What is the Purpose of Life?

Deep question, right!?!  I'll write "what is the purpose of life" on the chalkboard but then ask the girls to answer it like someone who doesn't not have a testimony of the gospel...

(I'll bring a SUPER long piece of twine, tie a not on it and string it up all around the room.  That will lead us into a quick discussion (reminded from the lesson last week) about the Plan of Salvation, where we are in the plan and how short our mortal life is in the scheme of things.

At the request of the girls we'll be pulling out our scriptures a bit.  They'll read and discuss:

Alma 12:24, 34:30–32  (prepare to meet God, perform our labors)

Alma 42:4 (repent and serve God)
2 Ne 2:22-25 (Adam fell, that they might have joy)

2 Ne 2:14-16 (must be opposition in all things)

I'll pose the question again, "SO, what is the purpose of life?"  After they share their thoughts (-Gain a body-live by faith-empathy vs. sympathy-learn right from wrong: how to make good choices), I'll share these quotes:

"We came to earth for two purposes: one, to obtain physical bodies of flesh and bone in the likeness of our Heaven Father; and two, to be proved--to see if we 'will do all things whatever the Lord our God commands us." Marion G. Romney

"There are two purposes for life in mortality. The first is that we might gain experiences that we could not obtain in any other way. The second is to obtain tabernacles of flesh and bones. Both of these purposes are vital to the existence of man. We are now being tried and tested to see if we will do all the things the Lord has commanded us to do. These commandments are the principles and ordinances of the gospel, and they constitute the gospel of Jesus Christ. Every principle and ordinance has a bearing upon the whole purpose of our testing, which is to prepare us to return to our Heavenly Father and become more like Him." -Elder L. Tom Perry, The Plan of Salvation 

I learned another way to describe the purposes of life from a professor I TAed for at BYU.  He gave us extra credit for memorizing them and I am so grateful he did!  It was lessons like these that made college worth every second and every penny.

Dr. Hill's Sacred Purposes of Life:
-Gain a body and develop skills of mortality

-Develop and strengthen eternal relationships

-Become more like Christ (and our Heavenly Father)

*I would add to make covenants and receive ordinances

I think, if we're trying to sum things up and define the purpose of life in a few short sentences, Dr. Hill did a great job (we could certainly be a lot more detailed, but if we're getting down to brass tacks, I think he nailed it).  

Knowing these things, can you tell me what kinds of skills were supposed to learn?  What kind of relationships were suppose to have?  How we can become more like Christ?
-The Family: A Proclamation to the Word (how does this help you understand your purpose as a daughter of God)

-Beatitudes 3 Ne 12:3-12 (Do you know any personally or in the scriptures that have these traits?)

("Ask the young women to share what they learned today. Do they understand the purpose of life better? What feelings or impressions do they have? Do they have any additional questions? Would it be helpful to spend more time on this doctrine?")

Knowing these things, let's talk about what really matters?  Does it matter how many friends you have (in real life or on facebook)?  Does it matter how popular you are with the boys?  How much do the clothes you wear and the car you drive affect your eternity? Or does it matter what kind of sister/daughter/friend you are?  How you develop your talents and uplift others? etc.

Understanding the purpose to our lives helps us with something I find extraordinarily important...and ETERNAL PERSPECTIVE! If we can keep and eternal perspective as we make both the seeming insignificant, daily choices you make and the "big" ones too.  What is important to you will always be different than what is important to people who simply don't understand their purpose on Earth.

When I was a fourth year at girls camp my leader showed this to me:
S.M.I.L.E. Spiritually Minded Is Life Eternal 2 Ne 9:39
It is my goal that we will always remember to [be] SMILE.