Elder Wolfgang H. Paul
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The world would be chaotic if everyone did just as he or she wanted to do.
There is a widespread notion that if one is doing what he wants, he enjoys freedom.
"Our Heavenly Father has given us a better concept. It is his great plan of happiness, which gives us real freedom and happiness."
Agency, the gift bestowed as humans come into this mortal life, "gives us the right and power to make decisions and to choose." It is an eternal principle that God's children possessed before coming to Earth and is the instrument of the test God imposed to see if they would follow his commands while in their mortal state.
"In order for us to use our agency, we must have a knowledge of good and evil, we must have the freedom to make choices and after we have exercised our agency, there must be consequences that follow our choices."
As people obey God's commandments, their faith increases and they grow in wisdom and spiritual strength, making it easier to make right choices.
"I have learned . . . that although the time is sometimes not convenient for our schedule, nevertheless, if we make the right choice the Lord will take care of us in his own way, which at that time, is not yet known to us."
