Agency

1

.       “The blessings we enjoy now are because we made the choice to follow the Savior before this life.  To everyone hearing or reading these words, whoever you are and whatever your past may be, remember this: it is not too late to make that same choice again and follow Him.”  (Robert D. Hales  “Preserving Agency, Protecting Religious Freedom”  Ensign,  May 2015 pp 111-113)

2.       “Agency is defined in the scriptures as “moral agency,” which means that we can choose between good and evil.  The adversary seeks to tempt us to misuse our moral agency.”  (President Boyd K. Packer  “These Things I Know”, Ensign, May 2013 pp 6-8)

3.        “Brothers and sisters, any kind of addiction is to surrender to something, thus relinquishing agency and becoming dependent” (Elder M. Russell Ballard “O That cunning Plan of the Evil One” Ensign, November 2010 pp 108-110)

4.       “It was no small thing for Satan to disregard man’s agency.  In fact, it became the principal issue over which the War in Heaven was fought.  Victory in the War in Heaven was a victory for man’s agency.” (Elder L. Tom Perry “Obedience to Law Is Liberty” Ensign, May 2013)

5.       “Each choice you and I make is a test of our agency-whether we choose to be obedient or disobedient to the commandments of God is actually a choice between ‘liberty and eternal life’ and ‘captivity and death.’ “(Elder L. Tom Perry “Obedience to Law Is Liberty” Ensign, May 2013)

6.       “We surrender to the ‘pleasures of this life’ when we are addicted, which impairs God’s precious gift of agency” (Elder Dallin H. Oaks “The Parable of the Sower Ensign, May 2015)

7.       “The intelligent use of agency requires knowledge of the truth, of things as they really are.  Without that, young people can hardly be expected to understand and evaluate the alternatives that come before them.”  (Elder D. Todd Christofferson “Moral Discipline” Ensign, November 2009)

8.       “Moral discipline is the consistent exercise of agency to choose the right because it is right, even when it is hard.”  (Elder D. Todd Christofferson “Moral Discipline” Ensign, November 2009)

9.       “But if we ignore those promptings, the light of the Spirit will fade. Our agency will be limited or lost, and we will lose the confidence and ability to act.  We will be ‘walking in [spiritual] darkness at noon-day .  Then how easy it is to wander into strange paths and become lost!” ( Robert D. Hales “To Act for Ourselves: The Gift and Blessings of Agency”  lds.org conference April 2006)

10.   “The cost of the Atonement was borne by the Lord with out compulsion, for agency is a sovereign principle.  According to the plan, agency must be honored.  It was so from the beginning, from Eden.” (President Boyd K. Packer “Atonement, Agency, and Accountability”  lds.org conference April 1988)