Gospel Topic # 3: Agency

I am so grateful to a loving Heavenly Father for His gift of agency, or the right to choose. Each of us has come to this earth with all the tools necessary to make correct choices. The prophet Mormon tells us, “The Spirit of Christ is given to every man, that he may know good from evil” (Moroni 7:16).
President Thomas S. Monson, "Decide Right Now", October 2010 General Conference Address








That is so because God gave us agency, not just as a right but as a necessity. We must choose with our agency to obey in faith that the promised blessing will come, that the promise is true because it comes from God. 
Henry B. Eyring, "A Life Founded in Light and Truth", July 2001

 You have agency, and you are free to choose. But there is actually no free agency. Agency has its price. You have to pay the consequences of your choices. 

Human agency was purchased with the price of Christ’s suffering. The power of Christ’s Atonement overcomes the effect of sin on the condition of wholehearted repentance. Through and by the Savior’s universal and infinite Atonement, all have been redeemed from the Fall and have become free forever to act for themselves (see 2 Ne. 2:26).

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, "On the Wings of Eagles", From a Brigham Young University devotional address given on November 11, 2003.

No Father would send His children off to a distant, dangerous land for a lifetime of testing where Lucifer was known to roam free without first providing them with a personal power of protection. He would also supply them with means to communicate with Him from Father to child and from child to Father. Every child of our Father sent to earth is provided with the Spirit of Christ, or the Light of Christ. ¹ We are, none of us, left here alone without hope of guidance and redemption.

President Boyd K. Packer, "Prayer and Promptings", October 2009



Those of us who have been around a while—and Elder Wirthlin and I have been around for a long time—have recognized certain patterns in life’s test. There are cycles of good and bad times, ups and downs, periods of joy and sadness, and times of plenty as well as scarcity. When our lives turn in an unanticipated and undesirable direction, sometimes we experience stress and anxiety. One of the challenges of this mortal experience is to not allow the stresses and strains of life to get the better of us—to endure the varied seasons of life while remaining positive, even optimistic. 
L. Tom Perry, "Let Him Do It With Simplicity", October 2008



But the final responsibility to prepare for salvation and exaltation rests upon each person, accountable for individual agency, acting in one’s own family, bearing another sacred title of mother, father, daughter, son, grandmother, or grandfather.

Russel M. Nelson, "Salvation and Exaltation", April 2008








To achieve our eternal destiny, we will desire and work for the qualities required to become an eternal being. For example, eternal beings forgive all who have wronged them. They put the welfare of others ahead of themselves. And they love all of God’s children. If this seems too difficult—and surely it is not easy for any of us—then we should begin with a desire for such qualities and call upon our loving Heavenly Father for help with our feelings. 

Dallin H. Oaks, "Desire", April 2011




As children of our Heavenly Father, we have been blessed with the gift of moral agency, the capacity and power of independent action. Endowed with agency, we are agents, and we primarily are to act and not merely be acted upon—especially as we “seek learning … by study and also by faith” (D&C 88:118).

David A. Bednar, "Watching With All Perseverance", May 2010







Remember that with His gift of moral agency, our Heavenly Father has graciously provided us help to exercise that agency in a way that will yield precious, positive fruit in our life here and hereafter. 

D. Todd Christofferson, "Moral Agency", Ensign June 2009








Impressions of the Spirit can come in response to urgent prayer or unsolicited when needed. Sometimes the Lord reveals truth to you when you are not actively seeking it, such as when you are in danger and do not know it. However, the Lord will not force you to learn. You must exercise your agency to authorize the Spirit to teach you. As you make this a practice in your life, you will be more perceptive to the feelings that come with spiritual guidance. Then, when that guidance comes, sometimes when you least expect it, you will recognize it more easily.

Richard G. Scott, "To Acquire Spiritual Guidance", October 2009 General Conference





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My position Statement:
Agency is a big key to the plan of salvation. Satan tried to take away our Agency, but that was contrary to God's plan. Without Agency, everything falls to pieces. We must be able to choose our lives and make our own decisions. That is how we learn and grow. The consequences that come are important. We should not be forced to be good, or to make the exact right decisions. That was Satan's plan, but it is wrong. The whole purpose of the Plan of Salvation is to be happy, and without Agency, we could never possibly be happy. 

Tara Howard
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The Purpose of Education

                

               The ultimate goal in this world is simply to understand. We were sent to this earth for a purpose, and it wasn’t just to live and then die. We need to be seeking for total understanding of absolutely any and all righteous subjects we desire. Ludwig Van Beethoven once said, “Don’t only practice your art, but force your way into its secrets. For it, and knowledge, can raise men to the divine.” (Beethoven) There is no greater joy than understanding, and the wisdom that comes with it. It takes a lifetime to understand something, and only a moment to change that understanding. It is something you must constantly be seeking for. It does not matter in what area you choose, but try to fully understand something, for that will open the doors to every single other area of knowledge that exists. Every area of knowledge is connected together in a thick network that is penetrable one thread at a time through diligence. Becoming perfect and all-knowledgeable, such as God is, will not just happen overnight when we get resurrected or anything. We will still have to work for it, so we may as well get a head start on it right now. Knowledge is the source of understanding; and understanding is the source of wisdom. We must gain all three.

           There is not much more important in this world than obtaining an education. We have great institutions set up for the continuous learning of studious pupils, as well as great masses of books and other educational writings available at our fingertips. Since we were young it has been pounded into our heads the need to go to college and get a degree, but why? I will touch on a few points, including what you should study, why, and what you can do with the things you have learned.

Some of the world’s greatest people have never obtained a formal education. Why do we place such an emphasis on it then? Brilliant minds don’t just happen; they must be nurtured and grown. Whether or not the education was formal does not mean they never got one. Some of the best education that has been reached has been informal. In Elder David A. Bednar’s article titled “Learning to Love Learning”, he stated that “The type of learning I am attempting to describe is not merely the accumulation of data and facts and frameworks; rather, it is acquiring and applying knowledge for righteousness.” (Bednar 2) The extraordinary thing about learning is that it doesn’t matter what you learn, as long as it is useful and interesting to you. In my case, I am at a university obtaining an education with the hopes of eventually getting a master’s degree. To me though, that college degree is not the most important education that I am reaching for right now. Although some might disagree, my training in the Martial Arts is even more important to me. Some people have indignantly contradicted me in my hopes for the future, but I know what’s important to me. I love it, and that is what matters. Just because someone, or everyone, might not see the usefulness of the particular education you are obtaining, that doesn’t mean it is wrong. If it is taking you down the right paths, giving you valuable knowledge, and giving you a place to go, then there is nothing wrong with it. Keep that in mind as you seek and set up the pieces of your future.

The greatest ability that continuous knowledge gives us is the ability to venture out on our own to seek and change the world to how we want it to be. Until you learn to tie your own shoes and feed yourself, you cannot break away from your parents and live life your own way. As such, until you learn the things you need to, you cannot break away from society as a whole and make your own paths. As you gain more knowledge, more of the world opens up to you. Nobody wants to just be part of the masses as they move. There is nothing substantial in that, and quite often they are wrong or jumping off of figurative cliffs without thinking first. Hitler had a good idea of how the masses worked. Aldous Huxley described how Hitler thought of the masses in his article titled “The Love of Learning.” He wrote that “the masses are utterly contemptible. They are incapable of abstract thinking and uninterested in any fact outside the circle of their immediate experience. Their behavior is determined, not by knowledge and reason, but by feelings and unconscious drives.” (Huxley 3) We cannot break away from the masses until we have gained sufficient knowledge to do so. Whatever education you strive for, make it proficient enough that you will not be constantly led on by those who wish you to just blindly believe. Granted, you will not be able to obtain all the knowledge of the world in even fifty lifetimes, but general education in all areas will give you enough to get started.

              In the article titled “The Love of Learning” by David McCullough, he talked about how knowledge is not memorizing facts or anything like it, although that can be important. It can be a key in your life through some doorway, or out of some critical situation. The real importance of it though is what we decide to make of it. How we decide to use it will determine its usefulness to us. (McCullough 2) Too often there is too great an emphasis placed on memorizing facts such as the bones in our body, or important dates of the past. What you’ve got to realize is that the memorization is only the very beginning of learning. It is only the very scratch on the surface of the iron cage you are in. In order to break free and enter the world and discover all its value, you’ve got to know how to use that knowledge. You’ve got to go beyond the bounds that your teachers and coaches have set for you and discover what more there is to find. You cannot be taught and spoon fed everything. The most important part of learning is discovering things on your own, figuring out how they fit together, and working to use them in your life in whatever ways you might need to. Everything you learn should make you want to learn more.

              Finally, your overall purpose in learning should include a deep desire to give back to the world the education that it gave you. Face it, learning is fun. There is almost no greater joy to be found in this world. As the generations pass, and we each learn, our new knowledge is compounded with our experiences and the knowledge is deepened and then passed on to those who come after us. Your knowledge came partially from others before you, and so you must give back too. That is the whole grand design behind learning. David Bednar also stated that:

Perhaps President Young was such a consummate learner precisely because he was not constrained unduly by the arbitrary boundaries so often imposed through the structures and processes of formal education. He clearly learned to love learning. He clearly learned how to learn. He ultimately became a powerful disciple and teacher precisely because he first was an effective learner. (Bednar, 2)

As you learn, you will become a teacher; you will become a guide to your children, your friends, anyone around you. One leads to the other, just as day follows night. Knowledge in the world then becomes a great snowball that just keeps rolling, gaining more substance, and gaining more momentum as the time goes on. That will only happen if we allow our contributions to the world of knowledge to be made known. Give back what has been given to you, with your own little seasoning and extra, inspired ingredients added to it too. What you find is yours to keep, but don’t be selfish by keeping it back from either people too. As you share knowledge with each other, everyone will grow and discover something new. Nobody can be totally knowledgeable in everything, but everyone together can be totally knowledgeable in everything. We need each other, and we need to all help each other along.

               Education has a million purposes behind it, although I only talked about a few. That is the whole reason behind us being born here and sent on the journey of life. We cannot neglect it, and we cannot let it die within us. Give back to the world the knowledge you have obtained. Don’t just let the superficial facts clutter your mind, but learn to dig deeper to find the treasured gems. The best things in life are not easy to get. Take what you know and run with it to the next level. I don’t care what you study. Just study what you love, and learn to love what you study. If it was me, I would be spending all day in a Martial Arts school learning kicks, throws, weapons, and any other possible knowledge in that area that I could lay my hands on. If you want to learn everything about butterflies or the values of strawberry pancakes, I say “Go for it!” The world needs knowledge in all areas, not just math, science, and English. Find what you love, and make it every bit of it a part of you, and a part of the world around you.

Tara J. Howard

Copyright 2014

The Country Princess

A young girl born then, and raised quite wild,
Running 'round barefoot and free.
Her hair always tangled, her clothes ripped and dirty,
From climbing around tree to tree.

Her parents may have tried to raise her up proper,
To a beautiful, young lady with grace.
But to the unloving eye and the world’s hateful heart,
She was nothing less than a disgrace.



But in her heart she knew she was someone special,
Her mind was so different from others.
Her spirit was kind, she could talk to the wind,
She saw life in its all different colors.

When a painter came by looking for all life’s beauty,
To paint underneath golden skies.
He may have passed by her, not really seeing,
If not for the light in her eyes.



“Here sits a girl who prefers to be wild,
Than captive to a mean, hateful world.
Though she is the kindest, most innocent treasure,
The world all looks down on this girl.


The princess inside her is clear to be seen,
The golden crown shines brightly through.
A portrait of her I will paint if she lets me,
And sell it for a million or two.


Though sitting there quietly, in the breath of the country,
And muddy with feet in the lake.
The beauty inside her of her loving heart,
Is the portrait I wish I could take."

A princess is never the dress and the kingdom,
The fancy, the crown, or the trinkets.
It’s the love and the kindness, the magic and brightness,
All I saw in The Country Princess.




Tara J. Howard



Copyright 2014

Gospel Topic # 2: Atonement

"What mortal being, faced with the loss of a loved one or, indeed, standing himself or herself on the threshold of infinity, has not pondered what lies beyond the veil which separates the seen from the unseen?... 

The empty tomb that first Easter morning was the answer to Job’s question, 'If a man die, shall he live again?'"

President Thomas S. Monson, "He Is Risen": A Prophet's Testimony, April 2012, Ensign

That urge to rise above yourself is a recognition of your need for the Atonement to work in your life, and your need to be sure that it is working. After all you can do, after all your effort, you need confidence that the Atonement is working for you and on you.

President Henry B. Eyring, "Coming Unto Christ", April 2007, New Era

The Atonement of Jesus Christ is the gift of God to His children to correct and overcome the consequences of sin. Christ came to save us. If we have taken a wrong course, the Atonement of Jesus Christ can give us the assurance that sin is not a point of no return. A safe return is possible if we will follow God’s plan for our salvation.

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, "Returning Safely to Heavenly Father", April 2009, Liahona

The Atonement is like an eraser. It can wipe away guilt and the effect of whatever it is that is causing you to feel guilty.

Guilt is spiritual pain. Do not suffer from chronic pain. Get rid of it. Be done with it. Repent and, if necessary, repent again and again and again and again until you—not the enemy—are in charge of you.

President Boyd K. Packer, "How to Survive in Enemy Territory", October 2012, Liahona

Without the Atonement, Father in Heaven’s plan of happiness could not have been placed fully into effect. The Atonement gives all the opportunity to overcome the consequences of mistakes made in life. When we obey a law, we receive a blessing. When we break a law, there is nothing left over from prior obedience to satisfy the demands of justice for that broken law. The Savior’s Atonement permits us to repent of any disobedience and thereby avoid the penalties that justice would have imposed.

Elder Richard G. Scott, "He Lives! All Glory to His Name!", May 2010, Liahona

We are His servants, and it is critical that we understand the role of the Atonement in our own lives and in the lives of those we teach. Essential to that understanding is an understanding of the relationship between justice and mercy and the Atonement, and the role of suffering and repentance in this divine process.

The awful demands of justice upon those who have violated the laws of God—the state of misery and torment described in the scriptures—can be intercepted and swept away by the Atonement of Jesus Christ.

...Sinners who are repenting will experience some suffering, but because of their repentance and the Atonement they will not experience the full, exquisite extent of eternal torment the Savior suffered for those sins.

Elder Dallin H. Oaks, "The Atonement and Faith", April 2010, Ensign

In fact, it ought to be a matter of great doctrinal consolation to us that Jesus, in the course of the Atonement, experienced all of the heartache and sorrow, all of the disappointments and injustices that the entire family of man had experienced and would experience from Adam and Eve to the end of the world in order that we would not have to face them so severely or so deeply. However heavy our load might be, it would be a lot heavier if the Savior had not gone that way before us and carried that burden with us and for us.

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, "Lessons from Liberty Jail", September 2009 Ensign

Grace is the divine assistance or heavenly help each of us desperately needs to qualify for the celestial kingdom. Thus, the enabling power of the Atonement strengthens us to do and be good and to serve beyond our own individual desire and natural capacity.

Elder David A. Bednar, "The Atonement and the Journey of Mortality", April 2012, Liahona

The gospel is centered on the Atonement of our Lord and Savior. The Atonement provides the power to wash away sins, to heal, and to grant eternal life. All the imponderable blessings of the Atonement can be given only to those who live the principles and receive the ordinances of the gospel—faith in Jesus Christ, repentance, baptism, receiving the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. 

Elder L. Tom Perry, "Bring Souls Unto Me", April 2009, General Conference

Remembering the Savior obviously includes remembering His Atonement, which is symbolically represented by the bread and water as emblems of His suffering and death. We must never forget what He did for us, for without His Atonement andResurrection, life would have no meaning. With His Atonement and Resurrection, however, our lives have eternal, divine possibilities.

Elder D. Todd Christofferson, "To Always Remember Him", Liahona April 2011

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My Position Statement:

I believe in the Atonement with all my heart. Jesus Christ performed the Atonement and was crucified. Then He rose again on the third day. We can all live again because of that, and we can all be forgiven of all our sins and washed clean again through His sacrifice.

There was no way we could have ever returned to God without the atonement. We are all imperfect, and we have all sinned. The atonement was the only way we could make it back to God. 

I know that we must repent of our sins for the atonement to be able to take affect in our lives. God lives, and He provided us a way back to Him in His kingdom again someday. 

Tara Howard

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Gospel Topic # 1: Family

“Give your child a compliment and a hug; say, ‘I love you’ more; always express your thanks. Never let a problem to be solved become more important than a person to be loved. Friends move away, children grow up, loved ones pass on. It’s so easy to take others for granted, until that day when they’re gone from our lives and we are left with feelings of ‘what if’ and ‘if only.’ …

President Thomas S. Monson, "Love at Home-Counsel from Our Prophet", Aug. 2011, First Presidency Message

While I do not have Tolstoy’s certainty that happy families are all alike, I have discovered one thing that most have in common: they have a way of forgiving and forgetting the imperfections of others and of looking for the good.

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, "One Key to a Happy Family", Oct. 2012, First Presidency Message

Parents should teach their children to pray. The child learns both from what the parents do and what they say. The child who sees a mother or a father pass through the trials of life with fervent prayer to God and then hears a sincere testimony that God answered in kindness will remember what they saw and heard. When their trials come, they will be prepared.

President Henry B. Eyring, "Write Upon My Heart", Oct. 2000

We cannot change; we will not change the moral standard. We quickly lose our way when we disobey the laws of God. If we do not protect and foster the family, civilization and our liberties must needs perish.

President Boyd K. Packer, "Cleansing the Inner Vessel", Oct. 2010

May it be our resolve this year to build a gospel-centered home, a safe harbor from the storms of the adversary. Let us again remember the promises and instructions from the Lord to His children:

Elder L. Tom Perry, "The Importance of the Family", April 2003

Worldwide reports indicate that more than 40 million abortions are performed per year. This war called abortion is a war on the defenseless and the voiceless. It is a war on the unborn. This war is being waged globally. Ironically, civilized societies that have generally placed safeguards on human life have now passed laws that sanction this practice. This matters greatly to us because the Lord has repeatedly declared this divine imperative: “Thou shalt not kill.” ⁴ Then He added, “Nor do anything like unto it.” ⁵  John Calvin, a sixteenth-century reformer, wrote, “If it seems more horrible to kill a man in his own house than in a field, … it ought surely to be deemed more atrocious to destroy a fœtus in the womb before it has come to light.” ⁶

Elder Russel M. Nelson, "Abortion: An Assault on the Defenseless", Oct. 2008

The Church has auxiliary programs for women, youth, and children as a support to the family. These programs provide such things as religious instruction, opportunities for Christian service, sports, drama, music, and Scouting. And there is also much focus on extended family, genealogy, and personal family history, providing young and old with a stronger sense of roots, identity, and belonging. The highest and most sacred ordinances of our faith relate to our families, both living and dead, and some of these ordinances take place in our temples.

M. Russel Ballard, "Faith, Family, Facts, and Fruits", Oct. 2007

“I remember a witness,” he said, “that was testifying before a Congressional committee about the family, and he said, ‘Before you fool around with the family, you’d better realize that all known human societies during the recorded history of mankind have all ended up with a family organization for the rearing and training of children. Before you try to get rid of it, you’d better find out why all civilizations in history have clung to it.’ I think your church’s emphasis on it has been truly extraordinary.”

President Spencer W. Kimball, "The True Way of Life and Salvation", April 1978

We pointed out that the most important organization on earth is the family, where “fathers and mothers are … equal partners.”⁸ Neither one is financially compensated, but the blessings are beyond description.

Elder Quentin L. Cook, "LDS Women are Incredible", April 2011

The key to strengthening our families is having the Spirit of the Lord come into our homes. The goal of our families is to be on the strait and narrow path.

Robert D. Hales, "Strengthening Families: Our Sacred Duty", April 1999

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Position Statement:

I believe that the prophets have spoken the truth about the importance of families, and the strengthening impact that they can have on the world. The Lord has decreed the importance of families, our need for them, and the world’s growing need for them too. A strong and righteous family will make a strong and righteous world. It is the building block for everything good in this world.

When I get married and have a family of my own, I want my kids to always know what I believe in, and what I stand for. I want them to always know that they are loved, and I want our family unit to be strong and firmly bound together. Families should be a haven of safety, and a place of security. It is hard work, and it will always be that way. But the blessings that you will receive in return will be too many to count. It is the most wonderful blessing that you will ever have, and the most incredible endeavor full of love that you will ever undertake. 

Tara Howard

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Life, Homework, and Dreams

We are all sitting here in our own little world, seemingly apart from everyone else. Scattered students everywhere sleeping, eating, or pounding through the homework. We connect through the learning and let it just suck us into a different world where knowledge is prominent. It works that way, to change our lives up, down, or forward. Onward to what we want. That is, if we can even figure out what exactly we even want anymore.

Crank the music and let it keep you awake, no matter how much sleep you got, or how much work you've got either. The mind whirs beneath the perfect curls, or spiky punk-do's.

It doesn't matter where you try to go. You'll get there eventually, and it's not even entirely in your control either. You have a choice, of course, but events change choices faster than force. No plan happens like planned, so why have one?


Have goals, and have goals to get to the bigger picture. But if you have set goals, do they ever really actually happen? Life seems to have a psychotic mind of its own and the ability to control and change anything you might possibly ever want. So should you ever want anything, or even plan anything, or even hope for anything, or ever set any goals if life seems to just change it to whatever it actually wants?

Is there anything or anyone that you can actually count on in this ridiculous world of zombies and walking copycats? Is everyone so out for their own that they don't stop to remember the rest? Is that how I am? We have to stand on each other's shoulders to reach the top, but sometimes they just get smashed flat instead.

Where does the end come, and the beginning start? Is there a place inside yourself that won't yell at you all your flaws, that will just appreciate you for who you are? They say that you are amazing, but how could everyone possibly be amazing at the exact same time? And in that case, would it even really matter? If we're all worth everything, are any of us even worth anything?

The mountain just seems to keep growing, and you sometimes start to wonder why you ever started trying to climb it. The fall off of it would hurt more though, so you keep climbing. Always looking for a hand to help pull you up through the rocky terrain.

It doesn't matter, does it? Does it matter where you end up, or what you do, or where you go? You'll still end up somewhere. You'll still end up at the end somewhere.


So grab a vague picture of yourself that you want to become, and walk towards it. Run towards it. Some people will try to jerk it away from you. Run for it. Grab it, hold it, even if it rips, even if you're torn, don't let it go. You might have to run from those who should help you the most, but you can make it. Make it happen. Find who you are, if you can. Then don't let anyone ever take that away from you. If you have to leave, then leave. Don't put up with what you shouldn't.

You can have your dreams, if you can figure out what they are. If you do, hold onto them with all your might. Nothing will be for sure. People won't either, no matter how much they might say. You could have the world, and still hold nothing. When you're ripped apart, you can be made stronger. Sometimes you can't do it alone though. Trust someone and let them help you. But don't trust them inside you. Eventually their spike-tipped knuckles will puncture into something, whether or not they meant to.

Someday though, someone will come along that you can give everything to. The rip inside both of you will be filled with each other and you will be made complete once again, like you have wished for so long. Until then, hold it closed yourself, and watch out for the selfish greed and pride that could infect it and destroy you completely.

Sometimes people are blind and they don't see or understand. Other times they choose the color of the blindfold to tie on. Don't be deceived by a blind man leading or a deaf man singing. The words may be compelling, but the knife is real. Don't get distracted by insignificant circumstances. Life will still carry you on down the stream, whether or not you have a lifeboat.




Tara J. Howard


Copyright 2014