Where in the World is Elder San Diego?: Agency

The topic I've been assigned is Agency. Agency is the ability and privilege God gives us to choose and to act for ourselves. Agency is essential in the plan of salvation. Without agency, we would not be able to learn or progress or follow the Savior. 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.”

The words to a hymn teach:

Know this, that ev’ry soul is free

To choose his life and what he’ll be;

For this eternal truth is giv’n:

That God will force no man to heav’n

In an October 2010 General Conference talk by Robert D. Hales, he shares what we know about agency.

Before we came to this earth, Heavenly Father presented His plan of salvation—a plan to come to earth and receive a body, choose to act between good and evil, and progress to become like Him and live with Him forever.

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.”

After Heavenly Father presented His plan, Lucifer stepped forward, saying, “Send me, … and I will redeem all mankind, that [not even] one soul shall … be lost … ; wherefore give me thine honor.”This plan was rejected by our Father, for it would have denied us our agency. Indeed, it was a plan of rebellion.

Then Jesus Christ, Heavenly Father’s “Beloved and Chosen [Son] from the beginning,” exercised His agency to say, “Father, thy will be done, and the glory be thine forever.”He would be our Savior—the Savior of the world.

Because of Lucifer’s rebellion, a great spiritual conflict ensued. Each of Heavenly Father’s children had the opportunity to exercise the agency Heavenly Father had given him or her. We chose to have faith in the Savior Jesus Christ—to come unto Him, follow Him, and accept the plan Heavenly Father presented for our

But a third of Heavenly Father’s children did not have faith to follow the Savior and chose to follow Lucifer, or Satan, instead.

And God said, “Wherefore, because that Satan rebelled against me, and sought to destroy the agency of man, which I, the Lord God, had given him, … I caused that he should be cast down.”Those who followed Satan lost the opportunity to receive a mortal body, live on earth, and progress. Because of the way they used their agency, they lost their agency.

The scriptures tell of Job. As a test of his faith, Job lost absolutely everything. Although he had literally nothing left, he still chose to follow God and remain faithful. For doing this, Job received many blessings including seeing God.

In his talk, Robert D. Hales shares example from the scriptures of not using agency correctly found in 1^st Samuel. Samuel tells King Saul:

“The Lord sent me to anoint thee to be king …now therefore hearken thou unto the voice of the Lord.

“… Go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have.”

But Saul did not follow the Lord’s commandment. He practiced what I call “selective obedience.” Relying on his own wisdom, he spared the life of King Agag and brought back the best of the sheep, oxen, and other animals.

The Lord revealed this to the prophet Samuel and sent him to remove Saul from being king. When the prophet arrived, Saul said, “I have performed the commandment of the Lord.”But the prophet knew otherwise, saying, “What meaneth then this bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?”

Saul excused himself by blaming others, saying the people had kept the animals in order to make sacrifices to the Lord. The prophet’s answer was clear: “Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken [to the commandments of the Lord] than the fat of rams.”

Finally, Saul confessed, saying, “I have sinned: for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord, and thy words: because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice.”Because Saul did not hearken with exactness—because he chose to be selectively obedient—he lost the opportunity and the agency to be king.

Christ was the perfect example of how to use our agency. Robert D. Hales goes on to say:

Throughout His life our Savior showed us how to use our agency. As a boy in Jerusalem, He deliberately chose to “be about [His] Father’s business.” In His ministry, He obediently chose “to do the will of [His] Father.”In Gethsemane, He chose to suffer all things, saying, “Not my will, but thine, be done. And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him.”On the cross, He chose to love His enemies, praying, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.”And then, so that He could finally demonstrate that He was choosing for Himself, He was left alone. “[Father,] why hast thou forsaken me?” He asked.At last, He exercised His agency to act, enduring to the end, until He could say, “It is finished.”

Though He “was in all points tempted like as we are,”with every choice and every action He exercised the agency to be our Savior—to break the chains of sin and death for us. And by His perfect life, He taught us that when we choose to do the will of our Heavenly Father, our agency is preserved, our opportunities increase, and we progress.

I have chosen to serve a mission, and I know that by doing so I will be blessed by blessing the lives of others.

I’d like to bear my testimony that I know that as we exercise our agency for good and keep the commandments that we will receive blessings for our obedience. I’m grateful for the Spirit that has been present in this meeting. I know that the words which have been spoken today are true and that the feeling that you’re feeling right now is the Spirit testifying that they are. I love all of you, and I’m so grateful for my family, friends, and my ward family in helping me to become the person that I am today. I’m excited to have the opportunity to serve the people in El Salvador and teach them the truths of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. I know for myself that it is true, and I know that as each of you ask Heavenly Father in sincere prayer if it is true that the Spirit will testify to you that it is. I know that Joseph Smith was a true prophet called of God to restore His church upon this Earth in these latter days; that as a fourteen year old boy he truly did see God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ and that he talked to them face to face. I know that through the hand of God Joseph Smith was able to translate and bring forth the Book of Mormon. I know that the Book of Mormon is true, and that the principles found in it can help us throughout our lives if we apply its teachings. I know that Heavenly Father loves each and every one of us with a perfect love, that we are His children, and that He wants us to make it back to live with Him again. I know that the Atonement is real; that Christ suffered for our sins and died so that we may be resurrected as He was. I know that He knows us perfectly, that in the Garden of Gethsemane He felt all of our pains, sicknesses, griefs, and sorrows. I know that He loves us, and that as we turn to Him, that He can help us and strengthen us through the trials and temptations that come our way. I know that He is always with us, that He will never desert us, and that His arm is always extended toward us. All we must do is grab a hold of it. I know these things are true, and I leave them with you in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.