Tag Archives: Agency

For the Strength of Youth Series: Agency and Accountability

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Understanding agency and accountability are fundamental in the LDS faith. Without agency, the whole Plan of Salvation doesn’t make much sense. If we didn’t come to Earth to make choices and choose through our actions to go back to our Heavenly Father, then why are we here? The For the Strength of Youth pamphlet does a great job of addressing this topic. It explains that “you are being proven to see if you will use your agency to show your love for God by keeping His commandments.” I recently taught a lesson on this topic, and after reading 2 Nephi: … Continue reading →

Family Home Evening: Pivotal Choices

This family home evening lesson is based loosely on “Life’s Lessons Learned” by Elder Joseph B Wirthlin. He gave the talk at the last General Conference. In the talk he shared stories of pivotal moments in his life, especially in his youth. This would be a great talk to adapt for a family home evening lesson, especially if you have teenagers. You can start out the lesson by reading Joshua 24:15. You can point out that we each must make the choice to keep the commandments and live the laws of the gospel. It is important to realize that we … Continue reading →

Gospel Doctrine: Release Barabbas

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When Pontius told the Jews that he found no fault in Jesus, he sought to release the Savior as a free man. Instead, the angry mob insisted that the murderer, Barabbas, be instead released. When asked what to do with the Lord and Savior, the crowd cried out that He should be crucified. The Jewish people chose a man of the world over a man of God. When Pontius gave them a second chance, they cried out again for the convicted criminal rather than the man free of all sin. They embraced the world rather than the Lord. Repeatedly through … Continue reading →

Young Women: Choice and Accountability

The next value in the Personal Progress book is Choice and Accountability. The theme for this value is “I will choose good over evil and accept responsibility for my decisions.” The scripture is Joshua 24:15: “Choose for whom ye will serve; . . . but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” This value is extremely important for each young woman to grasp. The value experiences focus on the ways to learn the commandments and to feel and recognize the promptings of the Holy Ghost. The girls are encouraged to make difficult decisions now, so that … Continue reading →

RS/EQ: Priorities and Preparedness

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When we study the principle of self-reliance, we tend to think of it as a worldly law. And yet, the scriptures clearly tell us that Heavenly Father has never given a law that is temporal; all commandments are spiritual in nature (see D&C 29:34). How, then, is a law regarding our worldly state spiritual? President Kimball clearly states that “the highest achievement of spirituality comes as we conquer the flesh.” As we overcome our earthly bodies and worldly desires, we grow to be more spiritual beings. We generally think of this when we consider overcoming habits, but it applies to … Continue reading →

Primary Time: March Theme “Try, Try, Try”

The Sharing Time theme for March is “Try, Try, Try.” The theme focuses on the many different choices that we have to make each day. The theme points out that it is important to try to do what Jesus would do. It uses a maze to describe the choices we have to make. It also points out that we need to continue to try to be like Jesus. You can reinforce the theme this month by talking about daily choices that your children have to choose the right. You may want to talk about making decisions beforehand. One example is … Continue reading →

Choosing the Type of Adoption that is Right for You

What things should you consider in choosing which type of adoption (domestic infant adoption, state child welfare system adoption, or international adoption) is right for you? (Note: each of these three main types of adoption is described in a blog posted by me earlier this week.) Here are some suggested things to think about: 1.What age child do you wish to adopt? 2.What special needs might you be willing to work with? 3.Would you consider siblings? 4.How comfortable are you with the idea of meeting the birthparent(s)? With ongoing contact? 5.How would children of different races be accepted by your … Continue reading →

State Agency: Help or Hindrance?

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We have now adopted five maternal brothers out of our state’s foster system. We started the process when we took the first child in February, 2003. We were finally free of all responsibilities to the state when the fifth child was adopted in January, 2006. Frequently, the people working for the state were a hindrance to the process. I can give several examples. By May, 2003, we had the first four boys, one of whom was a newborn, in our home. In a short period of time, they had moved from an abusive home, to a shelter, to a foster … Continue reading →

Should You Use an Adoption Agency?

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If you are thinking about adopting children from your state’s foster system, you will need to decide whether to deal directly with the state agency or to use an adoption agency as an intermediary. This article will discuss the pros and cons of this decision based upon my experience. We did use an adoption agency and we are glad that we did. The social worker from the state agency was not always honest with us. Her main concern seemed to be limiting the amount of time that she had to spend on the case. This tendency always seemed to affect … Continue reading →

General Conference: “The Gift of Agency”

In his talk “The Gift of Agency” Elder Wolfgang H Paul speaks about why we have the gift of agency and the importance of using it properly. He opens the talk by speaking of a bumper sticker he saw which read “I do what I want.” He goes on to say that the world would be a very sad and chaotic place if everyone made choices based simply on what they wanted to do. Elder Paul then says this about the purpose of agency: “When the Lord taught Abraham about the eternal nature of spirits and that he was chosen … Continue reading →