Agency

We have been given the power to choose how we will act and respond to temptations and choices in our lives. We have been blessed with the gift of agency to be tested and tried through out our lives. This is a great gift that we chose in the pre-existence to have. It is important to remember that agency can however be used for good or evil.

Elder Robert D. Hales said, "Agency used righteously allows light to dispel the darkness and enables us to live with joy and happiness." If we are able to use our agency righteously, we can bring joy and happiness into our lives. Nothing is holding us back in life except for our own decisions. I have had many a conversation with my son about how someone made him make a bad decision. I have always reminded him that no one can make him think or do something that he doesn't want to do. We are always so quick to say that things are holding us back when in reality, we can make our own decisions. We can choose whether or not to be happy, help someone out, take certain classes, and do certain things. We make these choices and exercise our agency.

We have been sent here to have trials and to be tested which means that life isn't going to be easy. But as long as we understand the true blessing of righteous agency, we will be joyful and filled with the spirit in our lives.