Agency Quotes

• ·         "It is not alone sufficient for us as Latter-day Saints to follow our leaders and to accept their counsel, but we have the greater obligation to gain for ourselves the unshakable testimony of the divine appointment of these men and the witness that what they have told us is the will of our Heavenly Father."

o   Harold B. Lee "Conference Report" October 1950, 130

• ·         "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.”

o   Elder Robert D. Hales "Agency: Essential to the Plan of Life" Liahona November 2010

• ·         "I add my voice today to the voices of my Brethren that Lucifer is a clever and cunning intelligence. One of the main methods he uses against us is his ability to lie and deceive to convince us that evil is good and good is evil. Right from the very beginning in the great Council in Heaven, Satan “sought to destroy the agency of man, which I, the Lord God, had given him. …  “And he became Satan, yea, even the devil, the father of all lies, to deceive and to blind men, and to                   lead them captive at his will” (Moses 4:3–4).   The battle over man’s God-given agency continues today. Satan and his minions have their lures all around us, hoping that we will falter and take his flies so he can reel us in with counterfeit means. He uses addiction to steal away agency. According to the dictionary, addiction of any kind means to surrender to something, thus relinquishing agency and becoming dependent on some life-destroying substance or behavior.”

o   Elder M. Russell Ballard  "O That Cunning Plan of the Evil One" Liahona November 2010

• ·         “The onslaught of wickedness against our children is more subtle and brazen than it has ever been. Building a strong family culture adds another layer of protection for our children, insulating them from worldly influences.”

o   Elder L. Tom Perry "Becoming Goodly Parents" General Conference October 2012

• ·         "Our agency, given us through the plan of our Father, is the great alternative to Satan’s plan of force. With this sublime gift, we can grow, improve, progress, and seek perfection. Without agency, none of us could grow and develop by learning from our mistakes and errors and those of others.”

o   James E. Faust "The Force That Will Save Us" First Presidency Meeting January 2007

• ·         “For relief of an ailment, as a doctor of medicine I might write a prescription. As an ordained Apostle, I would invoke the spiritual blessing of eternal perspective. Combined, my spiritual prescription would return the gift of agency to its rightful owner.”

o   President Ezra Taft Benson "Addiction or Freedom" General Conference October 1988

• ·         “Part of the answer is that without opposition and testing, free agency loses its meaning. Opposition, tribulation, afflictions, the refining fire are part of the eternal plan.”

o    Marion D. Hanks "I Will Look Unto the Lord" General Conference October 1986

• ·         “Some people do not obey because they feel their free agency will be trampled upon if they consider themselves subservient to Church authorities or enter into binding ordinances.”

o    Delbert L. Stapley "The Blessings of Righteous Obedience" General Conference October 1977

• ·         “Self-discipline is essential in helping us make proper choices. It is much easier to drift than to row, to slide downhill than to climb up.”

o    N. Eldon Tanner "Thou Mayest Choose for Thyself"  General Conference April 1973

• ·         “Since the authorship of the agency of man is God’s, should we not look to him for the best media to help us to control our choices?"

o    John H. Vandenberg "The Agency of Man" General Conference April 1973

• ·         “The Lord has given us agency, the right and the responsibility to decide. He tests us by allowing us to be challenged. He assures us that He will not suffer us to be tempted beyond our ability to withstand. But we must understand that great challenges make great men. We don’t seek tribulation, but if we respond in faith, the Lord strengthens us.”

o    Dennis E. Simmons "But If Not..."  Liahona May 2004

• Position Statement:     

Sometimes having choices is annoying, but it’s something everyone has.  We fought for it in the preexistence and its part of the Lord’s plan for us.  Sometimes I don’t make the best choices, and I can’t control the consequences that come with it.  I realize that we are here to learn to stop doing what we want to do and start using our agency to do what the Lord wants us to do.  It is still something I struggle with like everyone else.  After reading some of these quotes I realize that it might seem easier sometimes to do what we want to do instead of what God wants, but it will only hurt us at the end.  I know that we are blessed with the Holy Ghost so that we can match our will with the Lord’s.  I need to focus on tuning in on the spirit and following its promptings.