I will give away all my sins

At church yesterday a lady gave an amazing talk. She was talking about her favorite Book of Mormon stories. The first one was from 1st Nephi, chapter 3. She talked about how the 4 sons of Lehi were returning to Jerusalem for the sacred records. Once they get there they draw lots to see who will go. It falls to the oldest son Laman. He goes and talks to Laban and gets threatened with death. He returns to his brothers ready to go back to their father in the wilderness. Nephi told them "As the Lord liveth, and as we live, we will not go down unto our father in the wilderness until we have accomplished the thing which the Lord hath commanded us. Wherefore, let us be faithful in keeping the commandments of the Lord." He understood that just because the Lord gives a commandment, it doesn't mean that it will be quick or easy. He was willing to take the time it took to do what the Lord asked. In fact it took a total of three tries and some deep soul searching for him to accomplish that which the Lord had commanded. Her next story was in Alma, chapters 20 and 22. Ammon had converted King Lamoni and most of his people. King Lamoni was supposed to go to a great feast held by the king of all the land, his father. He didn't go and later ran into his father on the road with Ammon to free Ammon's brother and brethren. Understandable the father was furious; his son not only refused a royal order, but was also traveling with his "sworn enemy" to free more of their mortal enemies. He drew his sword and tried to kill Ammon. Because the Lord had promised King Mosiah that his son's would be safe, the old king had no luck in subduing Ammon. In fact Ammon hit him with the sword in such a way that disabled him. He realized he could die and pleaded with Ammon "If thou wilt spare me I will grant unto thee whatsoever thou wilt ask, even to half of the kingdom." Ammon didn't want half the kingdom, he had already refused the whole of his own kingdom, he just wanted his brethren freed and King Lamoni to be free to worship as he chose. King Lamoni's father of course agreed to those conditions and was so intrigued by Ammon, a Nephite who wasn't acting anything like the king believed Nephite's should act. He had been raised on false traditions and wanted to know more about Ammon. It was Aaron who went to the king and taught him the gospel. The king had a great question for Aaron "What shall I do that I may have this eternal life of which thou hast spoken? Yea, what shall I do that I may be born of God, having this wicked spirit rooted out of my breast, and receive his Spirit, that I may be filled with joy, that I may not be cast off at the last day? Behold, said he, I will give up all that I possess, yea, I will forsake my kingdom, that I may receive this great joy." Aaron told him to pray and repent. I love the king's prayer "O God, Aaron hath told me that there is a God; and if there is a God, and if thou art God, wilt thou make thyself known unto me, and I will give away all my sins to know thee, and that I may be raised from the dead, and be saved at the last day." The king was willing to give up half his kingdom to save his life, but he was willing to give up his entire kingdom to save his soul. He was willing to give away all his sins as well. Not just the major ones, like not killing Nephite's anymore, but even the little ones. I know that I have my favorite sins that I have a hard time letting go of, I even try to rationalize them sometimes, "well it's not like I am killing anyone or being anti-Christ so it isn't that bad, right?" Every single little sin he was willing to give up. Combining these two stories there is a great lesson. We need to be able to give up everything for the Lord, and just because we have done that, it doesn't mean that life will be easy or that the things we need to do will be accomplished quickly. Following the Lord is not always easy; there are times we have to try at something over and over again. There are times when the path to where the Lord has asked us to go is not clear to our mortal eyes. There are times of deep soul searching, even times when we “shrink and would that we might not” have to do what the Lord asks of us. There have been nights where I have cried in the anguish of my soul, “Lord, do I really have to go through this?” There have been nights where I pleaded in confusion, “Lord where in the path I should be on? I cannot see it.” Every time I have prayed the Lord has tenderly answered.The answer, “Yes, my child, you do need to go through this. Trust me” has come on many occasions. The path is not always shown to me, in fact I was told to just trust one step at a time.  I know I am not as righteous as Nephi or King Lamoni’s father, but I know that I am blessed for my efforts. I know that as long as I keep moving forward and trusting the Lord that I will receive the blessings that these great men received, the blessings of peace and comfort, the blessing of knowing that the Lord looks out for me in all my trials. I am grateful for the examples of these great men. I honestly hope that I get to meet them one day.