What do Mormons believe is the purpose of life?

Oliver Meyers answered…

I have gotten this question a lot and it has been one I have always heard about but never understood it but as I learned more about our Heavenly Fathers plan for us it started to make more sense. This life it’s a time for us to be happy and grow it’s a time for us to get ready for what’s a head in our existence. This life is a time for us to get ready to meet God again and say I did follow you.

I know that this life is a time for joy and the way I know to have true joy is by having a family. I know that sometimes my family can drive me crazy but that is where I have found all my joy is by helping and just living with my family. I am so excited to have a family of my own, and have a home of love and happiness where we can grow closer to each other and to our Heavenly Father.

As we learn about happiness and joy we also learn about pain and misery that is just a part of this life yes it is hard and sometimes you wish it could just go away but as we learn about both we can appreciate the good from that bad. And I really think that is one of the biggest reasons we are down here is to learn.

Aileen. answered…

This question started my whole spiritual quest, so it is only most appropriate for me to now answer it.

Mormons believe that we were chosen by the Heavenly Father in the spirit world pre-existence to receive a physical body and to come to Earth to our specific mother and father. We agreed, and we essentially are fighting on Heavenly Father's "side" in the war with Lucifer. It is our spiritual "job" in this world to live a certain way, to use our agency to choose between good and evil, in line with the teachings of Jesus Christ, Heavenly Father's only son, whom He sacrificed to allow for our atonement to allow for our spiritual progression.

Mormons believe that while here on Earth, we should learn and live more like our Heavenly Father. This is our spiritual quest which is accomplished through our choices. We marry and build our own family, and by following the Scriptures and living accordingly, we receive access to the Temples where eternal ordinances are performed individually and together as a family.

We can be with our family forever, after death, joined together in Heaven, with Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father. We have greater peace in this life and eternal joy in the life to come. This is the purpose of our life here.

Before I understood this and became a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, my life was reasonably happy but devoid of purpose. Something was missing. I felt incomplete.

Now, I have peace. My soul is soothed.

Kylaas answered…

A lot of people asked me this question on my mission, and, on the flip side, I asked it to a lot of people as well. Many people were surprised when I read them one verse from the Book of Mormon, that being "Adam fell that men might be and men are, that they might have joy." -2 Nephi Chapter 2 Verse 25.
It's simple the purpose of life is to have joy. Now, joy is not fleeting, it doesn't depart when things get rough, it doesn't have negative consequences nor connotations, and you will never be ashamed to be found having a joyful experience. I think of it this way real joy is that which you would be excited to see the Lord join you in your happiness. If it isn't worthy to be in the Lord's presence, it's probably not real joy. Real joy comes from lasting relationships like father and son, mother and daughter, husband and wife, friends that you would stay with forever from experiences which you always look back upon with a happy memory from making promises to God and keeping them from doing that which is right in the sight of the Lord. That is what real joy is, and when you feel that type of joy, you will feel the love that the Lord has for you in that very moment.

Sarah answered…

Perhaps one of the greatest blessings I have received by being a Mormon is a concrete understanding of the purpose of life. We believe that every human being is a literal child of Heavenly Father. We lived with Him in Heaven before we were born on earth. Our purpose in life is to keep His commandments, so that we can be worthy to return to live with our Father in Heaven again after we die. We cannot be worthy without allowing the Atonement of Jesus Christ, the Savior, to cleanse us of sin.

Katie answered…

Our Heavenly Father sent us to Earth to learn, progress, grow spiritually and be tested in order to become more like Him.

Tom answered…

Our main purpose in mortality is prepare to meet God. We also form family relationships that can continue in eternity. After we leave mortality, our lives continue with further purpose to progress eternally, becoming more like God. 

Mitch answered…

 I dare say that there are lots of sub answers to this question the most general answer being to gain a body on earth than be worthey to return and live with our heavenly father again.
but as with all thing people are diffirent so what truly matters to me may not matter as much to you.
So for me the answer is to find Joy through being married into the temple with my true love for time and eternity and raise my future children so that I can keep them for eternity.
althoug I am saddend to say right now I have no prospects at ether of thies.

Bill answered…

We are spiritual offspring of a kind and loving Heavenly Father. We chose to come out of His presence to demonstrate to him our love for him by keeping the commandments. Our Elder Brother, Jesus Christ, came to the earth to take upon himself the pain and suffering for our sins so that we could come back into our Father's presence.

Maija-Liisa Årsnes answered…

To achieve a body in which we are put through trials that make us grow so that we are worty to enherit eternal life with God and Jesus Christ.

Dawn answered…

We believe that we choose to come to earth to learn and grow so that we can develop God-like/Christ-like qualities to prepare us for the work we will do after this life.

Mehli Ruby answered…

I believe that the purpose of life is to learn. We learn through trials and challenges in life that are put before us so that we may become more like Christ as we jump over the hurtles we are given. Although this may not sound pleasant in the end it will be all worth it once we return to our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. My mother always used an analogy to explain to me why I'm here on Earth. She said, "Mehli Heavenly father has set out plan for us so that we may grow and learn and return to him. Pretend you are a giant piece of clay that Heavenly Father is working on. He wants to turn you into a beautiful piece of art so for you to become that piece of beautiful art he has to shape you with his carving tools. When ever he cuts a giant piece of clay off it may hurt but it is for the better. He will keep cutting at you until you are what he wants you to be and then will you return to him." Heavenly Father carving me are the trials that he has given me but as I overcome them am being more beautifully shaped. Don't let Satan get to you for he will destroy you and you will have to start all over again as a clump piece of clay. Always remember that Heavenly Father loves you and that is why he gives us the challenges so that we may learn and become better perfected children of Him.

Jenny answered…

The purpose of life is simply to learn, grow and become like our Heavenly Father in every way. We do this through just living and facing the challenges of life in the way He would want us to.

Elliott answered…

The purpose of life is to have joy.

Chris answered…

We believe that the purpose of life has multiple reasons. We need to receive a physical body that will be perfected in the resurrection of all. We also have the chance to choose between good and evil by our own agency. We form family relationships that have the possibility to become eternal. And we are here to learn and gain experience from our life's choices that will help us be more like our Father in Heaven.

Through the Atonement of Jesus Christ and by following His example you can return to live with Him and our Heavenly Father and also with your loved ones. There is great peace to be had in this life through knowledge of our Heavenly Father's plan and eternal joy in the life hereafter by our obedience to that plan.

Jon answered…

The purpose of life is to provide each of us an opportunity to become more like our Father in Heaven. Our Father in Heaven has a body, always chooses to do good, and has an eternal family.

When we come to earth as babies our spirits enter into our physical bodies. As we grow we learn about what is right and what is wrong and we learn how to choose good instead of evil. We also have the opportunity of forming our own families that can be eternal.

Our purpose in life is to do all of these things because they help us to become more like our Father in Heaven. However, our Father in Heaven is perfect and none of us will be able to do all of these things perfectly. In other words, we are all going to make mistakes. We will all choose evil instead of good sometimes, and we will have struggles with our families and with our bodies.

That is why Jesus Christ must be at the center of our lives indeed He is at the very center of the purpose of life. He died for each of us so that we can become perfected through Him. The scriptures teach us that as we do our best to fulfill the purposes of this life, that Christ’s sacrifice, death, and grace will make up the difference. He will make us perfect

“Come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ” Moroni 10 32.

McKay answered…

I am not really sure how others would answer this, but for me, the purpose of my life is simply to be happy. To have true joy. If I am not enjoying my life, I take the time to evaluate what I am doing and why I am not as happy as I should be... I have found that as long as I am following God's commandments, I will have joy in my life.

I think a lot of people live to make friends or to make money. A lot of people just go through the motions of life. For me I find that loving others is what will give us joy. The more love we have, I believe means the more love we will feel and the more joy we receive. Christ is the greatest example of how we can love others. When we are able to love like Christ, I believe that is when we have true happiness.

Diane answered…

To receive a physical body that our spirit can dwell within. Then live, learn and grow in faith that we might be judged worthy to return and live eternally with our Heavenly Father.

Mary Ann answered…

We believe that the purpose of life is to grow and learn. That is why we have been given our agency, and when we use it wisely we can return to our Father in heaven. We came here to draw closer to our Father in Heaven, and Jesus Christ and to return to him in eternal life.

Ashley answered…

I think the purpose of this life is to improve and progress in a difficult environment and show our willingness to help those around us as they do the same. We show our desire to continue our relationships after we leave this earth. We are here to learn from our own experience that we are happiest when we choose good over evil. We hope to change ourselves so that one day our thoughts, desires, and actions are the same as Jesus Christ's and Heavenly Father's. We desire to be like Him. The purpose of this life is to return to our Heavenly Father improved and ready to take the next step in His plan for us.

Scott answered…

This life is a test of our faith. Heavenly Father has sent us here to gain faith, and through that faith we can endure trials. God loves us and wants us to return to him. But we must prove ourselves by following his commandments and not following Satan. Through obedience we can all live with our Heavenly Father. 

Dean answered…

I believe Earth is patterned after Heaven. So just as I have loving parents here who want the best for me. They taught me principles and gave my life structure growing up in the way they felt would be best help me achieve happiness and success.

Likewise, I believe I have Heavenly Parents who love me and created this earth so I could learn principles and have structure so that I could grow and progress in a way that would best allow me to find happiness and success. I believe I lived and existed in a spirit body before I came to earth. It was created so I could come here and obtain a physical body.

Yes, I will someday donate that body to feed the worms and flowers but I will continue living once again in that spirit form. Only this time I will hold onto all the knowledge I learned here on earth. One day, my spirit and body will reunite, or resurrect, just as Jesus did.

I will then continue to live on forever with my family.

Garrett answered…

Were here to gain exsperience and repent and use this time to become a better individual. God will judge us on the way we use this life.

Lucy Ann answered…

One of the purposes of life is to come to earth to receive a physical body. Another purpose is to have experiences and prove that we can make right choices while living by faith.

Chelsea answered…

 The puropse of life is to learn, and change and become better, more like Jesus Christ our perfect example. This is our time to be tested and to have families, with whom we can have the opportunity to live with forever. I have learned so much through the trials God has given me, and I've been able to change to become more like the person I've wanted to become much faster through the hard times, than through times when life has been "easy." I know that our Heavenly Father loves us and knows what experiences will help us to become the person we want to become. I have come to know much better than i used to, that He wants to help us accomplish our goals and He wants us to be so happy and attain all that He has. He's doing His best to help us to learn and grow and to return to Him again. 

Don answered…

For me the purpose of life is to learn how to live happily. God is happy. For us to be happy in the long term, we need to live a life following His commandments. The commandments are given to us to help us - to show us how peaceful our lives can be when we follow Him. 

Ben answered…

Joseph Smith said "Happiness is the object and design of our existence and will be the end thereof, if we pursue the path that leads to it and this path is virtue, uprightness, faithfulness, holiness, and keeping all the commandments of God.” Another prophet said, "Adam fell that men might be and men are, that they might have joy." The purpose of our mortal life is to prove ourselves to our Father in Heaven—by faith, and by obedience to all His commandments and ordinances. If we weather all our trials to the best of our abilities, and receive all the Gospel ordinances, we'll live with Father again. Living in His presence, receiving all He has, is called receiving "a fullness of joy." True happiness can therefore only be achieved by accepting the atonement of Jesus Christ and living His Gospel, thereby returning to live again with our loving Father-God for all eternity as families, friends, and children of God.

Brandon Bagley answered…

 The purpose of life is to have joy and become more like Jesus Christ by following his example. 

Taryn. answered…

As a memeber of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, I believe that I am not just wandering around doing what I want for no reason. I believe that there was a pre-life, and that in that pre-life, I made a decision to come to earth in order to improve myself. I am here so that I can gain knowledge. I recognize that I will have to have struggles, road blocks, and that through those I will learn new things. I also believe there is a life after death, and that the knowledge we obtain while on earth will continue on with us to the after-life. I believe we are gaining experience from the choices we have to make and that the things we learn in that sense will also continue on with us to the next life. I also believe that we can gain eternal families while we are here on earth through temple work. I'm thankful for this knowledge because it gives me hope.

Miriam answered…

the purpose of life to came to the earth and have a body, to be also taste acording to our accion in this life,
to do heavenly fathers wil.

Alan answered…

The purpose of life is to find our way back into the presence of our Heavenly Father. I believe in finding joy in that journey. As we make choices each day we learn to choose good or evil. We learn from these experiences and they help us. If we make choices that truly help us to feel happy we will be able to form the lasting relationships and gain perspective and experience. This will help us to find our way home to God.

Steven answered…

 We believe that as children of a lovingly Heavenly Father. Our divine purpose is to be born onto earth and gain experience all the while proving ourselves worthy to return to His presence. We could not return on our own. He sent His son Jesus Christ to provide a way to return. Life is to be enjoyed with families that can be Eternal.

Matt answered…

 The purpose of life is to prepare us for life after death. It is kind of like a test that, if we pass, we can live with God again. We spend time here learning, teaching, helping, and finding out what real happiness is. Obviously we have problems in this life, and it's not because God doesn't love us. It's the opposite he wants us to learn from our experiences and exit this life ready to return to his presence.

Allexis Rae answered…

"What is the purpose of life?" is a question many people struggle with today. Mormons believe that we are on this earth to receive a body and gain knowledge. This is because before this life each of us wanted to become like our Heavenly Father and to do that we had to go through a testing and trying time to prove our faith and to gain characteristics that He has. So this life is our opportunity to experience trials, emotion, and the sensation of physical body. It is our responsibility to use our knowledge to the best of our ability and become more intelligent and capable and righteous as God is.

Spencer answered…

I believe our basic purpose here is to learn and make choices. If we chose to follow the example of Jesus Christ and live His teachings to the best of our abilities we can live a happy and full life. If we continue on this path then after we die we can return to live with God, and have eternal happiness.

Beverli answered…

Life is like a big boarding school. As God's children, we progressed as much as we could in his presence, so he sent us to earth to get a physical body, gain experience, and be tested.

Although our experiences and circumstances are different, the test is the same for everyone--to learn to make choices that will help us inherit our Heavenly Father's kingdom after this life.

The best thing about this school of life is that there's no bell curve. Everyone is invited to win the prize, it's our choice! But we could never do it alone; God sent his son Jesus Christ to make it possible for us to overcome all of our mistakes and shortcomings.

Another great thing about this test is that we're allowed--even expected-- to help each other! We all have different strengths and weaknesses, different backgrounds and circumstances, so we should help each other through all the challenges life brings. Part of the test is to learn to love each other the way Christ loves us.

Rick answered…

Before birth, we lived as spirits with God, the our Heavenly Father. (Heb. 12:9) He prepared a plan that provided three ways earth life helps us eventually become more like Him. First is gaining a physical body, imperfect yet more like the His tangible body. The second is living by faith out of His presence, lacking any memory of our pre-mortal existence. Instead, as we learn about God, we can choose to either follow or reject divine instructions. Choosing to follow increases our faith to guide us through life’s hardships and problems.

The third purpose of mortal life is to prove worthy to live with our Heavenly Father again. This is only possible through the centerpiece of God’s plan—the resurrection and atonement of Jesus Christ, the literal Son of God and sole perfect being on Earth. Our shortcomings and transgressions render us unworthy of God’s presence, then death separates our spirits from our bodies. Christ’s resurrection allows of us to have our spirits reunited forever with a perfected body. The atonement overcomes our spiritual separation from God. Jesus suffered for our sins and imperfections in the Garden of Gesthemane, a burden so great His “sweat was as it were great drops of blood.” (Luke 22:44) That blood “cleanseth us from all sin” (1John 1:7), provided we strive to obey His commandments and repent sincerely when we don’t. Fulfilling those requirements makes it possible to live eternally with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ after we are resurrected.

T. Andrews answered…

 Latter-day Saints believe that the purpose of life is for us to experience the ups and downs of life, put our trust in the Savior, Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father, do our best to keep and live their commandments, and return to their presence.

Louise answered…

We believe that the purpose of life is to obtain a body and live worthy to go home to our Heavenly Father. That means we need to learn all that we can to become like our Savior and Heavenly Father.

Israel answered…

Our purpose is to gain a physical body and to be tested. It is a proving ground to learn how to make correct choices.

Andrew Jenson answered…

The purpose of life is to get back up and move on after mistakes are made. To follow in Christ's footsteps is not to immediately be perfect, but to be progressing always to become more like Christ.

John. answered…

Actually, I think more people are asking the question, "What is the purpose of MY life?"

For each one of us, that answer may be different. We all have different talents, gifts and abilities. We also all come from many walks of life and circumstances.

To me, we best come to answer this question for ourselves when we first create a personal relationship with our Savior Jesus Christ, and we seek to follow Him. Then we can find our personal answer to this question.

John answered…

In simple terms the purpose of life is to achieve our true potential as a child of God. We do this by exercising our agency to choose for ourselves and through our efforts becoming the kind of person that we and our Heavenly Father would desire us to become. That is we freely choose to follow his commandments and try to be an influnce for good in the world and to help our fellow men.

Brendan answered…

The purpose of our life is to be tested and tried to see how willing we are to follow Jesus Christ and his teachings.

Morgan answered…

To gain a body and be proven faithful by living Gods laws so that we can become as God is.

Joel answered…

 The purpose of our life here on earth is to be able to prepare ourselves to be able to stand before God at the last day.

Dylan answered…

I believe that the purpose in life is to prepare to meet God, by learning and growing in this life and to gain experience in the many twists and turns that life is thrown at you. 

steph answered…

We believe that we should always be learning and improving and trying our best to be like our Heavenly Father and Jesus. This doesn't always work because we all make mistakes. But what our Heavenly Father asks it that we do our best. And if we do our best we can know that our Heavenly Father is happy with our choices.

Mike answered…

One of my favorite scriptures in The Book of Mormon teaches, "Adam fell that men might be and men are that they might have joy." The purpose of life is exactly that, to have joy. We are here to learn how to recognize, experience, and then share our joy with those around us.

Randy answered…

I believe that the purpose of life is to provide us with opportunities to grow, learn and develop our personal character. We are also are to seek the Lord and follow him. This includes keeping His commandments, and entering into eternal covenants with Him. Even though we each have individual experiences that are unique, the Lord wants to return to live with our Heavenly Father again with our families.

Cary answered…

Deep question! But not really very complicated. The purpose of life is to learn to be like our Father in Heaven. It's a test to see if we will progress to become more like Him, or if we will choose not to develop His attributes. There's a few key differences between that God who calls Himself our Father: 1. He's got an immortal body (many Christians don't believe that, but their justification comes from a misreading of John 4:24--if you read the WHOLE verse, you can see that God is a spirit WITH a body, just the same way WE are); and 2. He's just a tad bit more perfect, more knowledgeable, and more powerful than we are. Of course we can't get all the way there in this lifetime, but having a test to see how well we do in a mortal body makes sense if He wants us to gain an immortal body like His one day. And if a spirit is an intelligence which requires a body in order to be able to act upon things, then it makes sense that the bringing together of body and spirit provides the conditions for a given spirit to be tested--to see what if it will choose right or wrong, good or evil. We will all sin and fall short of the glory of God, as Paul says, but there has been a Savior provided for us, who has Redeemed us not only from our repented sins, but also from death, so that one day--for those of us who choose it--an immortal body and perfect innocence are promised to us. In other words, those essential differences between us now and God can be erased and we can become like God in those essential ways. That is NOT to say that we will somehow be replacing God, but rather that we are promised that we will inherit His full glory under conditions of repentance and proper receipt of Christ's atoning blessings of forgiveness and resurrection.

Maralee answered…

This is the key to my faith, that the idea of heaven is not some amorphous place in the clouds where we will sit and play harps and lounge around for eternity. Just as we have goals in this life to better ourselves, to gain knowledge and understanding and to grow in wisdom, we have a goal FOR this life: to become like our Heavenly Father. He is a literal father, meaning we are truly His children and we have the chance to have what He has. Living a life according to the gospel is preparing us for the life that He leads because He is a living personage with a perfected body and spirit. He wants us to be perfected, too, and experience the joy that He has in His children. Everything in this life is geared toward a greater life beyond this one and is a semblance of what that life can hold: marriage and children and family for all eternity. We're blessed to know that this is not the end of the relationships that we have, that we can be sealed together as a family and never lose each other. Do you look at the people you love and think that no God would allow you to be pulled apart? That the fact that we love in this life means that love is something that continues and should continue, long past death? The members of our Church don't just entertain this idea--it is the core of the gospel. Our Father in Heaven wants to share with us everything that He has, just as any good father does. And through the Atonement of Christ, we CAN share it.

Liz answered…

I believe the purpose of life is to enjoy it! I believe that is possible by living a moral and faithful life, and by worshiping God the Father and Jesus Christ. The commandments give to me freedom and joy and I am grateful for them!

Aliece answered…

The members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints believe this life is not over after death. We believe we will have to opportunity to return to our Father in Heaven God. But our time on Earth is a chance for us to be tested and tried through tough times as well as joyous times. We want to be worthy to receive blessings beyond our immaginations. We work hard and believe that as we fall short most of the time that through Jesus Christ we will become like him.

Mike answered…

To me, the purpose is to become like Heavenly Father. He wants us to live forever in families like he does and enjoy the happiness that he has.

Jeff answered…

The prophet Joseph Smith once said that "happiness is the object and design of our existence." Our loving Heavenly Father has a Plan of Happiness for his children. At the center of this plan is the concept of family. Happiness in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. The divine plan of happiness enables family relationships to be perpetuated beyond the grave. Parents can be forever sealed to their children, and husbands can be forever sealed to their wives. I believe the eternal nature of the family is one of the most beautiful truths of the gospel, and I am grateful to the Lord that I can be sealed to my family for time and all eternity.

Terry answered…

The Purpose of life is to have joy and prepare to return to live with our Heavenly Father. We succeed at both by living the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Aaron answered…

The purpose of life is to become like God and to return to live in His presence. In other words, we have this mortal life to give us experience and to help us return to God better than we left Him.

L. Todd answered…

The purpose of life is to gain eternal life and to become more like our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ so that we may return to live with them again. I have faith in my soul that this is true.

Keith answered…

We are down here to be tested. We are to show God that we are worthy of the great blessings that he can and will give to us if we are faithful.

Also, God as the loving father that he is, wants us to better ourselves. He wants us to return to him better people than when we left him. Parents on earth send their children off to school to be tested as well so they can someday be smarter and better people. God does the same with us.

Danny answered…

We believe we have been sent to earth to be tested to see if we will follow all of Gods commandments. We are here to help each other return home to our Heavenly Father and His Son Jesus Christ. We are here to marry and estiblish homes in which Heavenly spirits will be raised and nurtured in the Gospel and taught what they must do to return to their Heavenly Father and in so doing become members of eternal families. Families are forever!  

Kellen answered…

We believe that the purpose of life is to "prepare to meet God" like the scriptures say. Before this life we lived with God. We wanted to be just like Him but because we lacked experience and a physical body it was not possible. By the plan that God gave us we come down to earth, recieve a physical body, experiences that shape us and help us grow so that we can return to our Heavenly Father as greater sons and daughters of Him. So, as Latter day saints, we believe that the purpose of life is to come to earth and live the Gospel the very best we can so that through the conditions that Jesus Christ gave us, we may return to our Heavenly Father. It was our Purpose from the beginning to return to God with His qualities.

Joseph answered…

The purpose of life is to prepare to meet God. We are here to learn and grow to become like our Father in Heaven. With that, another purpose of life is to have a family that you can spend eternity with.

Hanna answered…

The purpose of life is to become like Our Heavenly Father. We come to gain a body, practice agency ( having the choice in all things), learn as much as we can, and have a family. By following our Heavenly Father’s plan, you—like all of His children—can someday return to live with Him and with your loved ones.

Amy answered…

I believe that Heavenly Father has a plan for all of his children, and that we can find joy and happiness when we understand His love for us in designing this plan. There are some aspects of God's plan that are universal for all of us. We all gained a physical body, one that allows us to make choices - through which we come to learn and understand accountability and consequences. We have the opportunity to choose between good and evil. Through these choices that we make we have experiences that can help us become more like Heavenly Father. We also have the opportunity in this life to form family relationships that can last for all eternity. With this understanding of our purpose we can find peace, joy, and happiness in this life.

Alan answered…

Mormons believe that the purpose of life is to find true enduring happiness in this life and in the life to come. In fact, we believe that everything that the Lord has given us is meant for our happiness. Some things we may not understand, but we understand that God can't lie and that if he has given us a blessing or a commandment, then it must be for our profit and learning. Seeking and finding out the meaning behind what God gives us makes us happy. Families, faith, the comfort of the Holy Ghost, and so many other things make us happy.

Jeff answered…

We believe the purpose of life is to love God by keeping his commandments and to love our fellow men. As we do this through a process of diligence and repentance we progress, line upon line, to become more like our Savior Jesus Christ. "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." Matt 5:48

In this way, we prove to God and ourselves that we love Him, desire to come unto Him, and grow in charity toward our fellow man.

Julie answered…

Before we were born we lived with Heavenly Father as spirits. We choose to come to Earth so that we could receive a physical body, choose between good and evil, become more like our Heavenly Father through trials and adversity, and form family relationships that can continue beyond this life. When we die, the body and spirit are separated once again. When Christ comes to the Earth again the Resurrection will occur and the physical body and the spirit will be reunited. We will be perfect and those who are worthy will live in Heavenly Father's presence again.

Mormons believe in the sealing power that is promised in the temple. In the temple, husband and wife are sealed together and are promised if they remain worthy, that their marital relationship will continue forever. Children as a result of that marriage are also part of that sealing promise, to be with their parents for eternity. This is a beautiful promise, to be with our loved ones again. It's a promise that is helping me move forward as I come to terms with the death of my husband and son. I miss them, but I know that I will one day have the opportunity to be with them again.

Jonathan S. answered…

The purpose of life is to live our life so that we can return to live with our Father in Heaven.

Jenn answered…

We have been sent to Earth to receive a physical body and to be tested. We will be tried and tested so that we may grow into strong, intelligent, loving followers of Jesus Christ. We are to learn as much as we can in this life. We are to study the teachings of our Savior and follow His example. Ultimately, we are to live righteous lives so that we may return to live with our Father in Heaven someday.

Jordan answered…

Keeping this life in perspective has brought me clarity and keeps me grounded through the ups and downs I've encountered in life. Everyone that has come, is here, and will come to live on earth is part of an eternal plan created by God, our Heavenly Father. We actually knew Him before this life and learned eternal joy and happiness could be achieved by becoming like Him. In order for us to spend forever with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ we needed a physical body and to prove ourselves worthy of that blessing. So, our purpose here on earth is to learn to choose good over evil, gain experience that refine us into better people, and form families with whom we can spend eternity with! It's the greatest challenge but can be rich and fulfilling. I know we are children of our Heavenly Father and because Christ redeemed us we can return to live with Him through a lot of work, faith, hope, and charity.

Denise answered…

I believe that we have multiple purposes in life but our main purpose is to learn to become like our Savior Jesus Christ in word and deed. First, we are to love our Heavenly Father as Christ did and then we are to love our fellow being. If we do these two things then all else should fall into place. As a parent, I love my children immensely and want the very best for them. I know that I am a child of God and that he loves me immensely and wants the very best for me. And because He loves me, He created a wonderful plan for my eternal progression. I know that we are not here on this earth, just wandering about aimlessly without purpose. And I know that there is much more to come after I pass from this earth life. I know that in the next life, the richest blessings of my Heavenly Father await me and all the rest of His children who desire to live with Him again. I have such peace in my life in knowing that God is with me, teaching me and guiding me, and most of all, helping me to overcome the temptations of man and helping me to live a Christ like life.

Jared answered…

The answer to this question is quite simple: to be happy! Truly!

Our Heavenly Father knows all things. That complete knowledge, along with our relationship to Him as His children, means that He has a vested interest in all of us individually, and He knows what will make us truly happy in this life and forever. As a God of order, He has prepared for us the "Plan of Salvation", which has many names, with my personal favorite being the "Plan of Happiness". The plan consists of a few basic principles:

-Obtain a physical body (being born)
-Use our ability to choose between good and evil wisely
-Gain experiences and obtain knowledge
-Form relationships with others that can continue forever

God has designed this plan to allow us to become like Him- perfect, holy, and with the ability to be with those we love and those that love us, forever. Our time on Earth, in mortality, is a time for us to demonstrate our willingness to be happy and return home to Him with our loved ones.

These blessings are available to all of us if we follow God's commandments. For me, the Plan of Happiness gives me the hope and promise that I can become my best self, that my life has real meaning, and that the relationships I form with others will never end. Every day is a day worth living, and I know that the Atonement of Jesus Christ makes it all possible to return home.

Our Father has given us these promises. And His promises are sure.

Emily answered…

I think Mormons believe the purpose of life is to remember who God is, and the more we remember and learn, the more we can put into practice. The more we put into practice, the more we are changed. The more we are changed, the happier we become.

The purpose of this life is happiness!

Life is sometimes hard or sad. Sometimes terrible things happen. I know this from my own life. But these experiences can be our healing as well, for the more trauma we have experienced then the more we know His healing. The more difficult times we have experienced, the more we appreciate that happiness when it comes. Hard times give us experience and bring us wisdom.

No matter what happens to us, no matter our actual circumstances, God is good and wants us to be happy. If we do the work to follow His plan, it bring us back to Him... and that, ultimately, is what will make us most happy.

Patricia Hiland answered…

Our purpose in life is to learn how to become like our Heavenly Father.
We do this by learning about Him and then acting on what we learn. Acting on what we learn is faith.
As we learn what to do we begin to change, this is repentance. Then we show our faith and desire to change by getting baptized. Then we can receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost which helps us learn even more about our Heavenly Father and our Savior Jesus Christ. Our purpose is to have joy on our journey back to Heavenly Father. Joy comes from living the gospel.

Suzanne answered…

The purpose of life is to be happy! Happiness comes through living as God would have us live. My family and my knowledge of God's plan for us makes me very happy.

Pat answered…

I believe that we are here on this earth to learn about God and Christ and to be tried and tested to see if we will choose to follow their teachings. This life is only a small part of eternity and there is much good we can accomplish here.

Jonny Norton answered…

Have you ever asked yourself the questions, "where am I going? how did I get here? where did I come from?"

God is our loving Heavenly Father; He has created us, He knows us, and He cares for us. Before we came to the Earth, we lived in His presence; however, we did not yet have a body as He had so He made a plan for us. His work and His glory is to "bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man" (Moses 1:39). In order to do this, God has given us a body so that we can make choices between good and evil. When we follow Jesus Christ, we are choosing God. When we follow or do things contrary to the will of God, we are pushing ourselves farther from Him.

When we make covenants with God on this Earth (a covenant is a binding promise between God and man) we have the opportunity to live again in His presence. The first covenant is baptism! "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God" (John 3:5). This baptism needs to be performed by someone holding the priesthood authority of God (just as John the Baptist had when he baptized Christ; see Luke 1 for more information).

The opportunity to live with God again with our families is the greates gift God has given us. By following our Heavenly Father's plan, you--just like all of His children--can one day return to live with HIm and with your loved ones.

James Jones answered…

I agree with the church's answer 100%.
For what other reason possible do we exist on earth? To live, learn the gospel, repent, be baptized into righteousness, receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, and be true to Faith, then return to God's kingdom; our heavenly home and spiritual existence.

Neil answered…

We believe that we are sent to earth to get a body, have families and follow all of God's commandments to return to live with Him.

Spencer answered…

Life is about being Happy. We have a loving Heavenly Father that wants us to be happy. We are here during this life to learn and to progress. One of the things that brings me the most happiness in life is my family. By living the Gospel, we will have the opportunity to be a forever family.

Becky answered…

We believe we are here to Follow Christ's example, and help others to find their way back to live with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.

Natalia answered…

Our purpose in life is to prepare ourselves to meet God and one day live with Heavenly Father again.

Andy answered…

In short, the purpose of life is to progress and improve. God designed this life to help us prepare for the next life, but that often must happen through problems and hard times. The teachings of Jesus Christ and ordinances like baptism and eternal marriage provide power to overcome our challenges and the cleansing we need when we make mistakes.
Not only is progress the purpose of this life, but also the next. Jesus Christ made it possible for us to continue to progress and create once we pass away and move into the next life. In our eternal life, we will live with God, Jesus Christ, and our families forever.

Brandon answered…

We believe that our purpose here is to prepare to return to our Heavenly Father. We go through experiences here that help us to learn and grow. We have tools that can help us in this life- the Bible, Book of Mormon, our families, friends, and a prophet. He wants us to be happy while we're here so He's given us the Gospel to bless our lives and so that we can return to Him one day.

Barry answered…

I feel like the purpose of life is to be happy. Happiness comes as we follow the example of Jesus Christ. God the Father and Jesus created this world to give us the opportunity to grow and learn and to be happy. They gave us a plan and showed us what it takes to be happy. If we follow His plan then it surely happens every time. We all go through trials and hardships, but we can overcome all of those things when we have Jesus as our guide and protector. He wants us to be happy, and He has promised us that if we follow His commandments that we will have happiness. I believe that with all of my heart. As I look out at so much of the heartache in the world I see that by keeping the commandments that the Lord has set that so much of our pain and suffering can be avoided. But, that is the purpose of this life. We are here to determine right from wrong. He allows us to choose for ourselves, and I am so grateful for that. He doesn't force me to do good, but he certainly invites me.

Greg answered…

There are several purposes to this life. One large purpose is to obtain a physical body. A body enables us to have experiences and learn and grow in ways we could not have as spiritual beings. Another important purpose is to learn by trial and error, to learn by making correct and incorrect choices. In learning this way we learn what we truly want. There are many other purposes but in my mind these are 2 of the most important.

Nick answered…

We believe that we have been sent to this earth to be tested and found worthy to return to live with our Father in Heaven again. We were sent here to feel the joys of life that God has already felt. The only way he could do this was to have us experience sorrow and sin. This is because you cannot not feel one thing without its opposite. Just like you wouldn't know how strawberry ice cream tastes if you had eaten vanilla your whole life. This is why Adam needed to transgress, sin, and feel guilty, so that he could eventually overcome those feelings and feel joy and happiness. Now we can feel happy and enjoy life as well. So, our purpose now is to repent of our sins, be happy, and follow Christ to live with our Father in Heaven.

Matt Krause answered…

The purpose of life is to prepare to meet God Alma 3431-34. More precisely it means we have to live the Gospel of Jesus Christ. If we do this, we are promised joy in this life 2 Nephi 225. I know living the gospel and obeying the commandments are the only sure ways to find happiness Mosiah 241.  

Michael answered…

Gain a body. Get married. Make more bodies. Faithfully learn from mortal experiences. Lose body. Get resurrected in a perfect body, still married, enjoy fulness of love and glory. Make spirits and send them to gain bodies and mortal experience and families of their own.

And on it goes for ever. Family is the order of eternity.

Brian answered…

The purpose of life is to live a good life, find out what God's will is and return to him after having worked as hard as we could.

Cece answered…

God sent us here to get a body and a family and to learn of Him and become more like Him. We face challenges and temptations in this life so that we can prove to God and ourselves that we will choose Him and his plan of happiness over everything else. Everything happens to give us opportunities to make right choices and draw closer to our Father in Heaven. :)

Adam answered…

The purpose of life. . . is to have experiences that bring us happiness and is a time to prepare to meet God, (with the help of family and friends).

Meghan answered…

The purpose of life is to be happy, for "men are that they might have joy" (2 Nephi 2:27). True happiness, however, only comes from living your life in such a way that you can return to your Heavenly Father and live with Him for eternity.

Kelsi answered…

The purpose of life is to be happy! It is to learn and grow. That is why we have trials. Without experiencing sadness and hardships, we could not appreciate joy and peace.

Cameron answered…

Mormons believe that the purpose of life is to have joy in this life by keeping the commandments of God that we may one day return to live in the presence of God and our family forever.

Dave answered…

Our purpose, the purpose of life, is (1) to become as Christ-like as we can and (2) to help others to become as Christ-like as they can. (“And when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.” New Testament, Luke 22:32.)

All of us will be immortal after we die – All of us will get a renewed and perfect body, unconditionally, through the grace of God, through the atonement of Christ. And through the atonement of Christ, through the grace of God, we all have the opportunity to achieve eternal life –- But this is conditional -– If we forsake our sins and do good works among others, we can live with God after we die. Christ’s work is to bring about the immortality and eternal life of all of us. (Pearl of Great Price, Moses 1:39.)

Braden Scothern answered…

We know that God loves us and that He has a plan for us. He is perfect and has a glorified and perfected body of flesh and bones. He created us and we were with Him, but not like Him in the fact that we were spirits.

So God presented a plan for all of us to come here to earth. This plan was centered on Jesus Christ and His atonement. We understood the gospel of Jesus Christ; which is faith, repentance, baptism, receiving the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. We all chose to come and to do our best to live the gospel of Jesus Christ which allows those who are obedient to it to be made perfect.

Because of Jesus Christ's infinite sacrifice for us every person will eventually be resurrected with a perfect body. This is one of the reasons that we came here to earth.

We are here to grow and use our agency, or ability to choose, righteously. We are to learn and do our best to become like our Heavenly Father here. Through Jesus Christ we can become a better person each day. This is why we do our best to fulfill the commandment that Jesus Christ gave of, "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect" (Matthew 5:28) even though we know we cannot reach it in this life.

The purpose of life is to prepare to meet God. That is the only way we can progress and eventually return to our Heavenly Father and receive the multitude of blessings He is offering to those who accept Jesus Christ and His gospel.

David C answered…

Life is a test, a time of probation to see if we will choose good instead of evil, and to see if we will be obedient to all the light we receive from God. We are not here to live forever--that is after this life. This is a short time of testing to determine what we will get to enjoy in the hereafter.

May answered…

In the Pearl of Great Price the Lord tells the prophet Moses that His purpose is to bring about the immortality and eternal life of man. I believe that our purpose is very similar. We are here on this earth to prove whether we are ready to progress in an immortal and eternal way. Eternal in this context does not mean "forever." It means to have a life such as God has. I can't imagine anything more glorious or important.

As we experience the challenges that this life brings we can choose to be obedient to the laws that God has revealed. God promises us that these will bring us happiness and will prepare us for life eternal. Sometimes obedience brings immediate happiness, but often we continue to have pain because the trial is necessary for us to experience the true happiness that eternal life will bring.

Think of it this way. As parents we could give our children everything they want and need without requiring anything of them. When they want to stay home from school we'd allow it. If they wanted to play on the Wii instead of doing the dishes we'd say sure. If they wanted to play in traffic, we'd escort them to the street. However, no good parents do these things because they understand the importance of their children learning. They also know the dangers that come from some of the choices children would likely make and so we forbid certain things (like playing in traffic).

God loves us in the same way that we love our children. He has set rules like all good parents to help us learn what we need to know and to keep us safe from harm.

If we do the things that God asks of us then he promises us eternal happiness because we will be like him throughout the infinite expanse of time that comes with immortality.

Nathanael answered…

We ready in the Book of Mormon a great passage, 2 Nephi 2:25. A prophet named Lehi is speaking to one of his sons, and it says: "Adam fell that men might be; and men are that they might have joy." Two great concepts are taught by Lehi, but I'd like to focus on the second part. Our purpose of in life, whether right at this moment, or eons down the road, is to have joy. We are supposed to be happy! God loves us enough to make that our end goal, and He's taught us how to find the joy that doesn't end with the slowing down of a roller coaster, or the joy that stops when hard time comes. He taught us that doing certain things, like loving others as he does, and coming to Jesus Christ to cleanse us of our sins and mistakes, we can find that lasting happiness. We are to be happy, and we attain happiness by following God. Another man said this very well in the Book of Mormon, his name was King Benjamin, and he stated; "I would desire that ye should consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God. For behold, they are blessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual; and if they hold out faithful to the end they are received into heaven, that thereby they may dwell with God in a state of never-ending happiness."