AGENCY

1. May we ever choose the harder right instead of the easier wrong. As we
contemplate the decisions we make in our lives each daywhether to make
this choice or that choiceif we choose Christ, we will have made the correct
choice.
President Thomas S. Monson, Choices, April 2016 General Conference,
Sunday Morning Session.

2. The battle over mans 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.
M. Russell Ballard, O That Cunning Plan of the Evil One, October 2010
General Conference, Sunday Afternoon Session.

3. Moral agency is a vital element in our Father in Heavens plan of happiness.

He understood that some of His spirit children would use that agency
improperly, causing serious problems to others. Some would even violate
sacred trust, such as a father or family member abusing an innocent child.
Since our Heavenly Father is completely just, there has to be a way of
overcoming the tragic consequences of such damaging use of agency for
both the victim and the perpetrator. That secure healing comes through the
power of the Atonement of His Beloved Son, Jesus Christ, to rectify that which
is unjust.
Richard G. Scott, To Heal the Shattering Consequences of Abuse, April 2008
General Conference, Saturday Afternoon Session.

4. Gods commandments are not given to frustrate us or to become obstacles

to our happiness. Just the opposite is true. He who created us and who loves
us perfectly knows just how we need to live our lives in order to obtain the
greatest happiness possible. He has provided us with guidelines which, if we
follow them, will see us safely through this often-treacherous mortal journey. .
. He understands that when we keep the commandments, our lives will be
happier, more fulfilling, and less complicated. Our challenges and problems
will be easier to bear, and we will receive His promised blessings. But while
He gives us laws and commandments, He also allows us to choose whether to
accept them or to reject them. Our decisions in this regard will determine our
destiny.
President Thomas S. Monson, Keep the Commandments, October 2015
General Conference, General Priesthood Session.

5. We teach that agency is the ability and privilege God gives us to choose and
to act for [ourselves] and not to be acted upon. (2 Nephi 2:26) 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. (2 Nephi 2:27) . . .
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.
Robert D. Hales, Agency: Essential to the Plan of Life, October 2010 General
Conference, Saturday Afternoon Session.

6. If we look to the world and follow its formulas for happiness, we will never
know joy. The unrighteous may experience any number of emotions and
sensations, but they will never experience joy! Joy is a gift for the faithful. It
is the gift that comes from intentionally trying to live a righteous life, as
taught by Jesus Christ. He taught us how to have joy. When we choose
Heavenly Father to be our God and when we can feel the Saviors Atonement
working in our lives, we will be filled with joy. Every time we nurture our
spouse and guide our children, every time we forgive someone or ask for
forgiveness, we can feel joy. Every day that you and I choose to live celestial
laws, every day that we keep our covenants and help others to do the same,
joy will be ours.
President Russell M. Nelson, Joy and Spiritual Survival, October 2016
General Conference, Sunday morning session.

7. It was Satans proposal that Fathers children be forced to obey, that there
be no moral agency and therefore no personal growth. To preserve moral
agency, the Lord does not restrain individuals from improper use of that
agency. However, He will punish them for such acts unless there is full
repentance. Through the Holy Ghost, He sends warning promptings to the
abuser, but often that individuals degrading appetite is so powerful that it
blocks out that spiritual guidance. That is why our Father provided a way to
heal the consequences of acts that, through force, misuse of authority, or
fear of another, temporarily take away the agency of the abused. . . But there
is no magic solution, no simple balm to provide healing, nor is there an easy
path to the complete remedy. The cure requires profound faith in Jesus Christ
and in His infinite capacity to heal. It is rooted in an understanding of doctrine
and a resolute determination to follow it.
Richard G. Scott, To Heal the Shattering Consequences of Abuse, April 2008
General Conference, Saturday Afternoon Session.

8. We progress by making choices, by which we are tested to show that we will

keep Gods commandments. To be tested, we must have the agency to
choose between alternatives. To provide alternatives on which to exercise our
agency, we must have opposition. . . It is opposition that enables choice and
it is the opportunity of making the right choices that leads to the growth that
is the purpose of the Fathers plan.
Dallin H. Oaks, Opposition in All Things, April 2016 General Conference,
Sunday afternoon session.
9. God rarely infringes on the agency of any of His children by intervening
against some for the relief of others. But He does ease the burdens of our
afflictions and strengthen us to bear them, as He did for Almas people in the
land of Helam (see Mosiah 24:1315). He does not prevent all disasters, but
He does answer our prayers to turn them aside, as He did with the uniquely
powerful cyclone that threatened to prevent the dedication of the temple in
Fiji;6 or He does blunt their effects, as He did with the terrorist bombing that
took so many lives in the Brussels airport but only injured our four
missionaries. Through all mortal opposition, we have Gods assurance that
He will consecrate [our] afflictions for [our] gain (2 Nephi 2:2).
Dallin H. Oaks, Opposition in All Things, April 2016 General Conference,
Sunday afternoon session.

10.My dear brothers and sisters, each day is a day of decision. President
Thomas S. Monson has taught us that decisions determine destiny. The
wise use of your freedom to make your own decisions is crucial to your
spiritual growth, now and for eternity. You are never too young to learn, never
too old to change. Your yearnings to learn and change come from a divinely
instilled striving for eternal progression. Each day brings opportunity for
decisions for eternity.
Russell M. Nelson, Decisions for Eternity, October 2013 General
Conference, Sunday afternoon session.

11.Some parents who have loved and taught their children also weep when
their grown children choose not to follow the Lords plan. What can parents
do? We cannot pray away anothers agency. . . We can pray for guidance
about when to speak, what to say, and yes, on some occasions, when to be
still. Remember, our children and family members already chose to follow the
Savior in their premortal realm. Sometimes it is only by their own lifes
experiences that those sacred feelings are awakened again. Ultimately, the
choice to love and follow the Lord has to be their own.
Elder Robert D. Hales, Come Follow Me by Practicing Christian Love and
Service, October 2016 General Conference, Saturday morning session.