What I don't think so many people know is why I believe. (Usually asked as "why I gave up sweet tea and frappes.") The simple answer is that it's true and it's changed my life - but that's not the answer anyone wants. What they want to hear is more complicated, and I can be hesitant to share those details at a holiday dinner or in the middle of the market. I'm more than happy to share in other settings, but most people don't want to come join my Sunday school class or schedule a 45 minute discussion.
So, I've picked 5 principles of the gospel - basic things Mormons believe - that contribute the most to my personal testimony. Mormons believe a lot more than just this, most of it exactly the same as any other Christian church, but these are 5 things that I feel most strongly tie my beliefs to this specific church.
Pre-mortal Life
One of the easiest ways of explaining our core beliefs is through the Plan of Salvation. Simply put, it's the roadmap to our lives, focused on Heavenly Father's plan for the salvation of His children. The first point I want to talk about is the first point on the map: pre-mortal life.
Where did I come from? Why am I here?
Each of us is made up of both a physical body and a spirit, or soul. Our spirits were created by Heavenly Father long before the creation of our physical bodies. Until our spirits and our bodies were joined, we lived with our Heavenly Father. We knew him well, and we also knew one another. Everything was pretty much hunky-dory.
Like any good parent, Heavenly Father wanted to see His children maximize our potential. During our pre-earth life, He taught us as much as we could understand, preparing us for everything that would come next. There were some things, though, that we just couldn't understand for ourselves until we had the opportunity to leave our Father's presence and experience mortality. So, life happens.
This is obviously a huge simplification, and if you want to know more of what we believe, I'd be happy to explain.
The concept of pre-earth life is one of the first things that drew me to this faith. It just makes sense to me. When I was learning the gospel, there were a lot of things that felt familiar, like I really already knew them and I was just now being reminded. There have been people in my life who I've met and felt like I've known them for ages, especially my sister.
The notion of having existed premortally and having chosen to live this life also helps answer a lot of questions I've always struggled with in other denominations, like why some people are born with disabilities and other handicaps like extreme poverty. The main answers to those questions that I've gotten from other religions seem to be (1) stuff just happens to certain people for no reason, (2) some people are pre-destined to have less faith (or something) and thus are being punished in some way, or (3) we're all punished for Adam's sin. (That's a whole other can of worms.)
Learning that I lived as a spirit with knowledge of what trials I would face in this life, and that I agreed to them with faith in Christ to redeem me from them, answered those questions I had wrestled with for my entire life.
My belief in the doctrinal principle of pre-mortal existence is so strong that I simply can't imagine believing in any religion that doesn't teach it. I know that I have a Heavenly Father who knows and loves me perfectly. I know that I once knew Him well, although my memory of Him has faded. I know that my personality, inclinations, and spiritual gifts were formed before I ever took a breath, and that I inherited divine qualities from God just as I inherited physical traits from my mother and father. I know there's a purpose to this life for all of us, and there's a specific purpose for my life as well.
I don't have to seek those answers from studying and interpreting the scriptures on my own, although they're there, and neither did I have to rely on the word of any priest. These are things that I've come to know to be true through prayer and witnesses from the Holy Ghost.
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