Question
Gramps,
If a person has a speech impediment (a lisp) on this side of the veil, will he/she still have that impediment on the other side, prior to being exalted?
Charles
Answer
Dear Charles,
While we have few teachings about the condition of spirits in the spirit world, we do have the following:
Alma 40:12 And then shall it come to pass, that the spirits of those who are righteous are received into a state of happiness, which is called paradise, a state of rest, a state of peace, where they shall rest from all their troubles and from all care, and sorrow.
I don’t think paradise could be described in this way if one were to retain ailments or other physical impediments. Brigham Young taught this as well:
When we pass into the spirit world we shall possess a measure of his power. Here, we are continually troubled with ills and ailments of various kinds. In the spirit world we are free from all this and enjoy life, glory, and intelligence; … (DBY, 380–81).
Also, speaking of the resurrection, Joseph F. Smith taught (emphasis mine):
Deformity will be removed; defects will be eliminated, and men and women shall attain to the perfection of their spirits, to the perfection that God designed in the beginning.
This reminds us that it was God who created our spirits, and he created them perfectly. Our bodies suffer because we live in a fallen world, but our spirits are not subject to the same sorts of weakness – only to sin, temptation, bad habits, and such.
Finally, in another response, I quoted then Elder Oaks who recounted how some have seen the spirits of departed loved ones and reported that those spirits appeared whole and in the prime of life.
I hope this gives you some measure of peace, Charles, that in the next life you (or your loved one) will not have to worry about speech impediments (and I won’t have to get new glasses every few years).
Gramps
