Agency

1) "I am going to preach a hard doctrine to you now. The submission of one’s will is really the only uniquely personal thing we have to place on God’s altar. The many other things we give to God, however nice that may be of us, are actually things He has already given us, and He has loaned them to us. But when we begin to submit ourselves by letting our wills be swallowed up in God’s will, then we are really giving something to Him.   And when we submit to His will, then we’ve really given Him the one final thing He asks of us. And the other things are not very, very important. It is the only possession we have that we can give…"  (Elder Neal A. Maxwell, Aug. 2000, “Insights From My Life,” Ensign, https://www.lds.org/ensign/2000/08/insights-from-my-life?lang=eng)  

2) “I can’t stress too strongly that decisions determine destiny. You can’t make eternal decisions without eternal consequences.” (President Thomas S. Monson, 6 Nov. 2005, “Decisions Determine Destiny,” CES Fireside, http://www.lds.org/library/display/0,4945,538-1-3310-1,00.html)

3) “Agency allows us to be tested and tried to see whether or not we will endure to the end and return to our Heavenly Father with honor. Agency is the catalyst that leads us to express our inward spiritual desires in outward Christlike behavior. Agency permits us to make faithful, obedient choices that strengthen us so that we can lift and strengthen others. Agency used righteously allows light to dispel the darkness and enables us to live with joy and happiness in the present, look with faith to the future, even into the eternities, and not dwell on the things of the past. Our use of agency determines who we are and what we will be.” (Elder Robert D. Hales, May 2006, “To Act for Ourselves: The Gift and Blessings of Agency,” Ensign, https://www.lds.org/ensign/2006/05/to-act-for-ourselves-the-gift-and-blessings-of-agency?lang=eng)

4) “In every age we are faced with a choice. We can trust in our own strength, or we can journey to higher ground and come unto Christ. Each choice has a consequence, each consequence, a destination.” (Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin, Nov. 2005, “Journey to Higher Ground,” Ensign, https://www.lds.org/ensign/2005/11/journey-to-higher-ground?lang=eng)

5) “As we progress in the journey of mortality from bad to good to better, as we put off the natural man or woman in each of us, and as we strive to become saints and have our very natures changed, then the attributes detailed in this verse increasingly describe the type of person you and I are becoming. We will become more childlike, more submissive, more patient, and more willing to submit.” (Elder David A. Bednar, 23 Oct. 2001, “In the Strength of the Lord,” BYU Devotional, http://speeches.byu.edu/?act=viewitem&id=251)

6) “...remember our agency is not only for us. We have the responsibility to use it in behalf of others, to lift and strengthen others in their trials and tribulations. Some of our brothers and sisters have lost the full use of their agency through unrighteous choices. Without exposing ourselves to temptation, we can and should invite others to receive the light of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Through friendship and love, we may lead them along the path of obedience and encourage them to use their agency to make the right choices once again. (Elder Robert D. Hales, May 2006, “To Act for Ourselves: The Gift and Blessing of Agency,” Ensign, https://www.lds.org/ensign/2006/05/to-act-for-ourselves-the-gift-and-blessings-of-agency?lang=eng)

7) “Moral discipline is the consistent exercise of agency to choose the right because it is right, even when it is hard. It rejects the self-absorbed life in favor of developing character worthy of respect and true greatness through Christlike service.” (Elder D. Todd Christofferson, Novebmer 2009, “Moral Discipline, Liahona, http://www.lds.org/liahona/2009/11/moral-discipline?lang=eng) 

8) “You have agency, and you are free to choose. But there is actually no free agency. Agency has its price. You have to pay the consequences of your choices. Human agency was purchased with the price of Christ’s suffering. The power of Christ’s Atonement overcomes the effect of sin on the condition of wholehearted repentance. Through and by the Savior’s universal and infinite Atonement, all have been redeemed from the Fall and have become free forever to act for themselves.” (President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, July 2006, “On the Wings of Eagles,” Liahona, http://www.lds.org/liahona/2006/07/on-the-wings-of-eagles?lang=eng)

9) “As we look into the future, we are going to need to be stronger and more responsible for our choices in a world where people ‘call evil good, and good evil’. We do not choose wisely if we use our agency in opposition to God’s will or to priesthood counsel. Tomorrow’s blessings and opportunities depend on the choices we make today.” (President James E. Faust, May 2004, “Choices,” Liahona, http://www.lds.org/liahona/2004/05/choices?lang=eng) 

10)  “...with the right of choice comes the responsibility to choose. We cannot be neutral; there is no middle ground. The Lord knows this; Lucifer knows this. As long as we live upon this earth, Lucifer and his hosts will never abandon the hope of claiming our souls.” (President Thomas S. Monson, November 2010, “The Three Rs of Choice,” Ensign, https://www.lds.org/ensign/2010/11/the-three-rs-of-choice?lang=eng)