Life on Earth -Why am I Here?

In the beginning, before God created man, He had a plan. He had
many spirit children with Him in heaven, but they did not yet have
bodies; hence, they could not progress. There would be no purpose of
existing if we could not progress. What joy is there in remaining
exactly the same forever? So God created a plan that would enable us to
progress both physically and spiritually.

We are here to gain a body.

In Genesis 1:27 it explains "So God created man in his own image, in
the image of God created he him; male and female created he them." God
gave us physical bodies, and there are many things we can do now that
we have bodies that we could not do while we were only spirits. We are
separated from God for a time to learn and do the things necessary to
progress and return to Him some day, worthy to dwell in His presence
forever. When we die our spirit and body separate, but thanks to the
resurrection of Jesus Christ, they will join again. We too will be
resurrected, never to part with our bodies again.

We are here to be tested.

But gaining a body is not the only reason we are here. In God's eye,
our time on earth is short, with eternity existing always before and
forever after. This short period of time on earth can be viewed as a
sort of test or trial time. The wonderful and merciful thing is that it
is an open-book test, and we learn the answers along the way. We can
receive lots of help through the scriptures, prophets, and even
directly from God as we approach Him in humble, personal prayer, then
look and listen for His soft answers.

We are here to become like God.

What is the purpose of this test? The ultimate purpose of the test of
life is to progress to become like God. Does this seem overwhelming?
Then let's look at the key word in this: progress. It won't happen all
at once, but remember, we have the answers before us, or at least
places to look and search out the answers (see above).

Rather than viewing this as one big test, let's look at it as a series
of small quizzes. The Lord presents us with an opportunity or
challenge. If we choose the right, we progress; if we don't, we move
backward. We cannot stay in one place. We are constantly moving either
forward or backward. Thus, it is the little things, the daily
decisions, which keep us on the right path leading to God. And why do
we want to become like God? So we can return to live with Him after we
die.