GREAT APOSTACY AND RESTORATION

God Is Our Loving Heavenly Father

God is our Heavenly Father. We are His children. He has a body of flesh and bone that

is glorified and perfected. He loves us. He weeps with us when we suffer and rejoices

when we do what is right. He wants to communicate with us, and we can communicate

with Him through sincere prayer.

He has given us this experience on the earth so we can learn and grow. We can show

our love for Him through our choices and our obedience to His commandments.

Heavenly Father has provided us, His children, with a way to be successful in this life

and to return to live in His presence. However, we must be pure and clean through

obedience in order to do so. Disobedience moves us away from Him. Central to our

As you teach.

the Garden of Gethsemane as well as His suffering and death on the cross. Through the

Atonement we can be freed from the burden of our sins and develop faith and strength

to face our trials.

Father’s plan is Jesus Christ’s Atonement. The Atonement included His suffering in

The Gospel Blesses Families

The restored gospel blesses and helps husbands and wives, parents and children as

they strive to develop stronger relationships and spiritual strength in their families. These

blessings are available now and in eternity. The gospel of Jesus Christ provides help with

current concerns and challenges.

Because families are ordained of God, they are the most important social unit in time

and in eternity. God has established families to bring happiness to His children, allow

them to learn correct principles in a loving atmosphere, and prepare them for eternal life.

The home is the best place to teach, learn, and apply principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

A home established on gospel principles will be a place of refuge and safety. It will be a

place where the Spirit of the Lord can abide, blessing family members with peace, joy,

and happiness. Through prophets in every age, including our own, God has revealed His

plan of happiness for individuals and families.

Heavenly Father Reveals His Gospel in Every Dispensation

One important way that God shows His love for us is by calling prophets, who are

given the priesthood—the power and authority given to man to act in God’s name for the

salvation of His children. Prophets learn the gospel of Jesus Christ by revelation. They in

turn teach the gospel to others and testify of Jesus Christ as the Savior and Redeemer.

The teachings of prophets are found in sacred books called scriptures.

Our Father’s plan for us to be successful in this life and to return to live with Him is

called the gospel of Jesus Christ, with Jesus’ Atonement at the center of that plan. Through

the Atonement of Jesus Christ, we can receive eternal life if we exercise faith in Jesus

Christ, repent, are baptized by immersion for the remission of sins, receive the gift of the

Holy Ghost, and endure to the end. “This is the way; and there is none other way nor

name given under heaven whereby man can be saved in the kingdom of God. And now,

behold, this is the doctrine of Christ” (2 Nephi 31:21). All people have the gift of agency,

which includes the freedom to accept or reject the gospel as taught by the prophets and

apostles. Those who choose to obey are blessed, but those who ignore, reject, or distort

the gospel do not receive God’s promised blessings.

Whenever people choose to disregard, disobey, or distort any gospel principle or

ordinance, whenever they reject the Lord’s prophets, or whenever they fail to endure in

faith, they distance themselves from God and begin to live in spiritual darkness. Eventually

this leads to a condition called apostasy. When widespread apostasy occurs, God withdraws

His priesthood authority to teach and administer the ordinances of the gospel.

Biblical history has recorded many

instances of God speaking to prophets, and

it also tells of many instances of apostasy.

To end each period of general apostasy,

God has shown His love for His children

by calling another prophet and giving him

priesthood authority to restore and teach

the gospel of Jesus Christ anew. In essence,

the prophet acts as a steward to oversee

the household of God here on earth. Such

periods of time headed by prophetic

responsibility are called dispensations.

God revealed the gospel of Jesus Christ to Adam and gave him priesthood authority.

Adam was the first prophet on the earth. By revelation, Adam learned of mankind’s

proper relationship with God the Father, His Son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost; of the

Atonement and Resurrection of Jesus Christ; and of the first principles and ordinances

of the gospel. Adam and Eve taught their children these truths and encouraged them to

develop faith and to live the gospel in all aspects of their lives. Adam was followed by

other prophets, but over time the posterity of Adam rejected the gospel and fell into

apostasy, choosing to be unrighteous.

Thus began the pattern of prophetic dispensations that makes up much of the recorded

history of the Old Testament. Heavenly Father revealed His gospel through direct

communication to prophets such as Noah, Abraham, and Moses. Each prophet was called

by God to begin a new dispensation of the gospel. To each of these prophets God granted

priesthood authority and revealed eternal truths. Unfortunately, in each dispensation

people eventually used their agency to choose to reject the gospel and then fell into apostasy.