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