The LDS Daily WOOL Archive©

(7/5/99)
"Your body becomes an instrument of your mind and the foundation of your character. Through life in a mortal body you can learn to control matter, and that will be very important to you through all eternity." — Boyd K. Packer, "Behold Your Little Ones," General Conference, April 1973

(7/6/99)
"Acknowledging the fact that this mortal body is the tabernacle of the spirit and that the spirit was fathered by our Father in heaven, it behooves us to show respect for our bodies by not abusing them through the use of harmful and destructive substances." — Victor L. Brown, "The Meaning of Morality," General Conference, April 1971

(7/7/i99)
"I am convinced that no soul has ever been whipped into this mortal existence; that each one of us came willingly, cheerfully, and gladly; even though we might have known that we were to inherit a body that was crippled, maimed, and deformed, still we were glad to come. We are told that the punishment inflicted upon those rebellious sons of our Father who rejected the counsels of God in the spirit world was that they should never dwell in mortal tabernacles. They have ever since been trying, unlawfully, to possess mortal bodies." — Melvin J. Ballard, "Sermons and Missionary Services of Melvin J. Ballard," p. 179

(7/8/99)
"Latter-day Saints enter wholeheartedly into the traditional aspect of these things [Christmas and Easter and the physical Christ]; but when we want to go further and take the Christmas and Easter stories literally, we part company with the Christian world. Nothing has more embarrassed and confused the doctors of the church through the centuries than the presence of God on earth in a physical body.... Only the Latter-day Saints honor the great traditions of Christendom by taking them literally--not as beautiful allegories, useful social fictions, or sentimental routines--and not with any philosophical limitations and qualifications, or rhetorical legerdemain." — Hugh Nibley, "The World and the Prophets," Chapter 25

(7/9/99)
"Even though our Creator endowed us with this incredible power, He consigned a counterbalancing gift to our bodies. It is the blessing of aging, with visible reminders that we are mortal beings destined one day to leave this 'frail existence.' Our bodies change every day. As we grow older, our broad chests and narrow waists have a tendency to trade places. We get wrinkles, lose color in our hair - even the hair itself - to remind us that we are mortal children of God, with a 'manufacturer's guarantee' that we shall not be stranded upon the earth forever. Were it not for the Fall, our physicians, beauticians, and morticians would all be unemployed." — Russell M. Nelson,
"The Atonement," General Conference, October 1996

10/1/07
"Today is our day, brethren and sisters. We cannot hope, when the night comes, when the grave has demanded its own, for the development and progress that is available to us today. These bodies of ours God has given us for development. We are separated from them when we go into the grave. We are not ourselves, we are only partial when the body and the spirit are separated. Why will we loiter, instead of developing that which is perfect, the human soul. Separated, it is a divided thing; together, it may rise to the most exalted height. We preach to the world faith. Have we faith? We preach to the world repentance. Do we repent? Do we place our feet each day upon the mistakes of yesterday, using them as stepping stones to a higher life, to the new birth symbolized by the baptism of water? Have we taken to ourselves every day the new birth of the Spirit? Have we risen to more exalted heights? Are we in closer communion with God than we were yesterday? If not, we have failed to take advantage of opportunity offered in the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ." - Brigham S. Young, "Conference Report," April 1927, Afternoon Meeting, p.60

11/20/07
"The very spiritual, mental, physical makeup of man fits him for work and the acquirement of godly power there through. Think, if you will, of all God's creations, there are none comparable to man spiritually, mentally, or physically. In the mind of man, the plan is formulated, and physical instruments, such as the hand, bring into actual existence the plan of the mind. There is nothing comparable to the hand as a useful tool. The things that can be done and accomplished by the hand are innumerable. The most delicate mechanical instruments, such as the electric eye, the radio, radar, all forms of transportation and buildings, are the creations, first, of the mind, influenced by the spirit of inspiration, and, secondly, the hand of man—man, the son of the Eternal Creator." - Joseph L. Wirthlin, "Conference Report," October 1944, Afternoon Meeting, p.37

3/30/09
"Some years ago it was my privilege and pleasure to labor in Australia as a missionary. There was a gentleman there who was handed some discourses delivered by the general authorities of the Church, at these general conferences, and in speaking to me sometime later regarding the discourses he had read, he made this remark: 'Mr. Duckworth, one thing that has impressed me, with reference to the teachings that are delivered in your general conferences by the general authorities of your Church, is this, that they are essentially of a practical character; they deal with the every day problems of life, and they are not related solely to the spiritual concern of your people.' It made a deep impression upon my mind at the time, and I have often remarked about it since, that the teachings that were given by our general authorities in the gatherings of the Saints relate to the taking care of the body just as well as the taking care of the spirit of man. They teach us how to take care of our bodies; they teach us that beautiful law known as the Word of Wisdom. They teach us that we should be clean in our bodies, that we should keep our bodies pure and in such a way that we may be in a fit condition for the enjoyment of the Spirit of our Father, for he will not dwell in unclean tabernacles, and it is just as essential that we shall keep our bodies clean as that we shall keep our spirits clean." - James Duckworth, "Conference Report," April 1917, Overflow Meeting, p.83

9/10/10
"A consecrated life respects the incomparable gift of one's physical body, a divine creation in the very image of God. A central purpose of the mortal experience is that each spirit should receive such a body and learn to exercise moral agency in a tabernacle of flesh. A physical body is also essential for exaltation, which comes only in the perfect combination of the physical and the spiritual, as we see in our beloved, resurrected Lord. In this fallen world, some lives will be painfully brief; some bodies will be malformed, broken, or barely adequate to maintain life; yet life will be long enough for each spirit, and each body will qualify for resurrection." - D. Todd Christofferson, "Reflections on a Consecrated Life," Ensign (CR) October 2010

9/25/16
The precious gift of your body enables you to exercise your agency and put your faith and obedience into action. Have you ever noticed that nearly all of Satan's attacks are directed at your body? Pornography, immodesty, tattoos, immorality, drug abuse, and addictions are all efforts to take possession of this precious gift. This was a gift that was denied Satan. Obedience to the commandments and standards enables each of you to be steadfast and immovable in protecting the precious gifts of your agency and your body. - Elaine S. Dalton, “All Times, in All Things, and in All Places,” Ensign (CR) May 2008

The LDS Daily WOOL© Archive - Physical Bodies