Before birth, all people lived with God as spirits. We can’t remember that because this life is a time for testing our faith in God and our desire to live His commandments. And our choices here will determine if we live with God again. The Church video “Where Did We Come From? ” helps you understand more about our premortal life.

Some of life’s greatest questions are “Where did we come from?” and “Where are we going?” Ancient and modern prophets have revealed the answers to those questions. Mormons—members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints—believe that before birth, everyone on earth lived as spirits with God, our Heavenly Father.

As His spirit children, we learned from God about His plan to give each of us a physical body on earth. We also learned that the memory of our pre-earth life would be erased, and we would be unable to remember our experiences from before birth. This allows our lives to be a time of testing—a chance to learn about God, develop faith in Him, and choose to follow His commandments.

Some people have a hard time understanding that their existence before life on earth could be forgotten. But the fact that we don’t remember our first years of early childhood doesn’t mean we didn’t exist. And so it is with our premortal existence. Both our premortal and earth experiences are part of God’s plan to bless us and give us an opportunity to return to live with Him again.

Learn more in the following Gospel Topics:

• Plan of Salvation
• Premortality
• Council in Heaven

Watch other videos in the “Now You Know” video series.