The Atonement of Jesus Christ is the central tenet of our faith. The word ‘atonement’ or ‘at-one-ment’ was done to bring us to be “at one” with God. In other words, we can be reconciled with God through the atonement. The reason we are estranged from Him in the first place is because of our mortality. Because we are mortal, we will all die because our bodies are imperfect. Not only that, our spirits are imperfect. No matter what we do, on our own, we cannot remove past disobedience from our heart. These imperfections of body and spirit bring on physical and spiritual death. Physical death is a separation from our body and spiritual death is a separation from God.

Through the atonement, our bodies will be made perfect after this life, that much is guaranteed to us. In order to perfect our spirits, we must accept the terms and conditions set by Jesus Christ. The atonement was accomplished by Jesus Christ by His suffering for our sins in Gethsemane and on the cross and through His resurrection.

See also:

What do Mormons believe about the Atonement of Jesus Christ?

We try to practice the teaching of Christ when he said “hold up your light that it may shine unto the world… I have commanded that none of you should go away, but rather have commanded that ye should come unto me.” Most faithful members of our church are more than willing to share their beliefs with any soul who shows even a little interest. Try letting your friend know that you really are curious, and ask specific questions. Hopefully he’ll open up.

We certainly have no secrecy code. That being said, if an experience is very sacred (e.g. temple worship), it “must be spoken with care, and by constraint of the Spirit” (D&C 63:64).

Members can be removed from the church in one of two ways. They can request that their names be removed, or they can be ex-communicated. The latter is usually due to willful disobedience of major commandments.

See also: 2 Nephi 26:27-28, Moroni 6:7-8

What would happen to people who didn’t have the chance to hear the gospel, such as people in third world countries? Even if they’ve lived good lives, but never even heard the name of Christ, do they still end up in hell? What about small children who die?

The reason that these comments caught my eye is because I’ve asked these very same questions myself. Now in this article, I will share the answers I have learned with you.

Sadly, there are still places in the world, where the name of Christ is foreign and his teachings are not taught. Think of a tribe of people in sub-Saharan Africa, where they’ve never even heard of Jesus and where there are no scriptures to learn from. But they are still good people. They help their fellow men, they look after their families. They respect the earth and work hard to improve life for themselves and those around them. These are the types of people who would accept the Gospel of Christ if it was presented to them and would strive to follow Him. Is it fair that because they were born in Africa, instead of another part of the world, that they are doomed to Hell?

The answer to this question is No. We know that God is a just God. Where would the justice be if these people were assigned to eternal damnation by no act of their own?

But we also know that in order to return to God, we must have faith in Jesus Christ, repent of our sins, be baptized and receive the Holy Ghost through confirmation.

How can God be fair, while having faith, repenting, baptism and confirmation are required?

In the scriptures we learn that everyone will have the chance to be taught and accept the gospel of Jesus Christ. For some people, it will take place in this life. But for others, it will occur after they die.

The apostle Peter spoke of this in 1 Peter 3:18-19

“For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirt:

By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison”

And in 1 Peter 4:6

“For for this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.”

These people will get a chance to learn and accept the gospel while in this “spirit prison”. They can develop faith in Christ and repent of their sins. They will also be able to receive the ordinances of baptism and confirmation by proxy. Here is a link to further explain that.

The last question was about small children who die. Some babies are born with severe conditions that only allow minutes of life to them. Other children pass away at an older age, but are still too young to have really understood who Christ was.

These children are also not punished for their brief lives, but are saved through the atonement of Jesus Christ. We learn from the scriptures that “children who die before they arrive at the years of accountability are saved in the celestial kingdom of heaven.” (D&C 137:10) What a truly comforting promise to those who have lost young loved ones.

God is a just and loving God. He loves and cares for his children. That is why he sent his son, Jesus Christ, to make it possible that we can return to live with him someday. And that is why he has given everyone a chance to learn of Christ, have faith in him, repent of their sins, be baptized and receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

However, while we can find good people anywhere, God did not make innumerable religions. As the Bible says in 1 Cor. 14:33, “God is not the author of confusion…” A closer look at the basic beliefs of varying world religions will show a wide range of opinions on core religious principles. For example, Christianity says that Jesus is the Son of God. Jews believe the Messiah hasn’t come yet. Muslims, Buddhists, etc. don’t believe in a Messiah at all. There are plenty of examples just within Christianity itself: Should baptism be by sprinkling or by immersion?  Did the authority to act in Christ’s name continue down to Catholicism or was it lost with the death of the apostles?  Do you have to get permission to act in Christ’s name at all?  How does one receive that authority?

Paul taught the Ephesians that there is only “One Lord, one faith, one baptism” (Eph. 4:5). It’s our responsibility to find the truth and live it. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints claims that the authority to act in God’s name was lost with the death of Christ’s apostles. It further proclaims that, that authority has been restored through a modern prophet and that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is His one and only true church on the earth today – with all of the truth, authority, and teachings necessary to live with God again after we die. We are invited to study the Church’s teachings and then pray and ask God whether what we’ve learned is true. We are promised an answer: “And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost. And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things.” (Moroni 10:4-5)

While preparing for a class, I came across this talk given by Hugh B. Brown, a member of the First Presidency of our church, who passed away some years ago.  It details a conversation that he had with a member of the British House of Commons and a former justice of the supreme court of Britain regarding our belief in the reality of modern-day prophets.

I will never understand why people reject the doctrine of God still being able to call prophets.  He has always done so and will continue to do so.  I firmly declare that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God and that there is a prophet today who speaks for God.  Prophets are essential to us knowing who God and Jesus Christ are—their characters and their teachings that will bring salvation.  You too can know of this truth if you will sincerely ask God in prayer with faith to act.

“[This man] called me on the phone one day and asked if I would meet him at his office and explain some phases of my faith. He said, “There is going to be a war [World War II], and you will have to return to America, and we may not meet again.”

When I went to his office, he said he had been intrigued by some things I had told about my church. He asked me if I would prepare a brief on Mormonism and discuss it with him as I would discuss a legal problem. He said, “You have told me that you believe that Joseph Smith was a prophet and that you believe that God the Father and Jesus of Nazareth appeared to him in vision.

“I cannot understand,” he said, “how a barrister and solicitor from Canada, a man trained in logic and evidence and unemotional cold fact, could accept such absurd statements. What you tell me about Joseph Smith seems fantastic, but I wish you would take three days at least to prepare a brief and permit me to examine it and question you on it.”

I suggested that, as I had been working on such a brief for more than 50 years, we proceed at once to have an examination for discovery, which is briefly a meeting of the opposing sides in a lawsuit where the plaintiff and defendant, with their attorneys, meet to examine each other’s claims and see whether they can find some area of agreement and thus save the time of the court later on.

I began by asking, “May I proceed, sir, on the assumption that you are a Christian?”

“I am.”

“I assume that you believe in the Bible—the Old and New Testaments?”

“I do!”

“Do you believe in prayer?”

“I do!”

“You say that my belief that God spoke to a man in this age is fantastic and absurd?”

“To me it is.”

“Do you believe that God ever did speak to anyone?”

“Certainly, all through the Bible we have evidence of that.”

“Did he speak to Adam?”

“Yes.”

“To Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jacob, and to others of the prophets?”

“I believe he spoke to each of them.”

“Do you believe that contact between God and man ceased when Jesus appeared on the earth?”

“Certainly not. Such communication reached its climax, its apex at that time.”

“Do you believe that Jesus of Nazareth was the Son of God?”

“He was.”

“Do you believe, sir, that after the resurrection of Christ, God ever spoke to any man?”

He thought for a moment and then said, “I remember one Saul of Tarsus who was going down to Damascus to persecute the saints and who had a vision, was stricken blind, in fact, and heard a voice.”

“Whose voice did he hear?”

“Well,” he said, “the voice said `I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.’”

“Do you believe that actually took place?”

“I do.”

“Then, my Lord”—that is the way we address judges in the British commonwealth—”my Lord, I am submitting to you in all seriousness that it was standard procedure in Bible times for God to talk to men.”

“I think I will admit that, but it stopped shortly after the first century of the Christian era.”

“Why do you think it stopped?”

“I can’t say.”

“You think that God hasn’t spoken since then?”

“Not to my knowledge.”

“May I suggest some possible reasons why he has not spoken. Perhaps it is because he cannot. He has lost the power.”

He said, “Of course that would be blasphemous.”

“Well, then, if you don’t accept that, perhaps he doesn’t speak to men because he doesn’t love us anymore. He is no longer interested in the affairs of men.”

“No,” he said, “God loves all men, and he is no respecter of persons.”

“Well, then, if you don’t accept that he loves us, then the only other possible answer as I see it is that we don’t need him. We have made such rapid strides in education and science that we don’t need God any more.”

And then he said, and his voice trembled as he thought of impending war, “Mr. Brown, there never was a time in the history of the world when the voice of God was needed as it is needed now. Perhaps you can tell me why he doesn’t speak.”

My answer was, “He does speak, he has spoken; but men need faith to hear him.”

(President Hugh B. Brown, Conference Report, October 1967, Third Day—Morning Meeting 118.)

Anyway, so in this particular Family Home Evening lesson we read the scripture Alma 33:11 which describes praying in faith through one’s afflictions. I asked my children if they knew what the word “affliction” meant and explained to them that it is something difficult: when something hard happens in life and we maybe don’t know what to do or how to get through that experience and I told them it is important to pray to make it through these times of difficulty. My four year old son has been playing a video game with my husband and when I talked about afflictions, he immediately drew a corollary to this game. They’d stopped playing last time at a point in which the characters were stuck on one side of a large crack in the ground and my son commented that he just didn’t know what they were going to do about it or how they would get their guys around or over this big hole in the earth. When he said the closing prayer that night, he asked Heavenly Father to help them to find a way to get around that big crack in the ground in their game.

Maybe it’s one of those “you had to be there moments”, but this touched my heart and I know my children and I were both taught that night by the Holy Ghost. My eyes got a little misty as the scripture Mosaiah 3:19 came to my mind and I marveled at the simplicity and depth of my son’s faith. I know that he believes and accepts what I’m teaching him. I know that he loves his Redeemer, Jesus Christ. My son was taking my lesson to heart and applying it to his sphere of understanding. Would that we all prayed with such faith! Would that we never doubted that our omnipotent Father in Heaven cares about us and whatever we may be experiencing. I know this to be true.  Jesus is the Christ, he suffered for your sins, died for you and was resurrected again because of that great love that our Father has for each and every one of us. Just as my son prayed for help to get through what he truly saw as a difficulty in his world, we can pray for any difficulty in our world and I know our prayers will be answered.

Her instructions were to take the peach pit home and bury it in a small pot.  Give it plenty of water and sunlight.  When the seedling gets to be about 6 inches high, plant it in a bigger pot.  When it reaches 2 feet, transplant it outside where it will receive lots of sunlight and water.  It seems like a lot more work and a lot more time than I originally counted on.  I decide to…

A.    Throw the seed out the car window as I am driving home and resolve to just come by her house occasionally and ask for a bushel of peaches. (Go to {A})
B.    Take it home and plant it outside in the spot where I am eventually going to put it in the yard and save myself a few steps. (Go to {B})
C.    Take it home and plant it in the small pot and water it faithfully for a few days.  At least, as long as it’s still interesting to me. (Go to {C})
D.    Take it home and do exactly as she says.  (Go to {D})

{A} As I throw the seed out of my window, I think—how would I know if this particular peach pit was even going to germinate?  I’m pretty sure it was faulty.  If she asks, I’ll just say it never came up, so would she mind just sharing her peaches once in a while?  I just saved myself a lot of trouble.  Unfortunately, my friend moves away the following year and my peach supply ends.  (Matthew 13: 4, 19).

{B} I take the seed home and wonder if it is even a viable peach pit—will it germinate?  Or did she just get lucky with her peach pit?  Maybe she wasn’t even telling me the truth about growing her pit into a tree!  I talk to a lot of my friends about it, we look stuff up on Wikipedia about peaches and what the likelihood is of them germinating.  I go to cherry growers websites, too (they are also stone fruits), to see if they have hints or facts about growing peaches.  I discuss it with people in the supermarket line.  I’m getting a lot of good information about peaches and I think I’m almost an expert on them.  I guess the time is right for me to have my own.

I decide just to plant it in the yard and see if it comes up.  I’m not going to bother with all the fussy details.  I plant it and, mercifully, the rain and sun cooperate.  One day as I’m out playing with my toddler in the yard, I notice a little seedling unfolding in the sun–the peach tree!  The only problem is that it is surrounded by thick Texas grass and weeds.  I check on it occasionally, but after a few weeks, the grass and weeds have won the battle for water and sun and the seedling is gone.  Hmm, I guess I should have just planted it inside like she said.  Turns out it was a good pit.  Unfortunately, my friend moved away before peach season came again and I didn’t get another chance to try it. (Matthew 13: 7, 22)

{C} As I leave her house, I am so excited and empowered by the idea that I could grow my very own peach tree!  I’m going to start a blog about it!  I’m going to take pictures every day to show the progress!  And maybe I will be able to find a little ruler that I can plant right along with the pit and then I can tell how much it is growing every day.  What should I name it?  Tabitha.  Definitely Tabitha.  Full of adrenaline, I rush right in and find a small pot (my first attempt at ceramics in 9th grade), fill it with potting soil and plant the seed.  I faithfully water it for a week.  Then less faithfully the next week.  Then we go on vacation for three days.  When I get home, I have kind of forgotten about it and it never really gets to be part of my daily schedule, besides, now I am too busy teaching myself Tae Kwon Do from YouTube tutorials.  Two months later, as I do the dishes, I look up and see it there.  Brown and lying in the dirt. The sun and drought has fried it.  Poor Tabitha.  I just got really busy.  (Matthew 13: 5, 20-21; Alma 32: 38-40)

{D} As I leave her house, I am excited about the possibility of having my own peach tree, growing right out my back door.  I already have a pot on my window sill with some dirt in it from another plant that didn’t survive the winter.  Maybe this tree will be luckier.  I decide to empty the old dirt out and put in some fresh, moist potting soil.  The kind with MiracleGro right in it.  This little pit needs all the help it can get.  Then I put it back up on the windowsill and remind myself that every time I make dinner, I will give it a little drink.  As soon as it is part of my schedule, it is easy to take care of.  My kids and I watch the little sprout grow and grow with fascination.

After a few months, we put it in a bigger pot and it continues to grow.  It only takes a year and a half to be hardy enough to plant outside.  A year and a half!  And now we’ll have fresh peaches each summer for the rest of our lives, if I continue to care for it.  I’d say it was a solid investment of time.  Good thing I did, too, because my friend moves away the next year and her peach tree is razed when the new owners take over the house.  We still talk about gardening stuff on the phone though.  It’s so great to have that in common.  As soon as my tree starts producing, I plan to send her a peach pit so she can grow her own again.  This particular variety is sweeter than any other I’ve tasted.  (Matthew 13: 8,23; Alma 32: 28-37).

If you are wondering what in the world I am talking about, read Alma 32: 28-43 and Matthew 13.  A gospel-centered life is a lot sweeter than peaches.  I know that it is viable and will germinate if you give it a sincere chance with diligent effort.  You can know the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ is true fairly quickly (a sprout), but to be able to stand on your own testimony takes a little time (say, a year and a half of dedicated effort) and finally receiving the fruit (a life changed through Jesus Christ) can take even longer, though I promise that it is worth the effort.

“And because of your diligence and your faith and your patience with the word in nourishing it, that it may take root in you, behold, by and by ye shall pluck the fruit thereof, which is most precious, which is sweet above all that is sweet, and which is white above all that is white, yea, and pure above all that is pure; and ye shall feast upon this fruit even until ye are filled, that ye hunger not, neither shall ye thirst.  Then, my friends, ye shall reap the rewards of your faith and your diligence, and patience, and long-suffering, waiting for the tree to bring forth fruit unto you.” (Alma 32: 42-43)

Life is full of ups and downs.  At times we feel inclined to sing, rejoice and be happy.  At others times, we feel as though we are treading through paths of misery and woe.  In spite of life’s difficulties and pains, we are not meant to be continually mourning.  Our purpose here in life is actually to have joy. The prophet Lehi of the Book of Mormon stated, “Adam fell that men might be and men are that they might have joy.” (2 Nephi 2:25)  We exist in order to have joy!

While in this life, we ought to be happy and we ought to be preparing to join God in His Heaven after this life (Alma 34:32).  The two go hand in hand.  When we choose to prepare to meet God, that is, we choose to shun the evil and pursue the good, we will be more happy.  It is in God’s nature to be happy and everything that is good (including happiness) comes from God.  Obedience to the commandments and happiness are related.  Conversely, when we make poor decisions that are contrary to the commandments of God, we cannot expect to be happy forever because  wickedness never was happiness. (Alma 41:10)

Every decision we have to make has consequences.  We are allowed in this life to make our own choices but we cannot choose the consequences that our decisions incur.  Those consequences can be good and bring us knowledge, success or peace or those consequences can be just the opposite and damage the body, mind and soul.  The commandments that God has given us are guidelines of a loving parent so that we might more fully enjoy life without being encumbered with additional pains.  When we keep the commandments in our hearts and seek to obey them, God has promised a fuller and more abundant life.  They are not intended to restrict, but to free.  Milton R. Hunter, a member of the quorum of the seventy wrote in the book, ‘The Gospel through the Ages,’ the following about living life, “Religion is the highest expression of man’s will to live and to have that life more abundantly.  Religion is the outreaching of the human heart for the most worthwhile things that life offers.  In fact, it is the highest aspect of our struggle for life, beauty and happiness.”  Those commandments contained in the Bible become less of a burden and more of a joy when we realize what things are truly worthwhile in the larger scheme of things.

When considering this principle of consequences from actions, one must not assume all pain and suffering comes from bad choices.  Life is a growing experience.  God did not place us all in a static environment.  That would show nothing from us.  All people grow more when they are stretched to their limits.  “And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness.  I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.”  (Ether 12:27)  Our real responsibility when dealing with hard times is to remember that we still control our attitude.  The way we react to situations speaks volumes of our true self.  When we have hope, we allow God to help us grow in trials.  When we despair, we are left to languish and deteriorate.

God did not intend for us to only react, however, and He has given us certain commandments that we must be charitable towards our fellow man.  “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.  This is the first and great commandment.  And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself“  (Matthew 22:37-39).  When we love God, we love our neighbor.  We serve him and when we serve our neighbor, we are serving our God.  (See James 1:27 and Matthew 25:34-40)

A truly full and abundant life would not be complete without our Savior, Jesus Christ.  Through His gospel, He can be a daily part of our life.  Through Him, our efforts to serve God will not be in vain.  We will grow, our fellow man will grow, and we will all be perfected in Him.  This process is continuous and does not end, even when this life will end.  Our true faith and our willingness to come to Christ will be an integral part of our life and it will show.

See “The Plan of Salvation“

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth. Romans 1:16

The word gospel is derived from the Old-English spelling of God-spell, or rather, good news.  The term is not limited in referring to the first four books of the New Testament, but rather refers to the good news that “Jesus Christ has made a perfect atonement for mankind that will redeem all mankind from the grave and reward each individual according to his/her works.” (Bible Dictionary: Gospel)  This makes those books commonly referred to as the gospels, testimonies of that gospel, being witnesses of Jesus Christ, of His life and teachings.

The true and everlasting gospel of which the apostles and all the prophets testified throughout their lives was taught to men on the earth since the time of Adam.  “And thus the Gospel began to be preached, from the beginning, being declared by holy angels sent forth from the presence of God, and by his own voice, and by the gift of the Holy Ghost.” (Moses 5:58)  Every prophet that was called of God, was instructed to teach the people of this gospel.  They testified of Christ, His atonement and sacrifice and implored the people to repent, come unto Christ and receive the gospel into their lives.  This call was often rejected, as told in the scriptures, and resulted in repeated periods of apostasy wherein the true gospel was lost.  Repeated periods of apostasy were ended by repeated callings of prophets to restore what was lost until Christ Himself came to earth to teach His own gospel and also to fulfill it.

Christ’s apostles went abroad to spread this good news.  The bad news is that they too were rejected and martyred and the world was left bereft once again of the truth; that is, until the truth was restored once more by a prophet called of God.  That gospel is now being taught all across the world and people everywhere are coming to the knowledge that Christ lives and loves each one of us and that He has prepared a way for us to prosper in this life and return to Him once we pass into the next.

The faithful would never forget that good news that they were redeemed and they rejoiced in the future where the Lord’s kingdom would be established and His gospel would be preached around the world.

How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!  Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice; with the voice together shall they sing: for they shall see eye to eye, when the Lord shall bring again Zion. Isaiah 52:7-8

Heavenly Father has prepared another chance for them to hear the gospel and choose to accept or reject it.

The official Church website explains:  “Jesus Christ taught that baptism is essential to the salvation of all who have lived on earth (see John 3:5)  Many people, however, have died without being baptized.  Others were baptized without proper authority.  Because God is merciful, He has prepared a way for all people to receive the blessings of baptism.  By performing proxy baptisms in behalf of those who have died, Church members offer these blessings to deceased ancestors.  Individuals can then choose to accept or reject what has been done in their behalf.”

Baptism is the first ordinance of the gospel.  It is so important that even Jesus Christ asked to be baptized in order to fulfill all righteousness.  Because Heavenly Father desires for us all to return to Him, He has made it possible for the dead to have the same opportunities as the living through the temple ordinances.

Some have the misconception that this temple work forces the deceased persons into covenants against their will.  This is entirely false.  All spirits maintain their free will after death and can opt to accept or refuse the ordinance of baptism.  When a living person is baptized and receives the Gift of the Holy Ghost in behalf of a deceased person, it is only to give the deceased person the opportunity – the option of redemption.

LDS.org also reveals:  “Many in the spirit world embrace the gospel. However, they cannot receive priesthood ordinances for themselves because they do not have physical bodies. In holy temples, we have the privilege of receiving ordinances in their behalf. These ordinances include baptism, confirmation, Melchizedek Priesthood ordination (for men), the endowment, the marriage sealing, and the sealing of children to parents. The Lord revealed this work to the Prophet Joseph Smith, restoring a practice that had been revealed to Christians shortly after the Resurrection of Jesus Christ (see 1 Corinthians 15:29).

Part of the mission of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is to Redeem the Dead.  Because of this, we participate in genealogy/family history work to find our ancestors who were not able to hear and accept the gospel while on earth.  Many in my family are involved in this work because of our desire to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the children to their fathers as mentioned at the very end of the old testament.

I love going to the temple.  There is such a special feeling that accompanies me when I’m in the House of the Lord.  Doing the physical ordinances for my ancestors who have passed on is an amazing experience because I know that many of them have been waiting for hundreds of years to finally have their baptism performed.  Being a part of their spiritual progression is remarkable.  I know that God is merciful and mindful of each of us because He gives everyone a fair chance at accepting or rejecting the message of the gospel.