by friend and guest-writer, Frank Ouimette
(This article was inspired by a talk given by Apostle Boyd K. Packer at General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in October 1975)

When the Lord was here, He said:

JOHN 14: 6
"Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me."
He also said:
JOHN 11: 25-26
"Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:
And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die…"

ACTS 4: 12
"Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved."

Baptism is a rigid requirement required by the Lord Himself. You must believe in Him and be baptized.
He was perfect but still had to obey the law to fulfill all righteousness and to set the example for all mankind.
Being baptized means to be "buried," or immersed in the water, symbolizing His death and burial, and coming out of the water as a symbol of the resurrection.

In the act of baptism, you are taking upon you the name of Christ. He said:

MATTHEW 7: 14
"Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it."

There are many billions of people who lived on the earth at a time when the Restored Gospel was here. Many lived in places and times where they never knew of any gospel or even the word baptism.
The Lord wants to give every soul the chance to accept Him and the gospel, here or in the spirit world.
It came as a commandment from Him, because of its important, to tell His Apostles to take the gospel to every nation, kindred, tongue and people back in His day.
By revelation, He gave the same commandment is to His Church in these days to spread the restored Gospel to the earth so that people will know that it is essential to be baptized.
We now have the fullness of the Restored Gospel on the earth, which is the combination of the Bible and the Book of Mormon.
The commandment to search after our dead and do proxy work for them is still in effect.
Because they are dead, we that are living, having bodies, which they don’t, can do the proxy baptisms for them along with other ordinances that are required.
They still have their free agency in the Spirit World, and can accept or reject any ordinances we do for them. It is their decision even now.
Proxy work is doing something for someone else that they cannot do for themselves.
This is what Jesus Christ did in suffering for our sins and performing the Atonement for us, and breaking the bonds of death and opening up the chance for each of us to be resurrected as He was.
Back when this talk was given there were 21,000 missionaries, today there are over 55,000 and that number is increasing fast.
Whatever records we cannot find today or by the Second Coming, will be done in the Millennium.
The connecting of the generations of the human family will be the main work during that time.
Records that were lost or people born and died without records will be revealed then.
This being completed, we will ALL stand before him at Final Judgment in resurrected bodies.

   The sensation of human guilt is as universal as it is varied. All of us have experienced at least some form of shame, guilt, embarrassment, or self-directed anger which tells us quite bluntly that our behavior fell below our standards. Guilt affects each of us in a similar way; we feel to some degree that we did something wrong, and we regret getting into these circumstances. But as each person is unique, so is each sin, and therefore each episode of guilt. So many nuances and subtle emotions can mingle with each episode, creating an experience that is simultaneously unique and all-too-common.
   This emotion, which is never pleasant, can be a very useful tool. A healthy dose of guilt causes us to recognize that we can do better, that our actions were unacceptable, that there is room for improvement, and motivates us to fix the situation. But used to excess by an over-critical mind, unnecessary guilt shifts the focus of shame from one's actions to one's overall worth as a human-being.

“Some anxiety and depression is caused by physical disorders, but much (perhaps most) of it is not pain of the body but of the spirit. Spiritual pain resulting from guilt can be replaced with peace of mind.
In contrast to the hard words condemning sin, listen to the calming, healing words of mercy, which balance the harsher words of justice.”
-President Boyd K. Packer of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

As Elder Packer's quote implies, the duty we have been given by Jesus Christ to “forgive all men” (Doctrine and Covenants 64:10) applies not only to others, but also to ourselves.
   We all learn pretty early-on in life that other people are not perfect, and that we shouldn't expect perfection. But pretty often, we take a bit longer to learn that we shouldn't expect perfection from ourselves. It is commendable to reach for perfection, and to try every day to get a little closer, but when we set the bar at perfect, and view everything that falls short as failure, we're bound to get quite disappointed with ourselves.
As any athlete knows, the key to success is practice and persistence and dedication over a long period of time. It is much easier to climb a staircase or a ladder than it is to jump directly from the ground to the same height. No high jumper has ever gone directly from the couch to a nine-foot vertical jump at the Olympics. This would be a marvelous overall goal for anyone to think of setting, but a goal that lofty would need to be comprised of many smaller goals to become a reality. “First, I'll work on routine and get that down. Then, I'll work to clear five feet. Then, I'll try to clear five feet and three inches, etc., etc.”
   A beginning jumper shouldn't be discouraged that he can't immediately jump over a house, and similarly, we shouldn't be discouraged just because we have some way to go on the road to spiritual and moral perfection. It's not something that happens right away, but something that comes little by little as we continually work for it.

   God has said that if we wish to live with Him once more, we need to be perfect, but He knows that we can't possibly do that on our own. As mortal beings, we are naturally weak and undisciplined. It is not only expected that we will mess up throughout our lives, but inevitable. So how can God expect perfection from children He knows are incapable of it? 
   It is with this in mind, that our Heavenly Father sent is Son, Jesus Christ to live among us. As God's Son, Christ had the capability to fully temper and control the natural urges and temptations that His mortal body would experience. Having absolutely no sin of His own, Christ gave Himself as a sacrifice for our sins, and also for our pains, infirmities, and yes, our guilt. He felt all of it. He experienced every bit of suffering that human family had, did, and would ever experience. And why? This was the price paid to allow us an out from our sins.    
   Thanks to this atonement made by Jesus Christ, our Savior, if we do everything we can to fix the situation presented by our misdoings, and gratefully acknowledge the miraculous sacrifice that Christ made, we can fully repent. And as far as God is concerned, the sin never happened. We are as clean and pure as the day we were born. This is how we achieve perfection, through Christ.
   As we earnestly repent of our sins and misdeeds, and look upon Christ, we are given the wonderful gift of a clean conscience. There is no point to carry the shame with us once we have been forgiven by our loving Heavenly Father. It is time to forgive ourselves, and jettison any self-hate from our souls. God doesn't count it against us anymore. Why should we?

There's a concept in Mormonism that deserves to be expounded on, as it is essential to the salvation of every person. It is a gift that each person who has ever existed has been endowed with at birth. Given to us by God, it is our's to keep, and we decide how we'll use it. It's called "agency". Agency is a similar concept to "free will", but with a subtle difference. Free will denotes the fact that we as people have the right to do whatever we choose. Agency on the other hand, refers to our very ability to choose.
We practice agency in every choice that we make. Not every choice is a big one, but we have the ability to choose, resist, embrace, or act upon any external influence, and that in itself is amazing.
It doesn't just apply to Mormonism; its an all-encompassing principle that touches everyone. In the tests and trials of life, agency is the most valuable measuring stick with which we can be judged. If you think about it, without the ability to choose for oneself, a test would be meaningless. We would would all pass with flying colors, but none of us would grow. We would remain stagnant beings, choosing right because that is what we were forced to do, not because we actually were righteous. It would be like taking a child through school and giving them all the answers along the way, all the way through med-school and then asking them to perform brain surgery. What was the point in testing if you knew the outcome?
It is therefore of the utmost importance that we are able to choose for ourselves how we will act. An important thing to remember is that, although we are free to choose our actions, we are not free to choose the consequences. It is within our capability to choose evil, but we do not get to choose what happens to us because of that evil. Others can use their agency, and their choices more often than not, effect us, and our's them. Such is the way of this test we call life. Even if some outside force, be it the choice of another, or pure chance, effects us for the worse, we still have the choice of how we will move forward. We can react, build, adapt, create, improve, and much more. It ultimately boils down to choice between two masters and two paths; God, Jesus Christ, and all that is good, or Satan and all that is evil. This is our choice, this is everyone's choice. And I feel privileged to be able to make it.


For a similar article on agency, read this post.