
[A review of the book can be found here.]
Not having all the answers is more blessed. (p. 29)
In our quest for faith, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is a tremendous and indispensable asset. But not because it offers all the answers to every possible question. Even—perhaps especially—within the restored gospel, there have to be some opportunities for us to question and doubt. They provide the opposition against which faith can grow and strengthen. In fact, Christ has deliberately withheld some things for this express purpose.1 He told Mormon, “I will try the faith of my people.”2
Hence, the Lord supports faith but does not demand it. He lets us discover substantial internal evidences in latter-day scriptures, but withholds incontrovertible proof. He gives us eleven witnesses of the gold plates, but leaves Book of Mormon geography uncertain. By not compelling us to believe, Christ offers us the chance to be “more blessed.” He told the Nephites who had seen him that “more blessed are they who shall believe in your words because that ye shall testify that ye have seen me.”3
And He told his doubting Apostle Thomas, “blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.”4 [Read more…] about Three Excerpts from “Answers Will Come: Trusting the Lord in the Meantime” by Shalissa Lindsay
Richard Lloyd Anderson (1926-2018) was a Professor Emeritus of Ancient Scripture at Brigham Young University, and senior research fellow at the Joseph Fielding Smith Institute for Latter-day Saint History at Brigham Young University. More information about him can be found 
A native of southern California, Daniel C. Peterson received a bachelor’s degree in Greek and philosophy from Brigham Young University (BYU) and, after several years of study in Jerusalem and Cairo, earned his Ph.D. in Near Eastern Languages and Cultures from the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA). Dr. Peterson is a professor of Islamic Studies and Arabic at BYU, where he has taught Arabic language and literature at all levels, Islamic philosophy, Islamic culture and civilization, Islamic religion, the Qur’an, the introductory and senior “capstone” courses for Middle Eastern Studies majors, and various other occasional specialized classes. He is the author of several books and numerous articles on Islamic and Latter-day Saint topics–including a biography entitled Muhammad: Prophet of God (Eerdmans, 2007)—and has lectured across the United States, in Europe, Australia, and New Zealand, and at various Islamic universities in the Near East and Asia. He served in the Switzerland Zürich Mission (1972-1974), and, for approximately eight years, on the Gospel Doctrine writing committee for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He also presided for a time as the bishop of a singles ward adjacent to Utah Valley University. Dr. Peterson is married to the former Deborah Stephens, of Lakewood, Colorado, and they are the parents of three sons.
FairMormon has a service where questions can be submitted and they are answered by volunteers. If you have a question, you can submit it at
Lisa Olsen Tait is a historian and writer specializing in women’s history at the Church History Library. She earned a PhD in American Literature and Women’s Studies from the University of Houston. Her dissertation and subsequent publications have focused primarily on gender and generational issues in late-nineteenth and early-twentieth century Mormondom. Her long-term project is a biography of Susa Young Gates. Her work portfolio currently includes writing (with Kate Holbrook) a history of the Young Women’s organization and serving as a review editor for Saints, the new history of the church. Lisa serves as co-chair of the Mormon Women’s History Initiative Team (MWHIT), an independent group that promotes research and sharing of Mormon women’s history among scholars and in the community at large. Lisa has four children and two dogs and lives in Highland.
Brittany A. Chapman Nash is a historian at the Church History Library of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She received a BA in Humanities from Brigham Young University and an MA in Victorian Studies from the University of Leicester. She specializes in nineteenth-century Mormon women’s history and is co-editor with Richard E. Turley Jr. of the seven-volume Women of Faith in the Latter Days series, which features the life writings of Latter-day Saint women. She serves on the executive committee of the Mormon Women’s History Initiative Team (MWHIT). She and her husband, Peter Nash, live in Salt Lake City.