But keeping myself apart from the crowd brought spiritual comfort and later temporal benefit when the police allowed me to return home. When confronted with that reality, I was more disappointed with myself than with my teammate. “When my teammate misrepresented the party’s activities, I felt a spiritual unrest that I did not heed. His father greeted him with the words, “I knew I would find you here, Son.”Įlder Cardon’s choices, both to turn away from unwholesome activities as well as to be where he was supposed to be, blessed him. When he got there, Elder Cardon saw his father in the congregation. After a small debate with himself, Elder Cardon got up and went to priesthood meeting, arriving a few minutes late. They allowed Elder Cardon to drive his teammate’s car home, returning at 3:00 a.m. He chose to sit by himself rather than participate. His friend drove him to the party and Elder Cardon found that everybody was drinking. When his teammate said no, he agreed to attend. Cardon of the Seventy was invited to a Saturday-night party. Each day our children must decide if they want to do their homework and turn it in and thus gain more freedom.Īs a freshman in college, Elder Craig A. For example, in our home our children must complete and turn in homework if they want the freedom to watch movies, play games, or interact with friends online. Making righteous choices brings us freedom partly by giving us more opportunities. “As we obey each of our Father’s commandments, … we find it easier to make right choices.” 3 Right choices increase our power to make more right choices. “When we choose to live according to God’s plan for us, our agency is strengthened. 2Įach time we make righteous choices we gain more freedom and strength to follow God’s plan. Freedomįreedom is the state of being free from the control or domination of another. These consequences can be placed widely in two categories: freedom or captivity. “Without agency, we would not be able to learn or progress or follow the Savior.” 1īut along with the ability to choose come the consequences of those choices. Our wise use of it in the premortal life gave us the opportunity to come to earth. AgencyĪgency, or the ability to choose, is a gift that helps us become more like Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. Lehi taught this eternal principle to his son Jacob: “Men 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” ( 2 Nephi 2:27). Making unrighteous choices diminishes the influence of the Spirit and leaves us more vulnerable to the influences and captivity of Satan. Having the clarity of divine direction in our lives is a form of freedom. Making righteous choices brings the Spirit. If I want to go someplace specific, like that waterfall, I need to carefully choose the trail that will lead me there and follow the directions of those who know the way.Īs we exercise agency, the choices we make have consequences that can result in freedom or captivity. I choose my destination the moment I choose which trail to take. These choices are like the trails I hiked in the wilderness. We scrambled up the rock face and into a cave where a torrent of water flowed through the roof and out the mouth of the grotto. Half a mile up the trail, we came to the falls. “You still have time to get there before it gets dark.” She pointed to the trail we’d ignored earlier. When we returned to the fork in the trail, the bishop’s wife was waiting for us in the early twilight. We continued about two miles before we decided this was definitely the wrong road and turned around. The bishop shrugged his shoulders and we walked up the service road.Īnd we walked. We wanted to take the more interesting route. We argued that both trails probably went to the same place. He urged us to come back and take the other trail. It looked more rugged and exciting.Ī dozen yards past the junction, we heard our bishop call to us, telling us we were heading the wrong way. We didn’t know which one was the right way, but we decided to take the service road. To the left was a small trail that continued across a meadow. To the right was a service road that went uphill. We rushed ahead of our leaders until we came to a fork in the trail. The trail is short and leads to an impressive waterfall. When I was a priest, our quorum went on a hike to Donut Falls near Salt Lake City, Utah, USA.
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