Agency

God has placed us on the Earth to learn and grow. He can teach us life principles in word, but experiencing principles for ourselves is necessary to get a deeper, true understanding of them. To create an environment that promotes self-discovery He did two things: He put in place the veil and gave us agency. The veil blinds us from Heaven. It makes it so we have to learn Heaven for ourselves. Agency allows us to make mistakes so, again, we have to learn Heaven for ourselves. It is easy to get discouraged after making the same mistakes over and over again, but this is how we learn. We must learn that with sin comes despair and with obedience comes joy.

“Though seemingly insignificant when compared to the total, each bee’s one-twelfth of a teaspoon of honey is vital to the life of the hive. The bees depend on each other. Work that would be overwhelming for a few bees to do becomes lighter because all of the bees faithfully do their part.” 
–Elder Ballard, Be Anxiously Engaged, October 2012 General Conference

“Now, brothers and sisters, we have available to us a tool even more remarkable than the best GPS. Everyone loses his or her way at some point, to some degree. It is through the promptings of the Holy Ghost that we can be brought safely back onto the right path, and it is the atoning sacrifice of the Savior that can return us home.”

–Elder Ballard, That the Lost May Be Found, April 2012 General Conference

“When I am faced with a very difficult matter, this is how I try to understand what to do. I fast. I pray to find and understand scriptures that will be helpful. That process is cyclical. I start reading a passage of scripture; I ponder what the verse means and pray for inspiration. I then ponder and pray to know if I have captured all the Lord wants me to do. Often more impressions come with increased understanding of doctrine. I have found that pattern to be a good way to learn from the scriptures.”
–Elder Scott, How to Obtain Revelation and Inspiration in Your Personal Life. April 2012 General Conference

“Did you, like they, think that this work could be killed simply by killing me? Did you, like they, think the cross and the nails and the tomb were the end of it all and each could blissfully go back to being whatever you were before? Children, did not my life and my love touch your hearts more deeply than this?”
–Elder Holland, The First Great Commandment, October 2012 General Conference

“At times you may not know quite what to do or what to say—just move forward. Begin to act, and the Lord assures that “an effectual door shall be opened for [you] (D&C 118:3).”

 –Elder Christofferson, Brethren, We Have Work to Do, October 2012 General Conference

“When faced with a trial of faith—whatever you do, you don’t step away from the Church! Distancing yourself from the kingdom of God during a trial of faith is like leaving the safety of a secure storm cellar just as the tornado comes into view.”

–Elder Anderson, Trial of Your Faith, October 2012 General Conference

“When we face such temptations in our time, we must declare, as young Nephi did in his, “[I will] give place no more for the enemy of my soul.”  We can reject the evil one. If we want it dearly and deeply enough, that enemy can and will be rebuked by the redeeming power of the Lord Jesus Christ.”

–Elder Holland, Place No More for the Enemy of My Soul, April 2010 General Conference

“The more closely you follow divine guidance, the greater will be your happiness here and for eternity—moreover, the more abundant your progress and capacity to serve. I do not understand fully how it is done, but that guidance in your life does not take away your agency. You can make the decisions you choose to make. But remember, the disposition to do right brings peace of mind and happiness.”

–Elder Scott, How to Obtain Revelation and Inspiration in Your Personal Life, April 2012 General Conference

“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, April 2012 General Conference

“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.’”

–Elder Hales, Agency: Essential to the Plan of Life, October 2012 General Conference