{warning: religious posting}

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Ok, I'm not sure if I'm ready to start this posting yet but I don't feel like watching tv and it's too early to go to bed so... I'm a bit hesitant to do this posting as I don't want people to think my blog will be a religious blog now. It's just that the school shooting in Finland made me think about this topic and how I feel so fortunate to have certain knowledge in my life that helps me when things happen in the world that "don't make any sense" (to me they actually do make sense). So please don't think that I'm trying to push anything in anyone's throat or anything like that. I personally have really enjoyed reading about Islam in Marita's blog and there's been some fun discussions about religious topics. Most people either don't know much at all about my religion or they know twisted/sensationalized info that media has given them. It doesn't hurt one bit to know about the various religions in the world. The more we know, the less "weird" other people's religions feel and we are more likely to tolerate others' faiths. Makes sense, right? I hope so.

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This topic that I feel like talking about is very simple yet it's hard to explain in just few words. So I have decided to tackle this topic in parts. Hence the numbers on the chart. :) Today I'll concentrate on number 1 (and 2, since that is a one sentence thing :)) and I'll do number 3 another day (who knows when, I have to be in the mood and I don't want to do this kind of postings too often, we'll also see if anyone is interested in this topic, if the discussion gets going, etc...). Things might not make sense until the whole plan is explained so please be patient and get "all the pieces of the puzzle" before you judge the picture. Also, please be patient as I have never been the best at choosing the right words. I hope I can explain things so that they make sense.

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The above chart explains what us Latter-Day Saints believe about God's plan for people. The plan has many names. My favorite is "the great plan of happiness".

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Number 1 = premortal life = pre-existence = pre-earth life

We believe that our existence doesn't start at birth. We believe that we lived with God as His spirit children before we came to this earth. So, yes, we believe that we are literally God's children (the part of us that is "the spirit") and that He loves us more than we can even imagine. He knows us inside and out. We don't know everything about this time with Heavenly Father/God but we know that we were progressing there as babies do here on earth. At a certain time, we reached a point when we "needed to try our own wings". Sort of like going to college here on earth. Heavenly Father presented his plan for us so that we can come here on earth, receive physical bodies (and other things which I'll talk about in the next segment) and learn from the experiences here on earth. There was a great council in heaven and most of us chose to follow God's plan for us but some did not. Lucifer (also knows as Satan) tried to force a plan on us that didn't allow us to have our free agencies but would basically guarantee that all of us would return back to Heavenly Father. God rejected that plan as free agency is absolutely essential for us to be independent and to really learn and choose for ourselves. He won't force anyone. He respects our agency to choose what we want. Those of us who are here on earth, chose to follow God's plan. Satan and his followers chose not to and they remain as spirit persons trying to nullify God's plan. They keep trying but they won't succeed. Oh, and no, Satan has no hoofs and isn't ugly. My guess is that he is an amazingly charismatic person otherwise so many wouldn't follow him. Satan is a totally different topic though that we can get to at some (very) future point if someone is interested.

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I'm not sure if I'm leaving something essential out about pre-earth life but that's about it in a nut shell.

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Number 2 = a forgetfulness about our pre-earth life, we sometimes call it "a veil"

Basically - we can't remember our pre-earth existence. Essential so that we can be free agents here on earth and choose for ourselves.

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Next step is this life and that'll be another long posting so this is it for now. Feel free to comment, ask questions, disagree, etc. :)

I'm nervous to see what you all will say about all this. Just remember, this is only a tiny part of the plan. It won't make sense until you get more parts to the puzzle.

Those of you who like to check things out in the scriptures, please see Hebrews 12:9 and Jeremiah 1:5, for example. I don't like to "Bible bash" as each faith interprets the Bible so differently. Just so you know.

I'm just explaining what I believe in. I totally respect others' beliefs (especially since I believe the freedom to choose is so important in the first place). I remember talking to a collegue long time ago (I was 20) and he told me he believed aliens brought us here and it's some sort of crazy experiment for them to see what happens. First I thought he was joking but then realized he was 100% serious. No problem. He is totally free to believe that. We always had fun discussions and it didn't matter that we believed so differently. Whoever says that you shouldn't talk about religion or politics is crazy in my opinion. Those are two amazingly interesting topics. As long as you don't argue and respect the other person's beliefs and ideas, it's fun to talk about these things.

So talk, readers. I'm anxious to see what you have to say. :)

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I tried to keep this as short as I could. Remember my blog's type is size large so it actually isn't quite as long as it looks. :)

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Tama on enkuksi silla mun on tosi vaikea puhua naista jutuista suomeksi kun en ole tottunut.

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