How Agency Affects our Freedoms

Freedom and agency are interesting subjects to talk about when it seems like much of the world is in chaos and commotion about how to define freedom, choice, and rights.

As I have been reading the news, and listening to conversations about what is going on, I often wonder what I can do to better prepare my children for the world they are going to have to face in the future. We have heard many prophecies of the challenges that will surround us in the last days, and I recognize that it is going to be so much worse for them in the future than it is for us today. How can I help them be strong enough to teach their own children while the world is taking a nosedive with regard to the family, home, the value of life, honesty, integrity, forgiveness, and so many other values? How do we keep them on the straight and narrow covenant path?

Elder Francisco Viñas taught something that helped me better understand my role as a parent. 

“The principles that we choose to incorporate into our lives will determine the spirit that we contribute in our relationships with others. When we adopt a principle, its influence radiates from us and can be felt by others.

“Now more than ever, when we see that the family is at the center of attacks from the forces of evil—as in the days of the prophet Mormon, when ‘the power of the evil one was wrought upon all the face of the land’ it is necessary for us as parents to incorporate these principles into our lives in order to radiate their influence and for this influence to be perceived by our children” (Francisco J. Viñas, "Applying the Simple and Plain Gospel Principles in the Family", General Conference, April 2004).

As parents, we need to be the example for our children, not the church, not the schools, not their peers. The Lord has entrusted them specifically and intentionally to us.

I am grateful for parents who radiated faith and trust in the Lord. When I was young, my dad got a job as a liaison for the Welfare and Finance Departments for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. After working there only a few months he was asked to go to Bogotá Colombia to investigate a potential case of embezzling. There was embezzling and the guy was fired. My parents had talked about moving internationally (and had already applied for a job in Mexico) so my dad asked to be considered for this job in Colombia. He got the job and my family moved to what would be 6 years in South America, when I was 7 years old. During this time I saw many examples of the contrasts between the freedoms we have in this country as well as people’s use of agency and the effects it has on others.

Right before Christmas break one year, the U.S. had extradited a couple of drug traffickers to the United States. In return there was a threat of killing 10 Americans for every Colombian extradited; a threat they had been carried out 10 years earlier. Our large, North American family suddenly felt like a target. Our friends, who's parents worked for the government, were transported in armored vehicles until they could get them out of the country. Our family, working for the church, was not so privileged. We rode public transportation like the rest of the country.

Someone who I will never meet in this life, made a choice at some time in their life to get into the drug business, and because of that the lives of my family members, along with countless others, were threatened.

During this time churches were being bombed. I am grateful that we had a small community that we were connected with. Together we choose a different time and a different family’s house to meet at every week for Sacrament Meeting so that we couldn’t be tracked and targeted. The Spirit was also with us during those troubling times. I remember riding the bus home from school one day and seeing a blue van behind us taking pictures. I felt prompted to stay in my seat and not join all the other kids running to the back of the bus to look.

Miraculously our family was able to get out of Bogotá within a week of notifying headquarters; which was between Christmas and New Years, when there is hardly anyone in the Salt Lake office. However, the Lord had prepared a way for us to leave the country, and so it happened.

They found a home for us in Quito, Ecuador, where we lived for 9 months while they looked for a permanent position for my dad. He continued commuting back to Colombia each week for work and he can tell you a whole lot more stories than I can about his bags being stolen at the airport, etc. I prefer to remember the many more stories of the miracles that we saw during that time.

In February of 1989, we were living in Caracas, Venezuela. In response to the government economic reform (causing the price of gas to go from $0.10 a gallon to $0.25 a gallon overnight), the country fell into chaos. It became known as “Caracazo”; a week of riots and protests. Stores were looted, buses were burned, and school was canceled (which we kids loved!). My parents were curious about what was going on and drove to the local mall to see what they could learn for themselves. There was no internet in those days, so sometimes you had to go and find out for yourself. They were told by a police officer to go home; it was a war zone. 

The day before all of this took place, my dad had to fly an hour out of the city to a construction project and back home the same day. He said that when he boarded the plane to come home they were told that the main airport they were going to was closed. However, they ended up taking off and he figured they wouldn’t take off unless they were going to be able to land. Which they did. While he had been gone, my Mom went to get our propane tanks filled. That night my parents felt they should fill up the gas tanks in the car. Some may say this is a coincidence, but I see this as the hand of the Lord in our lives.

Due to my parents’ promptness in listening to the spirit, and also being faithful in keeping and regularly using their food storage, we were spared having to go out during all the chaos. Because of their faithful obedience our family was not affected as so many others were, who were not as prepared. I remember not feeling worried even as I listened to the sound of machine gun fire as I fell asleep at night.

That was over 30 years ago, and sometimes it doesn’t seem like things have changed that much. Especially with the recent pandemic and the lockdowns we had.

Our obedience to the Lord is what will keep us safe and protected. Our agency is what we choose to do to prepare for the hard times that have been prophesied.

Elder Larry R. Lawrence said, 

“We have been battling the hosts of evil in an ongoing war that began in the premortal sphere before we were born.

“Because we had not yet received physical bodies, we fought the War in Heaven without swords, guns, or bombs. But the fighting was just as intense as any modern war, and there were billions of casualties.

“The premortal war was fought with words, ideas, debate, and persuasion. Satan’s strategy was [and is] to frighten people. He knew that fear is the best way to destroy faith” (Larry R. Lawrence, "The War Goes On", Ensign, April 2017).

We have been counseled recently by our prophet to increase our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, in order to withstand the evils of our day. President Henry B. Eyring, of the First Presidency, also warned us, “If the foundation of faith [in Jesus Christ] is not embedded in our hearts, the power to endure will crumble” (Henry B. Eyring, "Mountains to Climb", General Conference, April 2012). 

I came across a quote by Wilford Woodruff that I find fascinating. He warned us, back in the 1800s, of exactly what is happening right now, and what we can do about it:

"We are approaching changes. There are judgments at our door. There are judgments at the door of this nation, and at the door of Great Babylon….[T]he Lord in ancient days swept away great cities when they were ripened in iniquity. Jerusalem was overthrown in fulfillment of the words of the Lord. Jeremiah and Isaiah prophesied what would come to pass, and it was fulfilled to the very letter. So I say to the Gentiles, so I say to the Latter-day Saints. What the Lord has spoken concerning our nation, and concerning the nations of the earth, notwithstanding that the unbelief of the world may be great, notwithstanding that they may reject the word of God and seek to put the servants of God to death—will all be fulfilled. War, pestilence, famine, earthquakes and storms await this generation. These calamities will overtake the world as God lives, and no power can prevent them....Therefore, let us round up our shoulders and bear off the kingdom. Let us labor to obtain the Holy Spirit—and power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ—which has been put into our hands, and inasmuch as we do this, the blessing of God will attend our efforts" (Wilford Woodfruff, JD 21:126-7).

He asked us to “labor to obtain the Holy Spirit” and the [power] therein, just as President Nelson has urged us to “do the spiritual work required to enjoy the gift of the Holy Ghost” and “to study prayerfully all the truths you can find about priesthood power” (see Russell M. Nelson, "Revelation for the Church, Revelation for our Lives", General Conference, April 2018 and "Spiritual Treasures", General Conference, October 2019).

These latter days have been prophesied about for millennia. Over 2000 years ago the apostle Paul  saw our day. Listen as he describes our day:

“[I]n the last days perilous times shall come.

“For men shall be lovers of their own selves [I see this as doing things for our own purposes, sometimes at the expense of others], covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful [something President Nelson felt impressed by the Lord that we needed to work on shortly after the pandemic started], unholy,

“Without natural affection [which may refer to the plague of homosexuality that is so prevalent in the world], trucebreakers, false accusers [don’t we see a lack of honesty and integrity all around us?], incontinent [meaning out of control], fierce [violently hostile or aggressive], despisers of those that are good,

“Traitors, heady [meaning willful or impulsive], highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God” (2 Timothy 3:1-5).

We are living in the last days. There is so much wickedness and corruption around us that sometimes I forget about the good that is out there too.

Recently, as I was driving to the temple, I was thinking about how the wickedness in this world is growing at an absolutely astounding rate. As I thought about it, the spirit reminded me that good will grow in proportion to the bad, just like the parable of the wheat and tares (see Matthew 13:24-30). I was also reminded that there seems to have been a significant increase in the number of temples that President Nelson has announced. I looked it up, and as of April 2022, President Nelson has announced 100 temples in the 4 years since he became the prophet.

How comforting that was to me to be reminded that the Lord is bringing light into the world, just as quickly as the evil is trying to cover it with darkness.

I remember watching a movie with my husband about a group of people who escaped from a concentration camp. After the movie, when I was saying my prayers, I pled with the Lord that my children and I would never have to face such horrific circumstances as that. The answer I received was not what I had expected. The Spirit whispered, “make sure you keep them in the next life”. This life will end, and where we go will be determined by our choices. 

Daniel H. Wells, in the Journal of Discourse, taught:

“The Gospel makes men and women free—free from sin—the greatest of all tyrants; and there is no greater slave on the earth than the man who is under the control of his own passions, and who is subject to the dictation of the spirit of evil which is so prevalent in the world. The acts of all such persons bring their own punishment, and it is swift and certain; while those who are controlled by the principles of the Gospel have a joy and peace, under whatever circumstances in life they may be placed, which the world knows nothing of, and which it can neither give nor take away, for they have an inward consciousness that their course secures to them the confidence of the Lord our God” (Daniel H. Wells, Journal of Discourse 16:125).

It is through the power of the atonement of Jesus Christ that we are able to become free from sin and spiritual destruction. Elder D. Todd Christofferson said,

“It is because of the Atonement of Christ that we can recover from bad choices, and it is because of the Atonement of Christ that the impact on us of others’ sins and mistakes—and every other injustice—is redressed” (D. Todd Christofferson, "Moral Agency", BYU Devotional, January 2006).

How grateful I am for the gospel, and for the knowledge I have of a Heavenly Father who loves me, and who I can talk to. I am grateful for the atonement of Jesus Christ that has allowed me to change, and not be held back by my poor choices. I am grateful for a living prophet on the earth, especially during this perilous, yet marvelous, time that we live in.

I know God lives, and that He has a plan for each of us. I know that as we follow the counsel of our living prophet, to  “Hear Him, repent daily, seek and expect miracles, to do the spiritual work required to hear the voice of the Spirit, and to stretch beyond our current spiritual ability to receive personal revelation, we can be guided and blessed during these trying times in which we live.

Agency & Obedience

Recently I was reading headline after headline about schools declining, the economy declining, the government declining, the food supply declining, and on and on and on. It was a bit depressing, so I decided to turn to the Church News to find something more up-lifting. Sister Bonnie Cordon shared an experience about how she “Hears Him”, and it reminded me that I need to remember that God is in charge. Not the government. Not the media. God, Himself is in charge, and in the Doctrine and Covenants, we read: 

“The works, and the designs, and the purposes of God cannot be frustrated, neither can they come to naught” (Doctrine & Covenants 3:1).

ETERNAL TRUTHS

Elder Dale G. Renlund in this past general conference talked about some of the truths that are found in the new Young Women’s theme (see Dale G. Renlund, “Your Divine Nature and Eternal Destiny”, General Conference, April 2022).

1. You are a beloved daughter. Nothing you do—or do not do—can change that. God loves you because you are His spirit daughter.

2. We have heavenly parents, a father and a mother.

3. We have "a divine nature." This is intrinsic to who we are. It is spiritually "genetic," inherited from our heavenly parents, and requires no effort on our part.

4. We have an "eternal destiny."

Out of all of those truths, there is only one that we can control. Our eternal destiny. 

One of the blessings of this life is that we have been given the gift of moral agency — the right to make our own choices. Moral agency doesn’t simply mean that we can make whatever choice we want and have things go how we want them to. It doesn’t work that way. Moral agency is based on eternal law. For example, someone jumping out of a plane and “choosing” to ignore gravity is the same as breaking an eternal law and trying to avoid the punishment.

MORAL AGENCY

Before we came to this world we were given moral agency. This gift of agency is central to our purpose here on earth. It is so important that there was a war in heaven fought to protect and preserve it. It is so important to our Father in Heaven that He allowed one third part of His spirit children to walk away from eternal progress because they chose to.

In the scriptures we read:

“Wherefore, because that Satan rebelled against me, and sought to destroy the agency of man, which I, the Lord God, had given him, and also, that I should give unto him mine own power; by the power of mine Only Begotten, I caused that he should be cast down;

“And he became Satan, yea, even the devil, the father of all lies, to deceive and to blind men, and to lead them captive at his will, even as many as would not hearken unto my voice” (Moses 4:3-4).

In his BYU Devotional address, Elder D. Todd Christofferson taught, “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, “Moral Agency”, BYU Devotional, 31 Jan 2006).

OUR FALLEN WORLD

We live in a fallen world, and the natural state of man seems to be chaos, rather than order, and a steady decline rather than spontaneous growth. For example, if you don’t clean your house it doesn’t stay beautiful, tidy, and dust-free. If you don’t prepare your soil or plant any seeds you won’t get the desired produce. If you don’t exercise regularly, or sleep well, or eat healthy, it affects how your body and your spirit feel.

Decline is the natural way of things, and a challenge that we will all have to face throughout our lives. I was talking to my aging mother the other day and she said, “you know, life doesn’t get easier when you get older. Having your body age is hard, and how you age depends on the choices you made long ago to take care of it.”

In his book “Jesus the Christ”, James E. Talmage wrote, 

“The Eternal Father well understood the diverse natures and varied capacities of His spirit-offspring; and His infinite foreknowledge made plain to Him, even in the beginning, that in the school of life some of His children would succeed and others would fail; some would be faithful, others false; some would choose the good, others the evil; some would seek the way of life while others would elect to follow the road to destruction. He further foresaw that death would enter the world, and that the possession of bodies by His children would be of but brief individual duration. He saw that His commandments would be disobeyed and His law violated; and that men, shut out from His presence and left to themselves, would sink rather than rise, would retrogress rather than advance, and would be lost to the heavens” (James E. Talmage, “Jesus the Christ”, p16).

Thus the need for a Redeemer, for which I am truly grateful.

LAWS AND COMMANDMENTS

How does that tie to moral agency? Because we, as mortals, are inclined to decline, the Lord gave us commandments and laws to guide us, so that we could pull ourselves as far away from this world as we could.

“There is a law, irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world, upon which all blessings are predicated—

“And when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated” (Doctrine & Covenants 130:20-21).

Irrevocably means unchangeably or irreversibly; in a way that can’t be taken back. And decreed means it is officially ordered by a recognized authority (Merriam-Webster Dictionary app).

There are eternal laws that cannot be changed, and if we want to be blessed we need to follow them. But, to truly have agency there must be consequences attached to those laws, otherwise it wouldn’t matter what we chose. Here are a few quotes about eternal laws and how they work:

“All blessings that were ordained for man by the Council of Heaven were on conditions of obedience to the law thereof” (Joseph Smith, “Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith” (2007), 164).

“[The] covenant path is the way we come unto Christ and is based on absolute truth and eternal, unchanging law. We cannot create our own path and expect God’s promised outcomes. To expect His blessings while not following the eternal laws upon which they are predicated is misguided, like thinking we can touch a hot stove and ‘decide’ not to be burned” (Dale G. Renlund, “Your Divine Nature and Eternal Destiny”, General Conference, April 2022).

“Commandments are no more restrictive to the spiritual man than street signs are to the motorists. Neither prohibits our progress; to the contrary, they enhance it by serving as guideposts or directional signs to help us find and reach our destination” (Tad R. Callister, “The Infinite Atonement”, p258).

“If you really want a certain blessing, you’d better find out what the laws are that govern that blessing and then work on becoming obedient to those laws.” (Russell M. Nelson, “The Mission and Ministry of the Savior: A Discussion with Elder Russell M. Nelson,” Ensign, June 2005).

SATAN’S PLAN

Timothy Ballard, in his book, “The American Covenant”, asks an interesting question.

“During the pre-mortal existence, Satan proposed a ‘plan of salvation’ for God’s children that would take away agency and replace it with forced obedience. Satan was so adamantly against any opposing plan that included agency, that when his own plan was rejected, he responded by waging a war in heaven, which he would ultimately lose. The relevant question in all this is Why would Satan work so hard just to deny us our agency?” (Timothy Ballard, The American Covenant: One Nation Under God, vol 1, p5).

It has only been recently that I have started to understood more about Satan’s plan. It wasn’t that Satan was just proposing a plan, he was trying to unravel the entire fabric of the Plan that our Heavenly Father had set up. I found a talk by Elder Christofferson that gave me a much greater understanding, and greater insight, into the adversary's motives and purposes. 

“[Referring to the Council in Heaven] This was not simply a case of Jesus supporting the Father’s plan and Lucifer proposing a slight modification. Lucifer’s proposal would have destroyed the plan by eliminating our opportunity to act independently. Lucifer’s plan was founded on coercion, making all the other sons and daughters of God—all of us—essentially his puppets. … 

“By contrast, doing things the Father’s way offers us an essential mortal experience. By ‘mortal experience’ I mean choosing our course, ‘[tasting] the bitter, that [we might] know to prize the good’; learning, repenting, and growing; becoming beings capable of acting for ourselves rather than simply being ‘acted upon’; and ultimately overcoming evil and demonstrating our desire and ability to live a celestial law. This requires a knowledge of good and evil on our part, with the capacity and opportunity to choose between the two. And it requires accountability for choices made—otherwise they are not really choices. Choice, in turn, requires law, or predictable outcomes. We must be able by a particular action or choice to cause a particular outcome or result—and by the opposite choice create the opposite outcome. If actions don’t have fixed consequences, then one has no control over outcomes and choice is meaningless. … 

“And let us remember, Satan was not volunteering to be our savior. He was not interested in suffering or dying for anyone. He wasn’t going to shed any of his blood. He wanted the glory, honor, and power of God without paying any price. What he failed to understand or to believe is that one cannot possess the power of God without being the embodiment of justice. Lucifer was seeking for power without goodness. He supposed that he could be a law unto himself, meaning that the law would be whatever he said it was at any given moment and that he could change his mind at any time. In that way, no one could count on anything, and no one would have the ability to be an independent actor. He would be supreme, and no one else could advance” (D. Todd Christofferson, “A Message at Christmas”, BYU Devotional, 12 Dec 2017).

As we become more and more obedient to the eternal laws, we can gain more and more power over those laws.

OBEDIENCE

In his book “The Infinite Atonement”, Tad R. Callister says, “Contrary to the belief of many, obedience is not the antithesis of freedom, but the foundation of it” (Tad R. Callister, "The Infinite Atonement", p258). He discusses how obedience to eternal laws can unlock the doors of knowledge, broaden our list of choices, and help us gain more power in this life.

For the past several years President Nelson has been giving us counsel about how to remember our Savior, so that we can keep the Spirit more readily in our lives. As we are obedient to his counsel we can receive the blessings he has promised us.

• Hear Him ("Hear Him", General Conference, April 2020).

• "As President of His Church, I plead with you who have distanced yourselves from the Church and with you who have not yet really sought to know that the Savior’s Church has been restored. Do the spiritual work to find out for yourselves, and please do it now. Time is running out" ("Come, Follow Me", General Conference, April 2019).

• "We hope and pray that each member’s home will become a true sanctuary of faith, where the Spirit of the Lord may dwell. Despite contention all around us, one’s home can become a heavenly place, where study, prayer, and faith can be merged with love. We can truly become disciples of the Lord, standing up and speaking up for Him wherever we are" ("Closing Remarks", General Conference, April 2019).

• "We have never needed positive spiritual momentum more than we do now, to counteract the speed with which evil and the darker signs of the times are intensifying. Positive spiritual momentum will keep us moving forward amid the fear and uncertainty created by pandemics, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, and armed hostilities. Spiritual momentum can help us withstand the relentless, wicked attacks of the adversary and thwart his efforts to erode our personal spiritual foundation" ("The Power of Spiritual Momentum", General Conference, April 2022).

• "Keep on the covenant path and stay there"; "Discover the joy of daily repentance"; "Learn about God and how He works"; "Seek and expect miracles"; "End conflict in your personal life" ("The Power of Spiritual Momentum", General Conference, April 2022).

• "I invite you to pray to identify the debris you should remove from your life so you can become more worthy [to help prepare the world for the Second Coming of the Lord]" ("Welcome Message", General Conference, April 2021).

• "I entreat you to study prayerfully all the truths you can find about priesthood power"("Spiritual Treasures", General Conference, October 2019).

• "One of the things the Spirit has repeatedly impressed upon my mind since my new calling as President of the Church is how willing the Lord is to reveal His mind and will. The privilege of receiving revelation is one of the greatest gifts of God to His children" (Revelation for the Church, Revelation for Our Lives", General Conference, April 2018).

• "I urge you to stretch beyond your current spiritual ability to receive personal revelation, for the Lord has promised that 'if thou shalt [seek], thou shalt receive revelation upon revelation, knowledge upon knowledge, that thou mayest know the mysteries and peaceable things—that which bringeth joy, that which bringeth life eternal'" (Revelation for the Church, Revelation for Our Lives", General Conference, April 2018).

Our Heavenly Father loves us and wants to guide us back to Him, but can only do so as we are obedient to Him. There are eternal laws that He is bound by, and our obedience allows Him the freedom to bless us.

Jesus will come again, and as we are obedient to His laws and commandments we can better have His spirit to be with us, to help us overcome this mortal world we live in.

I want to conclude with words from Elder Renlund’s talk:

“I invite you to center your life on Jesus Christ and remember the foundational truths in the Young Women theme. If you are willing, the Holy Ghost will guide you. Our Heavenly Father wants you to become His heir and receive all that He has. He cannot offer you more. He cannot promise you more. He loves you more than you know and wants you to be happy in this life and in the life to come” (Dale G. Renlund, “Your Divine Nature and Eternal Destiny”, General Conference, April 2022).