Agency

 position statement:
God has given us the ability to act to choose for ourselves this is called agency. Because of agency we can progress and become better through faith in the atonement of Jesus Christ. we can choose to love, laugh, live and grow we can also hate, mock, and kill but God allows us to chose our reward for this life with every choice we make between good and evil. choosing good will always bring happiness and choosing evil will always bring sorrow. will we choose to remember that?

"To Acquire Spiritual Guidance", Liahona and Ensign, November 2009
"Sometimes the Lord reveals truth to you when you are not actively seeking it, such as when you are in danger and do not know it. However, the Lord will not force you to learn. You must exercise your agency to authorize the Spirit to teach you. As you make this practice in your life, you will be more perceptive to the feelings that come with spiritual guidance."
-Richard G. Scott

"Youth of the Noble Birthright", Ensign, November 1998
"We have implanted in our souls a desire to be free. The Lord understood this when He granted us our mortal probation. With that freedom, however, comes accountability. We are instructed not to idle away our time nor bury our talents and not use them. We are expected to make our lives better through our own initiatives and efforts."
-L. Tom Perry

 "Only upon the Principles of Righteousness", General Conference, Apr. 2012
"Wise parents prepare their children to get along without them. They provide opportunities for growth as children acquire the spiritual maturity to exercise their agency properly. And yes, this means children will sometimes make mistakes and learn from them."
-Elder Larry Y. Wilson

"Atonement, Agency, Accountability", General conference, April 1988
 Humbly I lay claim upon the atonement of Christ. I find no shame in kneeling down in worship of our Father and His son. For agency is mine, and this I choose to do!
-Boyd K Packard

"How to Survive in Enemy Territory", seminary centennial broadcast address, January 22, 2012.

The first gift that Adam and Eve received was agency: “Thou mayest choose for thyself, for it is given unto thee” (Moses 3:17).

You have that same agency. Use it wisely to deny acting on any impure impulse or unholy temptation that may come into your mind. Just do not go there, and if you are already there, come back out of it. “Deny yourselves of all ungodliness” (Moroni 10:32).

 -Boyd K Packard

"Decide Right Now", General Conference, October 2010.

I am so grateful to a loving Heavenly Father for His gift of agency, or the right to choose. Each of us has come to this earth with all the tools necessary to make correct choices. The prophet Mormon tells us, “The Spirit of Christ is given to every man, that he may know good from evil” (Moroni 7:16).

We are surrounded by the messages of the adversary: “Just this once won’t matter.” “Don’t worry; no one will know.” Decisions are constantly before us. To make them wisely, courage is needed—the courage to say no, the courage to say yes. Decisions do determine destiny.

-Thomas S. Monson

"Moral Agency" BYU devotional address, January 31, 2006

In years past we generally used the term free agency. That is not incorrect. More recently we have taken note that free agency does not appear in the scriptures. They talk of our being “free to choose” and “free to act” for ourselves (2 Nephi 2:27; 10:23; see also Helaman 14:30) and of our obligation to do many things of our own “free will” (D&C 58:27). But the word agency appears either by itself or with the modifier moral: “That every man may act in doctrine and principle … according to the moral agency which I have given unto him, that every man may be accountable for his own sins in the day of judgment” (D&C 101:78; emphasis added). When we use the term moral agency, we are appropriately emphasizing the accountability that is an essential part of the divine gift of agency. We are moral beings and agents unto ourselves, free to choose but also responsible for our choices.

-D. Todd Christofferson

"The Race of Life", General Conference, April 2012

Clearly, one primary purpose of our existence upon the earth is to obtain a body of flesh and bones. 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.

- Thomas S. Monson

"The Three Rs of Choice", General Conference, October 2010

We know that we had our agency before this world was and that Lucifer attempted to take it from us. He had no confidence in the principle of agency or in us and argued for imposed salvation. He insisted that with his plan none would be lost, but he seemed not to recognize—or perhaps not to care—that in addition, none would be any wiser, any stronger, any more compassionate, or any more grateful if his plan were followed.

- Thomas S. Monson

"Agency and Accountability", Liahona, September 2012

A central part of our Father’s plan was that we would be free to choose. This gift is called agency, the power to choose. The companion of agency is always accountability. We are individually responsible for the choices we make.

-Elder Shayne M. Bowen