The Restoration: Process vs. Event

I've often referred to the restoration of Christ's church as a sequence of events beginning in the sacred grove, culminating in the Kirtland temple. The restoration, I thought, was all God did in order for us to have everything we need for exaltation, including and especially the restoration of priesthood keys and authority. Though accurate, my understanding was incomplete.

The 9th Article of Faith states:

We believe all that God has revealed, all that He does now reveal, and we believe that He will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God. (emphasis added)

The principle of a continuing restoration was taught explicitly in my Preparation for Marriage class, and implicitly in my two religion classes--reinforced by their referencing of non-LDS sources. God reveals to us, collectively and individually, the truths that we need for exaltation line upon line and precept upon precept. If the restoration of Christ's church was an event, why would we need continuing revelation?

Viewing the restoration of the gospel as a process explains more accurately how the church, an organization headed by a perfect being, can iterate (e.g., go from missionary discussions to Preach My Gospel) and how semantic errors are acknowledged and corrected over time (e.g., "free agency" abandoned in favor of "moral agency.") Also, if we believe that all essential truths were restored in an event, we're less open to ideas that had their advent outside of that event (e.g., ideas with secular "origins.")

The distinctions between a process and an event are subtle, but significant. They're also, to me, epiphanic, so some pondering is required.