The Great Plan of Happiness

I am taking an institute class called the Doctrines of the Gospel. Our lesson yesterday was on the plan of salvation and of our premortal life. The first thing the teacher asked was "What are you tied to?" He also told us to think of any questions we'd ask concerning our lives before we were born, if we could have them answered now.  Some people wanted to know who they spent their time with, what they did while they were there, whether or not we knew our families and friends, and how we were affected by the war in heaven. The things I learned were: We were intelligence before we existed and that "The intelligence of spirits had no beginning."- Joseph Smith (D&C 93:29). In other words we have always existed and in essence we always will.  All forms of life have spirits, "Man and all forms of life existed as spirit beings and entities before the foundations of this earth were laid...before they were placed naturally upon the earth." - Bruce R. McConkie. What kind of war was it? "Since spirits cannot be killed, this would have been a war of words, ideas, truth, falsehood, etc., that is, a battle for our loyalty." Great blessings are promised to the 'righteous', who are the righteous? "The righteous are sinners who are striving to be righteous and thus continue improving. The wicked are sinners who don't strive to be righteous." 

 

If you are here on this earth and have a body, you chose to come here, you were told of this great plan of happiness and you believed it was true. Think of where you stood in the premortal life and what you stood for; what does that mean to you now? If you think of how powerful that event must have been and what you promised you would come to earth to do, would you ever want to jeopardize your life in mortality to affect your life for eternity? What are you tied to now, are they good things, or bad things, will they help you reach an eternity of joy or an eternity of sorrow? Are you striving to follow Heavenly Fathers plan and living in a way that will prepare you to stand before him again?

"You are sent to this world with a very serious purpose. you are sent to school... to begin as a human infant and grow to unbelievable proportions in wisdom, judgment, knowledge, and power." 

-Pres. Spencer W. Kimball. 

The Great Plan of the Eternal God: Neal A. Maxwell