Questions about heaven can generally be answered with “trust in the Lord. If you focus on preparing yourself for heaven everything will work out.”
What we know about the spiritual works from the scriptures is less than we often think.
It is apparently important that we be cognisant of the limits of what we know about eternity.
The doctrine of the gospel will be taught by all the prophets and apostles, not tucked away in an obscure paragraph in a single talk.
For all questions about the Spirit World President Oaks suggests two answers:
- God loves all His children and will do what is best for them.
- Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding.
I continue with an experience I heard from a valued associate, which I share with his permission. After the death of his beloved wife and the mother of his children, a father remarried. Some grown children strongly objected to the remarriage and sought the counsel of a close relative who was a respected Church leader. After hearing the reasons for their objections, which focused on conditions and relationships in the spirit world or in the kingdoms of glory that follow the Final Judgment, this leader said: “You are worried about the wrong things. You should be worried about whether you will get to those places. Concentrate on that. If you get there, all of it will be more wonderful than you can imagine.”
The more we focus on the details of eternal “what if”the easier it is to lose focus on our actions which determine our eternal state. Satan wants to distract us even more than he wants us to rebel (because it’s much easier and has massive negative effects).
What do we really know about conditions in the spirit world? I believe a BYU religion professor’s article on this subject had it right: “When we ask ourselves what we know about the spirit world from the standard works, the answer is ‘not as much as we often think.’”
Of course, we know from the scriptures that after our bodies die we continue to live as spirits in the spirit world. The scriptures also teach that this spirit world is divided between those who have been “righteous” or “just” during life and those who have been wicked. They also describe how some faithful spirits teach the gospel to those who have been wicked or rebellious. …
The work of salvation in the spirit world consists of freeing spirits from what the scriptures frequently describe as “bondage.” All in the spirit world are under some form of bondage. President Joseph F. Smith’s great revelation, canonized in section 138 of the Doctrine and Covenants, states that the righteous dead, who were in a state of “peace” as they anticipated the Resurrection, “had looked upon the long absence of their spirits from their bodies as a bondage.”
… Beyond these basics, our canon of scripture contains very little about the spirit world that follows death and precedes the Final Judgment.
The wise cautions of Elders D. Todd Christofferson and Neil L. Andersen in earlier general conference messages are important to remember. Elder Christofferson taught: “It should be remembered that not every statement made by a Church leader, past or present, necessarily constitutes doctrine. It is commonly understood in the Church that a statement made by one leader on a single occasion often represents a personal, though well-considered, opinion, not meant to be official or binding for the whole Church.”
In the following conference, Elder Andersen taught this principle: “The doctrine is taught by all 15 members of the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve. It is not hidden in an obscure paragraph of one talk.” The family proclamation, signed by all 15 prophets, seers, and revelators, is a wonderful illustration of that principle.
Beyond something as formal as the family proclamation, the prophetic teachings of the Presidents of the Church, affirmed by other prophets and apostles, are also an example of this.
For all questions about the spirit world, I suggest two answers. First, remember that God loves His children and will surely do what is best for each of us. Second, remember this familiar Bible teaching, which has been most helpful to me on a multitude of unanswered questions:
“Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
“In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths” (Proverbs 3:5–6).
We can all wonder privately about circumstances in the spirit world or even discuss these or other unanswered questions in family or other intimate settings. But let us not teach or use as official doctrine what does not meet the standards of official doctrine. To do so does not further the work of the Lord and may even discourage individuals from seeking their own comfort or edification through the personal revelation the Lord’s plan provides for each of us. Excessive reliance on personal teachings or speculations may even draw us aside from concentrating on learning and efforts that will further our understanding and help us go forward on the covenant path.
I think we underestimate the damage we can do when we reach as doctrine what is not doctrine and when we do not understand the difference between doctrine and considered opinion.
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