The Search of a Lifetime

So, this story begins many years ago, but the end happened very recently so that's why it appears in my blog today. You see, when I was serving as an LDS missionary I set a goal to read the entire standard works of the LDS church. (The Old Testament, The New Testament, The Book of Mormon, The Doctrine and Covenants and The Pearl of Great Price) I decided that not only did I want to read them all, but I wanted to study them all, so I purchased all of the study guides that are put out by the Church Education System. I really enjoyed the additional commentary that the study guides had to offer, it gave me a much deeper understanding of what I was reading, and many times there was commentary associated with every 5 or 6 verses.

I went through the many study guides and was thoroughly pleased. But I was most excited to obtain the Book of Mormon study guide and see what it had to offer. Unfortunately, it was quite thin and had very little to say compared to the other books. I was sorely disappointed. I figured the Book of Mormon guide would be the best, since it should be the book of scripture that all Latter Day Saints are studying most thoroughly. Well, I went through it and did learn some new things, but felt there was something lacking.

Later on, I was serving in Minot, North Dakota when I went into the church library there, and found a Book of Mormon study guide that was about 4 times thicker than the one I had. I realized I must have just bought the wrong one. With great joy I began searching to see if I could buy one from the church. In my search I discovered a great travesty. It seems that the good version was printed in the 70's and early 80's but it had such a delicious wealth of information that people read the guide rather than the Book of Mormon itself. This was a concern for the brethren so they decided to print a lesser study guide so as to not distract people from studying the actual Book of Mormon.

I was a very sad boy. I decided I would begin a lifelong quest to acquire my own copy of the study guide. I also promised myself that it would merely be a study aid and that I would continue to study the scriptures themselves. Later, when I married Robyn I commissioned her with the quest of finding me a copy as well. I figured with both of us on the job one of us had to succeed.

Well, that brings us to last week. I was telling a friend of my quest and he decided to check ebay. I had obviously checked ebay before, but this time the results were better. I was actually able to buy a copy that was still in fairly good condition. Isn't it beautiful?


To prove to you how superior this one is, I'd like to show you the newer version side by side.
Don't you feel sad in your heart about all the information that was lost in the newer version? Well, have no fear. All that information will soon be transferred to my brain. You're all welcome to come over to my house and share in the knowledge. But you can't borrow the book, it's much too precious.