ELIZABETH - I have heard that once we die, we become a god ourselves. Please explain this to me so I can answer people correctly. I am very new to the church.

JOEL - It's not quite that simple, nor does it happen that quickly. The plan of exaltation involves several steps before anyone becomes a god. Also, most likely very few of us will even become gods, although that is a goal we are all striving for while here on earth. As Jesus said,
"Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." (Matt. 5:48)

Here is a step by step list of things that happen before we can become a god.

1. We were spiritually born of our heavenly parents in the pre-earth life.
2. We very much wanted to become like our parents who were already gods.
3. Therefore, we agreed to come to this earth to obtain a body like our godly parents already had.
4. We also agreed to be tested and to submit ourselves to the experiences of life to see if we could be counted as someone worthy to be a god.
5. We are born to this earth to obtain our body and be tested and experience life.
6. Christ suffered for our sins so that we may repent and be made clean and worthy to return to God when we die.
7. We die and our spirits return to God in the spirit world where we wait for the ressurection.
8. Christ returns to earth and begins the resurrection which causes the reuniting of our body with our spirit so that we are now an immortal being similar to our heavenly parents.
9. We exist on the earth for a thousand years as immortal beings with Christ as our leader.
10. There is a final judgement and we are assigned to a degree of glory according to our obedience to the Gospel.
11. Those who are assigned the highest degree of the Celestial kingdom are the ones who will eventually become gods of their own universes, the same as their heavenly parents.
12. Return to Step #1.

As you can see the process is a long one and is dependent on what Christ did for us; on our faithfulness to living the Gospel; overcoming sin; and serving God and our fellow man.
If you are a new member there are classes that are normally held during Sunday School to teach these things to you. It is probably best to not try to explain all of this to people who are not familiar with the gospel until you have had time to learn it better yourself. The best thing for you to tell them right now is that becoming a god is something that Mormons believe can happen to them in the eternal future if, we are true and faithful to our God and our religion in this life.

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