This document provides an overview of Lesson 10 from a missionary preparation class about teaching the plan of salvation. The lesson discusses: (1) our pre-earth life as spirit children of God, where we lived before coming to earth; (2) the creation of the earth so we could obtain physical bodies and experience mortality; and (3) the importance of the Fall of Adam and Eve in allowing us to progress through experiencing opposition and having agency on earth. The document also frames life on earth as the second act in a three-act plan that includes our pre-earth life and post-earth existence.

1. Missionary Preparation Class
Lesson 10
Teaching the Plan of
Salvation (Part 1)
www.LatterDaySaintMissionPrep.com
Welcome to Our
Missionary Preparation Class
Lesson 10: Teaching the Plan of
Salvation (Part 1)

2. Missionary Preparation Class
Lesson 10
Teaching the Plan of
Salvation (Part 1)
www.LatterDaySaintMissionPrep.com
About the Class Instructor
• My name is Jimmy Smith
• Founder of Latter-day Saint Mission Prep website
• I live in Texas in the United States
• I served my mission to Argentina, 1995-1997

3. Missionary Preparation Class
Lesson 10
Teaching the Plan of
Salvation (Part 1)
www.LatterDaySaintMissionPrep.com
About this Mission Prep Class
• Following the Church’s
Missionary Preparation
Teacher Manual
• Teaching my two teenage
children and record the
lessons for others to enjoy
• This video, my website, and
other content I create is
NOT a publication of The
Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints

4. Missionary Preparation Class
Lesson 10
Teaching the Plan of
Salvation (Part 1)
www.LatterDaySaintMissionPrep.com
Before We Begin: Make Sure You
Have a Way to Take Notes

5. Missionary Preparation Class
Lesson 10
Teaching the Plan of
Salvation (Part 1)
www.LatterDaySaintMissionPrep.com
Review of Previous Lessons
Purpose—to Invite Others to Come Unto Christ
Lesson 1:
Our Need for the Atonement of Jesus Christ
Lesson 2:
Learning and Teaching by the Spirit of God
Lesson 3-4:
The Role of the Book of Mormon in Missionary Work
Lesson 5:
Preparing for Life as a Missionary
Lesson 6:
Teaching the Message of the Restoration
Lesson 7-8:
Developing Christlike Attributes
Lesson 9:

6. Missionary Preparation Class
Lesson 10
Teaching the Plan of
Salvation (Part 1)
www.LatterDaySaintMissionPrep.com
Back in Lesson 4, I told about German:
Teaching him the plan of salvation

7. Missionary Preparation Class
Lesson 10
Teaching the Plan of
Salvation (Part 1)
www.LatterDaySaintMissionPrep.com
Godoy Family

8. Missionary Preparation Class
Lesson 10
Teaching the Plan of
Salvation (Part 1)
www.LatterDaySaintMissionPrep.com

9. Missionary Preparation Class
Lesson 10
Teaching the Plan of
Salvation (Part 1)
www.LatterDaySaintMissionPrep.com

10. Missionary Preparation Class
Lesson 10
Teaching the Plan of
Salvation (Part 1)
www.LatterDaySaintMissionPrep.com
Names in the Scriptures for God’s
Plan for Us
•the plan of
salvation
•the great plan of
salvation
•the great plan of
the Eternal God
•the merciful plan
of the great
Creator
•the plan of
redemption
•the great and
eternal plan of
deliverance
•God’s eternal plan
•the plan of
restoration
•the great plan of
happiness

11. Missionary Preparation Class
Lesson 10
Teaching the Plan of
Salvation (Part 1)
www.LatterDaySaintMissionPrep.com
Heavenly Father’s Plan Answers
Questions Like
Where did I
come from?
What is my
purpose in
life?
Where will I go
after I die?
Lesson 10: Part 1:
• Pre-Earth Life
• The Creation
• The Fall of Adam and Eve
• Our Life on Earth
Lesson 11: Part 2:
• How the Atonement overcomes the
effects of the Fall
• Our Eternal Destiny / Kingdoms of
glory

12. Missionary Preparation Class
Lesson 10
Teaching the Plan of
Salvation (Part 1)
www.LatterDaySaintMissionPrep.com
God’s Purpose and Plan for Us in
the Pre-Earth Life
• Moses 1:39 “For behold, this is my work and my
glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal
life of man.”
• “We lived as spirit children of our Father in Heaven
before we were born on this earth. We were not,
however, like our Heavenly Father, nor could we ever
become like Him and enjoy all the blessings that He
enjoys without the experience of living in mortality
with a physical body. God’s whole purpose—His work
and His glory—is to enable each of us to enjoy all His
blessings. He has provided a perfect plan to
accomplish His purpose. We understood and
accepted this plan before we came to the earth.”
(PMG)

13. Missionary Preparation Class
Lesson 10
Teaching the Plan of
Salvation (Part 1)
www.LatterDaySaintMissionPrep.com
Boyd K. Packer, from a Talk Called
“Our Father’s Plan,” 1984
• “No more profound truth has been conveyed to us in
the restoration than the knowledge of our premortal
existence. No other church knows or teaches this
truth. The doctrine is given only in outline form, but
salient facts are repeated often enough in the
revelations to assure us of certain fundamental
truths.”

14. Missionary Preparation Class
Lesson 10
Teaching the Plan of
Salvation (Part 1)
www.LatterDaySaintMissionPrep.com
Jesus Makes Possible the Blessings
of the Plan of Salvation
• “Jesus Christ is central to God’s plan. Through His
Atonement, Jesus Christ fulfilled His Father’s purpose and
made it possible for each of us to enjoy immortality and
exaltation. ...We must choose whether to follow Jesus
Christ… We are physically separated from God during life
on earth, but He wants every one of His children to find
peace in this life and a fulness of joy in His presence after
this life. He wants us to become like Him.” (PMG)
Image from the Gospel
Media library on
churchofjesuschrist.org

15. Missionary Preparation Class
Lesson 10
Teaching the Plan of
Salvation (Part 1)
www.LatterDaySaintMissionPrep.com
Questions to Discuss/Ponder
about Our Pre-Earth Life
• What do we know about our life before we came to
earth?
• What are some blessings that came from knowing we
are children of God?
• What is the purpose of life here on earth?
• How does the knowledge of our pre-earth life and
God’s plan impact our life choices?
Go Ye Therefore and
Teach All Nations by
Harry Anderson

16. Missionary Preparation Class
Lesson 10
Teaching the Plan of
Salvation (Part 1)
www.LatterDaySaintMissionPrep.com
The Significance of the Creation in
God’s Plan of Salvation
• “Under the direction of the Father, Jesus Christ created
the earth as a place for us to live and gain experience. In
order to progress and become like God, each of us had to
obtain a body and be tested during a time of probation
on the earth. While on the earth we are out of God’s
physical presence. We do not remember our premortal
life. We must walk by faith rather than by sight.” (PMG)
Image from the Gospel
Media library on
churchofjesuschrist.org

17. Missionary Preparation Class
Lesson 10
Teaching the Plan of
Salvation (Part 1)
www.LatterDaySaintMissionPrep.com
To Progress in God’s Plan, We Had
to Obtain a Physical Body
• “In the premortal realm, spirit sons and daughters
knew and worshipped God as their Eternal Father
and accepted His plan by which His children could
obtain a physical body and gain earthly experience to
progress toward perfection and ultimately realize
their divine destiny as heirs of eternal life.”

18. Missionary Preparation Class
Lesson 10
Teaching the Plan of
Salvation (Part 1)
www.LatterDaySaintMissionPrep.com
Eager for Physical Life and to
Become Like Heavenly Father
• “We ‘shouted for joy’ (Job 38:7) to be part of this plan.
Why were we so excited? We understood eternal truths
about our bodies. We knew that our bodies would be in
the image of God. We knew that our bodies would house
our spirits. We also understood that our bodies would be
subject to pain, illness, disabilities, and temptation. But
we were willing, even eager, to accept these challenges
because we knew that only with spirit and element
inseparably connected could we progress to become like
our Heavenly Father (see D&C 130:22) and ‘receive a
fulness of joy’ (D&C 93:33)”
• Susan W. Tanner, YW General President,
• “The Sanctity of the Body,” Ensign, Nov. 2005

19. Missionary Preparation Class
Lesson 10
Teaching the Plan of
Salvation (Part 1)
www.LatterDaySaintMissionPrep.com
Questions to Discuss/Ponder
about the Creation
• What truths did we understand that made us excited
to come to earth and receive a physical body?
• Why were we willing to come to earth even though
we knew we could face difficult challenges?
• How would you explain to an investigator how our
mortal experience helps us progress?
Go Ye Therefore and
Teach All Nations by
Harry Anderson
Image from the Gospel
Media library on
churchofjesuschrist.org

20. Missionary Preparation Class
Lesson 10
Teaching the Plan of
Salvation (Part 1)
www.LatterDaySaintMissionPrep.com
What Adam and Eve Could and
Could Not Do in the Garden
• “While Adam and Eve were in the garden, they were still
in God’s presence and could have lived forever. …In the
Garden of Eden, God gave Adam and Eve their agency. He
commanded them not to eat the forbidden fruit, or the
fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Obeying
this commandment meant that they could remain in the
garden, but they could not progress by experiencing
opposition in mortality. They could not know joy because
they could not experience sorrow and pain.” (PMG)
Image from the Gospel
Media library on
churchofjesuschrist.org

21. Missionary Preparation Class
Lesson 10
Teaching the Plan of
Salvation (Part 1)
www.LatterDaySaintMissionPrep.com
What Adam and Eve Could and
Could Not Do in the Garden
• “Satan tempted Adam and Eve to eat the forbidden fruit, and
they chose to do so. This was part of God’s plan. Because of
this choice, they were cast from the garden and out of God’s
physical presence. This event is called the Fall. Separation
from God’s presence is spiritual death. Adam and Eve became
mortal—subject to physical death, or separation of the body
and spirit. They could now experience disease and all types of
suffering. They had moral agency or the ability to choose
between good and evil. This made it possible for them to
learn and progress. It also made it possible for them to make
wrong choices and to sin.” (PMG)
Adam et eve mangent du fruit de l'arbre, Wikimedia Commons

22. Missionary Preparation Class
Lesson 10
Teaching the Plan of
Salvation (Part 1)
www.LatterDaySaintMissionPrep.com
2 Nephi 2:
• 22 And now, behold, if Adam had not transgressed he
would not have fallen, but he would have remained in
the garden of Eden. And all things which were created
must have remained in the same state in which they were
after they were created; and they must have remained
forever, and had no end.
• 23 And they would have had no children; wherefore they
would have remained in a state of innocence, having no
joy, for they knew no misery; doing no good, for they
knew no sin.
• 24 But behold, all things have been done in the wisdom
of him who knoweth all things.
• 25 Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they
might have joy.
Image from the Gospel
Media library on
churchofjesuschrist.org

23. Missionary Preparation Class
Lesson 10
Teaching the Plan of
Salvation (Part 1)
www.LatterDaySaintMissionPrep.com
Adam and Eve in the Garden
Live forever
Remain innocent
Exercise agency
Be in God's presence
Experience opposition
Have sorrow and pain
Do good or have joy
Die
Sin
Have children
Progress
What They Could Do What They Could NOT Do

24. Missionary Preparation Class
Lesson 10
Teaching the Plan of
Salvation (Part 1)
www.LatterDaySaintMissionPrep.com
The Fall’s Importance in
the Plan of Salvation
• “When Adam was driven out of the
Garden of Eden, the Lord passed a
sentence upon him. Some people
have looked upon that sentence as
being a dreadful thing. It was not; it
was a blessing. …In order for
mankind to obtain salvation and
exaltation it is necessary for them
to obtain bodies in this world, and
pass through the experiences and
schooling that are found only in
mortality. …Without mortality this
great blessing could not be
accomplished.”
President Joseph
Fielding Smith
(1876–1972)

25. Missionary Preparation Class
Lesson 10
Teaching the Plan of
Salvation (Part 1)
www.LatterDaySaintMissionPrep.com
The Fall’s Importance in
the Plan of Salvation
• “Therefore, worlds are created and
peopled with the children of God,
and they are granted the privilege
to pass through the mortal
existence, with the great gift of
agency in their possession. Through
this gift they choose good or
choose evil, and thus receive a
reward of merit in the eternities to
come. …The fall of man came as a
blessing in disguise, and was the
means of furthering the purposes
of the Lord in the progress of man,
rather than a means of hindering
them.” President Joseph
Fielding Smith
(1876–1972)

26. Missionary Preparation Class
Lesson 10
Teaching the Plan of
Salvation (Part 1)
www.LatterDaySaintMissionPrep.com
Life on Earth:
Act 2 of a Three-Act Play
• “The plan of redemption, with its three divisions, might
be likened to a grand three-act play. Act 1 is entitled
‘Premortal Life.’ The scriptures describe it as our first
estate (see Jude 1:6; Abraham 3:26, 28). Act 2, from birth
to the time of resurrection, is the ‘Second Estate.’ And act
3 is called ‘Life After Death’ or ‘Eternal Life.’ In mortality,
we are like actors who enter a theater just as the curtain
goes up on the second act.”
• Boyd K. Packer, “The Play and the Plan”, May 7, 1995
image in the public domain

27. Missionary Preparation Class
Lesson 10
Teaching the Plan of
Salvation (Part 1)
www.LatterDaySaintMissionPrep.com
Life on Earth:
Act 2 of a Three-Act Play
• “As part of the eternal plan, the memory of our
premortal life, act 1, is covered with a veil. Since we enter
mortality at the beginning of act 2 with no recollection of
act 1, it is little wonder that it is difficult to understand
what is going on… Remember this! The line ‘And they all
lived happily ever after’ is never written into the second
act. That line belongs in the third act, when the mysteries
are solved and everything is put right.”
• Boyd K. Packer, “The Play and the Plan”, May 7, 1995
image in the public domain

28. Missionary Preparation Class
Lesson 10
Teaching the Plan of
Salvation (Part 1)
www.LatterDaySaintMissionPrep.com
Life on Earth:
Act 2 of a Three-Act Play
• “There exists something of a script for this great play, the
drama of the ages. It outlines, in brief form at least, what
happened in act 1—the premortal life. While there is not
much detail, the script makes clear the purpose of it all,
and it reveals enough of the plot to help you figure out
what life is all about. That script, as you should already
know, is the scriptures—the revelations. Read them.
Study them. …From them you can learn enough about all
three acts to get your bearings and get direction in your
life.” (Boyd K. Packer, “The Play and the Plan”, May 7, 1995)
Image from the Gospel
Media library on
churchofjesuschrist.org

29. Missionary Preparation Class
Lesson 10
Teaching the Plan of
Salvation (Part 1)
www.LatterDaySaintMissionPrep.com
Questions to Discuss/Ponder
about Life on Earth
• Why do we view the Fall of Adam and Eve as a crucial
part of God’s plan of salvation?
• In what ways does a three-act play symbolize some
of the elements of the plan of salvation?
• How can the scriptures help God’s children better
understand their purpose in God’s plan?
• Imagine you were a missionary; how would you
explain the purpose of this life in one or two
sentences?
Go Ye Therefore and
Teach All Nations by
Harry Anderson

30. Missionary Preparation Class
Lesson 10
Teaching the Plan of
Salvation (Part 1)
www.LatterDaySaintMissionPrep.com
Review of Physical and Spiritual
Death
Physical death =
separation of the
individual’s body from
their spirit.
Spiritual death =
separation of a person
from God because of
their sins.

31. Missionary Preparation Class
Lesson 10
Teaching the Plan of
Salvation (Part 1)
www.LatterDaySaintMissionPrep.com
Inherent Part of Mortality is
Physical and Spiritual Death
• “In mortality we live in a condition where we are subject
to both physical and spiritual death.”
• “Because of the Fall of Adam and Eve, every person on
earth has an imperfect, mortal body and will eventually
die. If not for the Savior Jesus Christ, death would end all
hope for a future existence with Heavenly Father.” (PMG)
• Jesus taught: “I am the resurrection, and the life” (John
11:25)
• Because of the atonement of Jesus Christ, the
resurrection “shall come to all, both old and young, both
bond and free, both male and female, both the wicked
and the righteous” (Alma 11:44)

32. Missionary Preparation Class
Lesson 10
Teaching the Plan of
Salvation (Part 1)
www.LatterDaySaintMissionPrep.com
Spiritual Death is Overcome by
Following Our Savior Jesus Christ
• “In our mortal condition we often yield to
temptation, break God’s commandments, and sin.
…Because of our sins, we are unable to return to live
with Heavenly Father unless we are first forgiven and
cleansed. While we are in mortality, we have
experiences …that bring us pain and sorrow, some of
which is caused by the sinful acts of others. These
experiences provide us opportunities to learn and to
grow, to distinguish good from evil, and to make
choices. God influences us to do good; Satan tempts
us to commit sin. As with physical death, we cannot
overcome the effects of sin by ourselves. We are
helpless without the Atonement of Jesus Christ.”
(PMG)

33. Missionary Preparation Class
Lesson 10
Teaching the Plan of
Salvation (Part 1)
www.LatterDaySaintMissionPrep.com
• In 3 Nephi 27:19-20, the Savior said:
• “And no unclean thing can enter into his kingdom;
therefore nothing entereth into his rest save it be
those who have washed their garments in my blood,
because of their faith, and the repentance of all their
sins, and their faithfulness unto the end.”
• “Now this is the commandment: Repent, all ye ends
of the earth, and come unto me and be baptized in
my name, that ye may be sanctified by the reception
of the Holy Ghost, that ye may stand spotless before
me at the last day.”
Image from the Gospel
Media library on
churchofjesuschrist.org

34. Missionary Preparation Class
Lesson 10
Teaching the Plan of
Salvation (Part 1)
www.LatterDaySaintMissionPrep.com
Discuss/Ponder Physical and
Spiritual Death
• How does the gospel of Jesus Christ help us to
overcome physical and spiritual death?
• Any other questions about physical and spiritual
death?
Go Ye Therefore and
Teach All Nations by
Harry Anderson

35. Missionary Preparation Class
Lesson 10
Teaching the Plan of
Salvation (Part 1)
www.LatterDaySaintMissionPrep.com
Teaching the Plan of Salvation:
Parts 1 and 2
Where did I
come from?
What is my
purpose in
life?
Where will I go
after I die?
Lesson 10: Part 1:
• Pre-Earth Life
• The Creation
• The Fall of Adam and Eve
• Our Life on Earth
Lesson 11: Part 2:
• How the Atonement overcomes the
effects of the Fall
• Our Eternal Destiny / Kingdoms of
glory

36. Missionary Preparation Class
Lesson 10
Teaching the Plan of
Salvation (Part 1)
www.LatterDaySaintMissionPrep.com
Conclusion and Homework
• Review the “Key Definitions” section of PMG
• Be able to understand and explain key terms like:
• Atonement of Christ, Fall, Immortality, Mortality, Physical
and Spiritual Death, Resurrection, Exaltation, etc.
• Think of a time when your knowledge of the plan of
salvation blessed your life. Write it in your journal.
• Church Videos to Check Out
• Video “God Is Our Father” (3:05) on the Church website
• Video “The Plan of Salvation” (4:30) on the Church
website

37. Missionary Preparation Class
Lesson 10
Teaching the Plan of
Salvation (Part 1)
www.LatterDaySaintMissionPrep.com
Thank You for Watching or Listening
• I have a testimony that these things are true
• Visit the Latter-day Saint Mission Prep Website at
• www.MormonMissionPrep.com