So I think I'm beginning to understand grace and works now. Our works are just us opening the gift of grace. Our works are when our will lines up with God's, but we can't do anything good on our own, for all good things come from God-Moroni 7:13. Even the ability to use our will or moral agency is a gift. God doesn't just forgive us and cleanse us, he changes us, strengthens us and even changes our desires-Alma 19:33. Once we fell and sinned we couldn't save ourselves, hence we needed a mediator. David J. Stewart said, “Jesus paid a debt He did not owe, because we owed a debt we could not pay” hence salvation is free-2 Nephi 2:4. Christ paid the price and fulfilled the punishment; hence again we can't pay anything back to God, for the gift has to be pure and the giver has to be sinless to merit anything. We don't obey or repent out of payment or punishment, but as a gesture of our willingness to receive Christ's atoning blood. Christ is the only being that heaven owes anything to. We can't earn blessings or gifts, we can only use our will to choose to use the gift of moral agency in a moral way. Since our will is the only thing we can give God that isn't His already, again everything beyond our will is a gift from God, unearned, unpaid for by us, but gratefully received through our willingness to obey and our willingness to be perfected in Christ. After all we can do=our will, we are saved by grace=moral agency, changed desires, power to obey and changed heart, changed mind, expanded soul, changed into a new creature, the ability to qualify to receive any and all blessings including immortality and ultimately eternal life-2 Nephi 10:24; 25:23. It makes sense to me because apart from being an intelligence and having a will all the good we have, all the good we do and the good we are comes from God. Christ taught it beautifully in John 15:1-5 where he said he is the vine and we are the branches. The branches can’t do anything good on their own, they only produce fruit by receiving what is given to them through the vine. We don't do anything good on our own, only through and because of Christ hence 2 Nephi 2:8 states we can dwell in God's presence through Christ's merits, mercy and grace. Another good example Christ taught was that we are yoked to Him through ordinances and covenants-Matthew 11:29-30. We are yoked with Christ as we exchange our sins for his perfect attributes. Not only is it an uneven exchange, it's an undeserved and unearned exchange. Being yoked then to Christ our journey back to God is never done on our own, it is done through, because of and with Christ. Ordinances are received through Christ’s authority and covenants are fulfilled through God’s help. We receive baptism and are given the Holy Ghost to enable us to fulfill those covenants. Finally 1 Nephi 3:7 states God prepares the way for us to fulfill commandments. Nephi and his brothers failed the first two times when they left it up to chance and bribery-the philosophies of men. Nephi succeeded at getting the brass plates when he followed the Spirit. God’s thoughts are not our thoughts, His ways are not our ways, luckily, because our ways lead to death and misery. His ways lead to eternal life and true happiness.