This summer we are planning a big family campout and are inviting lots of our old friends. I thought how exciting it is going to be to see some of these people. Aw, the good old days! Then I began thinking about our children, and I hoped that in the future, when they are grown, they can also be our good friends whom we will want to spend time with.
In the LDS Church, I've heard some people say that they believe they knew their families before they came to earth. Now I don't believe there is any confirmed scripture or doctrine on that specific point*; however, I did ponder that if that is true, and I did, in fact, know my family in the pre-earth life, we probably were really good friends who said we wanted to help each other through this earthly journey. I even pondered that perhaps I committed or even covenanted that I would provide bodies for those spirits who would become my earthly children! Again, don't take that as LDS doctrine; I'm just pondering here.
The whole idea that my little children could have been my friends before this earth life, and that they can be my friends, people I actually like to be with, when they are grown, made me feel a little more patient and a little more excited in being diligent in teaching them to become people that I will like as adults, as Julie Beck similarly stated in her Conversation on the Mormon Channel.
*If you've found an article on this topic of knowing our families before we came to earth, please save me some time and point me to it!
