What has Spencer McBride, host of "The First Vision: A Joseph Smith Papers Podcast," learned from devoting years of his life to studying the Prophet's personal letters and journals? On today’s episode, McBride shares what led Joseph to the grove, how studying the First Vision can teach us about personal revelation, and how the farm boy's life has forever changed his own.

“When you look back on Church history and you see what God can do with ordinary people back then, it reminds you of what He can do with ordinary people in our own time.”

Show Notes 

3:25- A Once in a Lifetime Project
5:39- The Context of the Vision
8:05- “To Him, It Was About Salvation”
10:45- Shining Moments and Mistakes
13:50- An Ordinary Man Doing Something Incredible
17:46- An Intellectual and Emotional Pursuit
19:56- What the Restoration Is
21:38- Everyone Is At Some Point A Convert
25:40- How Teenage Worries and Anxieties Led To The Grove
27:25- “For good and evil among all nations”
29:27- Maintaining Faith While Exploring History
35:38- A Prolonged Process Vs. A Miraculous Moment
40:24- What Does It Mean To Be “All In” the Gospel of Jesus Christ?

Find the full episode transcript at ldsliving.com/allin.