The Plan and the Work by Hugh Nibley

I am sending this little bit of wisdom floating out into the air. I don't know who will read it or where this little seed will fall. I hope it will be planted, grow, and explains some questions you might have.

"The gospel and the Church: we call one the plan and the other the work. The plan looks to the eternities and must necessarily be perfect; but the work is right here and is anything but the finished product. Yet the two are inseparable! 'To bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man' is the plan; to carry it out, 'this is my work and my glory' (Moses 1:39)--the gory is in the work.

"We are permitted to take part in the work, to participate like eager but bungling children in the kitchen or the shop--dropping things, doing it all wrong, quarreling, getting in each other's way, trying the patience of indulgent elders. What a headache! Yet such is the best and happiest arrangement for all concerned, everybody having a wonderful time--and it is found only in the restored Church, where the plan and the work are equally exhilarating and equally sacred."