I had nearly all the pages turned down

 This post is part of the General Conference Odyssey. This week covers the Sunday Morning Session of the October 1990 Conference.

President Monson quoted my great-great-great-grandfather in his talk! I love this description of Robert Gardner's testimony, and it makes me want to live so he can be proud of me like I'm proud of him!

Robert Gardner describes the day of their baptism: “We went about a mile and a half into the woods to find a suitable stream. We cut a hole through ice eighteen inches thick. My brother William baptized me. … I was confirmed while sitting on a log beside the stream. …

“I cannot describe my feelings at the time and for a long time afterwards. I felt like a little child and was very careful of what I thought or said or did lest I might offend my Father in Heaven. Reading the Scriptures and secret prayer occupied my leisure time. I kept a pocket Testament constantly with me. When something on a page impressed me supporting Mormonism, I turned down a corner. Soon I could hardly find a desired passage. I had nearly all the pages turned down. I had no trouble believing the Book of Mormon. Everytime I took the book to read I had a burning testimony in my bosom of its truthfulness.”

Once someone in stake conference told a story about some pages getting ripped out of his Book of Mormon by his kids. Then he asked us, "Which part of the Book of Mormon could you live without?" I've thought about that a lot as we've read through it this year, and my conclusion is that I can't live without any of it! Like my grandfather, I love every page! Each part is precious and necessary. In this week of Thanksgiving, I'm so thankful to have in my life the wisdom, insight, power, and spirit of this "most correct book"! Each time I read it, I become more amazed at the prophet Mormon's skill in gathering source material, weaving it together, and adding masterful editorial comments to support his overarching purpose. And he succeeds: through the Book of Mormon's teachings, I have come to know my Savior Jesus Christ, and to desire to know Him better still.

Other posts in this series:

The church is called by its name—by Jan Tolman