Hartman Rector, Jr.
"Sometimes we make excuses for ourselves, when we do what we should not do or fall short of what we should have done. We use such expressions as, ’Oh! the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.‘ With such rationalizations we insinuate that it is completely our physical body’s fault that we sin. In my opinion, this is not true. I believe the physical body is a very strong part of us and is of great benefit to us. Among other reasons, it was given to us to help us overcome our addictions, bad habits, and evil desires. The body is very obedient; generally speaking, it will do exactly what the spirit tells it to do. So it is not the physical body that we are struggling with; it is the spirit we must bring into subjection.
“Sometimes we seem to get the idea that in the spirit world, we will be completely different individuals; we will suddenly undergo a miraculous change in our character when we die. But nothing could be further from the truth. We, our spirits, do not change at death; we are still the same. Amulek, a great Book of Mormon prophet, tells us plainly what the conditions in the spirit world will be.” (Conference Report, Oct. 1970, p. 73)
Elder Samuel O. Bennion
“I do not believe as many do that the grave is the great common leveler, but rather that as we live and journey through this life, so shall we begin on the other side; that we shall begin where we left off here.” (Conference Report, Apr. 1941, p. 32)
Harold B. Lee
“…we are our own judges of the place we shall have in the eternal world. Here and now in mortality, each one of us is having the opportunity of choosing the kind of laws we elect to obey. We are now living and obeying celestial laws that will make us candidates for celestial glory, or we are living terrestrial laws that will make us candidates for either terrestrial glory, or telestial law. The place we shall occupy in the eternal worlds will be determined by the obedience we yield to the laws of these various kingdoms during the time we have here in mortality upon the earth.” (Conference Report, Apr. 1947, p. 46)