“Finding Your Mission In Life”  by George D. Durrant is just a great, entertaining book/talk download!  Brother Durrant tells a wonderful story in the beginning about a missionary, and this story had me brimming with tears!  It is a great way to start the talk.  After the first story, Brother Durrant talks about ways to find your mission in life.  He is a delightful man!  I was laughing with him and the audience.  He just has a way of making you feel a part of his family while he talks with you.  I thoroughly enjoyed this talk.  I have actually listened to it twice since I got it, because it is that entertaining!  This is a great way to start or end your day.  We all probably struggle with finding our way in life, and Brother Durrant just helps us along.
 
I highly recommend “Finding Your Mission In Life” by George D Durrant.  I surely hope that you enjoy it as much as I have!
 
K. Meyer
Castle Rock, Colorado; Blackbelt in TKD 

If you enjoyed the movie The Other Side of Heaven by John H Gorberg, you will love the book! After watching the movie I wanted to know more of the story. I wondered what “kolipoki” really meant; he tells you in the book! The movie barely scratches the surface of his missionary experiences.

Elder Groberg’s narrative of his endless adventures in Tonga, are filled with thought provoking life lessons. As he finishes a chapter he reveals the lesson learned from that particular event.

Elder Groberg tells of returning home from teaching on other islands in a motor launch. A terrible storm rises with great waves sinking the boat. After questioning why the Lord did not protect the missionaries, he arrives at a conclusion. “God was with us. He saved us. I have heard it said that sometimes the Lord calms the storm, and sometimes He lets the storm rage and calms His child.”  What a great lesson! We all have storms in our lives. The reassurance that God is with us through those storms offers hope and comfort. Life is not easy, but we are never alone. As Elder Groberg so poignantly phrases it, “We learn lessons from storms that we cannot learn from calm seas.”

The greatest thing I learned from this book is how to look for the lessons in my own experiences. I find myself asking, “What does the Lord want me to learn from this?” It was an unexpected gift that has changed my perspective of everyday events.

The great faith of the Tongan people is inspiring. We are so busy in our daily rush that often we forget what is truly important. The Tongans have a simple lifestyle that we should all adopt, that of helping our neighbor, loving one another, and trusting in the Lord.

The Other Side of Heaven by John Groberg is delightful as well as insightful.  The movie was entertaining. The book is life altering.

A. Cardon
Northern Utah

The story “The Legend of the Lamp” by Tina Monson, is an irresistible adventure for all ages to read.  I thoroughly enjoyed the story, but my mind constantly kept pondering the fact that no matter what new adventure was next in the plot, one thing that remained prevalent throughout the entire novel was the bonding of three siblings to each other in their passion to discover the legacy within their own family, which began with a mysterious lamp.

The author, Tina Monson, states before the story ever begins in her forward that her purpose in writing this intriguing adventure comes from a story passed down to her from her own family heritage.  It sparked her imagination and she states, “My hope is that you will love the idea enough to research your own genealogy, searching for the hidden adventures, courage and intrigue surely hidden within your own family’s history.”

I have since discovered, through another’s perception, that the perfect definition of the word legacy is “Something precious you leave to someone you love.”  None of us knows when the door to the other side of the veil will open up for us to leave our earthly existence; therefore, what we do with our lives will garnish the legacy that we leave behind for our own families.

I believe this story, “The Legend of the Lamp” by Tina Monson, will connect with every soul who reads it, because of the deep desire we all have to connect with our own past and heritage, and the desire to make a difference we otherwise thought would be impossible.

J. Woodbury
Kaysville, Utah
 

“Are Mormons Christian?” by Stephen E. Robinson is an outstanding MP3 download.  This remarkable book’s objective is not to declare or defend Mormonism, but to examine the techniques used to exclude Mormons from being regarded as Christians.

Exclusions by:
1. Definition:  Definitions are drawn up with the purpose of excluding. The stacking of the deck amounts to saying, “Mormons are not Christian because they don’t believe as we do.”

2. Misrepresentation: Intentional citing of doctrines or practices that simply are not adhered to by Mormons. This device also is used to find obscure ideas that never rose to the status of Church doctrine.

3. Name calling: “Cult” is the favorite term designed to infer “non-Christian”, though the term does not fit.

4. Historical: Mormons are excluded from being Christian, because they have not gone through all the history of Christianity. To be fair, this exclusion must therefore fall upon Christ, Paul, and all others not experiencing the whole history.

5. Canon: Catholic Bibles have twelve more books than other Christians, yet they are not excluded.

6. Doctrine: Saints Clement, Ireneaus, Augustine, Simon the New Theologian as late as the 11th century taught the deification of man. Martin Luther endorsed plural marriage for Henry VIII, approved of and attended the plural marriage of a German prince. Yet Catholics and Lutherans are not excluded from being Christian. Double standards?

Conclusions:  The exclusions are consciously being used for the sole purpose of excluding, even at the expense of fairness. Considerations of a belief in Christ as a standard for being a Christian is carefully avoided.

This book, “Are Mormons Christian?” by Stephen Robinson is very interesting and informative, and I would highly recommend it.

K. Stevenson,
Salt Lake City, Utah; Gospel Doctrine Teacher

I love to get a shot of prayer confidence from our leaders and from those who have studied the topic!  I just finished listening to “The Intimate Touch of Prayer” by Truman G. Madsen, and it was quite uplifting!  I grew up in the church, but didn’t always understand prayer.  It has only be in the last decade that it has really become important to me, I am sorry to say. 

I have come to realize the importance, and the comfort of family prayer, as well as individual prayer.  Prayer doesn’t have to last for a long time.  It can be quite short.  One can be by one’s self, or in a crowd of people.  It just doesn’t matter.  The Spirit will easily prompt and guide us in our prayers.  We just have to be willing to ask, and to listen. 

Brother Madsen points out that prayer is not like a spare tire, to be put on when needed!  It should be a daily occurrence!  Thankfully, the Lord is merciful, and will always listen to us, whether we are righteous, or trying to be righteous!  We can pray in our extremities, but most importantly, we need to pray in gratitude!  We shouldn’t use vain repetitions, but there will be repetition!  We should pray with the faith of a little child!  How sweet and how pure!  The trick is being one!  The Lord has promised us so much, if we just have faith!  We are never unworthy to pray!
 
These are just some of the things to be learned in this wonderful MP3 download, “The Intimate Touch of Prayer” by Truman Madsen!  I loved it!  It isn’t long, and can be listened to many times!  Something new pops out each time I have listened!  Prayer can help the mind become strong!  What an incredible gift to us!
 
K. Meyer,
Castlerock, Colorado