Cities and temples; palaces, walks, gardens
1. pre-earth
a. … they had formerly lived there for ages, that they had previously been acquainted with every nook and corner, with the palaces, walks, and gardens; (Brigham Young, BY22)
2. earth
3. spirit world
a. I found myself standing with my back to a large and beautiful lake, facing a great forest of trees. … There was no evidence of anyone living there, just those great, beautiful trees in front of me and the wonderful lake behind me. (George A. Smith, GAS2)
4. resurrection (celestial kingdom)
a. …trees with luscious fruit, shrubbery with gorgeously tinted leaves, and flowers in perfect bloom abounded everywhere. (David O. McKay, DOM10)
b. There (on the celestialized earth) will be ample room for the delightful pursuits of the agriculturist. He can have his pleasure grounds- his orchards of the most delicious fruits; his gardens decorated with the loveliest flowers; and still have land enough for the raising of the more staple articles, such as manna to eat, and flax for the making of fine robes (Orson Pratt, OP24)
c. He will construct His Temples in a great variety of ways, and by and by, when the more perfect order shall exist we shall construct them, through the aid of revelation, in accordance with the Temples that exist in yonder heaven (Orson Pratt, OP26)
d. … I beheld the celestial kingdom of God, and the glory … I saw the transcendent beauty of the gate through which the heirs of that kingdom will enter, which was like unto circling flames of fire; also the blazing throne of God, whereon was seated the Father and the Son. I saw the beautiful streets of that kingdom, which had the appearance of being paved with gold. (Joseph Smith, JS29)
e. I saw a few of the mansions in the Celestial Kingdom of God which were composed of beautiful stones and of materials that were as real as anything on earth, and that the best architects in heaven were employed in the construction of these buildings. (Wilford Woodruff, WW28)
Wisdom and Knowledge
1. pre-earth
a. our spirits, that once stood in the presence of God, clothed with power, capacities, wisdom, and knowledge, forget what they once knew– forget that which was once fresh in their minds. (Orson Pratt, OP29)
2. earth
a. As soon as our spirits were enclosed in this tabernacle all our former knowledge vanished away– the knowledge of our former acts was lost, …He begins to feed us little by little, the same as you would feed a weakly, sickly infant with food prepared and adapted to its taste… The Lord brings us in this state under similar circumstances, endowed with certain senses by which we can gain, by little and little, knowledge and information but it takes a long time to get a little into our minds. (Orson Pratt, OP29)
b. Our knowledge here is, comparatively speaking, nothing; it can hardly be reckoned the elements of knowledge. What few glimmering ideas, the wisest of us get, we obtain by experience, through the medium of our senses, and the reflecting powers of the mind. (Orson Pratt, OP31)
3. spirit world
a. But it will be a great while after you have passed through the veil [died] before you will have learned them (all the principles of exaltation). It is not all to be comprehended in this world; it will be a great work to learn our salvation and exaltation even beyond the grave. (Joseph Smith, JS40)
4. resurrection (celestial kingdom)
a. Such will be the case when this tabernacle is taken off; we shall look, not in one direction only, but in every direction. This will be calculated to give us new ideas, concerning the immensity of the creations of God… we shall have other sources of gaining knowledge, besides these inlets, called senses. (Orson Pratt, OP10)
b. Suppose that the spirit of man were unclogged from this mortal tabernacle, the Lord could show him the particles of millions on millions of worlds, in the same way (as Moses), and with the same ease that he showed Moses the particles of one. (Orson Pratt, OP19)
The Family unit
1. pre-earth
a. Man, as a spirit, was begotten and born of heavenly parents, and reared to maturity in the eternal mansions of the Father, prior to coming upon the earth (First Presidency, FP2)
b. … we were all born there (in the pre-earth existence) after the same manner that we are here, that is to say, every person that had an existence before he came here had a literal father and a literal mother, a personal father and a personal mother; hence the Apostle Paul, in speaking to the heathen at Ephesus, says, ‘We are his offspring.’ (Orson Pratt, OP22)
c. It (celestial marriage) is one of the greatest blessings that ever was conferred upon the human family. It is an eternal law which has always existed in other worlds as well as in this world. (John Taylor, JT20)
d. Before we were born, we lived in a family with our exalted and eternal Heavenly Father. (Henry B. Eyring, HBE3)
2. earth
a…. when we organize families according to the order that the Lord has revealed, we organize them in the temples. (Boyd K Packer, BKP15)
b. Do you begin to understand how these worlds get their inhabitants? Have you learned that the sons and daughters of God before me this day, are his offspring – made after his own image; that they are to multiply their species until they become innumerable? (Orson Pratt, OP5)
c. Zion is built of perfected family circles … all the organizations of the Church will be found to root in family activities … Every family is a kingdom, a nation, a government, within itself … (John A. Widtsoe, JAW4)
3. spirit world
a. Who are there besides the Latter-day Saints who contemplate the thought that beyond the grave we will continue in the family organization? the father, the mother, the children recognizing each other in the relations which they owe to each other and in which they stand to each other? (Joseph F. Smith, JFS39)
4. resurrection (celestial kingdom)
a. … the promises of celestial marriage, … the promises of the continuation of the family unit, … the promises of eternal life in our Father’s kingdom, which eternal life grows out of the continuation of the family unit. (Bruce R. McConkie, BRM15)
b. And whenever any man gains eternal life, which is exaltation, which is the continuation of the family unit in eternity… (Bruce R. McConkie, BRM20)
c. … They have eternal increase, a continuation of the seeds forever and ever, a continuation of the lives, eternal lives; that is, they have spirit children in the resurrection… (Bruce R. McConkie, BRM8)
d. When you come to the temple and receive your endowment, and kneel at the altar and be sealed, you can live an ordinary life and be an ordinary soul, … but always determined to keep your covenants … Then the day will come when you will receive the benediction: “Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou has been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things; enter thou into the joy of thy lord.” (Boyd K Packer, BKP11)
e. … it to say the vail is removed, and no matter how distant a redeemed world may be, it will be in the presence of God. (Orson Pratt, OP17)
f. … resurrected parents are the parents not of bodies of flesh and bones, but of spirits the same as we were before we cane and took these mortal bodies, that is, when we lived up in yonder world in the presence of our Father (Orson Pratt, OP23)
g. I learned that the highest dignity of womanhood was to stand as a queen and a priestess to her husband, and to reign for ever and ever as the queen mother of her numerous and still increasing offspring. (Parley P. Pratt, PPP16)
h. Every man (and woman) who reigns in celestial glory is a god to his dominions. … you have got to learn how to be gods yourselves, … To inherit the same power, the same glory and the same exaltation, until you arrive at the station of a god, and ascend the throne of eternal power, the same as those who have gone before. (Joseph Smith, JS25)
