New Year, New Beginning

It’s a new year (2026)! A time for new beginnings. A time to reflect on all the beginnings before, and a time to look forward to that which will begin. Our lives are full of beginnings, as they have been since before the world was created.

Our existence is full of new beginnings. We read in Abraham 3:22, “Now the Lord had shown unto me, Abraham, the intelligences that were organized before the world was.” We existed as intelligences that were organized into spirits. Our existence, as far as has been revealed, is:

1. Intelligence
2. Spirit (organized from Intelligence)
3. Mortal (Physical Body combined with Spirit)
   • Spirit – Death of Physical Body, causing separation
4. Immortal (Resurrected Physical Body reunited with Spirit)

Each step in our existence is a new beginning. We don’t know how our intelligence came into being. We don’t know how God organized that intelligence into a spirit. We do know that God created man in His image. That creation is our mortal body that receives the spirit and becomes a living soul. We know that death separates our physical body and spirit for a time. We know that there will be a resurrection where our body and spirit will be reunited. We understand that the body will be immortal. We don’t know how that happens.

Each phase of our existence lasts a certain amount of time. We don’t know the criteria for being organized into a spirit. We do have a revelation about what we needed to do to receive a mortal body. Again, in Abraham, we read, “And there stood one among them that was like unto God, and he said unto those who were with him: We will go down, for there is space there, and we will take of these materials, and we will make an earth whereon these may dwell; And we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them; 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” (Abraham 3:24-26).

We see in these verses that we had to “keep [our] first estate.” This means we had to do something as spirits to allow us to receive a mortal body. How did we keep our first estate? We accepted God’s plan that gives us agency in this life and permits us to “prove [ourselves] … to see if [we] will do all things whatsoever the Lord [our] God shall command.” The verses above also warn that those who do not keep their first estate will not get a body. This is what happened to Satan and those who followed him. They were cast out of God’s presence and will remain spirits forever.

Our mortal lives have many beginnings, both secularly and spiritually. The first of these is when we are born. This beginning is a blank slate on which we will write the journey of our mortality. Here is where we begin to grow and learn. Some of our beginnings we call firsts, for example:

• First Steps
• First Words
• First Day of School

We have other beginnings as well:

• Faith
• Repentance
• Baptism
• Gift of the Holy Ghost
• Temple Ordinances

Each beginning in this life prepares us, not only for mortality, but for eternity. President Russell M. Nelson taught: “Every righteous choice that you make here will pay huge dividends now. But righteous choices in mortality will pay unimaginable dividends eternally. If you choose to make covenants with God and are faithful to those covenants, you have the promise of ‘glory added upon [your head] for ever and ever.’ [Abraham 3:26]”

We see that the choices we make and the beginnings we experience will ultimately lead us to our eternal glory. That glory will be Celestial, Terrestrial, or Telestial (Divine Love in the Father, Dallin H. Oaks). Each new beginning in this life is an opportunity for us to prepare for the next.

Our last new beginning starts with the end of this mortal life. When we die, we will have a period of separation from the body we received at birth. The promise is that we will be resurrected. That resurrection will restore an immortal and perfect body to our spirit. From there, we will receive entrance into a kingdom of glory according to how we lived our lives on this earth. This is the last of the beginnings that has been revealed unto us.

All of the above can be overwhelming. So why do I keep going? Why do I strive to live a life that many view as difficult, binding, or “high demand?” The simplest answer is that I have received a witness of God that “this is the way.”

The more complex answer is that, having received the witness:

1. I want to enter the Celestial Kingdom
2. I am not a quitter
3. I desire to continually be better

The first goal is something we should all strive for. The Celestial Kingdom is where God dwells. I want to be there. I want to be in His presence. I also know that I want to be with my wife, and I’m sure that her goal is the same.

The second is how I was raised. My parents worked hard and never quit. That has been instilled in me. I was taught that if there is something I want, I put in the effort, then I can achieve it. Quitting is not in my nature, and I will not give up on my goals.

Thirdly, I want to be better. I’m not perfect. I commit sins, make bad choices, and have a need to repent. Repentance is a new beginning. If I try to be better, God recognizes my effort and will help me in my journey. Between not quitting and trying to better myself, I can achieve all I need to in this life and be worthy of Celestial glory.

Life is full of new beginnings. Take the time to recognize what new beginnings will happen this year in your life. I’m going to thank God for those opportunities to better myself and rejoice in the beginnings I will have.