Two Great Desires

In Mosiah 28 we have the account of two righteous things that were greatly desired and subsequently granted.  The first was the wish of the sons of Mosiah to go up to the Lamanites and preach the gospel.  We read that they “desired of [King Mosiah] that he would grant unto them that they might, with those whom they had selected, go up to the land of Nephi that they might preach the things which they had heard, and that they might impart the word of God to their brethren, the Lamanites” (v1).  This was not a casual desire; they “were desirous that salvation should be declared unto every creature, for they could not bear that any human soul should perish” (v3).  It appears that Mosiah struggled with this decision and I think that this must have been a conversation that took place numerous times as the sons tried to convince their father that this was a good idea.  We read that “they did plead with their father many days that they might go up to the land of Nephi” (v5).  Now that’s true desire; they wanted to preach the gospel with all of their hearts.  I have at times prayed for missionary opportunities since returning from a full-time mission, but I don’t know if I have adequately “pleaded” for “many days” of the Father to have these experiences.  They desired it with everything they had, and so the Lord granted their desires and gave them astounding success.  

                The second desire that we see in this chapter comes from the people.  King Mosiah had the plates of gold that King Limhi had found which were the records of the Jaredites.  We read that he “translated and caused to be written” the account “because of the great anxiety of his people; for they were desirous beyond measure to know concerning those people who had been destroyed” (v11-12).  That’s quite the description: “desirous beyond measure.”  I see it as a desire to have scriptures, for that’s what the record was.  Could we describe our desire to read and study and have the scriptures to be “beyond measure”?  After they received the record the account tells us that what they read about the destruction of the Jaredites “did cause the people of Mosiah to mourn exceedingly, yea, they were filled with sorrow” (v18).  They not only had the great desire to read the scriptures, but they felt great emotion at what happened to the people in that account.  It’s easy to read the scriptures with an emotional distance from the people and events, but these Nephites invested their whole souls in the scriptures it seems.  I think it’s an example of how we ought to partake of the scriptures we have.  The Lord granted their righteous desire to them, it would seem, because they wanted it so badly.  We know that there is more scripture for us to be had (as Ether 4:7 promises, for example), but perhaps we have to have the same kind of “desire beyond measure” to obtain it before the Lord will grant it to us. 

                In our dispensation the Lord told Hyrum Smith: “All things whatsoever you desire of me, which are pertaining unto things of righteousness, in faith believing in me that you shall receive” (D&C 11:14).  It would stand to reason that the kind of desire spoken of here is the kind that leads us to plead for “many days” and to have “great anxiety” for the righteous wish of our heart as we see in Mosiah 28.  It’s not the “took no thought save it was to ask” kind of desire, but rather the kind that leads us to “pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart” (D&C 9:7).  Those are the kinds of desires that the Lord, in His time, will grant us.