The Purpose of Life

God does not just speak to the multitudes; He also speaks to us individually. In the beginning, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (sometimes referred to as Mormons) was very small, and people had a lot of direct contact with the prophet, Joseph Smith. People would frequently approach the prophet and ask him to pray to God in their behalf for specific direction they were seeking, which he o... Read More

Have you ever thought to yourself: My life will be so much better and therefore I’ll behave so much sweeter as soon as (fill in the blank) happens? I’m sure we all have at times. As we all eventually find out, that perfect tomorrow never arrives, and we will always only have today with its present challenges. There is an important principle of the Gospel known as restoration. It’s as simple as this—we get what we put out. Happiness is one example. Sometimes we imagine in our minds circumstances that will make us happy, and we wait until those circumstances come together to be happy. Really, though, if you want to be happy, you need to create happiness for others. Then you will find you can’t help experiencing it yourself. Restoration is not ... Read More

To live in America is an awesome blessing and opportunity. I always look forward to each year when we celebrate the birth of this country. At that time I like to reflect back on all the memorable moments of the year. We have so much for which we can be grateful. This country was found on the principles of God The Father. I feel honored to be a citizen of this great country. It is a land of many opportunities and accomplishments. We have had many setbacks and downfalls, but through it all she still tops the rest. We each have a great responsible to this country we reside in. As members of The Church of... Read More

Not everyone who believes in life after death finds it a rosy proposition. Hamlet called it the “undiscovered country,” about which our uncertainty “makes us rather bear those ills we have/Than fly to others that we know not of”(III.i.81-84). Fortunately, since Hamlet’s time (or rather Shakespeare’s), the Lord has revealed much about what happens to us after we die. Death does have a specific destination, and we can take comfort in knowing that God’s arms of mercy can reach us even beyond the grave. Spirit Paradise Those who have been baptized member... Read More

I once knew a woman in a nursing home who, though strong in her Christian beliefs, dreaded death because she questioned what kind of reception a person as flawed as herself could expect. As her friend, I wanted to reassure her that she need not be afraid. My assurance came from what I've learned as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (or Mormons.) The Bible indicates that death is joyful for the righteous and fearful for the wicked. Revelation 14:13 tells us that death becomes a time of rest for those who “die in the Lord,” and that they shall be blessed. On the other hand, the st... Read More

I’ve heard it said that America is a country in denial about death. It makes sense to me. I confess that my husband and I are in the same boat as 57 percent of Americans who say they don’t have a will. Death is not something we like to think about, much less plan for. And yet it is the one guarantee in life. Every one of us will die sometime. As a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (casually referred to as Mormons), I take comfort in my conviction that because Christ rose from the d... Read More

Time, the basic commodity of life, is the avenue from which all activities of life are created. Time is one of those things shared by all mortals, it affect us constantly. Because we are eternal beings, time is not our natural vastness. It is part of the brief and short mortal framework in which we are to overcome by faith, including faith in God's timing. Brigham Young called time “the property which we inherit from our Heavenly Father.” ... Read More

When I read scripture, I like to look for formulas. An example of a formula is found in 1 John 4:18, which says, “There is no fear in love….” Fear, you could say, does not equal love. So, I might write in the margin of my scriptures the word "fear," followed by an equal sign with a slash through it, and the word "love." To me it means when I am afraid, I am not filled with love. If, for example, I don’t open my mouth to share the Gospel with someone because I’m afraid of their reaction, then I am not truly loving them. If I truly loved them, I wouldn’t worry about saving face if they said no. I came across a formula the other day in the following quote by Robert D. Hales, a prominen... Read More

We each are here on earth for the purpose of growing and progressing.However, through it all we will make mistakes. We will need to repent because,of our wrong choices. Sin can come about out of igronance, our weakness or pure disobedience. We all are imperfect people so,we will fall short occasionally. Heavenly Father knew we would sin. To commit sin is to willfully disobey God's commandments and fail to act righteously despite knowledge of the truth. However, our elder brother Jesus Christ has made it possible for us to repent and start anew (Alma 42:4). Jesus was the only one capable of carrying out the Atonement for all mankind. He is the only perfect person whom ever walked the earth. All of us must rely on the... Read More

In a church that preaches the importance of seeking personal revelation (I’m referring to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or Mormons) we sometimes become a little obsessed about it. Whom to marry, what occupation to pursue, and where and how to pursue it are just a few of the major decisions for which people seek God's seal of approval. Beyond these major concerns, there is also a myriad of smaller decisions for which we may also seek an answer. Whether or not to commit our time to a certain cause, how to repair a damaged relationship, or how to cope with a difficult task for example. God, we know, is very concerned about our lives. He cares ... Read More

The Bible describes hope as an “anchor of the soul” (Hebrews 6:19). Now, I’m not an expert on anchors or how they work, so I did a little reading. Apparently anchors are used not only to keep your boat from leaving the shore when you don’t want it to, but they can also be used to keep your boat from sinking in a storm. It doesn’t sound intuitive to me, dropping a heavy chunk of metal to the ocean floor when you are trying desperately to stay above water, but there you have it. Imagine you are a little boat on the ocean. Faith is like choosing your direction. In order to know where to go, you look to God for the correct heading. The destination God chooses for you will not be some jaunt to the... Read More

I was out enjoying a summer stroll with my husband one evening when my cell phone rang. It was from a friend I knew through church (I'm a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or Mormons). Her doctor’s appointment that morning had brought devastating news: the 20-week-old fetus she’d been carrying was dead. My friend was scheduled to go to the hospital later that night to deliver the body. She was calling to ask me if I would notify our local church leaders for her. As I got off the phone my husband asked what was wrong. After I related the contents of the call, we held each other for a few moments, then hurried home to see what more we could do. The following evening I went with another girlf... Read More

To be loved and to give love is a wonderful gift from God. At some level or another we all search and long for that feeling called love. No matter what walk of life we come from, we all seek to fill that feeling for love. Why is this? It is because we had that feeling in the premortal world. That renewing feeling is truly a natural inheritance of every person born on earth. Because, of this we all are searching and longing for that which embraced us before we came here to earth. This feeling isn’t new to any of us. I myself have experienced the feeling of longing for home. My spirit often misses the tender care and unconditional love of our Heavenly home. Just as we long for this loving feeling ... Read More

Suffering is one of the most difficult things to make sense of in this life. God knew when he sent us to live on the earth that there would be great hardship. Some of it would result from the evil actions of others. Some of it, however, would simply be natural adversity common to all mankind, like natural disasters, accidents, and disease. If this life was all there is, God would indeed seem uncaring, even cruel. But this is not the case. Peace comes from knowing God’s plan of happiness (see We Once Were In Heaven). While God knew life on earth would be necessarily difficult, He sent His son Jesus Christ to help us overcome life’s obstacles and give us hope. Part of our hope com... Read More

As you read the newspaper, watch the news and go about your daily activities you often hear of betrayal and loss of trust in others. You might feel there is no one you can confide in and trust. There is one we can completely trust, He is our Heavenly Father. It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man. (Psalms 118:8) When we look at this grand creation that is our world it is a witness of His trustworthiness to each of us. We can always have that reassurance that each day will come forth as it should in perfect order. All because of a trustworthy Father in Heaven. Trusting God means ... Read More

In God’s premortal council, He presented a plan in which men and women could come to earth, gain a physical body, and progress toward eventual exaltation. A Savior would be provided to atone for the sins of mankind. Central to this plan was agency, the ability for men and women to choose for themselves. Those who chose to repent and follow the Savior would receive forgiveness of their sins and be enabled, once they died, to return to the presence of God. Not everyone who heard God’s plan embraced it. Richard G. Scott, an apostle of ... Read More

Before coming to earth everyone born on this earth, from Adam and Eve down, lived in heaven with Heavenly Father. While there, Heavenly Father called each of us together in a grand meeting were He explained His great plan of happiness for us. And there was a war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon: and the dragon fought and his angels, And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great ... Read More

We are not here on earth solely to concentrate on our own desires. We are here to bless and teach others about Heavenly Father gospel. Blessing others must first begin at home. Fathers and mothers have an important responsibility of teaching their children the gospel. Doing these things well is our purpose in life. Marriage between a husband and a wife is essential to Heavenly Father's plan. Each of our missions in lif... Read More

Part of our purpose in life is to gain control over our physical bodies. One way in which we can do so is by regular fasting. Let’s be honest: Fasting can be torture. Anyone who has faced the prospect of going 24 hours without food or drink knows how suddenly obsessive you can become over something as mundane as eating and drinking. Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) are expected to fast every first Sunday of the month, in addition to special fasts they may hold in times of special spiritual need. It is important to note that those with special considerations are exempted from fasting. These include small children, pregn... Read More

If I had to sum up the purpose of life in one word, it would be family. We lived before this life as part of God’s family, we were born into an earthly family, and depending on the choices we make in this life, the family we have may endure eternally.We are what you might call dual beings. There is the physical part of us—our body. It is made up of millions of tiny cells, able to mend its own cuts, get stronger with exercise, and turn food into energy. But eventually our bodies will succumb to a slow decay ending in death.There is a second part to us—our spirits. We lived as spirit children of a loving Heavenly Father prior to this life. Our F... Read More

It is probably safe to say that all Christians believe in the eternal nature of God, but what about the eternal nature of men and women? Even prior to Christ’s resurrection, his followers understood that there would be a resurrection day for them as well. In John 11:23-24 Martha affirms her belief that her dead brother, Lazarus, would live again in some future day: Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother shall rise again. Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day. When Christ appeared to his disciples as a resurrected being, he had a glorified body. His disciples could physically handle him and feel the scars on his hand... Read More