RYAN C. JENKINS has been a student of the life and teachings of Joseph Smith for nearly 25 years. After obtaining his Master of Education from Weber State University in 2004, Ryan began writing opinion pieces for Northern Utah newspapers on family, freedom, politics, and religion. He was a blogger on the subject of faith for two years; many of his posts were featured on realclearreligion.org. He was also an associate editor for Great American Documents for Latter-Day Saint Families (2012). Professionally, he has experience in business, public relations, and religious education. He has been teaching and writing for 18 years. Ryan and his wife Melissa have six children. They reside in Columbia, Missouri.