Article of Faith #3 today:

We believe that through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel.

I really like this Article of Faith. . .to me it shows the love that God has for us.  It also points us all to "the way, the life, and the light," which is Jesus Christ.  It doesn't matter who we are, or when we were born, or where in the world we live.  He has given to everybody the same chance to be saved.  If we were unfortunate to live in a part of the world where we never even heard of Christ, doesn't mean that we will go to hell.  God loves all of his children, and wants everybody to return to him.

The second key to that is "by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the gospel."  We must obey the commandments that God has given us.  We must be baptized.

Now you may think that both of those are contradictory-how can you be baptized, and live the laws of the gospel, if you have never even heard of Christ??

Our Heavenly Father has made it so that we can all hear and accept (or reject - it is up to us) his gospel.  We can all live perform the ordinances necessary to return to his presence. 

How?  Well, for those of us still living, that is why missionary work is so important.  That is why our church has the missionary program that it does.  That is to bring the gospel to those throughout the world who may not have it (or have it in it's fullness-meaning those who currently believe in Christ, but don't have all the truths that have been revealed)

What about those who have died without ever even hearing about Christ or the gospel?  How can they be baptized?  That is why family history (genealogy) is so important.  If we do our family history, we can find out who has lived before us, and who may not have had the opportunity while living to receive baptism.  Then, within the temples of the church, we can be baptized for them (in proxy.)  Our ancestors who have died long ago have been taught the gospel after their death, but without a physical body cannot be baptized.  If they accept the teachings, and strive to obey the commandments after this life, they can choose (or again, choose not to) accept the proxy baptism performed by us here on earth.

God truly loves us all!