Preface
In October 2015, my most ambitious writing project appeared on bookstore
shelves. The publication of The Book of Mormon Is True made me happy.
About the same day the book was available, I found a lump. On November fifth, I
was diagnosed with recurrent breast cancer. Two surgeries, four rounds of
chemotherapy, and thirty radiation treatments followed. It was rough. My first
breast cancer experience had been nineteen years earlier. It was hard then, and
being nineteen years older made it even harder the second time around.
The reason for sharing is to tell you that during this year of health
challenges, in small bits of time, I was blessed to have a new book idea to
work on that occupied by mind and buoyed my spirits. Mostly, I researched and
wrote lying on my back with my laptop on my bent knees. This new book was
antibiotic to my soul, rooting out the gloom that accompanies serious illness
and treatment. I thank Heavenly Father for giving me an exciting idea that
produced a tangible positive. I feel truly blessed. However, I must confess
that I have no idea how the book got written. I didn’t spend enough time on it,
and my brain was frying in chemo juices and swimming in antibiotics. The
process and result have been miraculous to me.
I thank my son, Daniel, for the idea. I thank my husband, Richard, who read and
critiqued every chapter. He also helped me research by reading to me hour after
hour, day after day, month after month when I had not energy to do so on my
own. I thank our daughter, Christine, whose expertise improved the manuscript
in readability and organization. Both encouraged me during the hardest times to
keep going. I thank my daughter-in-law, Shonna, for kindly correcting grammar
and checking scripture citations. Then my friend and editor of The Book of Mormon Is True, Stacey
Turner, did the final edit. (Obviously, I needed a lot of help.) It has been
quite the ride.
The joy of the project has been to discover more and more evidence that Joseph
Smith is a prophet by identifying unique vocabularies and finding doctrinal
connections in the diverse elements of the Pearl of Great Price. The evidences
surprised me because the Pearl of Great Price is such a short book—really more
like a long pamphlet—and there are more than just a few evidences. They are
conclusive to the point of leaving naysayers scratching their heads in a
fruitless effort to explain away the proofs.
It is my
privilege to offer these evidences to you, and I do so with my love and
testimony.
(c) Marilynne Todd Linford, 2018
(c) Marilynne Todd Linford, 2018
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