Patience

I have been striving for a really long time to develop this elusive trait.

Just this week I received a few epiphanies on the subject, thanks to an amazing prophet, whose name is so long that Moroni abbreviated it to: the brother of Jared.

In the book of Ether while the people of Jared are preparing to come to the promised land they first prepared by gathering their flocks and herds, and their families, and their friends families. Although Moroni doesn't say as much, (he didn't have many plates to work with, he had to create the Reader's Digest version if you will) this must have taken them a long time to accomplish! Only after they had worked does the Lord tell them of the promised land and promises that 'there will I bless thee and thy seed, and raise up unto me of thy seed, and of the seed of thy brother, and they who shall go with thee, a great nation. And there shall be none greater than the nation which I will raise up unto me of thy seed, upon all the face of the earth. AND THUS WILL I DO UNTO THEE BECAUSE THIS LONG TIME YE HAVE CRIED UNTO ME.' They traveled in the wilderness, being led by the Lord, which again, must have taken a long time. They came to the sea and they were in the land Moriancumer for 4 YEARS. Only then did the Lord instruct the brother of Jared to 'Go to work...' that's when he gave him the instructions on how to build the barges that would take them on their journey to the promised land. I'm not a woodworker by any stretch of the imagination, but I'm sure that building 8 barges that are the length of a tree is not a speedy task. After building the barges, the brother of Jared approached the Lord for answers to his problems, and each time, the Lord first made him prepare before receiving an answer to his pleas. Additionally, when the brother of Jared approached the Lord for assistance, he was specific to the things that he needed. When the Lord asked him: 'Therefore what will ye that I should prepare for you that ye may have light when ye are swallowed up in the depths of the sea?', the brother of Jared didn't expect Him to just somehow magically make things all better. He thought it out, worked, and presented the Lord with a way to solve his problem.

We learn in the Doctine and Covenants: For behold, it is not meet that I should command in all things; for he that is compelled in all things, the same is a slothful and not a wise servant; wherefore he receiveth no reward.

All this time I've been praying for patience -- a rather broad term-- just expecting the Lord to hand it over. Is something worth having if it's not earned? At this point I'm telling myself 'No'.
So while I work towards this virtue, I can pray for specific assistance, and will receive the Holy Ghost to help me, but the actual retention of patience will only come by hard work, lots of practice, and of course, more faith, and dreadedly -- time.