Remember who you are.

I have a testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and I know that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is true. I know that Joseph Smith saw Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ as two separate beings when he was kneeled down in prayer. I also know that Joseph Smith received revelation from the Lord, and that the Book of Mormon is another testament of our Heavenly Father.
I have been pondering quite a while about how to go about my testimony of such certainty and as I pondered I found many other things to strengthen me in my faith and knowledge of the gospel principles. I’ve been told quite a few times, remember who you are. And I say it again, REMEMBER WHO YOU ARE. Now as I heard that, I thought to myself who am I? Or more so, who do I want to be? And then I questioned who I was because I honestly didn’t know the answer to either of those questions, so I had quite a “veil of forgetfulness”. For awhile I thought about the things that I wasn’t very proud of, and I knew those were things I didn’t want to be associated with who I was, but I wasn’t quite getting the whole sentence. Remember is the key phrase, trying to remember our pre-earth lives when we lived with our Heavenly Father, as spirit bodies, and were all taught the gospel truths that we now know today. So in remembering who you are, you are trying to be the son or daughter that God wanted you to be, and we were all taught these principles long before we lived. It is so easy to forget what is right and wrong because Satan wants us to forget the plan of salvation. Satan tempts us because he knows Heavenly Father doesn’t force his children to follow his principles as Joseph Smith said, “I teach them correct principles, and they govern themselves.” Father in Heaven wants us to have free agency but not without accountability. We are accountable for all that we do, and so our life on Earth is to prove that we are children of the Lord, that we want to follow his righteous ways because we know this is the only way we can live eternally. As we seek to be obedient to gospel principles, God has said that he will bless us, and he is bound to his word. I know that there is far greater happiness following the strait and narrow path back to our heavenly father because he has promised blessings as we choose the right, and we are making God happy, we are choosing to follow in his footsteps so that we can be joint heirs of his kingdom. It is so amazing to have a father who wants us to be happy, who loves us and has made a plan for us that will bring us great treasures in our lives and beyond, and all we have to do is follow him.
Although it’s easy to say “follow him”, we are not perfect. Jesus Christ was perfect though, our savior. He atoned for our sins and saved all of God’s children. He gave his life so that we might live in the Celestial Kingdom with our perfect Father again eternally. I have felt the power of the spirit bear witness to me with overwhelming feelings of joy and peace. Satan learned that our mortality would be our final great test before preceding to exaltation, which involved the veil of forgetfulness being placed over our minds. Meaning that we have no recollection of what our pre-earth life was like, but Heavenly father gave us experiences in our lives to help us learn, grow and progress to be like him.
So although we are not perfect, we can repent. Repentance is real, in Moses 6:60 the scripture reads “for by the water ye keep the commandment; by the spirit ye are justified, and by the blood ye are sanctified”… if we keep our commandments after we are baptized we will feel the spirit, and when we mess up we will know and repent whereby we are sanctified by the atonement of Jesus Christ. We in essence are a
“ battleground of mortality; celestial spirit bodies warring against our unruly, telestial physical bodies, the physical body always doing whatever it wants and what feels good, while our eternal spirit is trying to bring it under control.”
I know that the atonement is real and that I am able to repent because Jesus Christ sacrificed himself for my sins, and everyone else. So as I remember these things I find comfort in knowing how blessed I am, and how much heavenly father loves me and my brothers and sisters. I know God wants us to be eternally successful and happy.
In the Bible, Abraham 3:26 says, “ and they who keep their first estate shall be added upon; and they who keep not their first estate shall not have glory in the same kingdom with those who keep their first estate; and they who keep their second estate shall have glory added upon their heads for ever and ever.” So in breaking this down, you will remember that our first estate was our spirit bodies our pre-earth life, and our second estate is our mortal body, here on earth. So we kept our first estate, because we were added upon by being given our physical bodies, free agency and accountability. We are now trying to keep our second estates, which is our mortal bodies. We have the “veil of forgetfulness” so we don’t remember being with heavenly father, but we were taught correct principles so we know that to keep our second estate we have to live as God would command us. And in keeping those commandments we will have “glory added upon our heads for ever and ever.” The glory that will be added will be the exaltation of your spirit and eternal life. Those who live righteously and desire to know and do what is right, will be exalted, and have the powers that our Lord has. The greatest power is that of procreation, which our father promised to endow us with eternally in our resurrected bodies. Heavenly Father wants us to be like him, he wants us to all live in the Celestial Kingdom with him, and we all can if we abide by his principles. There are promised blessings that are in store if we do, and how great it is to have a spirit to make sure you know what is true and right. So I learned who I was, who I want to be, and how to get there. I bear testimony that heavenly father wants us all to be happy and knows all of us individually, that he has a plan for each and every one of us, and has given us a path to lead us back to him. I know that you can remember who you are when you, get rid of the veil of forgetfulness by saying no to the adversary, and staying true to your commandments. I know that I want to live eternally in the celestial kingdom and have the ability to have procreative powers. I am so grateful to know the plan of salvation, and grateful to be able to deeply and with such great certainty, REMEMBER WHO I AM.