Alma described what happens during this space of time between death and resurrection. After death—as Alma had learned from “an angel” after he had “inquired diligently” (40: 3, 11)—all men, “whether they be good or evil, are taken home to that God who gave them life” (Alma 40:11; see also 40:21). Our spirit then goes to what we commonly call “the post-mortal spirit world,” either into a state that is called paradise, “a state of rest, a state of peace,” or into another state that is called prison.
Both Joseph Smith and Brigham Young said that the spirit world is really all around us, and even the spirits who are in what we call spirit prison are not locked up. They function in some ways as we do here on earth, but many there have not yet have the required saving ordinances so that they can do all that most of them would like to do. They are not resurrected yet. The resurrection comes after our time in the spirit realm and at the appointed time for each person. To call someone forth to be resurrected is to be understood as a priesthood ordinance.
Brigham Young, “The Spirit World,” in Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Brigham Young, chapter 38 (1997): 279.
Spencer W. Kimball, “Our Great Potential,” General Conference April 1977.