"And they who keep their first estate shall be added upon; and they
who keep not their first estate shall not have glory in the same
kingdom with those who keep their first estate; and they who keep
their second estate shall have glory added upon their heads for ever
and ever."
Pearl of Great Price, Abraham 3:26
We who have come to earth have kept our first estate
and are receiving the wonderful opportunity to be added upon. One of
our first additions was to have a body added to our spirits in birth.
As we grew from day to day we received addition upon addition. Each
experience of being loved and tended and taken care of was recorded in
our memories to become a part of us and another addition. The things
we heard and the things we saw even the things we felt were being
recorded in our memories and added to us as part of our growth and
development.
All of our experiences, our learning and our physical
development are additions and form part of us as we grow through our
lives. They help shape our personality and help to form our character.
In receiving the teachings of our parents and learning the principles
of the Gospel we are added upon line upon line precept upon precept
plus experience upon experience. Truly we are being added upon.
When we are Baptized and confirmed members of the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints we receive a great
addition to our lives. We become part of the great family of the
Church and are part of the kingdom of God upon the earth. The door is
opened for us to enter the Celestial Kingdom if we but continue to
accept the additions that are offered us. All of our lives we are
given the opportunity to choose the additions that are offered us.
If we accept the enormous addition of being married in
the Temple then we become a complete unit before the Lord and receive
many wonderful and glorious blessings. We also receive the power and
the blessing of being added upon forever and ever. This addition
includes an increase in our capacity to love and our capacity to
serve. Especially our capacity to have joy and happiness in this life
through eternity. If we live in harmony and love and keep the
commandments of the Lord, many additions follow such as moral
strength, spiritual strength and awareness, and the power to begin to
build an eternal family.
As each child is born to us we are added upon with not
only that child but we are added upon with all of the posterity and
future generations of that particular child and his children's
children.
That is why it is so important to keep this second
estate so that we can be added upon forever and ever. Being added upon
is not only in our posterity but in our personality, character and
power. In our knowledge and understanding. Especially it is to be
added upon with a celestial body in the resurrection. Our finite minds
cannot comprehend the vastness of the plan of Heavenly Father but we
can see at least the possibilities of the promise of the Lord to be
added upon in this life and forever and ever.
When we are married in the Temple we are told to be
fruitful and to multiply and replenish the earth, that we might have
joy and rejoicing in our posterity, giving us the opportunity to
choose to be added upon in every way. The experiences we gain in
raising a family are invaluable in teaching us to learn to love
someone else more that we love ourselves. Every principle of the
Gospel is for our growth and development. If we live the Gospel of
Jesus Christ we will be partakers of the Infinite Atonement of our
Savior who took upon Him all of our pains.
In the beginning the Lord commanded all life upon the
earth to multiply in their own sphere. Certainly providing a way for
each form of life to be added upon. I would be almost impossible to
calculate the number of seeds that can be produced from one seed in 10
or 20 years.
Every two or three years we dig up the Iris and the
Cana Lily Bulbs. They become so crowded that we have to dig them up
and replant those that we want to continue in our garden. We have left
over wheelbarrow loads of bulbs that we don't know what to do
with.
As the Maple trees bloom in the spring they produce
thousands of seeds that have a little wing on them. When they fall
they begin to whirl and drift spinning all of the way to the ground.
Some go far away in the wind while others stay close by. Each seed has
the possibility to sprout and become a big Maple Tree and produce
thousands of whirling seeds each year.
When we worked on the ranch we had the Cockle Burr to
contend with. We found that each Burr that is produced usually is
carried by wind or water or stuck to some animal to start a new plant.
Some of the Burrs are programmed to sprout the first year others the
second year and so on up to seven or more years to assure that when a
good year comes along there will be plenty of Cockle Burrs. For Cockle
Burrs nearly every year is a good year.
We as the children of our Heavenly Father are permitted
to make right choices and return to live with him and be added upon
for ever and ever.