Free Agency (warning it's a long one)

You Too Can Choose What Color 
of Cowboy Boots to Wear

Just over a week ago the executive secretary called Travis and asked if we would speak in sacrament.  To my shock and surprise he said yes. It was a stressful week on top of preparing to speak.  I put it off until last night. Travis was diligent in preparing his and had a first draft written last sunday. After a late night and little sleep we made it through.  Travis was nervous enough for the both of us. Honestly I think I was trying so hard to be calm for the both of us that I was not as nervous as I thought I would be. My talk was not a history maker but went well. If you are interested here it is, but be prepared that the ending is kinda weak.

Free Agency

Before I start my talk I am going to give you a little background on the Wight family.

• I was born and raised in Provo Utah. I graduated from the U of U and chose to not get what my parents would call a real job but instead become a river guide during the summer, which complemented the ski instruction that I did in the winter. I worked seasonal jobs full time for five years. I then went to back to school at BYU for a post baccalaureate degree in Special Education and taught in a Jr. High for three years before getting married and moving to Pinedale.
• Travis was born in upstate NY and was raised in Minnesota. He moved to Wyoming in 1997. He joined this ward almost seven years ago after getting baptized before he decided to finish his education at BYU.
• We met in September of 2005, on a blind date that I did not realize I was agreeing to go on. The date was a disaster at best. Travis chose to say maybe two words to me the whole night. I agreed to go on a second date after receiving a very convincing text message at 3 in the morning. Our road to marriage was a long and unique one. But we made it and were married in the Provo Temple in September 2010.
• Travis has been back in Wyoming since graduating in civil engineering last spring. I officially moved to Pinedale in the beginning of November.

Today I am going to speak on a topic that President David O. McKay once described as the “eternal principle of progress.” A topic that we all know very well, “Free Agency”.

In August of 2005 I got up early to start a long drive home. I had just finished up my fourth summer as a river guide in Idaho. I was going to leave the previous day, but decided to stay one more night because I had a friend coming into town that I wanted to see.

When I started my seven hour journey home I was prompted by the Spirit more than once to clean my windshield. As I was fueling up I went for the squeegee and found that there was no fluid. As I was inside the gas station the Spirit told me once again to clean my windshield. I looked for cleaner and did not see any. As I was paying the clerk I saw a bottle of windex behind the counter and once again the Spirit told me to ask to use it to clean my windshield. This time I did not even make an attempt at it, I just simply ignored it. As I was going out to my car the all too familiar voice told me to check my tires. So I got my gauge out and it did not work. The Spirit told me again to check my tires and ask the guys who were filling up to help. Well the guys had been trying to get my attention and I was ignoring them to the best of my ability. Plus one of them was wearing red cowboy boots and I thought that was cooky. So what was one of many attempts to guide me was ignored once again.

As I look back at that morning these are just a few attempts that the Spirit tried to protect and guided me. I am sorry to admit that there were more times that I am not going to mention.

• We are all given the freedom to choose, we may, in fact, make wrong choices, bad choices, hurtful choices. And sometimes we do just that, but that is where the mission and mercy of Jesus Christ comes into full force.

As I got on the road and drove out of town, I proceeded at a speed that well exceeded the limit. I had one more prompting from the Spirit as I went to pass a semi pulling a large horse trailer. I was told not to pass. I was half way along the side of the semi when I listened to the prompting and the semi braked as a large buck ran out. If I would not have made the choice to follow the prompting I would have hit the deer. It slowed me down for ten minutes or so before I picked up my swift pace and passed the semi.

I was about an hour out of Salmon when the sun hit my windshield making it difficult for me to see. With my cruise control set at 80 and my music keeping me company I reached over to the passenger side to grab a napkin and try and wipe off the film that was on the inside of my windshield.

As I looked up my car had pulled to the right due to a tire that was low. I was half on pavement and half on gravel. I panicked and pulled the steering wheel to the left. I lost control of my car and rolled it somewhere around two and half times landing upside down in a ditch that was covered in bushes. Which made it difficult to see my car from the road.

Heavenly Father did his best to guide me and keep me safe but I chose not to listen to the promptings that would have protected me.

• As God's children we have the power to choose; we had this ability even before we were born. In the pre-mortal life, Heavenly Father presented His plan, which included the principle of agency. Lucifer rebelled and as it states in (Moses 4:3) “sought to destroy the agency of man”. As a result, Lucifer and all those who followed him were denied the privilege of receiving a mortal body. All who have been or will be born on earth chose to follow Heavenly Father's plan.
• Agency is the ability and privilege God gives us to choose and to act for ourselves. Agency is essential in the plan of salvation. Without it, we would not be able to learn or progress or follow the Savior. With it, we 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).

I chose to use my agency to make a string of bad decisions and with that came consequences. My first thought that ran through my head as I was strapped to my seat upside down was “How am I going to get home?” After a long summer I was ready to be home. I assessed what I could see around me which was not much because my car was packed with all of my river gear and on top of that my car was nestled into the bushes. I have no real concept of time when I look back at my accident. So I am not sure how much time passed while I was in my car but I could not get my seatbelt undone and I was not going anywhere. I decided to pray. As I said amen, I could hear voices outside of my car. The voices turned out to be the boys from the gas station including the one with the red boots. They helped me get out of my car and made the call to 911. They ended up waiting with me at the scene for over three hours while we waited for the police, tow truck and the paramedics (who I assured that I was just fine and I refused their offer to take me to the Salmon emergency room). My new found friends (the cowboys who had just finished the rodeo in Salmon) helped me clean out my crushed vehicle and wait by my side while the office wrote me a ticket for not maintaining my lane. They then drove me to Ogden, Ut where my mom and sister picked me up.

This experience is one that I reflect back on now and again and continue to learn and grow from. Most of the promptings I was given that morning I chose not to listen to. I had the gift of free agency which I exercised. I am grateful for a loving heavenly father that continued to watch over me the best he was allowed to after the choices that I made. This experience is something I continue to learn gospel principles from.

In this past conference President Monson spoke on the “three R's of Choice” and this past week we had a lesson on this in RS and priesthood. I am going to give you a quick reminder of what they are and touch on the first two of them. They are:

• The right of choice
• the Responsibility to choose
• and the result of choice

I hope by adding this it will only further support the message that I have already tried to convey.

When we talk about he right of choice it goes back to our pre-mortal life when we all chose this path. A path that would be difficult and where we are sure to stumble. I am grateful that the savior offered himself as a sacrifice to atone for the sins of all men. It is through the savior that it is possible for us to be successful in this life and return to our heavenly father.

Our right of choice takes courage. President Monson talks about that there is no middle or neutral ground. Lucifer and host will never abandon the hope of claiming your soul. That thought is a little scary, but our loving Father in Heaven has a plan and will give us guidance on our journey home. That guidance comes through prayer. I have a strong testimony of this and think it is one of the most beautiful gifts bestowed upon us.

• 3 Nephi 14:7  "ask and it shall be given unto you, seek and ye shall find it."

I have been blessed with the opportunity to put this promise into action on more than one occasion and I know with all my heart that our Father in Heaven will give us guidance in making hard decisions if we ask.

• Joshua 1:9- ...be strong and of good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.
  Once again Agency is a privilege that God gives us to choose and to act for ourselves.

• Our Father in Heaven wanted our growth to continue in mortality and to be enhanced by our freedom to choose and learn. He also wanted us to exercise our faith and our will, especially with a new physical body to master and control. But we know from both ancient and modern revelation that Satan wished to deny us our independence and agency . Satan violently opposed the freedom of choice offered by the Father, so violently that John in the Revelation (12:7) described it as “war in heaven”. If Satan would have gotten his way, he would have robbed us of that most precious of gifts: our freedom to choose a divine future and the exaltation we all hope to obtain.

Agency can be looked at as both a blessing and a curse. In (Deut. 11:26–28.) It says, “Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse ;“A blessing, if ye obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you this day: “And a curse, if ye will not obey the commandments of the Lord your God.”

I am grateful for the knowledge we have on the plan of salvation, for the ability we have to make a choice for ourselves, be it right or wrong. I am especially grateful for the atonement that will bring us peace after poor decision making and that gives a path back to our Heavenly Father.

The principle of agency is closely tied into the topic of accountability and the third R in president Monson's talk (result of choice) that Travis will dive into further. 

Our future is being fashioned by the decisions we make. I know if we trust the spirit when making decisions whether big or small, it will always but us on the path to happiness.

The right of choice … runs like a golden thread throughout the gospel … for the blessing of His children.” (The Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson, Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1988, pp. 80–81.)

P.S. Wyoming is called the equality state because it was the first state to allow women to vote. It is also the first state to let a woman hold a public office and had the first woman governor.