The Eternal Family: A Plain and Precious Part of the Plan of Salvation

"The family is central to the Creator’s plan for the eternal destiny of His children...In the premotal realm, spirit sons and daughters knew and worshiped God as their Eternal Father and accepted His plan by which His children could obtain a physical body and gain earthly experience to progress toward perfection and ultimately realize their divine destiny as heirs of eternal life."

 From the beginning, God organized the human family and revealed that marriage and family relationships are intended to be eternal.

In addition to the Creation, Fall, and Atonement being literal historic events, each are doctrines that have direct application to our personal lives. We each have experienced the Creation both spiritually and physically. Our heavenly parents created our spirit bodies in the premortal realm. Our earthly parents provided our physical bodies and we were born into mortality, Each of  us experience the Fall as we are born into a fallen world and are separated from God's presence. We also experience the Fall as we face the realities of our fallen natures and suffer the consequences of our own sins and mistakes, as well as those of others. we learn of and receive the blessings of the Atonement of Jesus Christ  as we repent of our sins, are healed from our infirmities, and eventually experience the resurrection of our physical bodies.

The doctrines of the Creation, Fall, and Atonement can also serve as metaphors as each can have interpretive application to many of the significant events in our lives. Each of us experiences periods of  creation, such as the beginning of a marriage, the birth of a child, beginning a new school year or semester, receiving a new Church calling, starting a new jog, or beginning an other important process. These periods of creation are generally times when we are optimistic and hopeful concerning the future. Times of creation are generally followed by times when we experience a"fall" as we are confronted with adversity, affliction, and opposition. Our optimistic idealism about the future often turns into recognition of the difficulty reality of the present. It is important to remember that these difficult times of fallenness can be followed by experiences of healing and reconciliation as we come to understand our need for a Savior and embrace the Atonement of Jesus Christ.

God and His plan are eternal. He instituted marriage and family in the beginning, God created the earth, the garden, and our first parents in order to created families for all of His children to be born into and experience mortal life - especially moral family life. The Fall occurred because Adams and Eve chose to obey God's commandment to multiply and replenish the earth and thus create the first family. The Savior completed the Atonement in order to reconcile God's children with the Father and with one another. Thus, the great plan of happiness is God's plan for happiness in time and in eternity.