In the spring of 1820 Joseph Smith had an experience that would redefine the religious world. The learned and theologians of his day had proclaimed the heavens closed, the cannon complete, and that God had made known to mankind all that he intended to communicate. Joseph as he sought for religious affiliation observed the discord that existed among the various religious groups and developed a simple question. Whence is truth? He pondered this question and examined the religious sects in his area, and sought guidance from the Bible. Eventually he came across the verse James 1:5. He recounts his experience with this verse in the following way.

“While I was laboring under the extreme difficulties caused by the contests of these parties of religionists, I was one day reading the Epistle of James, first chapter and fifth verse, which reads: If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.Never did any passage of scripture come with more power to the heart of man than this did at this time to mine. It seemed to enter with great force into every feeling of my heart. I reflected on it again and again, knowing that if any person needed wisdom from God, I did; for how to act I did not know, and unless I could get more wisdom than I then had, I would never know; for the teachers of religion of the different sects understood the same passages of scripture so differently as to destroy all confidence in settling the question by an appeal to the Bible. At length I came to the conclusion that I must either remain in darkness and confusion, or else I must do as James directs, that is, ask of God. (Joseph Smith History 1:11-13)

Joseph resolved to follow James’ admonition and ask of God. He retired to a grove of trees near his home to offer up the desire of his heart to his maker. Upon doing so Joseph had a most amazing experience. God the Father and Jesus Christ appeared to him and responded to his question that truth in its fullness was no longer upon the earth. That time, greed, lust for power, and the unrighteousness of the people had corrupted the pure gospel taught by Christ and his Apostles, and that due to this unrighteousness the authority to speak and act in the name of Christ has been taken from the earth. Joseph was promised though that God would not leave him to wander in darkness but that truth would again be restored to the earth and that God had not abandoned His children.

This theophany proved to be the beginning of a flood of revelation from heaven proving that the heavens were not closed, and mankind was not cut off from their Maker, but that God had a message for the world that would once again be proclaimed authoritatively by His servants. This message is that absolute truth exists, and that God in His wisdom and grace will reveal it to the honest in heart who seek for it.
I have sought and found this truth from God, and see that His truth is all encompassing it touches all. For real truth can not be contradicted but must be part of one great whole, that defines all “things as they are, as they were, and as they are to come” (D&C 93:24)  It is my goal to better understand truth, and to use all the tools at my disposal to do so, be that science, reason, or revelation.