Review of, Choose Higher Ground, by Henry B. Eyring

Product Details

• Title: Choose Higher Ground
• Author: Henry B. Eyring
• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Deseret Book Company (2013)
• ISBN-10: 1609074637
• ISBN-13: 978-1609074630
• FTC FYI: I received a hard copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. 

Product Description

When a young Henry B. Eyring would complain that things were hard, his mother would advise him, “If you are on the right path, it will always be uphill.” To choose the Lord’s way is to choose higher ground.

"The Lord is anxious to lead us to the safety of higher ground," writes President Eyring, "away from the path of physical and spiritual danger. His upward path will require us to climb." In this remarkable book, he explains some of the ways in which we will accomplish that upward journey, including starting from a strong foundation, learning to help others, and finding strength in adversity.

"Let us do whatever is required to qualify for the Holy Ghost as our companion," President Eyring urges, "and then let us go forward fearlessly so that we will be given the powers to do whatever the Lord calls us to do." Filled with a revered leader's clear insights and sound counsel, Choose Higher Ground helps readers gain access to the power promised by the Lord to all His faithful disciples in the latter days.

 Excerpt from Choose Higher Ground
-Trust in God-Then Go and Do

 

Such trust in God can bless communities as well as families. I grew up in a small town in New Jersey. Our branch of the Church had fewer than twenty members who regularly attended.

Among them was a woman—an older, very humble convert to the Church. She was an immigrant who spoke with a heavy Norwegian accent. She was the only member of the Church in her family and the only member of the Church in the city in which she lived.

Through my father, who was the branch president, the Lord called her as the president of the branch Relief Society. She had no handbook to tell her what to do. No other member of the Church lived near her. She only knew that the Lord cared for those in need and the few words in the motto of the Relief Society: “Charity never faileth.”

It was in the depths of what we now call the Great Depression. Thousands were out of work and homeless. So, feeling she had her errand from the Lord, she asked her neighbors for old clothes. She washed the clothes, pressed them, and put them in cardboard boxes on her back porch. When men without money needed clothes and asked her neighbors for help, they would say, “Go to the house down the street. There is a Mormon lady living there who will give you what you need.”

The Lord did not run the city, but He changed a part of it for the better. He called one tiny woman—alone—who trusted Him enough to find out what He wanted her to do and then did it. Because of her trust in the Lord, she was able to help in that city hundreds of Heavenly Father’s children in need.

That same trust in God can bless nations. I have come to know that we can trust God to fulfill the promise of Alma that “behold, the Lord doth grant unto all nations, of their own nation and tongue, to teach his word, yea, in wisdom, all that he seeth fit that they should have” (Alma 29:8).

God does not rule in nations, but He is mindful of them. He can and does place people in positions of influence who want what is best for the people and who trust in the Lord (see 2 Chronicles 36:22–23; Ezra 1:1–3; Isaiah 45:1, 13).

I have seen it in my travels across the world. In a city of more than ten million people, I spoke to the Latter-day Saints gathered by the thousands in conference. It was held in a large sports arena.

Before the meeting began, I noticed a handsome young man sitting on the front row. He was surrounded by others who, like him, were better dressed than most of those around them. I asked the General Authority of the Church near me who the men were. He whispered that it was the mayor of the city and his staff.

As I walked to my car after the meeting, I was surprised to see the mayor waiting to greet me, flanked by his staff. He stepped forward, extended his hand to me, and said, “I thank you for coming to our city and to our country. We are grateful for what you do to build up your people. With such people and such families, we could create the harmony and the prosperity we want for our people.”

I saw in that moment that he was one of the honest in heart placed by God in power among His children. We are a tiny minority among the citizens of that great city and nation. The mayor knew little of our doctrine and few of our people. Yet God had sent him the message that Latter-day Saints, under covenant to trust God and His authorized servants, would become a light to his people.

I know that the servants of God whom we sustain as prophets, seers, and revelators are called of God to give messages to His children. The Lord has said of them: “What I the Lord have spoken, I have spoken, and I excuse not myself; and though the heavens and the earth pass away, my word shall not pass away, but shall all be fulfilled, whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same” (Doctrine and Covenants 1:38).

You show your trust in Him when you listen with the intent to learn and repent and then you go and do whatever He asks. If you trust God enough to listen for His message in every sermon, song, and prayer you hear in your Church meetings, you will find it. And if you then go and do what He would have you do, your power to trust Him will grow, and in time you will be overwhelmed with gratitude to find that He has come to trust you.

My Review

 General Conference Weekend is the perfect time to review Choose Higher Ground. This new book by President Henry B. Eyring, First Counselor in the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is a book full of words of hope and promise.  

Some of the main ideas discussed in this book are divided in these sections:

• A Strong Foundation 
• Personal Growth Through Helping Others
• Strength in Adversity  
• Power to Live a Consecrated Life  
• Help for the Last Days

 The main feeling from this book, is one that we can receive power from on high to live each day drawing closer to the Lord. With the choices we make, we can either draw closer to The Savior or pull away. 

"Stay close to the church if you want your faith in God to grow. And as it grows, so will your ability to claim the promise you were given that you can receive the gifts of the Spirit."(page 195)

Pres. Eyring has such a beautiful way with words. He knows how to directly get his message across to the reader, but doing so filled with love. You will be encouraged to do better each day in your life, and not procrastinate. Pres.Eyring said...

"The thought 'Someday I Will' can be a thief of the opportunities of time and the blessings of eternity...Amulek warns that procrastinating your repentance and service can cause the Spirit of the Lord to withdraw from you." (page 3)

 One of my favorite chapters in this book was entitled, "Walk in the Light". It is all about our journey here on Earth. Pres.Eyring wrote of how we will have many hard times in this life. This journey wasn't meant to be easy. I was lifted up by these words...

"I testify that by the Spirit of Christ and by the Holy Ghost, you may walk confidently in whatever difficulties will come. Because you are so valuable, some of your trials may be severe. You need never be discouraged or afraid. The way through difficulties has always been prepared for you, and you will find it if you exercise faith. You must have faith to pray. You must have faith to ponder the word of God. You must have faith to do those things and go to those places which invite the Spirit of Christ and the Holy Ghost. " (page 33)

 Whatever may be happening in your life right now, I know that you will be strengthened as you read the pages of Choose Higher Ground. Henry B. Eyring's words were influenced by the Spirit. Listen to his counsel, and I know that you will feel more happiness and peace in your life. 

You can purchase Choose Higher Ground HERE at Deseret Book.

About the Author

Henry B. Eyring was called in 2008 as First Counselor in the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He has served as a General Authority since 1985, when he was called to serve in the Presiding Bishopric; he was sustained as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in 1995 and as Second Counselor in the First Presidency in 2007.

President Eyring holds a bacherlor’s degree from the University of Utah and master’s and PhD degrees from Harvard University. He worked as an associate professor at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and was president of Ricks College from 1971 to 1977. He also served as commissioner of Church Education. He and his wife, Kathleen Johnson Eyring, are the parents of six children and grandparents of twenty-eight.