Answering The Questions of Life

Everybody ponders them: Where did I come from? Why am I here? Where am I going?

Great thinkers of the past couldn't answer these questions, and yet, the pairs of missionaries young and old, representing The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints have the answers.

Besides inside Mommy's tummy. Haven't we all wondered whats out there? Whats a spirit, a soul, or a ghost? How did it get in the body, and why does it leave upon death? Ever had that feeling that you've known someone, or something all your life, when you've only just first met them?

"Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee..." -Jeremiah 1:5 Our bodies are formed here on earth, but our spirits are eternal. Before we were born we lived as spirits in Heaven with the Father of our spirits, our Heavenly Father. Jesus Christ was his first spirit child, and all of us spiritual brothers and sisters. We learned a lot of things while we were up in heaven, but knowledge by itself isn't enough until it is put into practice. Is it enough to know how to write letters and add numbers? Have you ever tried to write with your opposite hand? You know how to form the letters and what they look like, but as you try to copy that pattern, its unfamiliar to your physical capabilities. You need PRACTICE.

To learn of course! Yes, though we did come here already with knowledge, but we can't remember it. Our minds have been wiped with what we call The Veil. So, if we already knew everything, why did we have to forget it to learn it again? 1) We only learned things MENTALLY, not PHYSICALLY. 2) Whats the point of doing homework, or taking a test if you have a cheat sheet right in front of you? You'd get the grade, sure, but you wouldn't have the smarts to hold it up.

Ok, so here we are on Earth (or in The Classroom, for analogy sake) We have our Scriptures, prayer, writings from those before us, basic morals and values (papers, pencils, calculators, textbooks), everything we need. But, who is the teacher? How do we use these new tools? We've been separated from God's presence to test our agency and ability, but he didn't leave us in the dark. He sends us Prophets. The Prophet is like our classroom teacher, they know the materials, how to use the tools, and they're given direct revelation and instruction from God himself (kind of like a teacher's manual). If we listen to, and learn from the Prophet (or our Teacher) we'll begin to understand the material for ourselves, and know how to put these things into practice for our own benefit and learning

Do our lives finish in the ground, our memories and names lost to time? GOODNESS NO! Weren't you paying attention in the first question? Our souls are ETERNAL! Without end! So....does that mean reincarnation? A fair speculation, but also, no. We are all one person, we belong to one life, one family. Lets break this down in simpler terms, shall we?

We lived with God before, we learned many things. We came to Earth to learn more and be tested. Depending on how well we do on our test, depends on what will happen to us when we return to God again in the Judgement. Ah, yes, but now I'm forgetting a very essential part of this plan: The Atonement. Christ's sacrifice for all of us. As in Adam all die, as in Christ, all are made alive. Christ was perfect, he suffered for us that we MIGHT not ourselves, should we turn and follow him. Were it not for Christ's death AND resurrection, we'd all be separated from our bodies forever. However, BECAUSE Christ overcame the grave, ALL of us will be reunited with our bodies also. We will then be brought before the judgement bar of God and "hand in our tests".

While God requires a 100% score to enter into his rest, we all, no matter how hard we try, can't make that by ourselves. This is where Jesus comes in. Jesus doesn't so much look at how many answers we got right or wrong, more so he looks at much we strove to follow him. Did we put off our homework until the last minute and try to scramble everything just to get a good grade? Did we start and then give up? Did we plan ahead and try to work at it a little at a time? Did we struggle on and off, but give it our all? Or did we "accidentally" feed it to the dog? Depending on our EFFORTS, not our overall right vs wrong score, is what grants us the Grace of Christ (or a grade on a curve).