"Other Records"

In Doctrine and Covenants, Section 9, Oliver Cowdery was told that he wasn't going to continue to help translate The Book of Mormon, but the Lord told him that he'd get otther opportunities: "behold, other records have I, that I will give unto you power that you may assist to translate" (D&C 9:2). The first footnote on this verse says that the part about "other records" alludes to the Joseph Smith Translation and The Book of Abraham, but this verse also reminds me of the existence of scripture that we don't currently have.

Naturally, there are the 116 lost manuscript pages from the first part of The Book of Mormon. Also, Mormon's compilation of The Book of Mormon involved some summary and curation. There are undoubtedly some Nephite prophets whose writings we don't have. Similarly, there are countless Old Testament Era prophets whose writings didn't make it into the King James Version of The Bible. And goodness knows how many prophets there were all over the globe whose prophecies and counsel was never written down or whose writings were never found.

And that's only the writings that may already have existed. Only God knows how many years this Earth has left and how many prophets will inhabit the Earth during those remaining years. There were and are "other records" that already came, and the are still "other records" which are yet to come. This includes our records of the General Conferences that took place twice a year for decades and will continue to take place far into the foreseeable future.

When we add up every revelation that has ever been or will ever be given in the history of the world (past, present, and future), there's no way that all that revelation could fit in one book or be read in one lifetime. There are countless "other records" that did exist, that do exist, and that will exist, beyond that which we currently have in our Standard Works. We believe in ongoing revelation and that God will reveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God, perhaps even some things that have remained hidden since before this church was formed.

We already have many records, and I'm grateful for them, but I'm also excited by the possibility, even the certainty, that we will be given even more.