Earth Life is Part of God's Plan

Everyone you see around you is a son or daughter of God, our Heavenly Father. He is the Father of our spirits. Coming to earth is part of His plan of happiness for us, which allows us to receive a physical body in His image and continue to increase in wisdom and faith.

God Promised That His Spirit Would Help Guide Us

When we were born, we forgot our pre-earth life, which means we have to live by faith rather than our memory of God. To help us through life, God promised that His Spirit would guide and strengthen us. Each time we feel the quiet comfort of His Spirit, we know that God loves us and cares about us.

During our time on earth we make choices and distinguish right from wrong. We gain happiness and become more like our Heavenly Father when we make good choices.

Because God loves us and wants us to receive the blessings that come from following His plan, He has provided ways for us to stay connected to Him. Prayer is an important way we stay connected with our Heavenly Father. When we speak sincerely to Him, He will answer us through His Spirit and help us through our problems, no matter how large or small.

Other ways we can stay in touch include reading the scriptures and listening to the prophets who have been chosen by God to teach His plan.

Following God’s Plan

Our life didn’t begin at birth and won’t end at death. Because God cares about us, we don’t need to wander through life, wondering where we came from, who we are, and what we should be working toward.

Our lives have direction because Heavenly Father created a plan we can follow to return to live with Him. It’s called the plan of salvation or the plan of happiness, and it’s like a map charting our course.

If we follow God’s direction, we’ll make it to our destination. Those who follow this plan are promised “immortality and eternal life,” or unending happiness with God and our families in heaven. This is what God wants for all of us.

God’s plan for us is simple to understand, but it takes a lifetime to follow. Following the plan of happiness is easier when we do the simple things, like reading the scriptures, going to church, praying, and serving others. Jesus Christ was the perfect example in following God's plan. It takes faith and works for us to be like Jesus, but it is worth it now and will be in eternity.

Answers to Prayers

"If I do not know the will of my Father, and what he requires of me in a certain transaction, if I ask him to give me wisdom concerning any requirement in life or in regard to my own course, or that of my friends, my family, my children, or those that I preside over, and get no answer from him, and then do the very best that my judgment will teach me, he is bound to own and honor that transaction, and he will do so to all intents and purposes." ~Brigham Young

So some times all we can do is try to figure out an answer then, it is left up to us to decide for ourself. God won't give us everything, but he has given us the ability to reason and to think logically and make our own decisions.

Our Choices

“Life offers you two precious gifts—one is time, the other freedom of choice, the freedom to buy with your time what you will. You are free to exchange your allotment of time for thrills. You may trade it for base desires. You may invest it in greed. …

“Yours is the freedom to choose. But these are no bargains, for in them you find no lasting satisfaction.

“Every day, every hour, every minute of your span of mortal years must sometime be accounted for. And it is in this life that you walk by faith and prove yourself able to choose good over evil, right over wrong, enduring happiness over mere amusement. And your eternal reward will be according to your choosing.

“A prophet of God has said: ‘Men are that they might have joy’—a joy that includes a fullness of life, a life dedicated to service, to love and harmony in the home, and the fruits of honest toil—an acceptance of the Gospel of Jesus Christ—of its requirements and commandments.

“Only in these will you find true happiness, the happiness which doesn’t fade with the lights and the music and the crowds." ~Elder Richard L. Evans

I really like the first line of this quote: "Life offers you two precious gifts—one is time, the other freedom of choice, the freedom to buy with your time what you will." This is a great perspective on the gifts of life and agency we have been given. With the gift of this life we are given the ability to choose for ourselves what we want to do with our allotted time, but if we choose wrong it may cost more time than we were expecting. It may even cost us our freedom. As President Monson says, "Although in our journey we will encounter forks and turnings in the road, we simply cannot afford the luxury of a detour from which we may never return."

If we use our allotted time wisely then we will live happy and prosperous lives.

Follow the Straight and Narrow

We all have been given the ability to choose our own path. "Each of us has come to this earth with all the tools necessary to make correct choices." "We all know where we want to go, and it does matter which way we go, for by choosing our path, we choose our destination."
As we choose to follow the Great Mediator of all we choose eternal life, I know that by choosing the right we can all enjoy the peace, happiness and the blessings that our Heavenly Father has in store for us!

The Natural Man

"For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father." Mosiah 3:19

"Wherefore, men are free according to the flesh; and all things are given them which are expedient unto man. And they are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil; for he seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself. And now, my sons, I would that ye should look to the great Mediator, and hearken unto his great commandments; and be faithful unto his words, and choose eternal life, according to the will of his Holy Spirit;And not choose eternal death, according to the will of the flesh and the evil which is therein, which giveth the spirit of the devil power to captivate, to bring you down to hell, that he may reign over you in his own kingdom." 2 Nephi 2:27-29

We have the ability to choose our own path, the Devil cannot choose it for us. If we choose to put off the natural man and follow the great Mediator we will be able to receive eternal life. Listen to President Monson's talk this last confrence, he helps us understand The Three R's of Choice.

What does it mean to put off the natural man? It means that we use our agency to choose good rather than evil, that we don't give in to temptation but that we resist and choose to overcome it.
Is it easy? No, but it is possible. "I never said it would be easy; I only said it would be worth it." Christ has prepared a way for us and all we need to do is follow it.