The plan of salvation

You lived with your Heavenly Father as one of His spirit children before you began your life on Earth. You were happy there, but God knew that you could not continue to progress unless you left Him for a time.
So He presented His plan—the plan of salvation. It allowed you to come to Earth, where you would gain a physical body and would have experiences that would help you to learn and grow. The purpose of the plan is to help you become more like Him.

Heavenly Father knew that while you were on Earth you would make mistakes—everyone does. So, as part of His plan, He provided a Savior, Jesus Christ, who would make it possible for sins to be forgiven, and for all people who accept His sacrifice to return to live with Heavenly Father.

The fact that you are living on Earth means that you accepted Heavenly Father’s plan and came here wanting to do all you could to receive all He has to offer.

The marvelous thing about Heavenly Father’s plan is that by following it, not only can you return to Him after you die—you can also find peace and happiness in this life.

I have a testimony of this. I know it is true. It is very comforting. If not, the events of, especially the last week, would have been really hard to understand. I know that we come to this earth to gain a body. I also know that, that is all little Jonah had to do to be able to live with Heavenly Father again. He has a perfect spirit. I felt the spirit at the funeral very strong. It was a happy time to reflect on the lives he has touched the short time he was on the earth. Don't get me wrong there were lots of tears shed. But my testimony was strengthened by being there, listening to the talks given and hearing the testimonies of the family members that were a part of Jonah's life. It is a great blessing to me to know that we will see him again. That my family is eternal. And that if we keep working toward our goal of being good people, good parents, we will someday be with our Heavenly Father again.