2.22 Daily. Not in a Day.

In Matthew 5:13, Jesus calls us the salt of the earth, a bold reminder that our lives are meant to carry his flavor, his truth, and his love to the world. Join me each day to explore one verse of scripture and one thought, striving to stay full of savor and truly live as savory salt. Hello, my friends, great to have you with me.

Today let's be anxiously engaged in a good cause and bring to pass much righteousness. Today's going to be the last day of our Doctrine and Covenants Section 2 in Joseph Smith—History 1:27–65 reading. I know we're only going to do three days of it, but we're going to shift over the rest of this week and dive into our Book of Mormon readings, which are going to be from 1 Nephi chapters 9 through 12.

So today, bear with me as we dive in. It's not that I have less to share about Joseph Smith's story. It's just that I got to pick and choose.

And because I get to share these on a daily basis with you, I get to be the one to pick and choose. So I am shifting gears. That's how it's going to work.

Today, today we're going to look at Joseph Smith—History, chapter one, verse 53. And inside of that verse, just to give you a little bit of context of what's happening here. Joseph has visited now with Angel Moroni and he's been told that there are, there's an ancient record that he's going to need to translate.

And he sees kind of in his mind's eye sees kind of in the vision where he needs to go to see those. He has that vision and then he has gone out and talked to his dad about it. And his dad says, "Go and obey what the angel says to do." And so Joseph now has gone to the location.

He finds the place in his mind's eye, opens up, and then we have this box of contents here. And that's what 53 takes us into. Let's take a look and see what it says.

It says, "I made an attempt to take them out, but was forbidden by the messenger, and was again informed that the time for bringing them forth had not yet arrived. Neither would it until four years from that time. But he told me that I should come to that place precisely in one year from that time and that he would there meet me and that I should continue to do so until the time should come for obtaining the plates." Now, it's kind of interesting as we look at this one for me, I think we kind of forget the timeline that comes with the restoration here.

From Joseph's first vision to meeting Angel Moroni, we have this three-year span. So from 14-ish to 17-ish, he goes from first vision to nothing until Angel Moroni comes. And now what we find out is that this space from seeing Angel Moroni and seeing the plates for the first time, he's not even going to begin translating those.

He's not even going to get them into his possession for another four years. So this is quite a lengthy amount of time. And I think the lesson I pull from it is one that we talked about before on Savory Salt, but I think kind of hits a little bit different here: That the idea that growth for us happens daily, not in a day.

Joseph needed to focus on what it meant for him to grow and develop with a spiritual focus, with a focus on building the kingdom of God. Earl Nightingale said this decades ago, and you might be wondering, is it really just one hour of study? What if I study for 58 minutes?

And so the question I have for you today and our path for Savory Salt is where are you growing daily? If growth happens daily, and not in a day, what are you focused on? Where are you spending an hour a day in your life?

And if that is an area that you are not happy with, or if you would rather have an area of your life that you want to grow in and be better at, then take the time to do that. Joseph had to develop over years a focus in building the kingdom of God. And I think sometimes we think of Joseph Smith and we go, "Oh, wow, Joseph Smith, he just had a focus there?" No, he had to develop that focus.

And he did it over years of mentorship with the Angel Moroni. I think it's a lesson we can all take as well in our lives. What do you want to focus on?

What do you want to bring as an emphasis and a skill into your life? For me, it's a spiritual lens. I want to be better at feeling the Spirit, at living into the Spirit.

I want to be better at visions and dreams as Elder Holland has challenged us to look into. And that is a focus for me daily, but I understand also it's not going to happen in a day. My friends, you and I can do this.

Let's pick a focus, pick an area you want to develop, and begin your growth journey now. That's all for today, my friends. Lift up your hearts and rejoice. Cleave into the covenants you have made and together we will be savory salt.