Gratitude and Sacrifice

On both occasions that Lehi's sons return to his tent in the wilderness from journeys to Jerusalem, he offers sacrifices and burnt offerings in gratitude. Are the sacrifices a way for Lehi to show his gratitude to the Lord, or is it a way to help him feel gratitude more keenly and more deeply? Or is it perhaps both? Don't we appreciate something so much more when it's gone? If we go on a strict diet, don't chocolate chip cookies smell so much better than we ever remember them smelling before? When we give something up, willingly or not, we can't help but feel more grateful for and appreciate more deeply the thing that we no longer have. They say that fasting without a purpose is just going hungry. Sacrificing without the spirit and the attitude of gratitude is just losing to no purpose. When we suffer a loss, we can turn our minds to the future and imagine bitterly the years ahead devoid of what and whom we loved, or we can turn our minds to the past and cultivate gratitude for all of the cherished memories that we have. We usually think of sacrifice as something that we choose to do but if we lose something or someone due to circumstances completely outside our control, if we face the loss with gratitude in our hearts, then the Lord will consecrate that sacrifice for our good and His glory. Gratitude and sacrifice transform something that was taken from us to something that we offered up from the generosity and goodness of our heart. Isn't it better to give than to lose? Isn't it better to remember the good rather than to fret over what might have been? Sacrifice without gratitude and gratitude without sacrifice have little meaning, but together they mean everything.