The phrase “if possible” suggests that if the elect are going to avoid being deceived, they must keep their covenants and hearken to the word of the Lord. Elder M. Russell Ballard shared an experience illustrating how a Church member overcame deception:

“One of my fine missionaries who served with me when I was the mission president in Toronto came to see me some years later. I asked him, ‘Elder, how can I help you?’

“‘President,’ he said, ‘I think I’m losing my testimony.’

“I couldn’t believe it. I asked him how that could be possible.

“‘For the first time I have read some anti-Mormon literature,’ he said. ‘I have some questions, and nobody will answer them for me. I am confused, and I think I am losing my testimony.’

“I asked him what his questions were, and he told me. They were the standard anti-Church issues, but I wanted a little time to gather materials so I could provide meaningful answers. So we set up an appointment 10 days later, at which time I told him I would answer every one of his questions. As he started to leave, I stopped him.

“‘Elder, you’ve asked me several questions here today,’ I said. ‘Now I have one for you.’

“‘Yes, President?’

“‘How long has it been since you read from the Book of Mormon?’ I asked.

“His eyes dropped. He looked at the floor for a while. Then he looked at me. ‘It’s been a long time, President,’ he confessed.

“‘All right,’ I said. ‘You have given me my assignment. It’s only fair that I give you yours. I want you to promise me that you will read in the Book of Mormon for at least one hour every day between now and our next appointment.’ He agreed that he would do that.

“Ten days later he returned to my office, and I was ready. I pulled out my papers to start answering his questions, but he stopped me.

“‘President,’ he said, ‘that isn’t going to be necessary.’ Then he explained: ‘I know that the Book of Mormon is true. I know Joseph Smith is a prophet of God.’

“‘Well, that’s great,’ I said. ‘But you’re going to get answers to your questions anyway. I worked a long time on this, so you just sit there and listen.’

“And so I answered all his questions and then asked, ‘Elder, what have you learned from this?’

“And he said, ‘Give the Lord equal time.’

“May we engrave that thought on our minds and carry it with us as we walk through this process of mortality. Let us give the Lord equal time” (“When Shall These Things Be?” Ensign, Dec. 1996, 60).

 In other words, many will seek to deceive us by saying that they or their teachings will save us, so there is no need for a Savior or His gospel. The Book of Mormon describes this as “the power of the devil, to lead away and deceive the hearts of the people … to believe that the doctrine of Christ was a foolish and a vain thing” (3 Ne. 2:2).

2. Satan also seeks to deceive us about right and wrong and persuade us that there is no such thing as sin. This detour typically starts off with what seems to be only a small departure: “Just try it once. 

If we choose the wrong road, we choose the wrong destination. For example, a friend of many years told me that her husband, always a “good kid” in high school, took a few drinks he thought would help him forget some problems. Before he knew what was happening, he was addicted. Now he is not able to support his family, and he is ineffective at almost everything he tries to do. Alcohol governs his life, and he cannot seem to break free of its grip.

Some of this can be satisfied by the Savior’s Atonement, but the merciful cleansing of a soiled sinner comes only after repentance (see Alma 42:22–25), which for some sins is a prolonged and painful process. Otherwise, “he that exercises no faith unto repentance is exposed to the whole law of the demands of justice; therefore only unto him that has faith unto repentance is brought about the great and eternal plan of redemption”

Hold fast to the scriptures:(Dallin H. Oaks)

Paul taught Timothy, Continue in the things you have learned and been assured of, he wrote, “knowing of whom thou hast learned them” (2 Tim. 3:14). In other words, you have been taught righteousness and assured of its truth, so stay with it. Continuing, Paul reminded his young friend “that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation” through faith in our Savior (2 Tim. 3:15). Hold fast to the scriptures, whose teachings protect us against evil.

Take the sacrament, have the spirit to be with us:

How do we take the Holy Spirit for our guide? We must repent of our sins each week and renew our covenants by partaking of the sacrament with clean hands and a pure heart, as we are commanded to do (see D&C 59:8–9, 12). Only in this way can we have the divine promise that we will “always have his Spirit to be with [us]” (D&C 20:77). That Spirit is the Holy Ghost, whose mission is to teach us, to lead us to truth, and to testify of the Father and the Son