Doctrine and Covenants 138:56

"Even before they were born, they, with many others, received their first lessons in the world of spirits and were prepared to come forth in the due time of the Lord to labor in his vineyard for the salvation of the souls of men."
Doctrine and Covenants 138:56


Sometimes I wonder who we were in the spirit world.  Of course it is foreign to us to think of ourselves without a body... but it is interesting to me.  What did I love, what did I look forward to in coming to earth?  What kind of lessons did we learn that we could carry with us to our lives here?  Were we frightened of the trials, or purely confident and excited?  Is who we are now who we were planning on being?  who we wanted to be?  And then there is always the question... when we are reunited with our memories of that time, will we like who we are?
It's a weird test, being on this earth without our memories of before... of course, it is really the only way that we could be tested.  We knew God and each other so well before this life that maybe we wouldn't be able to really experience trial and temptation otherwise... we'd see the emptiness in everything if we had that perfect knowledge of God.  And, you know... maybe we can approach that in this life as we include God in our hearts and minds and lives each day.  We’ll be able to tell the difference between the real thing and the cardboard imitation.  It amazes me sometimes that I can be so blind as to dedicate so much of my energy and loyalty to cardboard.  That the imitation is so important to me, and I trust in it so much, and then I am surprised when the breeze knocks it over.  When you dedicate all that you are to the cardboard facade, you are, unfortunately, setting yourself up for a fall... sooner or later.  Luckily, God gives us all that we need to detect the cardboard from the original.  He offers us his perspective... seen from above, the difference is plain.  And, he can remind us of ourselves... who we used to be, and who we knew we wanted to become.  Today, as I go to church and interact with my friends, I am going to try to find some dreams that are made of firmer stuff than cardboard.  I wish the same for you.