Where is the Spirit World?

[DrumNFeather]

Clearly, one of the mystries of the church going faithful (regardless of faith) is the age old question...where are we going?

Now, understanding of course that different religions have differing views on where we are all ultimately headed, my question is where do we head immediately upon our death?

A couple of thoughts:

1. I'm not completely familiar with this whole concept and what our church believes which is, in part, why I am asking the question, but I know that some have theorized that the spirit world is right here on earth, and that when we die, especially if we're mormon, we're likely to be put to work doing missionary work in the after life making the work done for the dead in temples necessary and worth while.

2. If the spirit world is in fact located here on earth, how aware are they of us? As creepy (or loony) as it may sound, are they watching us? Do our friends or relatives who've passed on see every good and bad decision we make? Or, are they too busy in the next part of their progression to worry about unimportant happenings on earth.

3. I know that the concept of "spirit prison" has been thrown out there, and I know that other faiths, (Catholicism for one) believe in a state of purgatory, where everyone is sitting around and waiting for the end of the world...essentially and the final judgement.

On a personal note, I had an Aunt die 5 years ago this past December. In the months following her unexpected death, my uncle recalled dreams wherein she would come to him and one of the things she told him was that things were very busy on the other side and that they were all very busy preparing for something big...of course, not too long after, 9-11 happened. Now, I only share this story as...I don't know if evidence is the right word, but as an example of their awareness of us and possible explanation of where the spirit world is.

Depending on what some of you think, I may have a follow up question regarding temples and their place in all of this, but I'm not sure how appropriate it is so I'll hold off.

So the question again is...what do you know or have you read about the location and nature of the Spirit World?

[Alkili]

We rent out our grandpa's basement, and about a year ago one of the renters told us this story, I'll call her Amy.

Amy woke up in the middle of the night feeling like she was being watched. The feeling wouldn't go away so she woke up her husband and made him search the entire apartment to look for an intruder. They laid down again and she was just about asleep when she felt the same feeling of being watched. This time she decided to pray, and as she was praying she said that a feeling of peace came over her and she didn't hear a voice but just kind of new that "Susan's grandpa was just checking on the renters".

I've always felt that the spirit world was right here, I have had multiple experiences with it but I only feel comfortable sharing one of them on this forum.

I was about 13-14 years old and my dad told me to put my bike away (which basically means I have to walk around the house from the front to the back.)

I took my bike and started walking around to the back when I looked up and saw this guy standing there. He was about 50 yards away in a field next to our house. I just froze and stood there for what seemed like 2 minutes (I'm sure it was much shorter then that). I dropped the bike and ran inside.

He looked like a normal person except that it was dark and I could see him like it was light out side. It wasn't like he was glowing, I could just see him when he should have been in shadows.

I still have a difficult time walking over by that side of the house at night, I can never decide whether I want to look to see if someone is there or if I just want to run by really quickly.

I think there is a similar vail for them where they can't always see us unless they get permission or something.

[creekster]

In the RS/Priesthood manual for Brigham Young it quotes him extensively on this subject. He says it is, in effect, irght here with us. Yup, they're possibly watching, which I don't like to think too much about.

[DrumNFeather]

Originally Posted by creekster

In the RS/Priesthood manual for Brigham Young it quotes him extensively on this subject. He says it is, in effect, irght here with us. Yup, they're possibly watching, which I don't like to think too much about.

Do you have a Page # for that off the top of your head?

[All-American]

The Spirit World

WHERE IS THE SPIRIT WORLD?

When you lay down this tabernacle, where are you going? Into the spiritual world Â… Where is the spirit world? It is right here. Do the good and evil spirits go together? Yes, they do. Do they both inhabit one kingdom? Yes, they do. Do they go to the sun? No. Do they go beyond the boundaries of the organized earth? No, they do not. They are brought forth upon this earth, for the express purpose of inhabiting it to all eternity. Where else are you going? No where else, only as you may be permitted.

-Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses 3:369, June 22, 1856

Is the spirit world here? It is not beyond the sun, but is on this earth that was organized for the people that have lived and that do and will live upon it No other people can have it, and we can have no other kingdom until we are prepared to inhabit this eternally.

-Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses 3:372, June 22, 1856

It reads that the spirit goes to God who gave it. Let me render this Scripture a little plainer; when the spirits leave their bodies they are in the presence of our Father and God; they are prepared then to see, hear and understand spiritual things. But where is the spirit world? It is incorporated within this celestial system. Gan you see it with your natural eyes? No. Can you see spirits in this room? No. Suppose the Lord should touch your eyes that bodies with your you might see, could you then see the spirits? Yes, as plainly as you now see bodies, as did the servant of Elijah. If the Lord would permit it, and it was His will that it should be done, you could see the spirits that have departed from this world as plainly as you now see natural eyes.

-Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses 3:368, June 22, 1856

27WHAT BEINGS EXIST IN THE SPIRIT WORLD?

The righteous and the wicked all go to the same world of spirits until the resurrection Â… 27

The great misery of departed spirits in the world of spirits, where they go after death, is to know that they came short of the glory that others enjoy and that they might have enjoyed themselves, and they are their own accusers.

-Joseph Smith, Jr., Documentary History of the Church 5:425, June 11, 1843

There is a place called "Paradise," to which the spirits of the dead go, awaiting the resurrection, and their reunion with the body Â… This Paradise, however, is not the place for resurrected bodies, but for departed spirits.

-John Taylor, The Government of God-John Taylor, p. 39, Published August, 1852

No spirit of Saint or sinner, of the Prophet or him that kills the Prophet, is prepared for their final state: all pass through the veil from this state and go into the world of spirits; and there they dwell, waiting for their final destiny.

-Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses 6:294, August 15, 1852

The spirits of all men, as soon as they depart from this mortal body, whether they are good or evil Â… are taken home to that God who gave them life, where there is a separation, a partial judgment, and the spirits of those who are righteous are received into a state of happiness which is called Paradise, a state of rest, a state of peace, where they expand in wisdom, where they have respite from all their troubles, and where care and sorrow do not annoy. The wicked, on the contrary, have no part nor portion in the Spirit of the Lord, and they are cast into outer darkness, being led captive, because of their own iniquity, by the evil one. And in this space between death and the resurrection of the body, the two classes of souls remain, in happiness or in misery, until the time which is appointed of God that the dead shah come forth and be reunited, both soul and body, and be brought to stand before God, and be judged according to their works. This is the final judgment.

-Joseph F. Smith, Improvement Era 7:621-622, June, 1904

Flesh and blood cannot go there [the spirit world]; but flesh and bones, quickened by the Spirit of God, can.

-Joseph Smith, Jr., Documentary History of the Church 6:52, October 9, 1848

The spirits in the eternal world are like the spirits in this world. When those who have come into this world and received 28 tabernacles, then died and again have risen and received glorified bodies, they will have an ascendency over the spirits who have received no bodies, or kept not their first estate, like the devil.

-Joseph Smith, Jr., Documentary History of the Church 5:403, May 21, 1843

THE TRANSITION FROM DEATH INTO THE SPIRIT WORLD

We shall turn round and look upon it (the valley of death) and think, when we have crossed it, why this is the greatest advantage of my whole existence, for I have passed from a state of sorrow, grief, mourning, woe, misery, pain, anguish and disappointment into a state of existence, where I can enjoy life to the fullest extent as far as that can be done without a body. My spirit is set free, I thirst no more, I want to sleep no more, I hunger no more, I tire no more, I run, I walk, I labor, I go, I come, I do this, I do that, whatever is required of me, nothing like pain or weariness, I am full of life, full of vigor, and I enjoy the presence of my Heavenly Father, by the power of His SpiritÂ… The spirits of the living that depart this life go into the world of spirits, and if the Lord withdraws the veil it is much easier for us then to behold the face of our Father who is in heaven than when we are clothed upon with this mortality.

-Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses 17:142, July 19, 1874

I cannot help but think that in every death there is a birth; the spirit leaves the body dead to us and passes to the other side of the veil alive to that great and noble company that are also working for the accomplishment of the purposes of God, in the redemption and salvation of a fallen world.

-Wilford Woodruff, Journal of Discourses 22:348, January 29, 1882

Whether the spirit remains in the body a minute, an hour, a day, a year, or lives there until the body has reached a good old age, it is certain that the time will come when they [the spirit and the body] will be separated, and the body, will return to mother earth, there to sleep upon that motherÂ’s bosom. That is all there is about death.

-Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses 17:143, July 19, 1874 29

CONDITIONS OF THE SPIRIT WORLD

The brightness and glory of the next apartment is inexpressible. It is not encumbered Â… so that when we advance in years we have to be stubbing along and be careful lest we fall down. We see our youth, even, frequently stubbing their toes and falling down. But yonder, how different! They move with ease and like lightning. If we want to visit Jerusalem, or this, that, or the other place-and I presume we will be permitted if we desire-there we are, looking at its streets. If we want to behold Jerusalem as it was in the days of the Savior; or if we want to see the Garden of Eden as it was when created, there we are, and we see it as it existed spiritually, for it was created first spiritually and then temporally, and spiritually it still remains. And when there we may behold the earth as at the dawn of creation, or we may visit any city we please that exists upon its surface. If we wish to understand how they are living here on these western islands, or in China, we are there; in fact, we are like the light of the morningÂ…

Here, we are continually troubled with ills and ailments of various kinds, Â… but in the spirit world we are free from all this and enjoy life, glory, and intelligence; and we have the Father to speak to us, Jesus to speak to us, and angels to speak to us, and we shall enjoy the society of the just and the pure who are in the spirit world until the resurrection.

-Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses 14:231, September 16, 1871

If we are faithful to our religion when we go into the spirit world, the fallen spirits-Lucifer and the third part of the heavenly hosts that came with him, and the spirits of wicked men who have dwelt upon this earth, the whole of them combined will have no influence over our spirits. Is not that an advantage? Yes. All the rest of the children of men are more or less subject to them, and they are subject to them as they were while here in the flesh.

-Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses 7:240, September 1, 1859

Suppose that a man is evil in his heart-wholly given up to wickedness and in that condition dies, his spirit will enter the spirit world intent upon evil. On the other hand, if we are striving with all the powers and faculties God has given us to improve upon our talents, to prepare ourselves to dwell in eternal 30 life, and the grave receives our bodies while we are thus engaged, with what disposition will our spirits enter their next state? They will be still striving to do the things of God, only in a much greater degree-learning, increasing, growing in grace and in the knowledge of the truth.

-Brigham Young Journal of Discourses 7:333, October 8, 1859

Some people dream, you know, and think and teach that all the glory they ever expect to have in the world to come is to sit in the light and glory of the Son of God and sing praises and songs of joy and gratitude all their immortal lives. We do not believe in any such thing. We believe that every man will have his work to do in the other world, just as surely as he had it to do here, and a greater work than he can do here. We believe that we are on the road of advancement, of development in knowledge, in understanding, and in every good thing, and that we will continue to grow, advance and develop throughout the eternities that are before us.

-Joseph F. Smith, Conference Reports, p. 8, April, 1912

If the veil could be taken from our eyes and we could see into the spirit world, we would see that Joseph Smith, Brigham Young and John Taylor had gathered together every spirit that ever dwelt in the flesh in this Church since its organization. We would also see the faithful apostles and elders of the Nephites who dwelt in the flesh in the days of Jesus Christ. In that assembly we would also see Isaiah and every prophet and apostle that ever prophesied of the great work of the Lord. In the midst of those spirits we would see the Son of God, the Savior, who presides and guides and controls the preparing of the kingdom of God on the earth and in heavenÂ… The Son of God stands in the midst of that body of celestial spirits and teaches them their duties concerning the day in which we live and instructs them what they must do to prepare and qualify themselves to go with Him to the earth when He comes to judge every man according to the deeds done in the body.

-Wilford Woodruff, “The Vision" by Lundwall, p. 96, April 7, 1893

Spirits are just as familiar with spirits as bodies are with bodies, though spirits are composed of matter so refined as not to be tangible to this coarser organization.

-Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses 3:371-372, June 22, 1856 31

You may ask if they are baptized there? No. Can they have hands laid upon them for the gift of the Holy Ghost? No. None of the outward ordinances that pertain to the flesh are administered there, but the light, glory, and power of the Holy Ghost are enjoyed just as freely as upon this earth; and there are laws which govern and control the spirit world, and to which they are subject.

-Brigham Young Journal of Discourses 2:138, December 3, 1854

SPIRIT BEINGS WATCH OVER MORTALS

Our fathers and mothers, brothers, sisters and friends who have passed away from this earth, having been faithful and worthy to enjoy these rights and privileges, may have a mission given them to visit their relatives and friends upon the earth again, bringing from the divine Presence messages of love, of warning, of reproof and instruction to those whom they had learned to love in the flesh.

-Joseph F. Smith, Journal of Discourses 22:351, January 29, 1882

Spirits can only be revealed in flaming fire or glory. Angels have advanced further, their light and glory being tabernacled; and hence they appear in bodily shape.

-Joseph Smith, Jr., Documentary History of the Church 6:51, October 9, 1843

I believe that those who have been chosen in this dispensation and in former dispensations, to lay the foundation of God's work in the midst of the children of men, for their salvation and exaltation, will not be deprived in the spirit world from looking down upon the results of their own labors, efforts and mission assigned them by the wisdom and purpose of God, to help to redeem and to reclaim the children of the Father from their sins. So I feel quite confident that the eye of Joseph, the Prophet, and of the martyrs of this dispensation, and of Brigham, and John, and Wilford, and those faithful men who were associated with them in their ministry upon the earth, are carefully guarding the interests of the kingdom of God in which they labored and for which they strove during their mortal lives. I believe they are as deeply interested in our welfare today, if not with greater capacity, with far more interest, behind the veil, than they were in the fleshÂ… they see us, they are solicitous for our welfare, they love us now more than ever.

-Joseph F. Smith, Conference Reports, p. 2-3, April, 1916 32

The spirits of the just are Â… 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.

-Joseph Smith, Jr., Documentary History of the Church 6:52, October 9, 1843

THE VISION OF THE REDEMPTION OF THE DEAD

As I pondered over these things which are written (1 Pet. 3:18-20; 1 Pet. 4:6) the eyes of my understanding were opened, and the Spirit of the Lord rested upon me, and I saw the hosts of the dead, both small and great. And there were gathered together in one place an innumerable company of the spirits of the just, who had been faithful in the testimony of Jesus while they lived in mortality, and who had offered sacrifice in the similitude of the great sacrifice of the Son of God, and had suffered tribulation in their Redeemer's name. All these had departed the mortal life, firm in the hope of a glorious resurrection, through the grace of God the Father and His Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ.

I beheld that they were filled with joy and gladness, and were rejoicing together because the day of their deliverance was at hand. They were assembled awaiting the advent of the Son of God into the spirit world, to declare their redemption from the bands of death. Their sleeping dust was to be restored unto its perfect frame, bone to his bone, and the sinews and the flesh upon them, the spirit and the body to be united never again to be divided, that they might receive a fullness of joy.

While this vast multitude waited and conversed, rejoicing in the hour of their deliverance from the chains of death, the Son of God appeared, declaring liberty to the captives who had been faithful, and there He preached to them the everlasting gospel, the doctrine of the resurrection and the redemption of mankind from the fall, and from individual sins on conditions of repentance. But unto the wicked He did not go, and among the ungodly and the unrepentant who had defiled themselves while in the flesh, His voice was not raised, neither did the rebellious who rejected the testimonies and the warnings of the ancient prophets behold His presence, nor look upon His face. Where these were, darkness reigned, but among the righteous there was peace, and the Saints rejoiced in their redemption, and 33 bowed the knee and acknowledged the Son of God as their Redeemer and Deliverer from death and the chains of hell. Their countenances shone and the radiance from the presence of the Lord rested upon them and they sang praises unto His Holy Name.

I marveled, for I understood that the Savior spent about three years in His ministry among the Jews and those of the House of Israel, endeavoring to teach them the everlasting gospel and call them unto repentance; and yet, notwithstanding His mighty works and miracles and proclamation of the truth in great power and authority, there were but few who hearkened to His voice and rejoiced in His presence and received salvation at His hands. But His ministry among those who were dead was limited to the brief time intervening between the crucifixion and His resurrection; and I wondered at the words of Peter wherein he said that the Son of God preached unto the spirits in prison who sometime were disobedient, when once the long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah, and how it wags possible for Him to preach to those spirits and perform the necessary labor among them in so short a time.

And as I wondered, my eyes were opened, and my understanding quickened, and I perceived that the Lord went not in person among the wicked and the disobedient who had rejected the truth, to teach them; but behold, from among the righteous He organized His forces and appointed messengers, clothed with power and authority, and commissioned them to go forth and carry the light of the gospel to them that were in darkness, even to all the spirits of men. And thus was the gospel preached to the dead. And the chosen messengers went forth to declare the acceptable day of the Lord, and proclaim liberty to the captives who were bound; even unto all who would repent of their sins and receive the gospel. Thus was the gospel preached to those who had died in their sins, without a knowledge of the truth, or in transgression, having rejected the prophets. These were taught faith in God, repentance from sin, vicarious baptism for the remission of sins, the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands, and all other principles of the gospel that were necessary for them to know in order to qualify themselves that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit. 34

And so it was made known among the dead, both small and great, the unrighteous as well as the faithful, that redemption had been wrought through the sacrifice of the Son of God upon the cross. Thus was it made known that our Redeemer spent His time during His sojourn in the world of spirits, instructing and preparing the faithful spirits of the prophets who had testified of Him in the flesh, that they might carry the message of redemption unto all the dead unto whom He could not go personally because of their rebellion and transgression, that they through the ministration of His servants might also hear His words

I beheld that the faithful elders of this dispensation, when they depart from mortal life, continue their labors in the preaching of the gospel of repentance and redemption, through the sacrifice of the Only Begotten Son of God, among those who are in darkness and under the bondage of sin in the great world of the spirits of the dead. The dead who repent will be redeemed, through obedience to the ordinances of the house of God, and after they have paid the penalty of their transgressions, and are washed clean, shall receive a reward according to their works, for they are heirs of salvation.

Thus was the vision of the redemption of the dead revealed to me, and I bear record, and I know that this record is true, through the blessing of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, even so. Amen.

-Joseph F. Smith, Improvement Era 22:166-170, December, 1918
This Vision of the Redemption of the Dead was submitted October 31, 1918 to the Counselors in the First Presidency, the Council of the Twelve and the Patriarch, and by them unanimously accepted.

MISSIONARY WORK IN THE SPIRIT WORLD

Compare those inhabitants on the earth who have heard the gospel in our day, with the millions who have never heard it, or had the keys of salvation presented to them, and you will conclude at once as I do, that there is a mighty work to perform in the spirit world.

-Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses 4:285, March 15, 1857

Jesus was the first man that ever went to preach to the spirits in prison, holding the keys of the gospel of salvation to them. Those keys were delivered to Him in the day and hour 35 that He went into the spirit world, and with them He opened the door of salvation to the spirits in prison.

-Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses 4:285, March 15, 1857

Jesus Christ became a ministering spirit (while His body was lying in the sepulchre) to the spirits in prison, to fulfill an important part of His mission, without which He could not have perfected His work, or entered into His rest.

-Joseph Smith, Jr., Documentary History of the Church 4:425, October 3, 1841

If the elders of Israel in these latter times go and preach to the spirits in prison, they associate with them, precisely as our elders associate with the wicked in the flesh, when they go to preach to them.

-Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses 2:137, December 3, 1854

I believeÂ… that when the gospel is preached to the spirits in prison, the success attending that preaching will be far greater than that attending the preaching of our elders in this life. I believe there will be very few indeed of those spirits who will not gladly receive the gospel when it is carried to them. The circumstances there will be a thousand times more favorable.

-Lorenzo Snow, Millennial Star 56:50, October 6, 1893

Now, among all these millions and thousands of millions of spirits that have lived in 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 that 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. The things we experience here are typical of the things of God and the life beyond us.

-Joseph F. Smith, Young WomanÂ’s Journal 23:130, January, 1912 36

[il Padrino Ute]

I believe the spirit world is right here amongst us. I tend to side with Alkili here that they can't see us unless there is a need, though if they can, they've probably got better things to do with their time than watch us.

Working in the funeral business for as many years as I had, there were a number of times that I got the feeling someone was in the prep room with me while embalming. It was never an uneasy feeling - it was always peaceful - but it was a strong enough feeling that several times I glanced around the room to see if anyone was there. I've also had several experiences talking to the families of the deceased while planing the funeral or during the viewing of how they felt that their loved one had gone to their home to check on them. After the funeral, the vast majority never felt that presence of their loved one again.

My wife, OTH, is much more in tune with things like that than I am. On more than one occassion, when she came down to the mortuary to visit her Grandparents - they owned the mortuary and lived in the apartment above it - she saw someone on the grounds outside the mortuary and when she learned that I, or one of her cousins was in the prep room, would step in to say hi and recognize the deceased on the prep table as the person she saw outside.

[Hazzard]

Thanks for posting all those quotes AA. It was fun to quickly read through most of them and get a fresh perspective about what really matters here on earth.