Boolean Part 1

     Some time ago, perhaps when you were in elementary school, can you recall your parents telling you to do something because "they said so?"  Can you then recall yourself replying with a "why?"  And then, can you see yourself being told that "if you don't do so and so, you'll either: be grounded, sent to your room, lose [cell phone] privileges, or anything like that?  Once your parents have told you that, how do you feel?

     So you probably weren't too happy to hear such a thing come out of your parents-- why would they do something so heinous to me?  Why don't they understand that I don't want to do that?  Why don't I have a say in anything?  Why would they blackmail me?  One thing to tell ya-- it's normal to feel that way.  We all feel that way.  We're built that way.

     We don't feel very good when someone takes away our ability to choose.  God has made us creatures of agency-- or free will.  If we are restricted from choices, we're evidently going to react negatively to it.  Being forced to do anything was never something God intended us to do.  God's gameplan for us was to be able to choose our destiny to return to Him-- not force us to come to Him.

     Let me sum up what happened before we were born.  We were spirits living with God before we had physical bodies.  While we were with Him, we were presented with a plan God had for us-- it was quite simple: we would be given physical bodies (because we needed actual bodies to be resurrected in), given a scapegoat for our trespasses (Jesus), tested and tried (using our own individual choices AND God didn't eliminate our personal responsibility with the Atonement) on Earth with new experiences, and then come back to Our Father in Heaven with these new bodies.  That's it.  Because of which, we were pretty happy to hear such a news.  As we have accepted this plan there, that's why we're here.

     Because of this great and marvelous plan-- the plan of redemption, the merciful plan, the plan of salvation-- we are able to return to God to be with Him.  We can make choices to do so.  God made us that way.  Agency-- the ability to choose between right and wrong.  It's the most wonderful gift that He has given us and we have our authority to exercise it however we want.