March 26, 2026, marked the 196th anniversary of the publication of the Book of Mormon. While much can be said about the book, let me summarize as one voice of many by saying, “It is true!” (I took this picture of an original edition of the Book of Mormon at the Duke University Special Collections Library when I spent almost two hours with the book.)
Jordan—In this area we believe the same thing. I think you are sensing just a slight difference in the focus of some of the teachings. Of course salvation is in Jesus Christ and Him only. If we truly have that new heart then our faith should be followed by faithfulness. I LOVE your sentence “The new heart we are given is what enables us to walk in good works and follow Gods commands.” I have always believed that and you stated it so well.
Okay…That’s it! I want names and I am coming out there!! THAT plus I am in the hopes that I can get you to autograph some of your original artwork!! That Ward is just a much yours as anyone else’s. Stay and keep being you. Be that leven that makes the ward better for other who will be coming in behind you!!
14/14 For those of you who have read this far—Thank You for sticking with me. If you are also doing the math, this coming January 13, 2027, will mark 52 years of buying my first Church books and 48 years of being on the steps, as a newlywed, at the Oakland Temple.
So in the end, I have come back full circle. The last five decades have been charted by that conversation with the missionaries just hours after my baptism. The sudden realization that there was SO much more to learn than what was in the missionary discussions became a catalyst and has driven me to studying and reading all the time.
What you may not realize is that my Twitter/X brand comes from the need to have an outlet to share what I am continually studying. The joy of the journey of discovery during personal study is greatly multiplied in being able to share. My initial followers have grown from the tens to the thousands. I am here to tell you that the joy would be just as filling if I was sharing with just the one. Twitter/X is the always-listening ear providing the avenue to share when I feel like I simply cannot contain the marvel, the awe, and that charge when the Spirit has just witnessed to me during that well honed habit of personal study.
Even now, after five decades, I still feel that surge of excitement when I discover a new book (New Acquisition Day) or insight that expands my understanding of the Gospel—whether it is the ongoing BYU New Testament Commentary series or even the possibility of long-rumored works like “These Three”. To this day, when I hear of certain works I never think “I want that”, but I am always driven by “I want to know that.”
The journey has never felt finished to me.
Thankfully there is no exit ramp.
I still have not reached the end of the horizon first opened to me by those missionaries.
There is always another horizon to explore.
I still feel what I felt when the Elders said, “We didn’t teach you everything.”