Agency

Whenever I hear the word agency I am reminded of the Young Women's value "Choice and accountability." I feel that sometimes we think of agency as the gift that enables us to have choice, but that is only half of the principle. In order to have true agency we must have the ability to choose and then must be required to have responsibility for those choices. If we are not accountable to the choices we make we are unable to learn from the mistakes we make. In effect with out accountability we wouldn't be able to become like Him.
                - Sara

“There is an unlimited supply of good music in the world. Thus our biggest challenge is to choose wisely what we listen to and what we watch”

                -Elder M. Russell Ballard, “Let Our Voices Be Heard”, Ensign, October 2003

“It’s not so much what happens to us but how we deal with what happens to us.”

                -James E. Faust, “Where Do I Make My Stand?”, Ensign, October 2004

“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.”

                -Elder L. Tom Perry, "Youth of the Noble Birthright", Ensign, November 1998

“Our love for our Father in Heaven and the Lord Jesus Christ needs to be reflected in our daily choices and actions. They have promised peace, joy, and happiness to those who keep their commandments.”

                -Elder M. Russell Ballard, "O That Cunning Plan of the Evil One", Ensign, November 2010

“So much in life depends on our attitude. The way we choose to see things and respond to others makes all the difference. To do the best we can and then to choose to be happy about our circumstances, whatever they may be, can bring peace and contentment.”

                -President Thomas S. Monson, "Living the Abundance Life", Ensign, January 2012

“You live in a time of great challenges and opportunities. As spirit sons of heavenly parents, you are free to make the right choices. This requires hard work, self-discipline, and an optimistic outlook, which will bring joy and freedom into your life now and in the future.”

                -President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, "See the End from the Beginning," Ensign, May 2006

“We were given our agency. We must use it wisely and remain close to the Spirit; otherwise, we foolishly find ourselves yielding to the enticements of the adversary. We know that through the Atonement of Jesus Christ our mistakes can be washed clean, and our mortal body will be restored to its perfect frame.”

                -Elder Boyd K. Packer, "Prayer and Promptings" Ensign, November 2009

“We tend to think of agency as a personal matter. If we ask someone to define ‘moral agency,’ the answer will probably be something like this: ‘Moral agency means I am free to make choices for myself.’ Often overlooked is the fact that choices have consequences; we forget also that agency offers the same privilege of choice to others. At times we will be affected adversely by the way other people choose to exercise their agency. Our Heavenly Father feels so strongly about protecting our agency that he allows his children to exercise it, either for good or for evil.”

                -Elder M. Russell Ballard, "Answers to Life's Questions," Ensign, May 1995

“If pain and sorrow and total punishment immediately followed the doing of evil, no soul would repeat a misdeed. If joy and peace and rewards were instantaneously given the doer of good, there could be no evil–all would do good and not because of the rightness of doing good. There would be no test of strength, no development of character, no growth of powers, no free agency. . . . There would also be an absence of joy, success, resurrection, eternal life, and godhood.”

                -Spencer W. Kimball,  The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, ed. Edward L. Kimball (1982), 77

“Endowed with agency, you and I are agents, and we primarily are to act and not just be acted upon. To believe that someone or something can make us feel offended, angry, hurt, or bitter diminishes our moral agency and transforms us into objects to be acted upon. As agents, however, you and I have the power to act and to choose how we will respond to an offensive or hurtful situation.”

                -Elder David A. Bednar, "And Nothing Shall Offend Them," Ensign, Nov. 2006