A Confusing Mormon Funeral

I recently attended the funeral of the husband of my wifes friend. He was a good man, but didn't care much for the Mormon church. In fact, he smoked like a chimney and drank beer like it was going out of style. I'll call him Mike.

For some reason that I'll never understand, he was given a Mormon funeral. His wife is Catholic and he, like I stated, didn't care much for the LDS religion. Yet he had a Mormon funeral in a Mormon meeting house.

LDS doctrine teaches that those who die without having received the gospel go to a place called "spirit prison" where they stay until someone teaches them the gospel and they accept it.

Have you ever been to a Mormon funeral where they preach that the deceased is "now in the spirit prison"? I haven't. In fact, the bishop presiding over this funeral stated how Mike was now in the loving arms of the saviour.

Um, actually, no. He's in prison. Is that another LDS doctrine that they are now trying to pretend never existed? Mike was basically an anti-Mormon; the arch-enemy of Jesus. So why do they make such conflicting statements at his funeral?

I don't understand how they could talk like the guy was sitting in heaven with Jesus when he was not a Mormon in this life, was a heavy smoker and drinker, and was even against the church. He had never been to the temple so he never learned the secret passwords and handshakes. Since you need them to get into heaven, how can they claim that he was now with Jesus?

I just don't get it. Are they admitting that their own gospel is just hot air? Or are they just idiots? Or are they trying to preach it up so that the non-members in the audience will feel warm and fuzzy?

Their statements at Mikes funeral about his current condition completely contradict everything they teach about what happens in the afterlife. He's not in the arms of Jesus; he's sitting in a spiritual jail cell.