This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

One of the basic tenets of Mormon theology is that all human beings are the spirit children of God. We were created long before being born here on Earth. In short, there was a pre-life before this one.

In the pre-existence we were given a choice of following one of two plans. We could opt to follow the one proposed by Jesus Christ, and come to Earth and choose for ourselves whether we wanted to exercise faith in him.

Or we could follow Satan's plan, and come down here and be forced to behave ourselves sufficient to merit an automatic return to heaven. Something along the lines of North Korea salvation. I remember liking this plan a lot, initially.

As you might expect, the Lord's plan won. There was just one rub. In order to ensure that we acted entirely on faith in the Lord, we wouldn't be able to remember any of it. A "veil" was placed over our minds.

I bring this up because I DO remember the pre-existence. The veil failed to install on my mind and I have full knowledge of what happened up there.

You can argue that I don't, but how could you know that for sure unless the veil also failed to install in your own mind? Pre-life experiences are every bit as valid as near-death experiences, and a lot more useful.

Last week in church, one of the youth speakers mentioned the wonderful privilege it is to be here and enjoy these temporal experiences. We were so excited to do it that we actually looked forward to it.

Only someone who's never had a real problem in their life would think that way. Never would I, upon having my legs bitten off by a shark, set on fire, audited or water-boarded, stop to consider that these were in fact wonderful experiences and OK because I signed up for them.

I recall almost word for word the conversation I had in the pre-existence with— well, I'm not saying who, but he was important.

Me: "Let me see if I got this straight. You want me to go to Earth, suffer all sorts of agonizing indignities, and then try to figure out the point of it all with a brain you've completely erased. That it?"

Important Entity: "Yes."

Me: "Well, that's the worst deal I ever heard. I am not go—" ZAP!

And here I am, almost entirely against my will. You'd feel just as grouchy if you could remember what I do.

After 60-plus years, I don't consider any of the misery I've suffered a great opportunity for spiritual growth. I know me well enough to know that I would never voluntarily do something like that to myself.

There is hope.

I'm headed toward the end of life where my brain is starting to get a little cloudy. I forget stuff now. Oddly, I don't mind. Things are a lot less painful that way.

OK, I get it. This time I'm looking forward to the veil.

Robert Kirby can be reached at rkirby@sltrib.com or facebook.com/stillnotpatbagley.