True friends don't hold us back spiritually or pull us down when we're trying to rise and progress. True friends protect us. True friends help us be better than we would be on our own.

You and I were among those who used their agency to accept Heavenly Father's plan to come to earth, to have a mortal life, to progress. "We shouted for joy ... to have the opportunity of coming to the earth to receive bodies [for we knew] that we might become, through faithfulness, like unto our Father, God." Now we are here on earth, where opportunities to use our agency abound; for here "there is an opposition in all things." This opposition is essential to the purpose of our lives.

As our understanding of obedience deepens, we recognize the essential role of agency.

What is said is not as important as what [you] hear and what [you] feel.

As disciples of Jesus Christ we have a responsibility to work together with like-minded believers, to raise our voices for what is right.

Be the kind of friend who makes it easier for others to obey the commandments when they are with you.

Light and darkness cannot occupy the same space at the same time.