"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.