ED - I happened to be talking to a Mormon the other day and they kind of confused me... I thought that Jesus became man to die on the cross for "the sins of the world" This mormon said something about Jesus had to go through this earthly probation in order to progress to godhood.
Is this true? was the cross- just a another add on purpose to Jesus coming to earth?

JOEL - According to LDS theology Christ did need to come to earth to obtain a body and experience mortality to become more like His Heavenly Father, who we believe also has a body. But Jesus was already considered a God before He came to earth and was already perfect in every other way. His primary purpose for coming to earth was, as you say, to suffer and die on the cross and atone for the sins of all mankind and break the bonds of death through His resurrection.
We learn in Phillippians that He was equal with God before he came to earth (Philp 2:6) and was later made in the likeness of men.(Philip 2: 7-8)
Our Book of Mormon tells us:

"the Lord Omnipotent who reigneth, who was, and is from all eternity to all eternity, shall come down from heaven among the children of men, and shall dwell in a tabernacle of clay, and shall go forth amongst men," (Mosiah 3:5)

With a mortal body living on earth He had lost some of the glory he had in heaven. Jesus refered to this as He prayed:

"And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I HAD with thee before the world was.(John 17:5)

And as a man on earth without the glory He previously had, He had to progress as he grew from a child to adult like all other men.

"Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man." (Luke 2:52)

But, while obtaining a body and having a mortal experience made Him a more complete God, I wouldn't call it a "progression" to Godhood. Jesus was a special case. He was already a God before He came to earth, but He condescended from that position for a little while to make our salvation possible for us. The cross wasn't another add on purpose; it was the main reason He came. His obtaining a body might be called another add-on purpose.

ED - Thank you so much for responding...I do have a further question on this matter...
You stated "I wouldn't call it progression"..."Jesus was a special case."
I do believe Apostle james E. Talmage would disagree with you for he wrote:

"Even as Christ, the only begotten Son of God in the flesh, endured the experiences of mortality, passed the portals of death and became a resurrected Being, so the Father before him had trodden the same path of progression from manhood to Godhood..."
Any further thoughts.

JOEL - Talmage seems to be speaking of Jesus in terms of beginning with his birth on earth until He again reached a state of Godhood. I guess in this sense you might call it a progression to Godhood if you start at the point where Jesus was born. He was using this period of time of Jesus' existance to make the point that we believe that God the Father might also have progressed from a man to God in the same way.
But I know Talmage would agree that Jesus was the God of this earth before He was born. That is common LDS doctrine.
James Talmage also said:
"Jesus Christ was Jehovah...of the Old Testament. In all of scripture, where God is mentioned and where he has appeared, it was Jehovah" (Doctrines of Salvation, vol.1, p.11,27).

ED - Thank you so much...
I see I am going to have to keep reading on this...
I guess I am kind of confused...
Was there ever a period when Jesus Christ was not God?
I know I have been told by Missionaries that Jesus is my brother-literally. Well, I Know I am not a god...Do you see my dilemma?

JOEL - According to the teachings of past church leaders, Jesus Christ was spiritually begotten or born of the Father sometime in the eternal past. Before that time He existed as an intelligence(whatever that is). So how he could be considered a God during this time or when He started being a God, is a question that really has no answer yet. We only know that he was God when He created the universe and has been ever since and will be into the eternal future.
He is spiritually our brother in the sense that we too were begotton spiritually by the Father before coming to earth, and therefore are literally His spirit children the same as Jesus was and is. I am not a God either but we believe that we someday could become Gods if we follow Jesus and live His Gospel as revealed to us in these days.