David, I hope you don't see this as a cop-out, but I'm going to just copy and paste something I wrote up several years back for a thread in the LDS DIR. This was just part of a larger piece I wrote on the LDS understanding of God's Plan of Salvation for His children (i.e. all of mankind). I numbered the statements so that if people had questions, they could specifically reference the item they wanted clarification on.
A1. God the Eternal Father is a glorified, immortal being of flesh and bone. While He has the appearance of a man, His body is perfect and incorruptible.
A2. Co-eternal with God was a form of highly refined matter that has been described as "the light of truth." Latter-day Saint scriptures refer to it as "Intelligences." It is neither created nor made.
A3. God took this intelligent matter and from it created the spirits of all who would someday dwell on this earth and of some who would not. A spirit is a conscious entity, visible to God, but comprised of such highly refined matter that human eyes cannot see it.
A4. These spirit creations were known to God as His spirit sons and daughters. They knew Him as their Father.
A5. Among them were two who stood out as incomprehensibly superior to the others. Like their Father, they were perfect in every respect. God the Father called His firstborn spirit son "Jehovah." He would come to be known to billions as Jesus Christ. His other perfect son would be known as the Holy Ghost. Together these three constituted "the Godhead," three divine beings who were one in will, purpose, mind and heart.
A6. God was the archetypal man, the Man of Holiness. He was the perfect role model and all of His spirit children looked to Him with deep reverence and respect. It was their desire to be like Him in every way.
A7. God called a heavenly council and presented a plan to His spirit children. All were present, and shouted for joy upon hearing the announcement.
A8. The plan became known as "The Plan of Salvation." God would create a world for them apart from their heavenly home. All who wished to participate would be given the opportunity to come to Earth, to be born to earthly parents and to obtain a mortal body. They would have no memory of their pre-mortal existence.
A9. As part of their mortality, they would be tried and tested. Prophets would be sent to guide them, but they would have to learn to walk in faith and to distinguish between good and evil. This knowledge was essential in order for them to someday become like their Father in Heaven.
A10. There was, however, one caveat. After their time on Earth was finished, they could return to His presence only if they were without sin. He would not look upon sin with the least degree of allowance. Sin would be seen as a debt that could only be forgiven if paid in full by someone who owed no debt Himself.
A11. Jehovah, our elder Brother, stepped forward and said, "Here I am. Send me." With a love so absolute we could not comprehend it, He offered to take upon Himself the guilt we would incur during our mortality and to pay the price required by the Father for our forgiveness. The price would be His own blood. All of the glory, He insisted, would be the Father's. He wanted nothing but the privilege of helping His Father to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of mankind.
A12. Our salvation would be contingent upon our recognizing Him as our Savior and doing our best to keep His commandments, repenting as necessary, because we would inevitably sin. Each of us would be given the freedom to choose for ourselves.
A13. Another of God's spirit sons stepped forward at this point. His name was Lucifer. Once known as the "Son of the Morning," he was full of animosity towards his brother, Jehovah and toward their Father. He offered an alternate plan. His plan took away our agency or the right to choose for ourselves. We would each obtain a mortal body, but the choice to obey or to disobey, and the privilege of learning to discern between good and evil would be taken away from us. Having lived perfect lives, but not by choice, we would all return to God's presence. The glory would be forever his, not his Father's.
A14. The Father chose Jehovah to be "the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world." Lucifer, proud and rebellious, turned against his Father and vowed to turn as many of his fellow spirit siblings as possible against Him, too.
A15. A "War in Heaven" ensued. All of God's spirit children chose sides. Some fought with Lucifer for the right to participate in the plan as he had suggested. Others fought on the side of Jehovah, led by the archangel, Michael.
A16. In the end, Michael and his angels (i.e. all of us who would someday be born) defeated Lucifer and his angels (the remaining third of the host of heaven). Because of their willful rebellion against God, Lucifer and those who had sided with him were cast out of Heaven. They would never again have the privilege of being known as God's children. They would never receive mortal bodies. And in the end, they would be cast into Outer Darkness forever.
A17. The rest of us (i.e. every human being who ever has been born or will be born) rejoiced, knowing that the Plan was about to commence. Every one of us chose to come to Earth. There are no exceptions.
A18. Under the direction of His Father, and aided by the archangel, Michael, Jehovah created our Earth and the universe in which we live.
This entire sequence of events took place before "the beginning," since the Bible tells us only what happened with the creation as "the beginning." We have learned these things through modern revelation to living prophets. It is our belief that they were once understood and believed by all Christians, but were lost over time, following the deaths of Christ's apostles. The Bible alludes to a few of these points, but discusses none of them in any depth. I've always found it interesting to learn of early non-biblical Christian documents that teach much the same things as I've just explained. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask.
I would never accuse you of copping out. I appreciate you very much Katz. Thank you
