Justification is an event. Sanctification is a process. In the scriptures, justification is likened to entering a gate, and sanctification is like walking a path:
O then, my beloved brethren, repent ye, and enter in at the strait gate, and continue in the way which is narrow, until ye shall obtain eternal life. (Jacob 6:11)
It’s very important that you realize that your understanding of God at the outset of the path will not remain the same as you progress in the path.
17 ...the gate by which ye should enter is repentance and baptism by water; and then cometh a remission of your sins by fire and by the Holy Ghost.
18 And then are ye in this strait and narrow path which leads to eternal life; yea, ye have entered in by the gate; ye have done according to the commandments of the Father and the Son; and ye have received the Holy Ghost, which witnesses of the Father and the Son, unto the fulfilling of the promise which he hath made, that if ye entered in by the way ye should receive.
19 And now, my beloved brethren, after ye have gotten into this strait and narrow path, I would ask if all is done? Behold, I say unto you, Nay; for ye have not come thus far save it were by the word of Christ with unshaken faith in him, relying wholly upon the merits of him who is mighty to save.
20 Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life.
21 And now, behold, my beloved brethren, this is the way; and there is none other way nor name given under heaven whereby man can be saved in the kingdom of God. And now, behold, this is the doctrine of Christ, and the only and true doctrine of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, which is one God, without end. Amen. (2 Nephi 31)
As you walk the path, God will teach you more about himself:
Behold, I say unto you, that the good shepherd doth call you; yea, and in his own name he doth call you, which is the name of Christ; and if ye will not hearken unto the voice of the good shepherd, to the name by which ye are called, behold, ye are not the sheep of the good shepherd. (Alma 5:38)
Surrendering to God doesn’t just mean you agree to your present understanding of him, but that you will continue to obey him as he teaches you more about himself, yourself, and the world he created. Commonly, people make the mistake of agreeing to enter the path but not to progress onward. They limit God to their original understanding of him—an understanding that is severely incomplete and, in many ways, incorrect. Remember, anyone’s starting understanding of God is at best devoid of all the lessons about him that can only be learned through the Holy Ghost. If you limit your future obedience to your present understanding, you are necessarily limiting your progress with God to your present limited understanding of him.
Don’t expect God to conform to your ideas about him or about reality. Don’t limit him to fulfilling your desires in the ways you imagine them being fulfilled. Those who limit what they will do for God limit what God can do for them. If you limit him in any way by resisting or refusing his invitations to you, those limits will translate to poorer outcomes than you otherwise would have had access to.
A significant portion of what he will teach you along the way is how difficult and dark much of life is. As he reveals more of reality to you, you will have to decide whether or not you still want to obey him, even as it requires more faith and more trust in him to do so.
Those who faithfully continue in this path until they die will obtain eternal life:
And whosoever doeth this, and keepeth the commandments of God from thenceforth, the same will remember that I say unto him, yea, he will remember that I have said unto him, he shall have eternal life, according to the testimony of the Holy Spirit, which testifieth in me. (Alma 7:16)
15 And I heard a voice from the Father, saying: Yea, the words of my Beloved are true and faithful. He that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved.
16 And now, my beloved brethren, I know by this that unless a man shall endure to the end, in following the example of the Son of the living God, he cannot be saved. (2 Nephi 31)
Unfortunately, very few choose to enter into and walk along this path:
Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. (Matthew 7:14)
The intended process in life is that we conform ourselves to our initial understanding of God, qualifying for the receipt of the Holy Ghost, then progress onward as he teaches us more about himself through the Holy Ghost:
45 For the word of the Lord is truth, and whatsoever is truth is light, and whatsoever is light is Spirit, even the Spirit of Jesus Christ.
46 And the Spirit giveth light to every man that cometh into the world; and the Spirit enlighteneth every man through the world, that hearkeneth to the voice of the Spirit.
47 And every one that hearkeneth to the voice of the Spirit cometh unto God, even the Father.
50 And by this you may know [the whole world is] under the bondage of sin, because they come not unto me. (D&C 84)
The Holy Ghost is the necessary mechanism to convey the fullness of information about Jesus’ character, which is in turn necessary for us to emulate his example in our own character.