Understanding the Plan of Happiness

The Plan of Happiness

The Plan of Happiness Some struggle with unanswered questions about things that have been done or said in the past. We openly acknowledge that in nearly 200 years of Church history there have been some things said and done that could cause people to question. When the entire truth is eventually known, things that didn t make sense to us before will be resolved to our satisfaction. Sometimes there is a difference of opinion as to what the facts really mean. A question that creates doubt in some can, after careful investigation, build faith in others. And, to be perfectly frank, there may have been things said or done that were not in harmony with our values, principles, or doctrine. I suppose the Church would be perfect only if it were run by perfect beings. God is perfect, and His doctrine is pure. But He works through us His imperfect children and imperfect people make mistakes. It is unfortunate that some have stumbled because of mistakes made by men. But in spite of this, the eternal truth of the restored gospel found in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is not tarnished, diminished, or destroyed. (President Uchtdorf, October 2013 General Conference)

Moses 1:39 What is the difference between immortality and eternal life? What are some of the blessings given to those who receive eternal life?

How were we different from our Heavenly Father in the pre-earth life?

Why did we need to leave Gods presence in order to become more like Him? What role do the challenges of temptation, sickness, sorrow, pain, discouragement, disability, and other mortal difficulties play in our efforts to receive eternal life? What are some obstacles we face in mortality that can prevent us from receiving eternal life? How can we overcome?

What must we do to receive the blessings of the atonement? How would permanent separation of our spirits and bodies be an obstacle to becoming like God? How can the resurrection bring joy to you and your family?

The Plan of Happiness ACT 1 ACT 2 ACT 3 Where Veil Heck Plans Trials Repent Satan Born Celestial Sin Remember Telestial Looks Die Three Find Heaven Sons of P

we find this line: From the council in Kolob, to time on the earth ( A Vision, page 82). If Kolob, the planet nearest to the residence of God, is where the Grand Council was held, it seems reasonable to suppose that it was also the planet upon which we resided in our premortal estate. In a poem written by the Prophet Joseph Smith, Joseph Fielding McConkie Answers: Straightforward Answers to Tough Gospel Questions Page 81

One of the saddest examples of a misconceived knowledge is the all-too-common heresy that there were two plans of salvation; that the Father (at a loss to know what to do) asked others for proposals; that Christ offered a plan involving agency and Lucifer proposed a plan denying agency; that the Father chose between them; and that Lucifer, his plan being rejected, rebelled, and then there was war in heaven...

Lucifer proposed modifications to the Father's plan. But what is basically important is that The Father originated, ordained, created, and established his own plan; that he announced it to his children; and that he then asked for a volunteer to be the Redeemer, who would put the eternal plan of the Eternal Father into eternal operation. Bruce R. McConkie The Mortal Messiah Volume 1, Pages 48-49 Image result for home png

They were denied the privilege of being born into this world and receiving mortal bodies. The Lord cast them out into the earth, where they became the tempters of mankind the devil and his angels. Joseph Fielding Smith Doctrines of Salvation Volume 1, Page 65

One-third part of the spirits that were prepared for this earth rebelled against Jesus Christ, and were cast down to the earth, and they have been opposed to him from that day to this, with Lucifer at their head. He is their great General Lucifer, the Son of the Morning. He was once a brilliant and influential character in heaven, and we will know more about him hereafter. Brigham Young Journal of Discourses Volume 5, Pages 54-55 Image result for home png

We were given laws and agency, and commandments to have faith and repent from the wrongs that we could do there Man could and did in many instances, sin before he was born. Joseph Fielding Smith The Way to Perfection Page 44 Image result for home png

The spirit of man consists of an organization of the elements of spiritual matter in the likeness and after the pattern of the fleshy tabernacle. It possesses, in fact, all the organs and parts exactly corresponding to the outward tabernacle. Parley P. Pratt Key to the Science of Theology Page 79

All human beingsmale and femaleare created in the image of God. Each is a beloved spirit son or daughter of heavenly parents, and, as such, each has a divine nature and destiny. Gender is an essential characteristic of individual premortal, mortal, and eternal identity and purpose. The First Presidency and Council of the Twelve Apostles The Proclamation On the Family September 23rd, 1995 Image result for home png

You are now born into a family to which you have come, into the nations through which you have come, as a reward for the kind of lives you lived before you came here and at a time in the world's history. Harold B. Lee Conference Report October 1973, Pages 7-8

The spirits of men had their free agency, some were greater than others, and from among them the Father called and foreordained his prophets and rulers. Jeremiah and Abraham were two of them The spirits of men were not equal. They may have had an equal start, and we know they were all innocent in the beginning; but the right of free agency which was given to them enabled some to outstrip others, and thus, through the eons of immortal existence, to become more intelligent, more faithful, for they were free to act for themselves, to think for themselves, to receive the truth or rebel against it. Image result for home png Joseph Fielding Smith Doctrines of Salvation Volume 1, Pages 58-59

If the veil were rolled back and you could just see one glimpse of God s great eternal plan concerning you and who you are, it would not be hard for you to love Him, keep His commandments, and live to be worthy of every blessing that He has had for you since before the foundations of the world were laid. LeGrand Richards Patriarchal Blessings New Era February 1977, Page 7 (W)ere it not for the veil of forgetfulness, we could not stand this world. Our mortal amnesia is the Lord's anesthesia. Truman G. Madsen The Highest in Us Page 18 Image result for home png

Some are tested by poor health, some by a body that is deformed or homely. Others are tested by handsome and healthy bodies; some by the passion of youth; others by the erosions of age. Some suffer disappointment in marriage, family problems; others live in poverty and obscurity. Some (perhaps this is the hardest test) find ease and luxury. All are part of the test, and there is more equality in this testing than sometimes we suspect. Boyd K. Packer Ensign November 1980, Page 21 Image result for home png

If all the sick for whom we pray were healed, if all the righteous were protected and the wicked destroyed, the whole program of the Father would be annulled and the basic principle of the gospel, free agency, would be ended. No man would have to live by faith Should all prayers be immediately answered according to our selfish desires and our limited understanding, then there would be little or no suffering, sorrow, disappointment, or even death, and if these were not, there would also be no joy, success, resurrection, nor eternal life and godhood. Spencer W. Kimball Faith Proceeds the Miracle Page 97 Image result for home png

Most of us are born with [or develop] thorns in the flesh, some more visible, some more serious than others. We have the will and the power to control our thoughts and our actions. This must be so. God has said that he holds us accountable for what we do and what we think, so our thoughts and actions must be controllable by our agency. Once we have reached the age or condition of accountability, the claim I was born that way does not excuse actions or thoughts that fail to conform with the commandments of God

. . . Beware the argument that because a person has strong drives toward a particular act, he has no power of choice and therefore no responsibility for his actions. This contention runs counter to the most fundamental premises of the gospel of Jesus Christ Satan would like us to believe that we are not responsible in this life. A person who insists that he is not responsible for the exercise of his free agency because he was 'born that way' is trying to ignore the outcome of the War in Heaven. Dallin H. Oaks Same-Gender Attraction Ensign October 1995, Pages 9 10 Image result for home png

Sometimes in the Church we speak imprecisely at funerals and otherwise as if individuals who die go immediately to the celestial kingdom and are at once in the full presence of God

The veil of forgetfulness of the first estate apparently will not be suddenly, automatically, and totally removed at the time of our temporal death. This veil is associated with and is part of our time of mortal trial, testing, proving, and overcoming by faith and thus will continue in some key respects into the spirit world. Neal A. Maxwell The Promise of Discipleship Pages 110-111 Image result for home png

I am confident that there is a time to die, but I believe also that many people die before their time because they are careless, abuse their bodies, take unnecessary chances, or expose themselves to hazards, accidents, and sickness. Spencer W. Kimball Friend to Friend: Tragedy or Destiny? Friend April 1974, Page 6

No righteous man is ever taken before his time. Joseph Fielding Smith Funeral Services for Elder Richard L. Evans Ensign, December 1971 Page 10 It has been said that the death of a righteous man is never untimely because our Father sets the time. I believe that with all my soul. Ezra Taft Benson The Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson Page 348

Every good and righteous person has a specific time to go. I don t think it applies to everyone. Ezra Taft Benson The Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson Page 348 The only difference between the old and young dying is, one lives longer in heaven and eternal light and glory than the other, and is freed a little sooner from this miserable, wicked world. Joseph Smith History of the Church Volume 4, Page 554 Image result for home png

When you get to heaven, you will likely view, many folks who s presence there will be a shock to you. But keep it very quiet, do not even stare, likely they ll be many folks surprised to see you there. Anonymous Image result for home png

In latter-day revelation hell is spoken of in at least two senses. One is the temporary abode in the spirit world of those who were disobedient in this mortal life Hell, as thus defined, will have an end, when all the captive spirits have paid the price of their sins and enter into a degree of glory after their resurrection. King James Bible The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints Bible Dictionary, Hell Page 700

"When the wicked depart this life, they are 'cast out into outer darkness,' into hell, where 'they have no part nor portion of the Spirit of the Lord,' where they are spiritually dead. (Alma 40:13-14.) They remain spiritually dead in hell until the day of their resurrection (D&C 76:103-112), until 'death and hell' deliver up the dead which are in them, so that they may be judged according to their works" Bruce R. McConkie Mormon Doctrine Page 757

The great majority of those who have suffered in hell will pass into the telestial kingdom; the balance, cursed as sons of perdition, will be consigned to partake of endless woe with the devil and his angels. Bruce R. McConkie Mormon Doctrine Page 350 Image result for home png

It is my judgment that any man or woman can do more to conform to the laws of God in one year in this life than they could in ten years when they are dead. The spirit only can repent and change, and then the battle has to go forward with the flesh afterwards. It is much easier to overcome and serve the Lord when both the flesh and spirit are combined as one. This is the time when men are more pliable and susceptible. When clay is pliable, it is much easier to change than when it gets hard and sets. Melvin J. Ballard Sermons and Missionary Services of Melvin J. Ballard Page 241

This life is the time to repent. That is why I presume it will take a thousand years after the first resurrection until the last group will be prepared to come forth. It will take them a thousand years to do what it would have taken, but three score years and ten to accomplish in this life. So, men won't know any more when they are dead than when they are living, only they will have passed through the change called death. They will not understand the truths of the Gospel only by the same process as they understand and comprehend them here. Image result for home png Melvin J. Ballard The Three Degrees of Glory Pages 12,19

I shall not cease learning while I live, nor when I arrive in the spirit-world; but shall there learn with greater facility; and when I again receive my body, I shall learn a thousand times more in a thousand times less time; and then I do not mean to cease learning, but shall still continue my researches. Brigham Young Journal of Discourses Volume 8, Page 10 Image result for home png

The Gospel is a gospel of tremendous love. Love is at the bottom of it. The meanest child is loved so dearly that his reward will be beyond the understanding of mortal man. John A. Widstoe Message of the Doctrine and Covenants Page 167 Image result for home png

This earth will become a celestial kingdom when it is sanctified. Those who enter the terrestrial kingdom will have to go to some other sphere which will be prepared for them. Those who enter the telestial kingdom, likewise will have to go to some earth which is prepared for them, and there will be another place which is hell where the devil and those who are punished to go with him will dwell

Of course, those who enter the telestial kingdom, and those who enter the terrestrial kingdom will have the eternal punishment which will come to them in knowing that they might, if they had kept the commandments of the Lord, have returned to his presence as his sons and his daughters. This will be a torment to them, and in that sense it will be hell. Joseph Fielding Smith Answers to Gospel Questions Volume 2, Page 210 Image result for home png

All sins shall be forgiven, except the sin against the Holy Ghost; for Jesus will save all except the sons of perdition. What must a man do to commit the unpardonable sin? He must receive the Holy Ghost, have the heavens opened unto him, and know God, and then sin against him. After a man has sinned against the Holy Ghost, there is no repentance for him. He has got to say that the sun does not shine while he sees it; he has got to deny Jesus Christ when the heavens have been opened unto him, and to deny the plan of salvation with his eyes open to the truth of it; and from that time he begins to be an enemy. Image result for home png Joseph Smith History of the Church Volume 6, Pages 302-17