"As man now is, God once was..."

This, I think, is the best way to summarize unit 1 "Eternal Truths" in my Family Foundations class.

This unit was all about our eternal nature. Here are some important truths that I learned this week:

1. All of God's children are eternal in nature--we have always existed (first as intelligences, then as spirits, and then here in mortality we gain a body).2. The Plan of Salvation is also eternal--it has no beginning nor end. 3. The Plan of Salvation was a plan created for families.
4. God was once a mortal man like us, and we may in turn someday become immortal, perfected beings like Him.
5. There are two parts to us: our temporal body and our immortal spirit.
6. Truth is not relative, and remains true even if nobody believes it.I think it's really cool that we are as eternal as our Heavenly Father is (though we are not in a perfected, glorified state yet). I also think it's fascinating that God was once as we are and also lived on an earth and went though the trials that we are now going through. It really makes you wonder how many worlds and gods there are and will be. There must be an infinite amount. 

I love this quote by Elder Neal A. Maxwell: "To be too quick to the ways of this world is to be maladjusted for the next." It's a reminder that this world is only temporary and we should not be too influenced by the ways of this world but should remain true to that which is eternal. That also reminds me of something Elder Ballard once said: ""What matters most is what lasts longest. And our families are for eternity."

Finally, there is a fantastic talk on this very subject of our eternal nature by Elder Tad R. Callister called "Our Identity and Destiny." I wholeheartedly recommend it to all Christians (he mostly uses scriptures from the Old and New Testaments to back up his argument, so if you're an atheist or of some other religion I imagine you're not likely to find his talk very impressive).

Click play below to watch it! (His talk starts at about 2:20)