Joseph F. Smith. If we can see, by
the enlightening influence of the Spirit of God and through the words that have
been spoken by the holy prophets of God, beyond the veil that separates us from
the spirit world, surely those who have passed beyond, can see more clearly through
the veil back here to us than it is possible for us to see to them from our
sphere of action. I believe we move and have our being in the presence of
heavenly messengers and of heavenly beings. We are not separated from them. We
begin to realize more and more fully, as we become acquainted with the
principles of the gospel, as they have been revealed anew in this dispensation,
that we are closely related to our kindred, to our ancestors, to our friends
and associates and co-laborers who have preceded us into the spirit world. We
cannot forget them; we do not cease to love them; we always hold them in our
hearts, in memory, and thus we are associated and united to them by ties that
we cannot break, that we cannot dissolve or free ourselves from. If this is the
case with us in our finite condition, surrounded by our mortal weaknesses,
shortsightedness, lack of inspiration and wisdom, from time to time, how much
more certain it is, and reasonable and consistent, to believe that those who
have been faithful, who have gone beyond, are still engaged in the work for the
salvation of the souls of men, in the opening of the prison doors to them that
are bound and proclaiming liberty to the captives, who can see us better than
we can see them-that they know us better than we know them. They have advanced;
we are advancing; we are growing as they have grown; we are reaching the goal
that they have attained unto; and therefore, I claim that we live in their
presence, they see us, they are solicitous for our welfare, they love us now
more than ever. For now they see the dangers that beset us; they can comprehend
better than ever before, the weaknesses that are liable to mislead us into dark
and forbidden paths. They see the temptations and the evils that beset us in life,
and the proneness of mortal beings to yield to temptation and to wrong doing;
hence their solicitude for us and their love for us and their desire for our
well being must be greater than that which we feel for ourselves (Joseph F.
Smith, Gospel Doctrine, 430).
Gordon B. Hinckley. To lose [a]
much-loved [family member] with whom one has long walked through sunshine
and shadow is absolutely devastating. There is a consuming loneliness which
increases in intensity. It painfully gnaws at one’s very soul. But
in the quiet of the night a silent whisper is heard that says, “All is
well. All is well.” And that voice from out of the unknown brings
peace, certainty, and unwavering assurance that death is not the end, that life
goes on, with work to do and victories to be gained. That voice quietly,
even unheard with mortal ears, brings the assurance that as surely as there has
been separation, there will be a joyful reuniting. And so with that firm
assurance you will go on. There will be days of loneliness and nights of
longing, but the sunlight of faith will shine again and the fires of love will
warm you (Gordon B. Hinckley, Funeral Service for Neal A. Maxwell, 27 July
2004).
Ella Jensen. I could see
people from the other world and hear the most delightful music and singing that
I ever heard. This singing lasted for six hours, during which time I was
preparing to leave this earth, and I could hear it all through the house. . .
.Everybody appeared to be perfectly happy. I was having a very pleasant visit
with each one that I knew. Finally. . .I opened a door and went into another
room filled with children. They were all arranged in perfect order, the
smallest ones first, then larger ones, according to age and size, the largest
ones in the back rows all around the room. They seemed to be convened in a sort
of Primary or Sunday School presided over by Aunt Eliza R. Snow. There were
hundreds of small children. . . .all dressed in white. . . .[I] sat and
listened to the Sunday School songs which they sang, being songs which are now
sung in Sunday Schools among us, and. . .was perfectly contented and happy. It
was a heavenly place. . . .[I] felt that [I] never wanted to leave it. . .
.Everyone appeared busy and very happy (Leroi C. Snow in “Raised From the Dead,”
Improvement Era, 32, September 1929, no pages given).
D&C 130:2. The same sociality
we experience here will continue in the spirit world, only it will be coupled
with glory.
Jedediah M. Grant. When in the spirit
world, I saw the order of righteous men and women; beheld them organized in
their several grades, and there appeared to be no obstruction to my vision; I
could see every man and woman in their grade and order. I looked to see whether
there was any disorder there, but there was none; neither could I see any death
nor any darkness, disorder or confusion." He said that the people he there
saw were organized in family capacities; and when he looked at them he saw
grade after grade and all were organized and in perfect harmony. . . .He saw
the righteous gathered together in the spirit world, and there were no wicked
spirits among them. He saw his wife; she was the first person that came to him.
He saw many that he knew, but did not have conversation with any except his
wife, Caroline. She came to him, and he said that she looked beautiful and had
their little child, that died on the Plains, in her arms, and said, "Mr.
Grant, here is little Margaret; you know that the wolves ate her up, but it did
not hurt her; here she is all right.". . . "To my astonishment,"
he said, "when I looked at families there was a deficiency in some, there
was a lack, for I saw families that would not be permitted to come and dwell
together, because they had not honored their calling here" (As reported by
Heber C. Kimball, (JD, 4:135-37).
Ezra Taft Benson. On the other side
of the veil, the righteous are taught their duties preparatory to the time when
they will return with the Son of Man to earth when He comes again, this time to
judge every man according to his works. These righteous spirits are close by
us. They are organized according to priesthood order in family organizations as
we are here; only there they exist in a more perfect order. This was revealed
to the Prophet Joseph (Teachings, 35-36).
Joseph F. Smith. Now, among
all these millions of spirits that have lived on the earth and have passed
away, from generation to generation, since the beginning of the world, without
the knowledge of the gospel–among them you may count that at least one-half are
women. Who is going to preach the gospel to the women? Who is going to carry
the testimony of Jesus Christ to the hearts of the women who have passed away
without a knowledge of the gospel? Well, to my mind, it is a simple
thing. These good sisters who have been set apart, ordained to the work, called
to it, authorized by the authority of the holy Priesthood to minister for their
sex, in the House of God for the living and for the dead, will be fully
authorized and empowered to preach the gospel and minister to the women while
the elders and prophets are preaching it to the men. . . .Some of you will
understand when I tell you that some of these good women who have passed beyond
have actually been anointed queens and priestesses unto God and unto their
husbands, to continue their work and to be the mothers of spirits in the world
to come. The world does not understand this-they cannot receive it-they do not
know what it means, and it is sometimes hard for those who ought to be
thoroughly imbued with the spirit of the gospel-even for some of us, to
comprehend, but it is true (Gospel Doctrine, 461).
Joseph F. Smith. The righteous
spirit that departs from this earth is assigned its place in the Paradise of
God; it has its privileges and honors which are in point of excellency, far
above and beyond human comprehension; and in this sphere of action, enjoying
this partial reward for its righteous conduct on the earth, it continues its
labors, and in this respect is very different from the state of the body from
which it is released. For while the body sleeps and decays, the spirit
receives a new birth; to it the portals of life are opened. It is born again
into the presence of God. . . .to enter a state of joy, glory and exaltation;
not a fulness of any one of them but to await the morning of the resurrection
of the just, to come forth from the grave to redeem the body, and to be
reunited with it and thus become a living soul, an immortal being, never more
to die (Gospel Doctrine, 440).
Harold B. Lee. To those who are
righteous, [the spirit world] will be a paradise. There they will rest from all
their earthly labors, and there shall be peace and harmony, joy and love, all
described by a great Book of Mormon prophet. But to those who die in their
wicked state, not having repented, the scriptures say the devil shall seal them
as his own (see Alma 34:35), which means that until they have paid the
uttermost farthing for what they have done, they shall not be redeemed from his
grasp. When they shall have been subjected to the buffetings of Satan
sufficient to have satisfied justice, then they shall be brought forth out of
the grasp of Satan and shall be assigned to that place in our Father's
celestial, terrestrial, or telestial world merited by their life here upon this
earth (Teachings, 59).
Joseph Fielding Smith. All spirits
of men after death return to the spirit world. There, as I understand it, the
righteous–meaning those who have been baptized and who have been faithful–are
gathered in one part and all the others in another part of the spirit world.
This seems to be true from the vision given to President Joseph F. Smith. . . .
The righteous may now go among the other spirits, and there the gospel is being
taught, but the spirits barred from the association of the righteous cannot go
where the righteous are. According to the story of Lazarus and the rich
man, there was a gulf which separated the righteous from the unrighteous (which
included all the spirits not baptized), and neither class could pass into the
other until the Savior bridged the gulf, so those holding the priesthood then
could cross over to teach the others (Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of
Salvation, 2.230).
Brigham Young. We have more
friends behind the veil than on this side, and they will hail us more joyfully
than you were ever welcomed by your parents and friends in this world; and you
will rejoice more when you meet them than you ever rejoiced to see a friend in
this life; and then we shall go on from step to step, from rejoicing to
rejoicing, and from one intelligence and power to another, our happiness
becoming more and more exquisite and sensible as we proceed in the words and
powers of life ( Brigham Young, Discourses, 379-80).
Melvin J. Ballard. You mothers
worry about your little children. We do not perform sealings for them. I lost a
son six years of age, and I saw him a man in the spirit world after his death,
and I saw how he had exercised his own freedom of choice and would obtain of
his own will and volition a companionship, and in due time to him, and all
those who are worthy of it, shall come all of the blessings and sealing
privileges of the house of the Lord (Sermons, 260)
Joseph Smith. The spirits
of the just are exalted to a greater and more glorious work; hence they are
blessed in their departure to the world of spirits. Enveloped in flaming fire,
they are not far from us, and know and understand our thoughts, feelings, and
motions, and are often pained therewith (Teachings, 326).
Joseph F. Smith. We are told by the
Prophet Joseph Smith, that "there are no angels who minister to this earth
but those who do belong or have belonged to it." Hence, when messengers
are sent to minister to the inhabitants of this earth, they are not strangers,
but from the ranks of our kindred, friends, and fellow-beings and
fellow-servants (Gospel Doctrine, 435).
