A Final Note from the Author

We have sifted through a lot of information—facts, theories, hopes, projections. Much of this information has been substantiated and corroborated, while some is simply speculation based on indirect evidence. And other ideas in this book fall somewhere in between these two spectrums. For example, if I were a court witness on the stand, and I were asked, “Mr. Ballard, did Abraham Lincoln read and/or utilize the Book of Mormon in any significant way?” I would have to answer, “I don’t know for certain, but the investigation into that question tells an amazing story and leaves us with important truths to ponder regarding America and our responsibility to God and country.”

For all that I don’t know, there is so much that I do. And I would be remiss not to share my final witness with you as we close out this study.

I know that Joseph Smith Jr. was a prophet of God. I know that as a seer and revelator he revealed many great, important, and true prophecies pertaining to the promised land of America, including prophecies regarding the American Civil War (see D&C 87, for example). I know that Abraham Lincoln was a man inspired by God to bring the nation closer to heaven and to healing. I know he invoked a covenant relationship between America and its Maker not unlike the national covenants invoked by righteous leaders in the Book of Mormon. And I know he was ultimately successful in his endeavor for America. I also know that Joseph Smith and Abraham Lincoln had very similar ideas about how the nation might be healed under the God of this land. I know that their shared solutions, particularly their well-documented and joint belief that national repentance would heal the land, are the same solutions we the people of America desperately need to apply today.

Finally, though Joseph and Abraham might have a fascinating connection through the Book of Mormon, perhaps the only real connection is that both men were being guided by the same Heavenly Father and were being given the same heavenly solutions to America’s challenges.

And if that were the only real connection here, then it was still a book worth writing and hopefully a book worth reading.