This is a fundamental statement about human agency, or free will. Mormons believe that all people are free to act for themselves and can choose God and righteousness. Although Mormons talk about some souls being foreordainedto fulfill certain tasks—from being the prophet to mothering a particular child—they do not believe in predestination, or the idea that humans are merely the instruments of an all-sovereign God who chooses some individuals for salvation and others for possible damnation. Mormons hold that all people are endowed with agency and can choose between good and evil—recognizing, as this verse suggests, that both righteous and evil spiritual forces will seek to influence them.