A few years ago, for summer vacation we were in Newport Beach, California. One day we went to Huntington Beach to shop. I met a man in a juice shop while buying a smoothie. I was wearing a BYU hat and he mentioned something about BYU and then we chatted for some time. The conversation was enjoyable and enlightening.

Part way through the conversation he told me he was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but he had quit attending. I asked him, “why?” He thought for a moment and then said, “I came out here to this area and just got distracted.” I was grateful for his honesty and grateful for his insight. This had been nearly a fifteen-year distraction. I simply said, “well, why don’t you go back?” He said he needed to. 

This good brother is like so many of God’s children, distracted by alternatives to God. He simply quit recognizing or paying attention to things of the greatest importance. There are so many distractions and influences that affect our agency. We are led by so many factors and influences. Some of these influences are positive, some are negative.

We must recognize life’s multitude of distractions as simply attempts to influence our agency. The greatest and most important influences in the world are our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. May we be influenced by Them enough to exercise our agency and make following Them our biggest priority.

We must use our agency to recognize and act upon truth. We must not get distracted, diverted or confused by the adversary’s message. We must use our agency powerfully and with the recognition that we are responsible for our choices.