So what do we believe? Well there are SO many things, in fact you could write a book on it! oh wait, that already exists (ha ha.. bible, book of mormon)..Well I think that the Plan of Salvation really does sum up a large majority of our beliefs, but most importantly it answers alot of questions that are also answered - why are we here? and where are we going? <--I think that is really the question people want to know what you believe right? All of the little rules and guidelines are really just to help us through the journey the plan of salvation lays out for us, and to help us be better people. So here is my understanding and testimony of the plan of salvation!
First of all, a photo that i'll talk my way through, a visual if you will :)
Okay, in the PME is where the great 'war in heaven' happened. This is where we all as spirits had the opportunity to choose 'sides' - to follow Jesus or to follow Satan. Those who chose Satan will never be given a physical body (as that was what his plan ended up entailing, to follow Satan and never experience death, pain, etc but little did they know they'd also miss out on happiness, love, etc). We know that every person on this earth today chose to follow Christ in the PME because otherwise we just wouldn't be here! **This topic could be delved into deeper for sure but there's alot of information still to come so I'll keep it very basic. Ask me if you'd like to know more!
Veil:
There was a veil put up between our premortal existance and earth in order to allow us to come to this earth and have the opportunity to have free agency (which was Christ's plan). Basically it was meant for us not to remember the details so that we wouldn't be skewed in our thinking and we can make our own path and decisions. Basically Heavenly Father wants us to accept Him as our God on our own terms.
Birth & Earth Life & Death:
So we are born and live on the earth as we know it! This is a time of challenges and tests. Every spirit requires a body before the full plan can be complete. Christ also required a body. He lived on the earth and his test wasn't to forget the spirit world but his challenge was to Atone for our sins so we could all return to live in Heaven again - that was a requirement of the Plan. So on earth He was a perfect being, and then as the scriptures tell, he was crucified, and then resurrected. Death was part of the plan - death is a place where our spirits can leave our bodies and then we can be resurrected in a perfect form.
Spirit World:
After we die our spirits all go to the Spirit World. There are two parts to the spirit world: Spirit Prison (people who have not heard the gospel and will there be taught and have a chance to choose if they want to accept it or not) and Paradise (people who have accepted the gospel and are baptized and temple work is done - I think that's part of it anyways). There is alot of work going on in the spirit world. Basically if a person did not hear about God or have a chance to learn of God on earth, there will be plenty of opportunity in the Spirit World to choose whether you want to follow Him or not (see, agency is key to the plan). We don't have a lot of knowledge of the on-goings in the S.W. but I do know that when people talk of angels and such, I think this is the spirits they are referring to - I think they are all around us on this earth trying to help and support us as Satan's 'angels' are trying hard to get us to choose him, or at least make choices that would lead us closer to him. (Side note: Satan's followers will never have a body but their spirits are allowed to come and help tempt us on Satan's behalf because he wants as many of us to follow him and not reach that godly state that we are promised in the end - why doesn't he want us to reach that? because he is a selfish and evil being and I think he has the philosophy 'if I can't have it, no one can').
Side note: I mentioned that you need be baptized to be in the Paradise side of the S.W. - and again, aren't mormon's the only ones on earth that are in the 'proper way'? Nope! well, yes, but that doesn't exclude people from the opportunity in the spirit world. In our Temples there is alot going on. One of the things that happens is we do proxy work - meaning we perform what is called 'baptism for the dead'. Having the full keys of the Priesthood in our possession allows us to do this kind of work. So we do geneology to find these spirits names and baptize on their behalf. Once baptized, on the 'other side' so-to-speak they then accept or deny it. Same thing for the other temple covenants - we can do the work for them on earth since they no longer have a body to do it themselves.
Resurrection:
When the time is right, Jesus Christ will come to the earth again - this has been prophesied to all of us in the bible and book of mormon. We refer to this as 'the Second Coming'. He will come and when th etime is right we will all be resurrected - meaning our spirits and bodies will be reunited in an immortal state. That is, not every spirit and body will be resurrected, but rather those who have chosen to take upon them the name of Christ (to follow God).
Judgement:
At the time of the resurrection we will all be judged on our works and deeds. This will determine our eternal glory. We will remember all of our mistakes, guilt and errors we have made in our life at this point. Judgement day is what makes the concepts of Repentance and Forgiveness so very important to our salvation - when you repent of your sins they are 'erased' so-to-speak from your slate and they won't be brought up at the judgement seat. In the chart there is something called 'outer darkness' listed. This is the place that all the evil people will be cast, including Satan and his followers at the time.
Three Kingdoms of Glory:
**This next part is what seperates us from other religions. At judgement we will be assigned our level of glory. I dont know too much about the different levels and if you can move up if you're placed ina lower level, etc but frankly i'm just aiming for the top lol, you have to have a certain level of faith that things will work out if you do your best in our present earth life.
Telestial Kingdom - Telestial glory will be reserved for individuals who “received not the gospel of Christ, neither the testimony of Jesus”. These individuals will receive their glory after being redeemed from spirit prison, which is sometimes called hell. The Telestial Kingdom is compared to the stars because they are quite phenominal but not as big and wonderous as the moon, or one step further, the sun. I imagine this kingdom to be the 'bad' people of the world who aren't bad enough to have been cast out of the presence of God but generally were just bad people!
Terrestial Kingdom - This is a quote from the church website on the knowledge we have on the Terrestial Kingdom: "Those who inherit terrestrial glory will “receive of the presence of the Son, but not of the fulness of the Father. Wherefore, they are bodies terrestrial, and not bodies celestial, and differ in glory as the moon differs from the sun” (D&C 76:77-78). Generally speaking, individuals in the terrestrial kingdom will be honorable people “who were blinded by the craftiness of men” (D&C 76:75). This group will include members of the Church who were “not valiant in the testimony of Jesus” (D&C 76:79). It will also include those who rejected the opportunity to receive the gospel in mortality but who later received it in the postmortal spirit world.
Celestial Kingdom: Now this kingdom is where the misconception lies in the world about how 'mormon's think they're the only ones who can get to heaven'. In this Kingdom both Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ dwells - so you have to imagine that you would have had to be a very good person - or at the minimum trying your absolute best to be a good person during earth life. In order to reach celestial glory there are certain things that must be obtained: you need to have been baptized and you need to have made temple covenants. There is no other religion on this earth that has these particular ordinances in it's fullness and correctness. This however does not mean that only Latter Day Saints can obtain that glory but rather it means that if you did not have the opportunity to obtain these things but were generally one of those people that lived a wonderful life of -trying- to be a good person (ex: Mother Theresa) you will absolutely have an opportunity to obtain this level of glory - compared to the Sun. AND, just because you are a Latter Day Saints who has made those covenants does not give you a free ride!
One last note about that and i'll move on, but the Lord has also communicated to us that in the grand scheme of it all, he knows us each individually and knows our hearts and it is Him that will judge us at judgement day - not anyone else.
So! That all being said as a very simplistic overview of what I believe, all the 'little things' (like dont smoke, don't swear, keep the commandments) are guidelines to help us all reach that Celestial Glory where we will have immortal bodies and eternal life as gods and goddess' of our own kingdoms (which is what we have been promised). I truly believe in the Plan of Salvation (or sometimes known as the Plan of Happiness) and have a strong strong testimony in it, and I do my absolute best to keep my focus in that direction and that is what I want out of this life, is to be able to sit before my God at judgement day and him to say 'well done they good and faithful servant'. I'm so grateful to have this knowledge and to have a focus in my life as to where I am going and where I have come from.
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