commanded them. Then He adds: 'And they who keep their first estate shall be added upon.' (Abraham 3:26.) That was in the spirit life before we came to mortality. 'They who keep their second estate shall have glory added upon their heads for ever and ever.' (Also verse 26.) This little girl of ours kept her second estate as far as she could at her age."

Continuing, Elder Richards said: "There will never be a time when God will cease to do His work to bring to pass, as we read in the Pearl of Great Price, the glory that will be added upon their heads forever and ever.

"If God started to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man and did not provide an opportunity to complete the program, He would be like the builder who starts to build and then is not able to finish."