Sunday Report

Relief Society teacher Traci Cline presented Chapter 4 of the Gospel Principles book, entitles Freedom to Choose.  She started us thinking by asking why it is important to have agency, and what exactly agency is.  "Thou mayest choose for thyself, for it is given unto thee" from Moses 3:17 sets the tone for our entire existence.  Even in the premortal life we had moral agency and the choices there determined that we were worthy and ready to come to our second estate here on earth.  Once again, here in mortality agency would be vital to accomplishing the work and glory of God, bringing about the immortality and eternal life of man.  In order to eventually live the kind of life our Heavenly Father lives and wants us to enjoy, we must prove worthy and prepared to receive it.  It is through our choices between good and evil that we will gain the experience necessary and show ourselves worthy to inherit all that the Father hath.  This principle was so basic and foundational to the Father's plan that those who would reject the concept, the followers of Satan, rebelled against God and sought to destroy the agency of man.  We who chose to follow Christ, gained this mortal opportunity while those who followed Satan were cast with him out of heaven and forever denied the opportunity to gain the mortal body and experience which were necessary for continued progression.  In this life agency is still a necessary gift, for this is a period not only of experiencing but of testing and we must show that we will do all things whatsoever the Lord will command us. Making right choices enables us to continue making the choices to progress toward eternal life and one right choice makes the next one easier.  Agency cannot function as a method of testing unless there are things to choose from, so there must be opposition in all things.  Clear choices can only be made when there are alternatives, and alternatives lead in different directions.  Satan offers the opposition and seeks to destroy God's work by encouraging us to take his often superficially attractive alternate routes.  He seeks everyone to be miserable like unto himself, and to forfeit our opportunity for exaltation because he and his followers have forfeited theirs, worlds without end.  With every choice we make, we must accept the consequences.  These we cannot choose, for they are the natural result of any given choice and they always impact not only ourselves but others also.  God's commandments are there to help us make those choices which will help us progress toward eternal life and will also bless our lives and those of others while we are here in mortality.
Next week  TFOT  Safety for the Soul by Elder Holland, taught by Nicole Hill
Have a great week!
The Relief Society Presidency