(7/10/99)
"There may be circumstances of such a nature that the person who is subject to them cannot do as he would wish; but in the great majority of instances it is for us, if we expect to gain a celestial glory, to exercise such faith that we can control circumstances and make them subservient to our purpose. It would be folly for men to expect, in the great day of reward, that the excuse of their circumstances not being convenient for them to obey the law which the Lord says must be obeyed by all those unto whom it is revealed would cause Him to bestow the same reward and exaltation upon them that he would upon those who obeyed it."

George Q. Cannon 
"Gospel Truth", p. 79

(7/11/99)
"President Brigham Young in one of his discourses informed the Elders that they were not sent out to preach a salvation for the terrestrial or telestial kingdom, but to bring people to repentance and into the celestial kingdom of God, and that is our mission and responsibility to the people of the earth. Every soul will receive a reward according to the law he obeys. If it is the celestial law, he will receive a celestial glory; if it is a terrestrial law, he will receive a terrestrial glory, and if it is a telestial law, he will receive a telestial glory."

Joseph Fielding Smith 
"Church History and Modern Revelation", p. 60-61

(7/12/99)
"If mortality is a testing and probationary estate, if men are to be judged according to the deeds done in the flesh, and if there are as many degrees of righteousness here on earth as there are men, then a just God could not do other than have an infinite number of kingdoms and rewards in the realms ahead. 'If it were not so, I would have told you.' That is: All men should by instinct know there are different degrees of glory and many levels of reward in the hereafter. If such were not the case, Jesus would have so stated. And he was going to prepare a place in the highest heaven for the faithful saints."

Bruce R. McConkie 
"The Mortal Messiah, Book 4", p. 70

(7/13/99)
"One of the beautiful things to me in the Gospel of Jesus Christ is that it brings us all to a common level. It is not necessary for a man to be a president of a stake, or a member of the Quorum of the Twelve, in order to attain a high place in the celestial kingdom. The humblest member of the Church, if he keeps the commandments of God, will attain an exaltation just as much as any other man in the celestial kingdom. The beauty of the gospel of Jesus Christ is that it makes us all equal in as far as we keep the commandments of the Lord. In as far as we observe to keep the laws of the church we have equal opportunities for exaltation."

George Albert Smith 
"Sharing the Gospel With Others", p.113-114

(7/14/99)
"Your minds and hearts are set upon knowing what you must do to obtain the greatest thing the Lord has offered. I want to talk about that more than anything else because I do not discover many of you who would be satisfied with second-hand things, and you are not contented or happy by having second best or third best.... I think it will be worth every sacrifice required and a hundred times more if need be. Personally, I would give it to attain that which God has offered to men and women who enter into the celestial glory."

"Sermons and Missionary Services of Melvin Joseph Ballard", p. 235 - 236

(11/12/04)
"I could go back and trace every object of interest concerning the relationship of man to God, if I had time. I can enter into the mysteries; I can enter largely into the eternal worlds; for Jesus said, 'In my Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.' (John 14:2.) Paul says, 'There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star differeth from another star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead.' (1 Cor. 15:41.) What have we to console us in relation to the dead? We have reason to have the greatest hope and consolation for our dead of any people on the earth; for we have seen them walk worthily in our midst, and seen them sink asleep in the arms of Jesus; and those who have died in the faith are now in the celestial kingdom of God. And hence is the glory of the sun." - Joseph Smith Jr., "The King Follett Sermon," Ensign, May 1971, p. 16