As we face the vicissitudes of life, many events occur over which we have little or no control. Health challenges and accidents obviously can fit into this category. The recent COVID-19 pandemic has severely impacted people who did everything right. For the most important choices, we do have control. Going back to my missionary days, Elder Marion D. Hanks, our mission president, had all of us memorize part of a poem by Ella Wheeler Wilcox:

There is no chance, no destiny, no fate,
Can circumvent or hinder or control
The firm resolve of a determined soul. – Quentin L. Cook, “Be One with Christ,” Liahona (CR) May 2024