“Special Agents of Agency,” New Era, December 2015, 38–40
For the Strength of Youth
Special Agents of Agency
You? A special agent? You better believe it.
“The power is in them, wherein they are agents unto themselves” (D&C 58:28).
Illustrations by John Kachik
Imagine you are a special agent and you are on a deadly, super important mission. You press your earpiece into your ear, listening for the command center … but then you remember your earpiece is broken. You meant to get that fixed, but never got around to it. Whoops. Carefully, you ease open a door and then step inside a warehouse. Immediately a man jumps up and starts shouting and waving a gun. You hear others shouting and running. Worst entrance ever! Why didn’t you know anything about the security here? Oh well. Just stick to the plan. Oh that’s right. There is no plan.
Wait, what? No communication, no information, and no plan? What are you doing out here anyway?
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that running an operation with no communication, information, or a plan is just asking for trouble. If you were a special agent, you would never waltz into a dangerous situation completely unprepared. The thing is, you are a special agent. You accepted your mission a long time ago. Like before you can even remember.
The Mission
Before this life, Heavenly Father presented His plan and gave each of us our mission: come to earth, get a body, learn, grow, be tested, and someday return to Him. A big part of His plan is the gift of agency—the ability to choose and act for ourselves. You used your agency way back then, too. You chose to follow Heavenly Father and accept your mission on earth, and now you can choose to accept or reject His plan every day.
While you have total control over every choice you make, you can’t control the consequences of those choices. That would be like a special agent choosing to stroll into an enemy camp, and then loudly demanding birthday cake instead of imprisonment. It doesn’t work like that! Every choice you make has a natural result, so it’s important to choose wisely.
Agency is a gift and a responsibility. All children of God “should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness; For the power is in them, wherein they are agents unto themselves” (D&C 58:27–28).
You are a special agent of agency. The power is in you—the power to choose, and the power to do a lot of good. If you choose to.
So how do you best use the power of agency? Well, by acting like a special agent.
Gather Intelligence
Gathering intelligence is crucial to any operation. Agents want to know as much as possible about the situation, the dangers, the options—anything to help them complete the operation safely and effectively. As agents of agency, you should be gathering intelligence as much as possible too! That doesn’t mean surrounding yourself with negative influences or burying yourself in the world to learn more about it. Instead, make sure you are gathering intelligence from the best, most trustworthy sources.
“Seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom; seek learning, even by study and also by faith” (D&C 88:118).
Education and secular knowledge are important, but Elder Robert D. Hales of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles said, “We will not make the right eternal choices based solely on our pure intellectual deduction and factual analysis from our own understanding: Prayer and study must be used together to build knowledge and wisdom.”1
The scriptures and the words of modern prophets are chock full of principles and examples that can help you face all sorts of challenges. A good agent would never ignore that much crucial information!
Have a Plan
A good special agent has a plan, a backup plan, a contingency plan, an escape plan … you get the idea. Lots of planning.
Agents of agency are no different. You can start by figuring out what you want. Do you want eternal life? An eternal family? Do you want to serve a mission? Do you want to graduate from college? Write your goals down, and then write down specific steps that will help you achieve them. Think about how everyday decisions can move you closer to or farther from your goals.
Sister Elaine S. Dalton, former Young Women general president, has a great idea: “When I was a young woman, I learned that some decisions need to be made only once. I wrote my list of things I would always do and things I would never do in a small tablet. It included things like obeying the Word of Wisdom, praying daily, paying my tithing, and committing to never miss church. I made those decisions once, and then in the moment of decision, I knew exactly what to do because I had decided beforehand. … I hope each of you will write a list of things you will always do and things you will never do. Then live your list.”2
You can and should choose this day whom you will serve (see Joshua 24:15). Choose it, and plan for it.
Keep Communication Lines Open
It’s a common battlefield tactic: take out enemy communications. If you can’t connect to the command center, you won’t know of operation changes, enemy movements, threats, or opportunities.
As an agent of agency, you’ve got something better than a command center. You have Heavenly Father. He sees all and knows all about your situation, the enemy, and your challenges, capabilities, and potential. So keeping strong communication lines to and from Him is critical. President Brigham Young taught that our “first and foremost duty [is] to seek the Lord until we open the path of communication from God to our own soul.”3
You wouldn’t speak into your radio and then rip out your earpiece, so you shouldn’t jump up from your knees as soon as you finish speaking with God. Take time to listen. Check your spiritual earpiece. Is it working? Is there anything in your life that might be blocking transmission? If so, do everything you can to get rid of it.
Pray in the best of times, the worst of times, and the OKest of times. Have patience. Heavenly Father is there and wants to communicate with you.
The Power Is in You
This life is the time to prepare to meet God (see Alma 34:32). That’s your mission. You already chose to accept it. The risks are many, but so are the blessings. You have the power to choose how you will act today and who you will become tomorrow. You are an agent of agency. That gives you high security clearance to any guidance you need to be successful in any situation. Use your resources, stay close to Heavenly Father, and choose now to always serve the Lord.
This message will self-destruct in five seconds. Good luck.