The Plan of Salvation - El plan de salvación

After teaching someone about the restoration of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we invite them learn about God's plan for us, called the Plan of Salvation, or the Plan of Happiness. This plan answers three big questions:

Where did I come from?

What is my purpose in life?

Where will I go after this life?

These questions are ones a lot of people in society ask to find their life's meaning. I'd like to try and explain how these can be answered.

First- Where did we come from? Before we came to this earth, we lived with God as spirits. God presented His plan where we could come to earth, obtain a body, and be able to learn to choose between right and wrong. This ability is called agency, and is a gift we have from God.

As many know, the first people on the earth were Adam and Eve and they were given some commandments from God but, using their agency, those broke one of those and partook of the forbidden fruit. [For more on this story please see Genesis 1-3 (in the Bible) or Moses 2-5 (in the Pearl of Great Price)] Many view this as a horrible event but, it was actually something wonderful. Don't get me wrong, it is not good to disobey God but, because of "the Fall" (when Adam and Eve partook of the fruit) we are able to be. In The Book of Mormon we read in 2 Nephi 2:25, "Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy." 2 Nephi 2:11&15 also say, "For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things. If not so, my firstborn in the wilderness, righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery, neither good nor bad... And to bring about his eternal purposes in the end of man, after he had created our first parents, and the beasts of the field and the fowls of the air, and in fine, all things which are created, it must needs be that  there was an opposition; even the forbidden fruit in opposition to the tree of life; the one being sweet and the other bitter." This fruit allowed for these opposites, along with death and sin.

Because of death and sin, we needed a Savior, Jesus Christ. Christ came and suffered and died for all our sins and temptations and pains. He did this because he loves us. He knew we could not make it back to heaven without this so he came to earth to help create a way for us to be able to be cleansed of our sins.

This leads to the second question, What is my purpose in life? The reason we are here is "obtaining a body, gaining experience, and learning to make right choices," (Plan of Salvation pamphlet). Through following Christ and listening to the guidance of the Holy Ghost, or the Comforter, we can learn to make the correct choices to follow God's will for each of us. There are a few simple steps that help us follow the example of Jesus Christ and these are: faith, repentance (stopping the wrong things we are doing and wanting to be better), baptism by proper authority, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost to help us make decisions, and enduring to the end by choosing the right.

Now the last question, Where will I go after this life? After our time is done on this earth, our spirits and bodies separate. Our bodies go into the ground and our spirits go to "The Spirit World" where those who were faithful have a time of rest and those who did not have the opportunity to follow Christ or learn of him, will have the opportunity to. [for more on this topic please see 1 Peter 3:19, 1 Peter 4:6, Alma 40:11-14 (Book of Mormon)]

After Christ comes again, there will be the Resurrection, or when the body and spirit are reunited. Then, according to our works, or what we did, during our time on earth and the Spirit World, we are judged. This judgment determines where we go after. There are three heavens, or degree of glory: Celestial, Terrestrial, and Telestial.

picture of the pamphlet

The Celestial is where we can life with God and Jesus Christ and our families forever. It is where we go if we are baptized and follow Jesus Christ. The Terrestrial is where people who do good but, do not follow Jesus Christ will go. The Telestial is where those who do not do good and do not follow Christ will go. [more on this please see 2 Corinthians 12:2, 1 Corinthians 15:40-42].

I know this is God's plan of us. Knowing these things has blessed me to have a focus for my life and know where I want to be. You can know if these things are true through prayer. God is the source of all truth and wants us to know how to follow Him. I would like to invite you to pray and ask God if this is true.

To read more you can read this pamphlet found at: https://www.lds.org/manual/the-plan-of-salvation/the-plan-of-salvation?lang=eng