We Lived With God

Wouldn’t it be great if life came with a map, showing us where we’ve been and where to go?

Thankfully, life does have a map. Our Father in Heaven has a plan for us and wants us to know where we came from and where He wants us to go.

Before we were born, we lived with God in heaven. All of our spirit brothers and sisters were there, too—everyone who has lived or will live on earth. In this “pre-earth life,” each of us was an individual with the same ability we have now to learn, reason, and make decisions. We were only spirits then. God is the Father of all our spirits, so we call Him our Heavenly Father.

We Came to Earth to Progress

In our pre-earth life, God knew that in order for us to grow and gain knowledge, we would have to leave His presence for a while. So, as part of the plan He prepared for us, He sent us to earth to experience the joy—as well as the pain—of mortal life. When we were born, our spirits received mortal bodies, giving us the opportunity to have families and to develop mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. God taught through one of His prophets that this life is the time to prepare ourselves to live with God.

Our Eternal Life

Many of us spend our lives looking for something to hold on to, something that will last. We look for ways to avoid aging or to become famous or rich. But we eventually realize that mortal life is temporary. Friends and family members grow old and die, the famous are soon forgotten, and wealth is lost as quickly as it is won. Our hope and happiness lie in knowing who we are, where we came from, and where we can go. We are eternal beings, spirit children of an eternal God. Our lives can be compared to a three-act play: premortal life (before we came to earth), mortal life (our time here on earth), and postmortal life (where we go after we die). God has had a plan for our lives since the beginning of the first act—a plan that, if followed, provides comfort and guidance now, as well as salvation and eternal happiness in our postmortal life.