The Slow Work of God: What the Past Can Teach Us about Loss, Grace, and Conversion

by Rachel Cope

God knows that mortality can be impossibly hard, and He knows that seeing clearly takes time. His work- "the immortality and eternal life" of His children (Moses 1:39) - is thus a slow work, a gracious work, a work that gives us time and space to sit with our suffering, to lament our losses, to heal our hearts and minds.

In The Slow Work of God, Rachel Cope shows us what the conversion process looks like through a careful study of the Doctrine and Covenants and the spiritual journeys of courageous women and men featured in and around it - people like Lucy Mack Smith, Joseph Smith, Elizabeth Stewart, Nancy Lampson Holbrook, E. G. Jones, and Ruda Martins. This exploration helps us understand what each of these individuals felt as they encountered death, loss, failure, abuse, disappointment, injustice, war, and a pandemic. It highlights their hope in the face of despair, their transformation from brokenness to wholeness, and their redemption and conversion in the context of painful loss. In studying the lives and faith of these real people, we can learn how to make meaning out of devastation and discover that loss and suffering carve out a place for conversion and healing.

Connect with Latter-day Saints from generations past to consider what the Doctrine and Covenants can offer us today on our path to restore our relationships with ourselves, others, and the divine - our path to becoming wholly converted to God.

Genres: Lds, Church

192 pages, Paperback

Published March 3, 2025

Reviews

[Mara · Rating 4 out of 5]

4/5 stars - The historical context in this book is absolutely lovely, I really enjoyed hearing new stories especially those of historical LDS women and some stories / poems outside of the church. Rachel has a beautiful point of view on conversion and her lifelong pondering on the subject is evident. My favorite chapters were 1, 7, 8, and 10. Some of the middle chapters dragged for me, but so can the conversion process so fair enough.

[Tamhack · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have always felt my spiriatual progression has been at a standstill or even moving backwards. This book opened my eyes at what I should be concentrating and look at my progression spiritually as the way so many areas in our current life expected to move--instantly. To remind myself that anything worth developing takes time and effort.

This is a book of examples of spiritual conversion and the process that some people went through.
pg. 8. The author describes conversion after study several people's life as "Grace. Process. Time. The slow work of God."

pg 2. "...historian D. Bruce Hindmarsh's description of conversion as the process of "recovery of right relationship with God."

pg 11 "Though some forms of conversion can occur in a single instance, true conversion-the shift away from the natural woman or man, the process of becoming "new creatures" in Christ--unfolds over the course of a lifetime (see Mosiah 3:19, 2 Corinthians 5:17). Converting, then, is a daily decision. It depends upon divine grace and overlaps with repentance, healing, consecrating, receiving personal revelation, and engaging in the quest for sanctification. Conversion is the process through which we recover, restore, and renew our relationship with God; conversion means truly embracing our identity as children of Heavenly Parents."

pg 63 "Since everything everyone has is a gift from God, people should see themselves as stewards of the blessings, opportunities, experiences, and gifts they have been given."

pg 91 "The human experience is a spiritual pilgrimage, a journey toward conversion, an effort to develop a consecrated heart and mind, a commitment to developing a sanctified nature- the process of becoming a Zion people."

pg 165 " Although many people tend to think of conversion as an event-a vision, an awakening, a moment of power and clarity-the conversion narratives I had been poring over reflected a lifetime of spiritual growth. As I read countless women's personal writings, it became clear that conversion does not happen in an instant. Nor is the conversion process averse to periods of doubt, struggle, despair, or suffering. Rather, conversion is the spiritual journey mortals take as they strive to unite with God. It is a path that involves downs as well as ups, questions as well as answers, discouragement as well as hopefulness. Conversion happens over time, capturing a person's slow-sometimes even temporarily stagnant-growth in grace. It is a process that requires heart and mind. Indeed, conversion is the continuous work of God taking place within the souls of His children."

Summary: https://www.ldsliving.com/a-surgeons-...
In The Slow Work of God, Rachel Cope shows us what the conversion process looks like through a careful study of the Doctrine and Covenants and the spiritual journeys of courageous women and men featured in and around it. This exploration helps us understand what each of these individuals felt as they encountered death, loss, failure, abuse, disappointment, injustice, war, and a pandemic. It highlights their hope in the face of despair, their transformation from brokenness to wholeness, and their redemption and conversion in the context of painful loss. In studying the lives and faith of these real people, we can learn how to make meaning out of devastation and discover that loss and suffering carve out a place for conversion and healing.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book explores examples in church history of the slow work of God, which includes conversion in individual lives and collectively in Zion. Rachel defines conversion as the process of recovery of right relationship with God and she describes what the process of relational recovery looks like. It’s not an event, but a slow process, a pilgrimage that includes spiritual events and suffering, joy and sorrow. Through this journey we not only recover our relationship with God, but also our divine self and identity. I agree with her assessment that most miracles are manifest in God’s slow work of change, transformation, and conversion. Anyone who has witnessed this kind of change has seen the hand of God. Lastly, I appreciated the reminder that when answers don’t come immediately, God can still infuse us with his love, peace, and assurances to help us in the waiting. I love to think about his slow work among all His children, and also His slow work that is happening within me.

Chapter 1
-Lucy waited 20 years for an answer to her prayers
-“We often think of a visionary as someone who has a clear picture, but Lucy’s own story as well as her insights into Joseph’s story shows us that a visionary is also someone who slowly comes to sense that there is something more. Someone who catches glimpses of possibilities in the shadows. Someone who sees the outlines of things that might be. Someone who knows something without really knowing the details of that something. To be a visionary is to sense what might be possible. Something beautiful, something purposeful, something distant, but within reach. It might involve a specific life calling, a special role one has the capacity to fulfill, a difference one senses she might be able to make.”

Chapter 4
-Consecration centers on the two greatest commandments: loving God and loving humanity
-Consecration is both a principle and a process-Maxwell
-“Consecration…serves as both the fruit of conversion and the means to ongoing conversion.”

Chapter 6
-“Zion cannot be Zion without the temple. Zion cannot be Zion without the restoration of covenant relationships. Zion cannot be Zion until the people change. Zion cannot be Zion without conversion, the complete transformation of heart and mind.”

Chapter 10
-“Conversion is not just a series of ascending spiritual experiences. It is a slow process that cannot be separated from suffering and even disillusionment and challenges of faith. It is a journey that requires multiple experiences of reconversion that slowly foster a deepening of faith.”

[Megan · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was a short book and I loved the poem it was based on, although you don't find it until the middle of the book. I suggest skipping the book and reading the poem here: https://alifesworkmovie.com/2015/05/p...

The author weaves together some stories of latter-day saint pioneers with her own dramatic health story to make some points that God's work is slow and hard to see when we're in it.

She made some interesting points, and I made a connection with reading about women watching their children suffer from physical disease without being able to do anything about it to my own experience of watching one child in particular suffer with mental health issues.

However, I felt her stories of women didn't center the women... The women were always someone's mother or someone's wife. I've been very slowly reading Laurel Thatcher Ulrich's book A House Full of Females and it is such a stark contrast to talk about women as the main character in their own story, even if they didn't leave their own record or even if the sources used were from men's perspective.

Also, the author is so caught up in a sanitized, in-the-box view of things that reinforces the LDS church's primacy that I found very difficult to swallow. I learned some things I didn't know about Lucy Mack Smith - I didn't realize she'd lost 7 of her 8 sons or that Samuel Smith died very close to Joseph & Hyrum... the author made it sound like all three of them died and since I knew Samuel hadn't been at Carthage with Joseph & Hyrum, I went digging to find out what his story was... He died a month later - after claiming the right to oversee the church in the absence of Joseph & Hyrum and there were allegations he was poisoned... possibly with Brigham Young's knowledge and involvement... This was her general approach to anything uncomfortable - just gloss over it and pretend it never happened even if it means being misleading about what happened. Talk about Lucy and Emma and just stop talking about them before you have to address that they didn't come to Utah with Brigham Young and the rest of the Saints. Talk about the racism of the priesthood ban in the past tense as if everything has been resolved and there are no lasting issues. The church's essay on race solved it all.

Apparently you have to make ethical compromises to be a historian for the church even when writing your own book. It's all about reinforcing the church (not God, not Christ, not the truth) at all costs.

[Catherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author shares some personal health struggles that have taken a long time to heal. Her body is still not how it used to be. She compares this long struggle to other times in our lives when our trials seem long, and we wonder where relief is. A lot of things that stretch us, including conversion to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, can feel slow at times. But these things are for our good. They give us compassion, knowledge, empathy, love, and the list could go on and on. I thought the book shared a really wonderful message.

[Summers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Has some very good points, connecting several dots in a great way. I probably got more out of the first few chapters and the last few chapters, but the middle was ok too.
A few good quotes:
"... conversion is the spiritual journey mortals take as they strive to unite with God." Note, "journey," not a one-time event.
"... pilgrimage...mortals draw closer to God as they make sense of loss, suffering and devastation, as well as hope, joy, and success."

[Swhe641200 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Libby. When I first started reading this book. I was not sure what was to be accomplished. But what’s powerful message it spun. It is truly conversion drop by drop that gives us the hope we can get there. So much insight into hard things that happen to good people. I have always believed it is not what happens to. Us but how we handle it. This is certainly true Thur out this book plus so much more. The desires of all our hearts is to truly be converted to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked many of the points she made about how our trials and struggles make us stronger and can help us grow closer to God. However... I didn't agree with all of her ideas, especially in chapter 10. Just being honest. :)

[Heidi Eastman Turner · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't know this would be a companion read to the srudy of the Doctrine and Covenants. we offer found so many great stories from the history of the church. There's a lot of reassurance and Hope

[Becca Osborn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great reminder of the timing in all things.

[Kristy W · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some great insights from her own life and perspectives from LDS Church history, although she got a little wordy, circuitous, and repetitive at times.

[M Summ · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was interesting. Felt like writing it helped the author do some reflection and healing.

[Darla · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5. The best parts were her personal story.

[Sharon Wheeler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Libby. Read Good book.

[Leslie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really loved this book. I learned so much and felt so inspired throughout!

[megan palfreyman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved her comparisons of the restoration!