The great and spacious building = short term gratification, long term sorrow

Elder Glenn L Pace of the Seventy said "To those of you who are inching your way closer and closer to that great and spacious building, let me make it completely clear that the people in that building have absolutely nothing to offer except instant, short term gratification inescapably connected to long-term sorrow and suffering.  The commandments you observe were not given by a dispassionate God to prevent you from having fun, but by a loving Father in Heaven who wants you to be happy while you are living on this earth as well as in the hereafter. . . " (Ensign, Nov. 1987, 40)

Elder L. Tom Perry of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles warned that preoccupation with material possessions is a behavior typical of those people in the great and spacious building: "The current cries we hear coming from the great and spacious building tempt us to compete for ownership in the things of this world. We think we need a larger home, with a three-car garage and a recreational vehicle parked next to it.  We long for designer clothes, extra TV sets . . .the latest model computers, and the newest car.  Often these items are purchased with borrowed money without giving any thought to providing for our future needs.  The result of all this instant gratification is overloaded bankruptcy courts and families that are far too preoccupied with their financial burdens."  (Ensign, Nov 1995, 35)