Agency

1. “We have also been given the gift of agency. In a thousand ways we are privileged to choose for ourselves. Here we learn from the hard taskmaster of experience. We discern between good and evil. We differentiate as to the bitter and the sweet. We discover that there are consequences attached to our actions.” (President Monson, The Race of Life, 2012 April Conference)
2. “I am so grateful to a loving Heavenly Father for His gift of agency, or the right to choose. President David O. McKay, ninth President of the Church, said,’Next to the bestowal of life itself, the right to direct that life is God’s greatest gift to man.’” (President Monson, The Three Rs of Choice, October 2010)
3. “The essential doctrine of agency requires that a testimony of the restored gospel be based on faith rather than just external or scientific proof.” (Elder Cook, In Tune with the Music of Faith, 2012 April Conference)
4. “Agency is to act with accountability and responsibility for our actions. (Elder Hales, Agency: Essential to the Plan of Life, 2010 October Conference)
5. “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 Hales, Agency: Essential to the Plan of Life, 2010 October Conference)
6. “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.” (Elder Hales, Agency: Essential to the Plan of Life, 2010 October Conference)
7. “‘And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.’ I bear my special witness that They live. When we exercise our agency in righteousness, we come to know Them, become more like Them, and prepare ourselves for that day when ‘every knee shall bow, and every tongue confess’ that Jesus is our Savior.”
8. “Endowed with agency, we are agents, and we primarily are to act and not merely be acted upon—especially as we ‘seek learning … by study and also by faith’” (Elder Bednar, Watching with All Perseverance, 2010 April Conference)
9. “Agency—our power to choose—is fundamental to the gospel plan that brings us to earth. God does not intervene to forestall the consequences of some persons’ choices in order to protect the well-being of other persons—even when they kill, injure, or oppress one another—for this would destroy His plan for our eternal progress. He will bless us to endure the consequences of others’ choices, but He will not prevent those choices.” (Elder Oaks, Love and Law, 2009 October Conference)
10. “Agency is precious. We can foolishly, blindly give it away, but it cannot be forcibly taken from us.” (President Packer, Cleansing the Inner Vessel, 2010 October Conference)
    
    Why it matters:
    Agency is essential to Heavenly Father’s plan, for without it we could not become like God. Agency is a way for each of us to learn and progress. It is comforting to know that Heavenly Father does not expect us to simply feel our way in the dark in making decisions. He has given us commandments as a protection that to lead us back to His presence. Agency allows me to make choices, and I have come to learn for myself what choices yield positive consequences, and which ones result in painful consequences.