Life is a gift; we choose our own attitudes despite circumstances

This incident was shared by Lucile F. Johnson of Orem, Utah: “There was an attractive lady whose company everyone sought and enjoyed. She was a delight to be around because she seemed to love life and people to the fullest. One day I said to her, ‘You are such a joy to all of us. What is your secret? Can you tell me?’

“‘Yes,’ she answered. ‘One word changed my life.’

“‘And what was that word?’ I queried.

“‘Malignant!’ Startled, I heard this explanation: ‘The doctor said that word to me and told me I had a limited time to live. I had a choice. I could make everyone miserable or I could try to make others happy. On my knees I realized that I had one day at a time just as everyone else has. I was able to see things I had never seen. My husband, my children, each person took on a beauty you can’t believe. I know that life is a gift whether it be a day or a year and I intend to enjoy my gift to the maximum.’”

Whether the works of God are manifest in healings or in the exhibition of courage and acceptance by those challenged must be left to the ultimate wisdom of Him who comprehendeth all things. How refreshing and strengthening are the lives of those who push upward and onward despite tragedies and griefs.

One ship drives east and another drives west
With the selfsame winds that blow.
’Tis the set of the sails
And not the gales
Which tells us the way to go.

Like the winds of the sea are the ways of fate,
As we voyage along through life:
’Tis the set of a soul
That decides its goal,
And not the calm or the strife.

- Marvin J. Ashton, "Roadblocks to Progress," April 1979 General Conference
Poem by Ella Wheeler Wilcox

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1979/04/roadblocks-to-progress?lang=eng 

You are here on earth for a divine purpose

"You are here on earth for a divine purpose. It is not to be endlessly entertained or to be constantly in full pursuit of pleasure. You are here to be tried, to prove yourself so that you can receive the additional blessings God has for you. The tempering effect of patience is required. Some blessings will be delivered here in this life; others will come beyond the veil. The Lord is intent on your personal growth and development. That progress is accelerated when you willingly allow Him to lead you through every growth experience you encounter, whether initially it be to your individual liking or not. When you trust in the Lord, when you are willing to let your heart and your mind be centered in His will, when you ask to be led by the Spirit to do His will, you are assured of the greatest happiness along the way and the most fulfilling attainment from this mortal experience. If you question everything you are asked to do, or dig in your heels at every unpleasant challenge, you make it harder for the Lord to bless you.

"Your agency, the right to make choices, is not given so that you can get what you want. This divine gift is provided so that you will choose what your Father in Heaven wants for you. That way He can lead you to become all that He intends you to be. That path leads to glorious joy and happiness."

- Elder Richard G. Scott, Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, "Finding Joy in Life," General Conference, Apr 1996
http://www.lds.org/general-conference/1996/04/finding-joy-in-life?lang=eng

"The devil has no power over us only as we permit him; the moment we revolt at anything which comes from God, the devil takes power."

- Joseph Smith, Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith, p. 214
http://www.lds.org/Static%20Files/PDF/Manuals/English/TchPresChurch-JSmith/CU_TchPresChurch_JSmith_21___36481_000_021.pdf

We choose the influence of God or Satan

"When we reject the counsel which comes from God, we do not choose to be independent of outside influence. We choose another influence. We reject the protection of a perfectly loving, all-powerful, all-knowing Father in Heaven, whose whole purpose, as that of His Beloved Son, is to give us eternal life, to give us all that He has, and to bring us home again in families to the arms of His love. In rejecting His counsel, we choose the influence of another power, whose purpose is to make us miserable and whose motive is hatred. We have moral agency as a gift of God. Rather than the right to choose to be free of influence, it is the inalienable right to submit ourselves to whichever of those powers we choose."

- Elder Henry B. Eyring, Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, "Finding Safety in Counsel," General Conference, Apr 1997
http://www.lds.org/general-conference/1997/04/finding-safety-in-counsel?lang=eng

Help from Heavenly Father in response to faith and obedience

"When we receive help from our Father in Heaven, it is in response to faith, obedience, and the proper use of agency."

- Elder Richard G. Scott, Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, "Learning to Recognize Answers to Prayer," Ensign, Nov 1989, p. 30
http://www.lds.org/general-conference/1989/10/learning-to-recognize-answers-to-prayer?lang=eng