Who You Have Always Been

The prophet Abraham recorded this revelation in which he learned about the premortal life: “Now the Lord had shown unto me, Abraham, the intelligences that were organized before the world was; and among all these there were many of the noble and great ones; And God saw these souls that they were good, and he stood in the midst of them, and he said: These I will make my rulers…. And there stood one among them that was like unto God, and he said unto those who were with him: We will go down, for there is space there, and we will take of these materials, and we will make an earth whereon these may dwell” (Abraham 3:22-24).  The use of We in the last verse seems to suggest that these “noble and great ones,” one of whom was Abraham, participated with God in the process of the creation of the earth.  The Church teaches that Michael (who became Adam in mortality) was one of these who helped in the process of creation.  President Joseph Fielding Smith commented, “It is true that Adam helped to form this earth. He labored with our Savior Jesus Christ. I have a strong view or conviction that there were others also who assisted them. Perhaps Noah and Enoch; and why not Joseph Smith, and those who were appointed to be rulers before the earth was formed?”  We don’t know of course what role we had in the premortal realms or what we accomplished, but this idea suggests that we may have participated in and helped accomplished a great work before we even came here to the earth.   

               Given this incredible status of Adam in the premortal realm, helping to create the very earth that we now live on, it is a wonder to consider the first humble description of Adam we have after he was driven out of the garden as a mortal.  We read, “After I, the Lord God, had driven them out, that Adam began to till the earth, and to have dominion over all the beasts of the field, and to eat his bread by the sweat of his brow” (Moses 5:1).  Here he was, one of the very creators of the planet, stooped over planting seeds and pulling weeds and toiling under the heat of the day to provide for his family.  Despite his incredible status and accomplishment before, when he came to earth he had to meekly participate in the mundane and difficult labors of daily life.  We don’t know whether he understood fully his incredible role in the premortal world, but perhaps on days when the work was difficult and mundane he wondered if he was of any worth or could accomplish anything of significance.  Like all of us he may have had depressed days when he questioned his own value and contribution that he could make on earth, not fully realizing just how significant his premortal life had already been.  He had helped form the very dirt he was now working in to grow crops!  We might have wanted to call down to him from our premortal realm on those humble days when he questioned his value, saying, “Don’t you know who you are?! You have and can still work mighty wonders in the power of the Lord—don’t forget that!”  And perhaps on those kind of days the Lord would say something similar to encourage us when we think our contribution in our small sphere of influence doesn’t amount to much: “Don’t forget you who are even before this life and the infinite potential you have!”

             We bought my seven-year-old a plaque to help remind him of his great potential this quote from Sheri Dew: “Noble and great. Courageous and determined. Faithful and fearless. That is who you are, and that is who you have always been.”  I repeat this to him often, and it is a reminder that he needs on the days he lacks confidence.  And it is one that we all need as we work through our weaknesses in mortality.  We must not forget that we have already proved ourselves faithful and kept our first estate, and if we can now “keep [our] second estate [we] shall have glory added upon [our] heads for ever and ever” (Abraham 3:26).