An individual accounting to the Lord after our mortal lives was depicted by Jesus in His parable of the talents. The landowner spoke with each servant individually and received a report of what each accomplished in his absence. The language in verses 20, 22, and 24 suggests that the landowner didn’t require each servant to report to him in front of the rest or any other type of larger audience.

In the Parable of the Silver Pitcher, we can see another individual trust, the response to that trust over time, and the final accounting. Sandra represents any one of us, and her mother represents the Lord. The pitcher itself could be any of a number of things that He has entrusted us with, such as our physical bodies, our spirits, the earth, each other.

Circumstances in life can sometimes cause us to feel imprisoned, trapped—by the consequences of our choices, negative patterns of behavior, harmful relationships, bad health, injustices inflicted upon us, the holding of grudges. Ultimately, the stain of sin would cause our downfall and just transfer us from one prison to another. Said the prophet Jacob: “Wherefore, the first judgment which came upon man”—meaning our earthly condition of being estranged from God—”must needs have remained to an endless duration. And if so, this flesh must have laid down to rot and to crumble to its mother earth, to rise no more. … And our spirits must … be shut out from the presence of our God, and to remain with the father of lies, in misery, like unto himself” (2 Nephi 9:7, 9).

Enter the convict Bernhardt and his cellmate, Joshua (a not-so-subtle use of an equivalent name for Jesus).