I have a testimony of the principle of agency and the power that we have to exercise it in our own lives. I know that coming to this earth was a choice we all made in the pre-existence. I know that we each made the choice to follow God’s plan to come to earth, receive a body, and have the ability to choose in this life and make decisions to lead us back to Him someday. I know that it is through agency that we are able to make mistakes, but also that we may choose to repent for those mistakes and become perfected once more. It is through making mistakes that we may learn and grow and chose to make different decisions in the future. I know that without the ability to choose we would not be able to feel joy, because there must be opposition in all things. I am so grateful for the opportunity to choose which master I will serve, how I will live my life, and have the opportunity to act and not be acted upon.
“Adversity teaches us things we cannot learn otherwise. Adversity helps to develop a depth of character that comes in no other way. Our loving Heavenly Father has set us in a world filled with challenges and trials so that we, through opposition, can learn wisdom, become stronger, and experience joy.” President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, Your Happily Ever After, April 2010 General Conference
"The general quickly understood a truth that is missed even by some in the Church. Latter-day Saints are not obedient because they are compelled to be obedient. They are obedient because they know certain spiritual truths and have decided, as an expression of their own individual agency, to obey the commandments of God. We are the sons and daughters of God, willing followers, disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ, and “under this head are [we] made free." President Boyd K. Packer, Agency and Control, April 1983 General Conference
“You cannot do wrong and feel right. It is impossible! …” Elder M. Russell Ballard, Keeping Covenants, April 1993 General Conference
“Agency is the ability and privilege God gives us to choose and “to act for [ourselves] and not to be acted upon.” Agency is to act with accountability and responsibility for our actions. Our agency is essential to the plan of salvation. With it we are “free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil.” Elder Robert D. Hales, Agency: Essential to the Eternal Plan of Life, October 2012 General Conference
“Our agency—our ability to choose and act for ourselves—was an essential element of this plan. Without agency we would be unable to make right choices and progress. Yet with agency we could make wrong choices, commit sin, and lose the opportunity to be with Heavenly Father again. For this reason a Savior would be provided to suffer for our sins and redeem us if we would repent. By His infinite Atonement, He brought about “the plan of mercy, to appease the demands of justice.” Elder Robert D. Hales, Agency: Essential to the Eternal Plan of Life, October 2012 General Conference
“But think of it: in our premortal state we chose to follow the Savior Jesus Christ! And because we did, we were allowed to come to earth. I testify that by making the same choice to follow the Savior now, while we are here on earth, we will obtain an even greater blessing in the eternities. But let it be known: we must continue to choose to follow the Savior. Eternity is at stake, and our wise use of agency and our actions are essential that we might have eternal life.” Elder Robert D. Hales, Agency: Essential to the Eternal Plan of Life, October 2012 General Conference
“[Jesus Christ] exercised the agency to be our Savior—to break the chains of sin and death for us.” Elder Robert D. Hales, Agency: Essential to the Eternal Plan of Life, October 2012 General Conference
“Whenever we choose to come unto Christ, take His name upon us, and follow His servants, we progress along the path to eternal life.” Elder Robert D. Hales, Agency: Essential to the Eternal Plan of Life, October 2012 General Conference
“As we understand the challenge of repenting, we appreciate the blessings of the Holy Ghost to guide our agency and Heavenly Father, who gives us commandments and strengthens and sustains us in keeping them.” Elder Robert D. Hales, Agency: Essential to the Eternal Plan of Life, October 2012 General Conference
“Our righteous exercise of agency always makes a difference in the opportunities we have and our ability to act upon them and progress eternally.” Elder Robert D. Hales, Agency: Essential to the Eternal Plan of Life, October 2012 General Conference
“In times of calmness but also in times of greatest temptation, these standards and the guidance of the Holy Ghost will help you make the right choices about your education, friends, dress and appearance, entertainment, media and the Internet, your language, proper dating, sexual purity, honesty, Sabbath-day observance, and service to others.” President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, See the End from the Beginning, April 2006 General Conference
“First, as we walk in obedience to the principles and commandments of the gospel of Jesus Christ, we enjoy a continual flow of blessings promised by God in His covenant with us. Those blessings provide the resources we need to act rather than simply be acted upon as we go through life.” Elder D. Todd Christofferson, The Power of Covenants, April 2009 General Conference
“By definition, trials will be trying. There may be anguish, confusion, sleepless nights, and pillows wet with tears. But our trials need not be spiritually fatal. They need not take us from our covenants or from the household of God.” Elder Neil L. Andersen, Trial of Your Faith, October 2012 General Conference
“The power of the Savior and the power of the devil are not truly comparable. On this planet, however, evil has been allowed a position of influence to give us the chance to choose between good and evil. The scripture says: “God gave unto man that he should act for himself. [And] man could not act for himself … [unless] he was enticed by … one or the other.”
The choice between good and evil is at the very heart of our experience on earth. In the final review of our lives, it will not really matter if we were rich or poor, if we were athletic or not, if we had friends or were often forgotten.” Elder Neil L. Andersen, Beware of the Evil behind the Smiling Eyes, April 2005 General Conference
“The gift of the Holy Ghost is a spiritual gift. It is sensitive and will not be associated with unworthiness. You cannot offend or ignore it one day and expect it to strengthen you the next day. But as you heed its promptings and remain righteous, it will grow stronger within you. The Holy Ghost warned my friend of physical danger; the Holy Ghost will also warn you of spiritual danger.” Elder Neil L. Andersen, Beware of the Evil behind the Smiling Eyes, April 2005 General Conference
“Adversity teaches us things we cannot learn otherwise. Adversity helps to develop a depth of character that comes in no other way. Our loving Heavenly Father has set us in a world filled with challenges and trials so that we, through opposition, can learn wisdom, become stronger, and experience joy.” President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, Your Happily Ever After, April 2010 General Conference
"The general quickly understood a truth that is missed even by some in the Church. Latter-day Saints are not obedient because they are compelled to be obedient. They are obedient because they know certain spiritual truths and have decided, as an expression of their own individual agency, to obey the commandments of God. We are the sons and daughters of God, willing followers, disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ, and “under this head are [we] made free." President Boyd K. Packer, Agency and Control, April 1983 General Conference
“You cannot do wrong and feel right. It is impossible! …” Elder M. Russell Ballard, Keeping Covenants, April 1993 General Conference
“Agency is the ability and privilege God gives us to choose and “to act for [ourselves] and not to be acted upon.” Agency is to act with accountability and responsibility for our actions. Our agency is essential to the plan of salvation. With it we are “free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil.” Elder Robert D. Hales, Agency: Essential to the Eternal Plan of Life, October 2012 General Conference
“Our agency—our ability to choose and act for ourselves—was an essential element of this plan. Without agency we would be unable to make right choices and progress. Yet with agency we could make wrong choices, commit sin, and lose the opportunity to be with Heavenly Father again. For this reason a Savior would be provided to suffer for our sins and redeem us if we would repent. By His infinite Atonement, He brought about “the plan of mercy, to appease the demands of justice.” Elder Robert D. Hales, Agency: Essential to the Eternal Plan of Life, October 2012 General Conference
“But think of it: in our premortal state we chose to follow the Savior Jesus Christ! And because we did, we were allowed to come to earth. I testify that by making the same choice to follow the Savior now, while we are here on earth, we will obtain an even greater blessing in the eternities. But let it be known: we must continue to choose to follow the Savior. Eternity is at stake, and our wise use of agency and our actions are essential that we might have eternal life.” Elder Robert D. Hales, Agency: Essential to the Eternal Plan of Life, October 2012 General Conference
“[Jesus Christ] exercised the agency to be our Savior—to break the chains of sin and death for us.” Elder Robert D. Hales, Agency: Essential to the Eternal Plan of Life, October 2012 General Conference
“Whenever we choose to come unto Christ, take His name upon us, and follow His servants, we progress along the path to eternal life.” Elder Robert D. Hales, Agency: Essential to the Eternal Plan of Life, October 2012 General Conference
“As we understand the challenge of repenting, we appreciate the blessings of the Holy Ghost to guide our agency and Heavenly Father, who gives us commandments and strengthens and sustains us in keeping them.” Elder Robert D. Hales, Agency: Essential to the Eternal Plan of Life, October 2012 General Conference
“Our righteous exercise of agency always makes a difference in the opportunities we have and our ability to act upon them and progress eternally.” Elder Robert D. Hales, Agency: Essential to the Eternal Plan of Life, October 2012 General Conference
“In times of calmness but also in times of greatest temptation, these standards and the guidance of the Holy Ghost will help you make the right choices about your education, friends, dress and appearance, entertainment, media and the Internet, your language, proper dating, sexual purity, honesty, Sabbath-day observance, and service to others.” President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, See the End from the Beginning, April 2006 General Conference
“First, as we walk in obedience to the principles and commandments of the gospel of Jesus Christ, we enjoy a continual flow of blessings promised by God in His covenant with us. Those blessings provide the resources we need to act rather than simply be acted upon as we go through life.” Elder D. Todd Christofferson, The Power of Covenants, April 2009 General Conference
“By definition, trials will be trying. There may be anguish, confusion, sleepless nights, and pillows wet with tears. But our trials need not be spiritually fatal. They need not take us from our covenants or from the household of God.” Elder Neil L. Andersen, Trial of Your Faith, October 2012 General Conference
“The power of the Savior and the power of the devil are not truly comparable. On this planet, however, evil has been allowed a position of influence to give us the chance to choose between good and evil. The scripture says: “God gave unto man that he should act for himself. [And] man could not act for himself … [unless] he was enticed by … one or the other.”
The choice between good and evil is at the very heart of our experience on earth. In the final review of our lives, it will not really matter if we were rich or poor, if we were athletic or not, if we had friends or were often forgotten.” Elder Neil L. Andersen, Beware of the Evil behind the Smiling Eyes, April 2005 General Conference
“The gift of the Holy Ghost is a spiritual gift. It is sensitive and will not be associated with unworthiness. You cannot offend or ignore it one day and expect it to strengthen you the next day. But as you heed its promptings and remain righteous, it will grow stronger within you. The Holy Ghost warned my friend of physical danger; the Holy Ghost will also warn you of spiritual danger.” Elder Neil L. Andersen, Beware of the Evil behind the Smiling Eyes, April 2005 General Conference