J. Golden Kimball: The Remarkable Man behind the Colorful Stories By Kathryn Jenkins Gordon-Blog Tour Review and Giveaway

{Product Details}

• Title: J. Golden Kimball: The Remarkable Man behind the Colorful Stories
• Author: Kathryn Jenkins Gordon
• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Covenant Communications, Inc. (May 1, 2017)
• Genre: Non-Fiction
• ISBN-10: 1524403563
• FTC, FYI: I received a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

{Book Description}

He is J. Golden Kimball, and when he is gone, there will never be another. He was the original product, and when Providence had finished him, the pattern was lost and never found again.

LDS Church history is comprised of the accounts of multitudes of men and women who set the groundwork for the Church. And while there are plenty of ordinary individuals woven into that patchwork of history, there are also a handful of unique individuals who enliven the past and provide inspiration for the future. Known as the “swearing Apostle,” J. Golden Kimball is just such a character, one whose legacy of colorful language is surpassed only by his fierce loyalty to the gospel.

In J. Golden Kimball: The Remarkable Man Behind the Colorful Stories, readers are invited to come to better know this legendary man made famous by his unique humor and powerful testimony. From a chronicle of Kimball’s youthful adventures to the legacy he forged in his more than forty years as a General Authority, gear up for a rollicking ride through the life of one of the liveliest servants of the Lord.

{My Review}

I was very excited to read and review J.Golden Kimball: The Remarkable Man Behind the Colorful Stories. You see, my father's two favorite apostles were J. Golden Kimball and LeGrand Richards. We spent many a Family Home Evening reading stories about J. Golden Kimball and many that I read in this new book were ones I had heard before in my youth. My dad always said he loved J. Golden because he was real and down to earth. The thing that people will learn most from this book is that J. Golden Kimball was more than the "swearing apostle". He did use colorful language at times in his life, but he also was very straight to the point when it came to talking to and teaching the people of the church. He didn't hold back most of the time. 

I had not know of his hard life from growing up very poor after his father, Apostle Heber C. Kimball died, to him trying to start various businesses and losing money along the way. Author Kathryn Jenkins Gordon has such a wonderful way of telling Kimball's life story. She has a wonderful and fun voice as she teaches readers about the man and the many funny, sad and glorious things J. Golden did in his life. This book is not bogged down with just boring details of a man's life but is woven with much humor as Gordon shares about what truly made J. Golden Kimball remarkable. He had a powerful testimony of the gospel and could be very inspirational when needed.

"No man has any influence or power for good when angry."

• J. Golden Kimball

I had to share a few of my favorite stories from the book about J. Golden Kimball that I remember first hearing when my dad shared them with our family.

• There was to be an impressive tour given to some dignitaries from other lands. J. Golden Kimball was assigned to the tour as a guide. They first took a bus trip to the important historical sites in and around Salt Lake City. Brother Kimball would constantly remind the visitors how fast buildings were put up by the industrious Mormons. Every time he would say so, one of the dignitaries on the tour would say, “Oh, is that right? In our country we could do it in half the time.” J. Golden began to get madder and madder as the dignitary persisted to offer such comments. The tour was to end by having the bus drive around Temple Square. Then this dignitary asked, “What is that building there?” as he pointed at the Temple. “Damned if I know,” said J. Golden. “It wasn’t there yesterday.”

• On a snowy day two weeks before Christmas, he was crossing South Temple to the north door of ZCMI [a department store in downtown Salt Lake City]. He walked slowly to the middle of the ice-slick street.
  A woman burst out of the north door of ZCMI with a pile of packages in her hands and no clear line of sight.
  She plowed right into Golden.
  Packages flew everywhere. Golden was knocked down and the woman fell on top of him. Together they began to slide south towards the curb.
  All traffic stopped. Everyone stood entranced by this most unlikely sight.
  They slid until they hit the curb. It was then that the woman realized someone was beneath her. She brushed the snow away and exclaimed, “Oh, Brother Kimball, it’s you! Speak to me. Are you all right?”

      “It’s all right, Sister, but you’ll have to get off here,” he     painfully croaked. “This is as far as I go".

This book was such a delightful read that I read it in one sitting. It's only 150 pages and is the perfect book for a lazy, Saturday afternoon. Readers will learn so much from J. Golden Kimball's life, especially how to find and use humor while going through the trials of life. I highly recommend this book to all ages of readers from teens to adults. 

{Purchase HERE:}

{Meet Author Kathryn Jenkins Gordon}

Kathryn Jenkins Gordon is the managing editor at Covenant Communications. She is a writer and editor who has worked for forty-three years in corporate and internal communications.         

{TOUR SCHEDULE}

*May 24th:  

http://mybookaday.blogspot.com/,  

http://ldswritermom.blogspot.com/,  

http://lisaisabookworm.blogspot.com/,  

http://rockinbookreviews.com/

*May 25th: http://ldsandlovinit.blogspot.com/,  

http://heidi-reads.blogspot.com/,  

http://www.blogginboutbooks.com/

*May 26th:
http://booksaresanity.blogspot.com/,
http://thethingsilovemost.com/,
http://whynotbecauseisaidso.blogspot.com/,
http://literarytimeout.blogspot.com/

Here's a fun quote: “A sermon should be like a woman’s dress. Long enough to cover the essentials but short enough to keep your attention.” 
― J. Golden Kimball

{Enter the Giveaway!!}

 $25 Amazon Gift Card and a Free Copy of ’J. Golden Kimball’

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Christmas Greetings From The Presidents-Book Review

Product Details:

• Title: Christmas Greetings From The Presidents
• Hardcover: 96 pages
• Publisher: Shadow Mountain (September 27, 2016)
• Genre: Non-fiction
• ISBN-10: 1629722200
• ISBN-13: 978-1629722207
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 0.6 x 7.1 inches 
• FTC, FYI: I received a review copy from Shadow Mountain in exchange for an honest review. 

 
Book Details:
Christmas Greetings from the Presidents takes a comforting, nostalgic look back in time to when Americans viewed the annual Christmas message to the nation as the embodiment of a national spirit of unity and goodwill through both the best of times and the darkest days of national trials. The book, the first of its kind by a national publisher, chronicles presidential Christmas messages from the inception of this tradition in 1927 with Calvin Coolidge to President Obama. It provides the historical context of the era, rarely-seen archival photographs that offer us a window into the history unfolding at the time, and a sidebar “Did you Know” feature with trivia that often shines a new light on the personality of the president as he responds to unplanned Christmas-time events.

My Review: 
I've always loved reading about Presidents of The United States. I also love reading books about Christmas. This book was a perfect combination of both. This book is a collection of Christmas messages of at least one address from each president since Calvin Coolidge to now. This is not just reading a special Christmas message, but it's also an interesting walk through history as the president at the time spoke of what was happening currently in the country. 

In 1941 , President Franklin D. Roosevelt spoke to the country within weeks of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.This message is particularly poignant when President Roosevelt spoke of..."How can we meet and worship with love and with uplifted spirit and heart in a world at war, a world of fighting and suffering and death?" He went on to announce a day of prayer on January 1st 1942.It is a very beautiful speech.  

I also enjoyed reading President John F. Kennedy's speech in 1962 two months after the Cuban Missile Crisis. He spoke of peace after, "A year of peril when the peace had been sorely threatened, but a year when peril was faced and when reason ruled."

 

Sadly it was the last Christmas he'd light the Christmas tree as he was assassinated the next November. 

I really loved reading the address from President Ronald Reagan in 1981. It was a turbulent time in world politics as Communist Soviet Union, and the Polish Government itself was persecuting the Polish people and their Solidarity Movement. President Reagan addressed this issue  and this speech was the beginning of the end for the Communist Bloc and the Soviet Union. It is a very powerful speech.

I truly enjoyed reading this book and the history that unfolds from these pages. The overall message from all of the presidents was to keep hope and faith alive in people's hearts despite what was going on in the world. Christmas Greetings From The Presidents will be a fine addition to anyones Christmas book collection or any historian's book collection.

This book is available from these sellers:

Escape by Carolyn Jessop with Laura Palmer-Non-Fiction Book Review

Product Details:

• Title: Escape
• Author: Carolyn Jessop with Laura Palmer
• Paperback: 426 pages
• Publisher: Broadway Books; Reprint edition (December 30, 2008)
• Genre: non-fiction
• ISBN-10: 0767927575
• FTC, FYI: I read a borrowed copy in order to give an honest review. 

  
Book Details: 
The dramatic first-person account of life inside an ultra-fundamentalist American religious sect, and one woman’s courageous flight to freedom with her eight children.

When she was eighteen years old, Carolyn Jessop was coerced into an arranged marriage with a total stranger: a man thirty-two years her senior. Merril Jessop already had three wives. But arranged plural marriages were an integral part of Carolyn’s heritage: She was born into and raised in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS), the radical offshoot of the Mormon Church that had settled in small communities along the Arizona-Utah border. Over the next fifteen years, Carolyn had eight children and withstood her husband’s psychological abuse and the watchful eyes of his other wives who were locked in a constant battle for supremacy.

Carolyn’s every move was dictated by her husband’s whims. He decided where she lived and how her children would be treated. He controlled the money she earned as a school teacher. He chose when they had sex; Carolyn could only refuse—at her peril. For in the FLDS, a wife’s compliance with her husband determined how much status both she and her children held in the family. Carolyn was miserable for years and wanted out, but she knew that if she tried to leave and got caught, her children would be taken away from her. No woman in the country had ever escaped from the FLDS and managed to get her children out, too. But in 2003, Carolyn chose freedom over fear and fled her home with her eight children. She had $20 to her name.

Escape exposes a world tantamount to a prison camp, created by religious fanatics who, in the name of God, deprive their followers the right to make choices, force women to be totally subservient to men, and brainwash children in church-run schools. Against this background, Carolyn Jessop’s flight takes on an extraordinary, inspiring power. Not only did she manage a daring escape from a brutal environment, she became the first woman ever granted full custody of her children in a contested suit involving the FLDS. And in 2006, her reports to the Utah attorney general on church abuses formed a crucial part of the case that led to the arrest of their notorious leader, Warren Jeffs.

My Review:
There are times when I'm caught up with books I've promised to review and get to read books that have been sitting there for years. Escape is one of those books I've always wanted to read and finally got the chance to read in April. I picked it up and within 24 hours it was finished. This story is gripping and holds you prisoner because you can't believe what you are truly reading. 

Being from Utah, and a member of the LDS church, I've always known "about" the FLDS church being there and supposedly what goes on in their compounds. Most of us do not truly know what abuses go on within these plural marriages and what happens in the lives of these poor women and children. Escape gives you an insight into the world of this religious sect or cult as some people call it. As an independent woman, so much of what happened made me cringe to read this account of where most freedoms are taken away from the women.

 I could also relate as a mother who would do anything for her children. Carolyn put up with much abuse in order to protect her children and keep them from harm within the family or from them being taken away from her. Be forewarned, this is not light reading, but a story of psychological abuse from her husband, bullying from the other Sister Wives, and a story of one courageous woman who did everything to leave a lifestyle that was damaging to her and her children. 

I would love to meet Carolyn to give her a HUGE hug and tell her "Bravo" for being brave and persistent. It is gratifying to know that in the end she escapes, but even knowing this, you hold your breath until the very end when freedom is finally there for her and the children. After reading Carolyn's story, you will never be able to hear the word FLDS again and not think about this intense and crazy world that amazingly she was able to leave and begin a new life. 

Meet the Author: Carolyn Jessop

 Carolyn Jessop is a former Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints member who wrote Escape, an autobiographical account of her upbringing in the polygamist sect and later flight from that community.

She is the cousin, by marriage, of Flora Jessop, another former FLDS member and advocate for abused children.

Carolyn Jessop now lives in the Salt Lake City area with her children.
As of July 2010, Carolyn is engaged to Brian Moroney, who asked her to be his wife in front of her children who are very excited.

After accepting Brian's proposal Carolyn quoted on her Facebook page "Choice is a beautiful thing!"

Keep It Real and Grab a Plunger:25 Tips for Surviving Parenthood by Julie K. Nelson-Blog Tour Review

Product Description:

Title: Keep it Real and Grab a Plunger:

25 Tips for Surviving Parenthood
Author:Julie K. Nelson

Genre:Nonfiction, Parenting
Paperback, 176 Pages
March 10th 2015 by Cedar Fort, Inc. 

FTC, FYI: Received a review copy in exchange for an honest review.  

Book Description:

As a popular blogger, a college professor, and a frequent parenting guest expert on TV, you might suspect Julie K. Nelson is immune to the realities of actual parenting. But in fact, she’s been there—through all the late nights, huge messes, and tough moments.
Now she combines her expertise with her experience as a mom of five in this entertaining and pragmatic book. Learn how to overcome your natural manipulative, authoritarian tendencies and foster your child’s self-discipline, respect, and emotional maturity.
Humorous, insightful, and authentic, this book will get you through the sticky stuff with grace so you can enjoy those parenting moments that make it all worth it.

 

Book Trailer

My Review:

This parenting book covered each stage of parenting, from infants and toddlers to elementary age and teens. Regardless of which stage you may be in right now, you will find something useful to you as a parent. There are chapters for new parents about establishing good bedtime routines and also a chapter about potty training. As I've been parenting for going on 17 years now, these chapters are no longer useful for me. (Thank goodness!)

 

 Julie also uses a lot of humor in her writing which made this book an enjoyable read. For example, at the beginning of one of her chapters this is what she says, "What should be one of our main parenting goals? Survival? Yes, and that’s enough some days." I couldn't agree more!

 

As always when I review a non-fiction book with tips of any kind, it is too hard to list everything that I liked and learned. So here are some things I really enjoyed reading in this book.

 

-Eight Values That Are Common to Strong Families: Some of those values included: Choices and consequences,Hard work is good for you, Integrity, Serving Others and Love. 

 

-Lifting Children Who make Mistakes:"How we react to mistakes directly correlates with the degree a person feels
self-worth and confidence to rise above those mistakes."

 

-How to Stop Yelling at Your Kids: Some of the ideas were to take a break, go for a walk or write down your thoughts. Whatever it would take to calm down and not yell at your children. This is a skill that all parents can work on.

 

-Strategies for Keeping Siblings Close: I liked the ideas of how you need to teach your kids to support each other, give them opportunities to do things together (whether they want to or not), and learn to make happy memories from doing things with each other.

 

-Co-Parenting After Divorce: I have to say that I was VERY happy to find a chapter about this in a parenting book. So many times the past six years I've felt like I was all on my own, and wandering through the dark trying to parent as a single mom while still parenting with my ex-husband. Gatekeeping was discussed where one parent or the other tries to keep the children from the other parent whether physically or emotionally, or finding ways to have the other parent look bad in the children's eyes. The tips to avoid this were to 1-Share information between parents so both parents stay actively involved, 2-Discuss the noncustodial parent with the child:It is helpful to remember that although the other parent may not be physically
present, he or she is still ever-present in your child’s heart and mind, 3-Share custodial responsibilities:(I LOVED this next part) "Remember that you divorced your spouse; your children did not divorce their parent. Research studies report that if both parents live nearby, it maximizes children’s post divorce adjustment. Welcome the time your children spends with your ex, unless you need to address safety issues. Avoid showing hostility at exchanges. Be flexible when schedules have to be adjusted from time to time. Shared parenting gives you an emotional and physical renewal while the children spend time with another person who loves them like you do."

 -Using Technology Wisely: (With two teens in the house this was very relevant too!) 1. Time-out from technology,

2. Avoid anonymity and intolerance,and 3. Check, pry, and supervise. I feel every parent with tweens and teens needs to read this chapter. 

 

In the end I feel like this is a good parenting book that would benefit new and experienced parents. Even if you pick out a few things to try and use with your family, I feel you will see some good changes. This book can be read at several different sittings or when you specifically need information about a certain topic. This book would be a great Mother's Day present or a gift given to new parents at a baby shower.

 

Meet the Author: 

Julie K. Nelson is a wife and mother of five children, raising them in Illinois and now Utah. She received a bachelor’s degree in education from Brigham Young University and a master’s degree from Utah State University in marriage, family and human development. Her scholarly research and creative writing have been published in journals and anthologies, and she has won numerous state and national awards for her writing. Julie has enjoyed teaching children in public and private schools and currently teaches at Utah Valley University.

Website - Goodreads

Memory Catcher by Sarah Hinze: Review

Product Details

• Title: The Memory Catcher, An Inspiring True Story: When Angels Speak Who Will Listen?
  
•  Author: Sarah Hinze with Laura Lofgreen
• Paperback: 182 pages
• Genre: Non-fiction
• Publisher: Spring Creek Book Co (October 17, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1932898980
• FTC-FYI : I received a review copy in exchange for an honest review.   

Book Description:
Over the past three decades, Sarah Hinze's groundbreaking research on prebirth experiences has provided solid evidence that unborn children can warn, protect and enlighten us from another plane of existence. She has compiled hundreds of accounts that tell of heavenly encounters between parents and their soon-to-be-born children.
 
How did a woman raised in the backwoods of Tennessee become a pioneer in this important work?
 
As a young girl, Sarah learned to sense when angels were near. She eventually fell in love with Brent, who shared her belief in heaven. A year after their wedding, she held their first baby and realized that many of the angels she had felt nearby had been her own unborn children.
 
Following a series of personal challenges, including losing a baby to miscarriage, Sarah began to recognize that God wanted her to write about unborn children these tiny guardian angels who watch over us before they are born. Was it possible that other mothers had gone through similar experiences?
 
Sarah decided to distribute a flyer on the topic in her town. Within a few days, a mother contacted her and said, I saw my unborn daughter and I want to tell you about it. Soon, Sarah was collecting memories from around the world and publishing several books about them, but rarely had she disclosed her own story.
 
Now for the first time, Sarah shares the key experiences that shaped her life and set her on course to become The Memory Catcher one of the worlds greatest advocates of the unborn.

My Review: 
Last year I first heard about Sarah when I read her book,

We Lived in Heaven: Spiritual Accounts of Souls Coming to Earth.

In my review of that book here is what I said...

"I have always been a firm believer in how thin the veil is between this Earthly world and Heaven. My experiences have mainly been because of things that happened after my infant son, Matthew, died. Most of the experiences that are shared in the book, We Lived in Heaven,occur before children are born. It shows how spirits have visited their families before their births. My church believes that we existed before this life. We also believe that we will live again after death.

I read this book on a Sunday and could feel the spirit of this book. I felt chills, so many times, as the power of these stories unfolded before me. There are 33 stories told that have such different and unique writing styles and viewpoints. The author also shares her own beautiful story about her children.This is a book that you can pick up, read a few stories, and then pick up again a day later. I ended up reading the book in one sitting; that is how compelling the stories are. It would be so hard to pick just one story that will stay with me for a long time, but the story called,A Letter To My Son, about adoption, really hit home for me. I am adopted and there was divine intervention that allowed me to come to my family. So this story truly spoke to my heart. I also loved the story called Eternal Memories. My daughter also had an experience along these lines remembering my Grandmother, who has passed away the year before her birth.

I recommend this book to those who need to feel close to Heaven or a loved one that has passed. This book will also give you a much needed spiritual lift. It will make you cry and also make you laugh in a few spots. Sarah Hinze has written a wonderful book,whose stories will linger in your mind, long after you finish reading."

 

I was very interested in reading Sarah's story behind how she came to write the many stories of unborn children. God gave her a mission in life to champion the unborn. As you read about Sarah's life you will be amazed at her experiences. At an early age she could sense the presence of angels around her. After her children were born she realized that those angels had been her own children. This autobiography shares her beliefs about God and life before birth. I have always been interested in life before birth and after death. Sarah's books have only strengthened my belief in these very spiritual things. 

In her six previous books, including “Coming from the Light”, "Songs of the Morning Stars", and “Life Before Light,” Sarah Hinze has provided the evidence and anecdotes she has gathered over the years to show that “unborn children can warn, protect and enlighten us from another plane of existence.”

 

If you are interested in these kind of experiences, you need to read about Sarah Hinze's extraordinary life. You will feel enlightened, uplifted, and closer to God's spirit in your life. 

 

 

The Memory Catcher is available at Amazon.com

and at Spring Creek Books.

Order your copy today! 

Meet: Author Sarah Hinze

 
It was my own pre-birth experience and my interest in what may have happened to the child I miscarried that prompted me to embark on what has become a pioneering journey and an in-depth study of the human soul.
 
Now, nearly two decades later, it seems that prebirth experiences bring to light a unique, full-spectrum picture of human existence. Through my research, teaching and counseling I am seeking to help my sisters and brothers on this earth expand our understanding of the spiritual origin of man.
 
What I teach is not a new concept. In fact, hundreds of ancient texts from many cultures provide insight into man’s true nature and origin as a child of God.
 
Against this historical foundation, I am presenting the anecdotal evidence I have gathered from hundreds of interviews and from extensive research. The combination of the wisdom of the ages with the personal experiences of ordinary men and women (and even children) today, speaks to our very souls, often stirring within us a remembrance of who we are. Participants in my workshops and seminars often report experiencing a very joyful personal awakening concerning where they came from, why they are on earth, and where they are going.
 
Participants tell me they are literally transformed, their hearts changed as powerful evidence of their eternal nature reveals to them a new paradigm regarding the sanctity of each human life. My message is healing and uplifting, bringing peace and imparting hope.
 
My own healing pre-birth experiences prompted me, with my husband, Brent Hinze, Ph.D., to embark on our search nearly 20 years ago. For two decades we have interviewed individuals and chronicled what I call “pre-birth experiences,” or communication from children before they are born.
 
My work provides exciting evidence that unborn children can warn, protect and enlighten us from another plane of existence. Most often they appear to announce it is their time to be born.

To contact Hinze about participating in book club discussions or workshops or to share “pre-birth” stories, email sarah@sarahhinze.com . To learn more, visit www.sarahhinze.com.

 

There, Their, They're A No-Tears Guide to Grammar From The Word Nerd: 2nd Edition by Annette Lyon

Product Description:

Title: There, Their, They're A No-Tears Guide to Grammar From The Word Nerd: 2nd Edition
Author: Annette Lyon

Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform; 2 edition (April 30, 2013)
Genre: Non-Fiction
ISBN:-10 1484820665
FTC, FYI: I was given a review copy in exchange for an honest review.









Book Description:
It’s here: clear and easy answers to your most common grammar, usage, and punctuation questions. In this second edition, you’ll find more than sixty new and expanded entries in this much-used resource used by professional editors, novelists, students preparing for the ACT, and those who simply want to master grammar once and for all. The Word Nerd once again cuts through the convoluted terminology by explaining things in a way even the most frustrated writer can understand.

 My Review:
I reviewed the first edition of this book a few years ago. (Go HERE to read that review.) The 2nd edition is bigger and has many more great ideas. This book was written to help anyone, but will especially benefit writers. As an aspiring author this book has always sat by my side for quick reference. It is chock full of things to help a writer produce the best work possible. 

The chapters in this book include:
-punctuation
-grammar gapples
-style issues
-capitalization

So many people have a problem with commas, (Yes I do!) apostrophes, when to use lie or lay,etc. I love that, when and how to use "passive voice", is included in this edition. Another reason I love this book is that Annette writes in an easy to read/use writing style. Some grammar books are so complicated that you just throw them aside because it takes too much energy to decipher it. For example, I read excerpts from this book to teach my 2nd graders. Annette gives fun examples that make this an entertaining book to read. Who knew that a reference book could be fun?

If you already own the 1st edition, I highly recommend that you also purchase the 2nd edition.With 60 new and expanded entries there is more valuable information you won't find in the 1st edition. So if you are grammatically challenged and need that extra help, this book is a must have.   

More About the Author

› Visit Amazon's Annette Lyon Page

Biography

Annette Lyon is a Whitney Award winner, the recipient of Utah's Best of State medal for fiction and the author of nine novels, a cookbook, and a grammar guide as well as over a hundred magazine articles. She's a senior editor at Precision Editing Group and a cum laude graduate from BYU with a degree in English. When she's not writing, editing, knitting, or eating chocolate, she can be found mothering and avoiding the spots on the kitchen floor. Find her online at blog.annettelyon.com and on Twitter: @AnnetteLyon

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.

Review of, Drawing Out The Dragons: A Meditation on Art, Destiny, and the Power of Choice, by James A. Owen

Product Description

• Title: Drawing Out the Dragons: A Meditation on Art, Destiny, and the Power of Choice
• Author: James A. Owen
• Publisher: Shadow Mountain
• Published: March 5, 2013 (originally published March 2011)
• Hardcover: 128 pages
• ISBN13: 9781609073688
• FTC FYI:  I received a hardcover copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Book Description 

"I believe in you.  You have a great destiny.  You are meant for great things.  And it's possible to live a wonderful, extraordinary life."

That is the promise offered by bestselling author and illustrator James A. Owen in this remarkable and inspirational meditation.  In Drawing Out the Dragons, James shares personal stories and the deep truths he learned while navigating past obstacles and adversity toward a life of lasting belief and joy.

We all have a grand destiny, but sometimes we feel we lack the power to achieve it.  But we always have the power to choose.  "Every drawing, every life, is nothing but a series of choices and actions.  Make your lines.  Make your choices....  What you create from there is entirely up to you."

Drawing Out the Dragons has the power to uplift, inspire, and change your life.

 

 

 My Review

 Have you ever read something and realized you were meant to read it? This is how I felt about Drawing Out The Dragons. I will admit, I have REALLY been struggling in my life the past few years, but especially the past few months. I have felt helpless and struggled to even want to succeed at anything. As I read this book, I felt like James A. Owen was speaking directly to me. In fact, whenever I read something that touched my soul, I underlined it or put a star by it. This book is now pretty marked up. I'm not defacing the book, but using it wisely for my own benefit! 

 

In trying to decide what to share with you, the readers of my blog, I wasn't sure how much I could share without writing pages and pages. James Owens has lived through many trials and hard times in his life, but he found ways to overcome these hardships. 

 

The number one message that James shares, is one that he learned early in life as a young boy while dealing with an illness in a hospital. 

 

"One of the most important things I can tell someone who is struggling: You have a greater destiny than this.You are meant for greater things than this. And if you want to beat this, to overcome whatever it is you're grappling with, you are strong enough to do it. And if that's the choice you make, it's possible to live a wonderful, extraordinary life." (page 27)

 

After I read this, I sat silently for over five minutes just thinking about this message and how it applied to my life right now. Then I had to read it over again a few more times. I feel that this message, and many others in this book are so empowering and motivating.

Some other ideas that inspired me were these...

 

-(This message is one he often shares with school children)

 

"I believe they can do anything they choose to do in this life, and it doesn't matter how old they are. All that matters is if they have the desire and determination to put in the effort required to be good at what they do." 

(page 32)

 

What a great thing to share with kids who need to know that they can succeed if they have the desire.

 

The last thing I wanted to share with you made me write "WOW" in the book. It helped me with my somewhat fatalistic thinking as of late, that nothing good has been happening in my life and there's nothing I can do about it.

 

"We have to choose to live deliberately. Things are going to happen to us whether we make choices or not. So it's up to us to make the choices to make things happen. To be the kind of people who make things happen, not the kind of people things happen to. We have to choose to live deliberately. To actually actively make choices." (page 54)

 

So you see...WOW! We can make things happen, not just have things happen to us. :) This book is full of things/ideas that will help you in your life, whatever struggles may be happening at the moment. I can see that I will be reading this book again and again. I will share it with my children and other family members, young and old. 

 

I want to end with one more thought from the book. I hope that this will encourage you to believe in yourself more.

 

"Every moment is another chance to learn, and another chance to make a choice. Everything does happen for a reason, and the things that happened were supposed to happen, because they did happen. And while no one can change the past, the future begins anew every time you choose to live deliberately.

 

Those who make miracles happen are the ones who, first, believe it to be possible, and second, are willing to pay the price to make it so." (page 113)

This book gets a 5 star rating from me!

 

 

Author Links

Website / Facebook / Twitter / Goodreads

Purchase Links

Deseret Book / Amazon / Barnes and Noble

 

 

 Author Bio:

James A. Owen is founder and executive director of Coppervale International, an art and design studio that also published the periodicals International Studio and Argosy, develops television and film projects, and is redesigning an entire town in Arizona, among other ventures. James has written and illustrated two dozen StarChild comics, the award-winning MythWorld series of novels (published in Germany and France),  the bestselling series, The Chronicles of the Imaginarium Geographica, the inspirational nonfiction book Drawing out the Dragons, and more.  More than a million copies of his publications are in print, and are sold all over the world.
James began his career in publishing approximately two years before he was old enough to get a driver’s license, and was the youngest publisher ever to be an exhibitor at the San Diego Comicon. He founded Taliesin Press in 1992, both writing and illustrating the company’s debut publication, a Dickensian comic book titled StarChild.

In both 1994 and 1995, James was named to trade magazine Hero Illustrated’s list of the one hundred most influential people in the Comic Book Industry. On July 17, 1995, to coincide with the 40^th anniversary of Disneyland’s opening, Taliesin Press was renamed Coppervale International — mostly because no one could pronounce Taliesin and those who could kept asking James if he could design buildings instead of comics.
During the fall of 1995, Coppervale negotiated a marketing arrangement with direct market distributor Capital City that pushed the company to international prominence, which led to an invitation by industry leader Image Comics to co-publish the new StarChild series, Mythopolis. The two dozen StarChild comics James produced remain in print as the six-volume Essential StarChild set, and are being re-released in the spring of 2013 as the one-volume Twentieth Anniversary Nearly-Complete Essential StarChild.

Before the turn of the millennium Coppervale also secured publication rights to the century-old arts magazine International Studio, which debuted in the spring of 1999. After the turn of the millennium, International Studio was relaunched along with a high-end revival of the periodical Argosy, both of which won many design awards in amounts inversely proportional to the amount of money the magazines made. They won a LOT of awards.
The first book in a series of prose novels written by James titled Mythworld (Kai Meyer’s Mythenwelt in Germany) won the 2003 AI award for Best Novel, and was nominated alongside books by Stephen King and Michael Crichton for the prestigious Phantastik Prize for Best International Novel. Steve won, but James got more votes than Crichton, so that’s okay. As of May 2012, MythWorld Book One: The Festival Of Bones and MythWorld Book Two: Invisible Moon are available in English as an ebook from the Coppervale International website, with further editions to follow.

James has written and illustrated six books in the bestselling series The Chronicles of the Imaginarium Geographica: Here, There Be Dragons; The Search For The Red Dragon; The Indigo King; The Shadow Dragons; The Dragon’s Apprentice; and The Dragons of Winter. The series is now being published in more than twenty languages. A seventh volume, The First Dragon, will conclude the series in November  2013.
Often asked to speak at schools, James rarely discusses his books, instead choosing to focus instead on stories drawn from his own life – examples of overcoming obstacles and adversity, about how making choices in life is like drawing a Dragon and how he came to do what it is that he loves most in the world for his job. These stories were made available to James’s readers in Drawing Out The Dragons, a non-fiction collection that was released as an ebook, and thanks to an over-funded Kickstarter project, is also available (in VERY limited quantities) as a hardcover and paperback from Coppervale International.

Drawing Out The Dragons is the first in a series of three books called The Meditations. DotD, along with the other two volumes, The Barbizon Diaries, and The Grand Design, will be published in all-new, two-color hardcover editions from Shadow Mountain Publishing. They will be released in March, June, and September of 2013, respectively. Also from Shadow Mountain, and also beginning in 2013, is the five-volume YA Fantasy Fool’s Hollow. This series serves as both a literary homecoming for James as well as a starting point for a bold, new adventure, because Fool’s Hollow will be a grand retelling of—and completion of—the StarChild saga and will include dozens of all new, original illustrations. “Fool’s Hollow is the work closest to my heart,” James says, “Through writing the Imaginarium Geographica series, I gained experience as a storyteller, and I feel that now is the best time for me to return to a story I love and tell it in a new way as a series of illustrated novels.”

James is also in discussion with the executive producer and associate producer of The Lord of the Rings movie franchise, Mark Ordesky and Rick Porras, respectively, to develop Fool’s Hollow as a CGI film and Here, There Be Dragons as a live action film. James is also collaborating with the remarkable musician S. J. Tucker to produce an album of songs inspired by the Fool’s Hollow books. Maquettes for the film projects have already been sculpted by Jason Warren, Lead Designer at Coppervale.

All of these projects are being developed at the Coppervale Studio, a 14,000 square foot, century-old restored church in Northeastern Arizona, which is managed and run by James’s brother Jeremy.
More Good Trouble is afoot. Developing.
Visit Xander Rapstine’s website for James A. Owen’s bibliography.