To teach the youth of the Church about their spirits we often use a simple analogy involving a glove and a hand. The hand is the spirit, the glove is the body, and they fit together as one, though they are separate. God is the Father of all our spirits (Hebrews 12:9). Each man and woman who has ever lived is literally a son or daughter of God (Job 38:4-7).  “Man, as a spirit, was begotten and born of heavenly parents, and reared to maturity in the eternal mansions of the Father, prior to coming upon the earth in a temporal [physical] body” (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph F. Smith [1998], 335).

In the Church we call each other “Brother lastname” and “Sister lastname”. As a child I really enjoyed being called Sister Andersen instead of Jenna because it made me feel grown up. :) One reason I believe we call each other Brother and Sister is to remind ourselves that we are spirit brothers and sisters, and should treat each other with the kind of love and respect we would show our mortal family members. Being the spirit children of God means that we have the potential to develop His divine qualities. The young women of the Church stand each week and recite a theme that emphasizes several qualities, one of them being divine nature. From the time they are 12 years old through the age of 18, they are repeatedly taught and reminded what enormous potential they have because of their Heavenly lineage. We all make mistakes, but through the Atonement of Jesus Christ we can repent and become like our Heavenly Father and receive a fullness of His joy. We have a wonderful purpose!

In 1995 the First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints issued The Family Proclamation, which states:

All human beings—male and female—are created in the image of God. Each is a beloved spirit son or daughter of heavenly parents, and, as such, each has a divine nature and destiny. Gender is an essential characteristic of individual premortal, mortal, and eternal identity and purpose.

I was created as a female spirit, gender is eternal. We do not what we did during our time with God before we were born on the earth (known as the pre-mortal life), but we do know that we possessed different talents and abilities and we were called to do different things on earth .Maybe Mozart spent time playing the piano, Marie Curie learning physics, and C.S. Lewis learning how to combine writing and Christianity. God chose to send us down to earth at a specific time with a specific purpose in mind. We can use our talents and skills to achieve that purpose.

Why would we leave such a wonderful environment? Our Heavenly Father knew we could not progress beyond a certain point unless we left Him for a time. He wanted us to develop the godlike qualities that He has. We, as mortal beings, work hard to raise our children in a safe and fulfilling environment at home, but after a certain point we know they need the time and opportunity to learn and choose for themselves. Our spirits needed to be clothed with corporal bodies. We would eventually die, and our spirits would be separated from our bodies once more. Through the Atonement of Jesus Christ we would be resurrected and our mortal bodies would be replaced with immortal ones like that of our Heavenly Father. The time on earth would be a probationary period where we would have the option to choose right or wrong, a principle known as free agency.

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God called all of his spirit children together (what an enormous meeting that must have been!) to present His plan for our progression, sometimes called The Plan of Happiness. We learned that if after gaining our mortal bodies, we followed His plan, we would become like Him.  We would be resurrected; we would have all power in heaven and on earth; we would become heavenly parents and have spirit children just as He does (see D&C 132:19–20).

Why don’t we remember this Grand Council?

A veil would cover our memories, and we would forget our heavenly home. This would be necessary so we could exercise our agency to choose good or evil without being influenced by the memory of living with our Heavenly Father. Thus we could obey Him because of our faith in Him, not because of our knowledge or memory of Him. He would help us recognize the truth when we heard it again on earth (see John 18:37).

We would all have to experience trials in our lives. These could come in the form of sickness, disappointment, sorrow, pain, and death. If we allowed them, these trials would purify us rather than defeat us. They would teach us to have endurance, patience, and charity (see Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Spencer W. Kimball [2006], 15–16). Mortal life would be hard, and because of our weakness, all except little children would sin. Our merciful Father knew this and so he provided a Savior who would provide a way for us to overcome sin and receive the glorious rewards our Father in heaven is waiting to provide for us.

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