Gratitude, viewed broadly, might just be the most important character trait we can develop in mortality.

Clearly, in and of itself, it isn't more important than honesty, integrity, kindness, generosity, patience — or a host of other virtues that should be an integral part of who we are.

But gratitude might be the one trait that inexorably leads us to the acquiring and/or developing of all those other characteristics that are so essential.

Gratitude — being genuinely, honestly and sincerely thankful for what others have done and, of course and more important, for the generous and infinite blessings of a loving Heavenly Father — somehow softens our hearts, allowing that "mighty change" to more easily come into our hearts (See Alma 5).

Prophets through the ages have taught this principle.

In his profound promise about coming to know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God, Moroni exhorts that we ponder and pray about the book's veracity. But, before referencing the pondering, and before detailing how one should pray, Moroni counsels that we should "remember how merciful the Lord has been from the creation of Adam even down until the time that you receive these things" (Moroni 10:3).

Before we ponder, before we pray, we must remember all that the Lord has done — how merciful he has been — throughout all of mortality. That remembering, that reflection, will cause us to be grateful for His tender and marvelous mercies. Somehow, that gratitude will help position our hearts so that we are more likely to feel what the Holy Ghost manifests to us. By feeling, and doing, what the Holy Ghost teaches, we become gradually, but steadily, like the Savior.

President Wilford Woodruff was a fine example of how that gratitude comes even in difficult times.

During his mission in the southeastern United States in 1835, President Woodruff recalled taking a road that "lay through swamps, and was covered with mud and water most of the way, for one hundred and seventy miles. On the 24th of March, after traveling some ten miles through mud, I was taken lame with a sharp pain in my knee." At that point, his companion wearied of the work and left President Woodruff sitting on a log in an alligator swamp.

President Woodruff's response?

"I knelt down in the mud and prayed, and the Lord healed me, and I went on my way rejoicing" (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Wilford Woodruff, Chapter 11).

"Rejoicing!"

President Woodruff went on his way rejoicing. He was full of gratitude.

Somehow, some way, the feelings of gratitude turn our hearts more fervently to the Savior.

President Henry B. Eyring of the First Presidency described it this way:

After detailing his daily practice of pondering, and recording, how the hand of God influences his life, he said "my point is to urge you to find ways to recognize and remember God's kindness."

As he has done this, "more than gratitude began to grow in my heart. Testimony grew. I became ever more certain that our Heavenly Father hears and answers prayers. I felt more gratitude for the softening and refining that come because of the Atonement of the Savior Jesus Christ" (General Conference, October 2007).

Clearly, remembering all that a kind Heavenly Father and His sinless Son have done for us leads us to be deeply grateful. Being grateful positions our hearts to be taught about, learn from, and become like the Savior. And that, of course, is the very essence of our existence.