Jesus Christ lived a sinless life, in spite of temptation. No one else ever has or ever will. We are all sinners (except the mentally disabled and young children, whom the devil doesn't have power to tempt), having done things that have broken God's laws. Because God has given us laws, and we have broken them, Justice demands that we be punished. There is no way for us to avoid that punishment through any effort of our own. But because Jesus Christ has never sinned, there is nothing to punish him for. He is free to do whatever he chooses, but what he has chosen to do is to satisfy the demands of Justice by taking our punishment for us.
The punishment for sin involved terrible suffering. In the Garden of Gethsemane and on the cross at Golgotha, Jesus performed the Atonement for all mankind by suffering, dying, and being resurrected (getting his body back in its perfect and glorified form) on the third day after his death. He paid the price for the sins of every person. Now, instead of being indebted to Justice, all mankind are indebted to Jesus Christ. We will never ever be able to repay him for what he did for us, but all that he asks is that we believe in him and try to obey his every word. If we do this, we will be "saved" from punishment.
Question: "What's the point of being saved? Why do I want to be saved?" Answer: It's not just about avoiding punishment. It's about living happily now and after we die. Mormons believe that the purpose of life is to become like God and live with him again. He is literally our father, and so we have the potential to become like him. If we believe in Jesus Christ, God's son, and follow his teachings given through the scriptures and inspired leaders, then we will eventually accomplish our goals through God's grace. When we live our lives the way God wants us to, we will be happy, and God will give us valuable knowledge and experience.
To sum it all up, Jesus Christ is our Savior. All of our efforts and desire to serve and obey God would be for nothing if it wasn't for that free gift that Jesus Christ gave us. He took our punishment for us and made us able to live with God again. Now what we need to do is to live as God wants us to. He commands us to refrain from sinning and keep doing better each day. He wants us to keep learning about his commandments and to do our best to obey them all. Here is a great place to look for more information: http://mormon.org
If we don't accept Jesus as our Savior, then we remain subject to Justice, and a terrible punishment awaits us (known as hell, which is suffering and the lack of God's presence). We wouldn't return to live with God and be like him, so we would be miserable. Only those who truly love being evil would choose such a fate, so most of us don't have to worry too much about going to hell. Everyone, dead or alive, will eventually learn about God's plan for us and will be able to choose to accept Christ and be saved or to reject him and be evil.
God loves us dearly, and he is constantly reaching out to us. He wants to give us everything he has, and he wants us to come unto him. One of the best ways to come unto God is to talk to him through prayer. To pray to our Heavenly Father, all we ever have to do is direct our thoughts to him and then say whatever is in our heart. He always listens because he loves us. He will give us comfort and peace and let us know he is there (in his own time) if we believe that he will and seek to understand his ways better.
If we want to know that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ are real, the first thing we should do is try praying. We should also read the Bible and the Book of Mormon. Going to church helps significantly too. We should also act on our inclinations to do good things, like treating other people kindly. We should also investigate and follow God's basic commandments: 1) Have faith in Jesus Christ. 2) Repent, or replace our less worthy behaviors and habits with righteous ones. 3) Get baptized properly. 4) Receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost. 5) Keep up the good work, no matter what life throws at us. Learn more at http://mormon.org/jesus-christ.
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