August 2006 Ensign - The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

64
A series examining doctrines unique
to The Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-day Saints.
We cannot understand the purpose of this mortal
life—why we are here—unless we first understand
who we are, where we came from, and
what our eternal destiny is. These truths, found in the
scriptures and restored through the Prophet Joseph Smith,
teach us that we are literal spirit children of God, that we
lived with Him in a premortal existence, and that we have
within us the seeds of godhood, the potential to become
like Him. This was our great desire in the premortal world,
and to achieve this desire we understood that we would
THE FULNESS OF THE GOSPEL
The Purpose of Life
need to leave His presence, obtain physical bodies, learn
to walk by faith, and through the Atonement of Jesus
Christ become “submissive, meek, humble, patient, [and]
full of love” (Mosiah 3:19).
Physical Bodies
“Adam fell that men might be,” Lehi declared, “and men
are, that they might have joy” (2 Nephi 2:25). But we cannot
achieve the eternal joy our Heavenly Father experiences
unless we also possess glorified, resurrected physical
bodies. “The elements are eternal,” the Lord instructed,
“and spirit and element, inseparably connected, receive a
fulness of joy; and when separated, man cannot receive a
fulness of joy” (D&C 93:33–34).