A Talk on CD:Feeding Consuela - How to Stop Seemingly Harmless Temptations Before They Grow into Poisonous Addictions, by Dennis Gaunt

Product Details:

• Title: Feeding Consuela - How to Stop Seemingly Harmless Temptations Before They Grow into Poisonous Addictions
  
• Presenter: Dennis Gaunt
• Audio CD
• Publisher: Deseret Audio Library (2012)
• ASIN: B00824G2JE

CD/Talk Description :

Consuela the spider is hungry, and when a young man decides to make her his pet and feed her every day, she grows bigger and bigger. But Consuela the spider is also venomous, and the danger she represents grows bigger and bigger as well.

This engaging talk on CD explains how Satan's temptations—like Consuela the spider—often start out small, but grow bigger and bigger in our lives the more we feed them. Using examples from the scriptures and real life, author Dennis Gaunt gives us advice to help us avoid becoming entangled in Satan's web of lies, and how to use the Atonement to remove Satan's venom from our lives. 

My Review:
 When Dennis asked me to review his new CD on talk, I knew exactly what I was going to do. I went to his target audience first. I let my teenage daughter, niece and nephews listen to the talk. Getting their feedback meant a lot to me. They really liked what Dennis had to say. They thought that he was witty and easy to listen to. My daughter said, "When I listened to this talk, I felt the spirit, and I realized things about myself that I could change in my life." She also said, "This is a talk that I would listen to again, and again." Touchdown! 

The story of the spider Consuela vividly stays in your mind for a long time. This is a true story from one of Dennis's friends. On his mission they found a spider outside of their door. They decided to feed it and make it their pet. It grew bigger, and bigger. One day someone came along and asked the question of why they were feeding something that could potentially harm them? They were tempting fate and not seeing the danger that was right in front of their eyes. Dennis Gaunt relates the spider to addictive things in our own lives. Satan puts these temptations into our lives and we feed them every day, and they get bigger and bigger without us even realizing it. He talks about every day things in our lives that can  trap us, like gaming, pornography, the internet, drugs, alcohol, money etc. Anything addicting that takes control over our lives, is Satan's tool keeping us from growing closer to God and doing good things. 

The wonderful thing is, Dennis gives many ideas of how we can overcome these addictions. With the help of our church leaders, and the atonement, we can free ourselves from the grasp of addiction. I love the way that this talk is presented with a lot of humor and hope. Dennis is an engaging speaker that draws you in with his great storytelling. I knew that this talk had hit home when my family started saying things like,"Oh, that is one of my Consuelas I need to work on," and "Watch out for that Consuela." 

I highly recommend this talk to all families, especially those who have teenagers. Adults will also find so many things that can help them. As one of the teenagers said, who listened to the talk, "When is his next CD coming out?"...I have to agree!

You can purchase Feeding Consuela at Amazon or at Deseret Book.

About Dennis Gaunt:

Dennis Gaunt has been an avid student of the scriptures for as long as he can remember. He studied history and English at the University of Utah. He taught seminary and institute in CES for a number of years, and currently serves as the Gospel Doctrine teacher in his ward. He and his wife, Natalie, live in Sandy, Utah. He is the author of the book, Bad Guys of the Book of Mormon.