In the time before Creation, before so many of the children of God turned away from their Father and walked knowingly into the dark, there was a choosing, a sifting, a contest of ideas and a battle for souls. In that great premortal war, each of us learned the first lessons of life: The great ones may fall. The wicked can change. The weak and the foolish can become the strongest of all. And the battle between good and evil is the same regardless of the time or place.

Colonel Silas Ford has everything he could want: a beautiful wife, a successful career as a fighter pilot, and a contented life. But his world is about to come crashing down. When failing eyesight grounds him, Silas is reassigned to the Pentagon’s enigmatic All-Domain Anomalies Resolution Office, tasked with investigating Unidentified Aerial Phenomena or UAP. As a seasoned pilot, Silas has encountered aircraft that defy modern technology and the laws of physics, transforming his skepticism into a reluctant belief in extraterrestrial life.

Pillar of Light—the first volume in the series The Work and the Glory—begins the epic story of the Benjamin Steed family. In the 1820s they move from Vermont to Palmyra Township in upstate New York in search of better farmland. There they meet a young man named Joseph Smith and are thrown into the maelstrom of conflict and controversy that swirls around him. Did he really see the Father and the Son in a pillar of light? Has he truly been visited by angelic messengers? What is all this talk about gold plates and new scripture? In short, is he a prophet and seer or a monumental fraud?

In our rapidly changing world, our need for spiritual guidance has never been greater. As we seek to discern truth amidst the clamor of dissenting voiced in order to worship, minister, and lead our families effectively, we rely on the Spirit's help every day.

91 year-old Ira Levinson is kept concious after a car wreck by visions of his late wife, Ruth, who recounts stories of their lifetime together. A few miles away, at a local rodeo, Sophia Danko, a senior at Wake Forest, meets a young cowboy named Luke. Ira and Ruth. Sophia and Luke. Two couples who have little in common. Yet their lives will converge with unexpected poignancy, reminding us all that even the most difficult decisions can yield extraordinary journeys: beyond despair, beyond death, to the farthest reaches of the human heart.