There is a defense mechanism to discern between good and evil. It is called conscience. It is our spirit’s natural response to the pain of sin, just like pain in our flesh is our body’s natural response to a wound—even a small sliver. Conscience strengthens through use.
| A Crown of Thorns, a Crown of Glory
(Explaining the difference between an angel and a ministering spirit) “The one (an angel*) a resurrected or translated body, with its spirit ministering to embodied spirits—the other (a ministering spirit*) a disembodied spirit, visiting and ministering to disembodied spirits.
| Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 191 (*commentary added for clarity)
“Usually such beings are not seen. Sometimes they are. But seen or unseen they are always near. Sometimes their assignments are very grand and have significance for the whole world. Sometimes the messages are more private. Occasionally the angelic purpose is to warn. But most often it is to comfort, to provide some form of merciful attention, guidance in difficult times.”
“Sadly, many individuals don’t know where to find God, and exclude him from their lives. When spiritual needs arise, they may look to the left, the right, or roundabout. But looking to other people on the same level cannot satisfy spiritual shortages. When the immortal spirit is starved, hunger persists for something more filling. Even when material success comes, there is a hollow ache–if living well falls short of living worthily. Inner peace cannot be found in affluence accompanied by spiritual privation.”
| Ensign, May 1996, Page 14
After the resurrection from the dead our bodies will be spiritual bodies, but they will be bodies that are tangible, bodies that have been purified, but they will nevertheless be bodies of flesh and bones. They will not be blood bodies. They will no longer be quickened by blood but quickened by the spirit which is eternal, and they shall become immortal and shall never die.
| Doctrines of Salvation, Vol. 2, p. 285
From [the] majestic world of spirits we enter the grand stage of life to prove ourselves obedient to all things commanded of God. During mortality we grow from helpless infancy to inquiring childhood and then to reflective maturity. We experience joy and sorrow, fulfillment and disappointment, success and failure. We taste the sweet, yet sample the bitter. This is mortality. Then to each life comes the experience known as death. None is exempt. All must pass its portals. To most, there is something sinister and mysterious about this unwelcome visitor called death. Perhaps it is a fear of the unknown which causes many to dread its coming . . . [The Savior’s] words to the grieving Martha and to His disciples today bring comfort to us:” ‘I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.”
| “Mrs. Patton – the Story Continues,” Ensign, November 2007, pp. 22-23
“I feel certain that, as premortal spirits learning of the plan of salvation, we not only beheld and adored but also shouted for joy when he voluntarily and humbly offered himself as the Savior of the world. In five of the most profound words ever uttered, he meekly said, “Here am I, send me.”
| "Oh, Come, Let Us Adore Him — and the Plan!"