Standing For Something

Standing for Something by Gordon B. Hinckley

This is not a first time read for me. If this book were ever timely when first published, is now extremely timely. President Hinckley lays out the road less traveled. A road that he professes can save humanity if we will all begin the journey in our own lives and homes. Only can we change the world if we start with ourselves.
Although written by the former President of the LDS church, the book is one that should hold great value for all Judeo/Christian sects. Hinckley simply lays out ten virtues that he believes should be our ground work. These virtues may seem to many of us, now lay by the way side in modern society. The ten virtues are love, honesty, morality, civility, learning, forgiveness and mercy, thrift and industry, gratitude, optimism, and finally faith. He goes on to talk of the guardians of these virtues which are marriage and the family. Hinckley has it right when he says that 'we can save our nation by saving our homes'.
Standing for Something is uplifting although it speaks of serious topics and brings to mind our duty to make life better in a time where virtue and morality seem to be quickly fading from our forethought's.
I would recommend this book to anyone whether LDS or not. I didn't feel like any religious sect was at the forefront, only basic Christian principles.
Rating 5 I spent a lot of time underlining thoughts since this was not my first reading.
Rating G

The Shack

The Shack by William Paul Young

The Shack is a book about more than one story I would say. First there is the story......and then there is the theology. The story intrigued me. I was drawn in by the cover of the book and then I read the back. A child kidnapped and then the father's healing by spending a weekend with God in the 'shack' where the child was held.

I should have known that I wasn't going to love this book like the zillions of other people that read it because......a) zillions of others liked it.........b) I had to put it down when I realized what was happening to the child..........c) zillions of others liked it.

I hate to say that I don't like this book because I feel like it was a truly faithful and heartfelt endeavor by the author. However I do not like this book and would caution against reading it. If you already have a religion.......you are going to be upset by the messed up theology. If you don't, I would hate for you to read this book and think that it held truth.

On the flip side I am happy that this book has touched so many because that means that there are people out there searching for a personal relationship with God. And that relationship can only bring good to their lives.

The story did make some good points. That God, Jesus and The Holy Ghost are three separate people. The are only one in the sense that they basically have the same mind set about everything. Also I did feel like it did a great job of explaining free agency and its vital importance to everything. God explained that He cannot stop people from making choices because if He stopped one choice He would have to stop all choice..........that making everything pointless. He also explained how he does not create 'bad' things but He will use them to His advantage in bringing to pass 'good'. These were great explanations and I hope that any one that reads this book concentrates on these things.

Also I did like the magical quality and the beauty that was described. The 'story' was a good story.

The things that were clearly horrible were the way that Adam was made to seem like he messed up the whole 'plan' by the choice he and Eve made. This is not so. Without choosing to become mortal the 'plan' had no where to go.

Also the Commandments or basically any rule was made to seem foolish. I believe God actually told Mack (the main character) that he did not have to follow any rules. There was a confusing explanation why this was so.

It also seemed like Jesus was the good guy and God was the bad guy. But then the book really never gave Jesus credit for everything he did. Which if you are a Christian means EVERYTHING.

A huge thing for me also was the way that God was portrayed. I did not like the 'character' he was given to play. If that is what God really was I would not have a problem. But it isn't.

There were surely touching and poignant scenes and some great bits of truth but they were so mixed with untruth that I cannot recommend this book.

Rating 2 I wasn't gagging but I also didn't have a very good feeling when I read this. Many of you may now laugh because I admit to reading unsavory things now and then. However they are put out as unsavory.......not as gospel. I cannot give this book a 1 because there were some points made that were really really good. I am mostly certain that I will throw this book away instead of passing it on.
Rating G

As Long As I Have You

As Long As I Have You Hearts of the Children Vol. 5 by Dean Hughes

The end of the war finally comes for the Thomas family. Everyone except poor sweet Gene returns home to Utah. Even the Stoltz family is brought to America. At first the book seemed to be wrapping up nicely. Then we come to find that the boys (Alex, Wally and Richard) have varying degrees of PTS (post traumatic stress).

Wally makes it home first. He is shipped around to different hospitals. He is fattened up, checked for diseases, and vaccinated. When he returns home he quickly learns to enjoy life again. He seems even better than the old Wally. Much deeper. Lorainne by some miracle is only engaged, not yet married. Once she sees Wally, she knows that she still loves him. Wally and Lorrainne are engaged and married quickly. Wally begins working for President Thomas as the family parts plant. His life seems set and happy.

Bobbi is the next to return. There are moments that are incredibly tense and weird feeling between Richard and Bobbi. She wants him to want her. (Who doesn't?) He is still suffering with feelings and flashbacks from being blown to high heaven by a Kamikaze pilot. They finally marry and they still have a stiff, strange relationship. At one point Bobbi has a miscarriage. Richard has been working for President Thomas so that he can give Bobbi the lifestyle he thinks is important. Finally Bobbi can't take anymore weirdness and confronts Richard about his pent up feelings and the fact that she thinks he does not enjoy his job. Richard tells Bobbi about some things during the war that he never wanted to share with her. He also agrees to go back to college and do something with his life that he will truly enjoy.

Peter shows up in the same German LDS branch that Alex has just been given a calling in. He finds that Alex is now his brother-in- law and that his family is still alive. It may have been a little contrived and tightly wrapped up at this point, but I am glad that Peter was able to reconnect with his family. Peter is reunited with the Stoltz family and moves to America with them. They live in Salt Lake where President Thomas has made jobs for Heinrich and for Peter. He has also provided a house and a car for them. Peter does not like America as much as the rest of his family. He does not learn the language as quickly either. He wants to return to Germany and help rebuild it. He also has fallen in love with the young daughter of the family that took him in and saved his life.

LaRue is growing up and becoming more serious. She doesn't date and she doesn't seem to care for clothing as much as she did in the past. High school is ending for her and she is able to receive a scholarship to a college out East. President Thomas is concerned for LaRue. He is afraid that once she leaves the valley, her faith with subside and she will be brainwashed by the liberal thinkers she meets. LaRue wants to leave for this reason. The more she ponders, the more she wonders if her faith is really strong enough. She has many doubts which become strikingly more evident when she talks with her friend Cecil and her younger sister Beverly. LaRue hopes that leaving the family will make her rely on her own faith more.

Alex is the last to return home. He has a very hard time adjusting to being a father of a one year old that he has never met. He realizes that he has hardly spent any time with Anna. President Thomas wants to put Alex right back at the head of the family business but Alex has other ideas. Alex suffers with anxiety and anger from the horrors he saw and feels like he committed while in the Army. He refuses to say anything about what occurred while he was away. He is angered that anyone would think he is a hero. Finally Wally and Richard help Alex begin talking about some of the things that are plaguing his mind after Alex freaks out at the plant where he works. Alex realizes that they do understand him and that he can speak to them frankly about his fears and regrets. He gets closer to Anna and his baby Gene. He and Anna are soon expecting another baby. Alex decides that he may stay with his father's business and later enter politics.

If felt like the story wrapped up fairly neatly. I am sure some people find that not really true to life, but there is another series to follow this one. I like feeling like most things have been resolved. I really loved this series and felt like I learned a good deal of history while coming to love the characters.

Rating 5
Rating PG war stories of the violence that occurred to the soldiers.

To A Child Love Is Spelled T-I-M-E

To a Child LOVE is Spelled T-I-M-E by Mac Anderson & Lance Wubbles

Super short read, which I will probably pick up now and again just to keep me focused on being the right kind of mom. Anderson and Wubbles have compiled great thoughts on parenting along with some fabulous quotes. As I was reading it, I immediately had it pointed out to me that no matter how tired or hurried I am I need to give time to my children. So I let the baby fall asleep on my bare stomach as he is prone to desire, and I read the whole book. Then I promptly got up this morning to read to one of the other little ones.

A favorite quote: "Our greatest danger in life is in permitting the urgent things to crowd out the important. -Charels E. Hummel

I was reminded over and over where to keep my focus. I think I will keep this next to my bed to read frequently. Topics range from responsibility, time, love, listening, marriage relationship, traditions, and discipline.

Quote: "At every step the child should be allowed to meet the real experiences of life; the thorns should never be plucked from his rose." -Ellen Key

Rating 5

Rating G

Far From Home Children of the Promise #3

Far From Home Children of the Promise Vol. 3 by Dean Hughes



The Thomases are still a war torn family. President Thomas is grating on my nerves with his holier than thou attitude.....but I also see where he is coming from.....sometimes. Sister Thomas is standing up to him......go Bea.

Alex is still in the heat of the battle near the front lines. It is winter 1945 and things are miserable for every soldier. Along with the battle the cold is tearing them up. Alex is freezing and fight for most of this book. He loses one of his men that reminds him of Gene........he finally has enough feeling left to cry. Alex finds out at the end of the book that he and Anna will be parents.

Bobbi rarely hears from Richard. She remains close to Ishi (an AJA in her ward) and her children as they also wait for news of Daniel, their husband and father. Bobbi finds herself tiring of Afton (her friend and roommate). Afton has found love in Sam, a Hawaiian. She leads him on for awhile knowing that he feels deeply for her but that she will not marry him because of their racial differences. Bobbi learns that Richard's ship has been sunk near the Philippines. She waits for so long to hear from him that she fears he is dead. Richard is finally rescued and sent back to the hospital at Pearl Harbor where Bobbi is stationed. He and Bobbi decide they do love each other and want to get married. Bobbi will soon be leaving on a naval hospital ship.

Wally is a POW in Japan. Conditions are still terrible for him. He is working in coal mines. The Japanese are under pressure to mine the coal and are horrendous to the prisoners. Wally and the other POW's suffer from extreme conditions, little food, disease, unsanitary situations, and the wrath of the Japanese. Wally struggles to get his hatred under control.

LaRue is only fifteen but acting much older. She has begun volunteering at the USO. She dances and flirts with the soldiers leading them to believe she is not just fifteen. Ned, a soldier from Hill Field falls in love with LaRue. Despite President Thomas' urging and harsh criticism LaRue cannot get enough of the attention she is attracting from the older boys. When Ned professes his love and asks LaRue to marry him before he is shipped out to the battle, LaRue has to come clean about her age. Ned is enraged but he loves her so much he asks her to wait for him while he is at war. She agrees to write to him but will not become engaged. She is also flirting like wild fire with the boys her age. LaRue begins to realize that she doesn't like what she is turning into.

The Stoltz's are separated. Anna and her mother are in London. Father has joined the Allied forces and is spying for then against the Nazi's in Germany. He is also hopeful that he will be able to locate Peter. Peter is caught by the Gestapo. He runs. In an effort to hide from then he finds that he must join the army even though he hates the Nazi's and what they are doing to Germany and the other nations. Conditions for the German troops fighting the Russians are horrid. Peter and the other boys are so young. They are freezing and starving. Peter and his last friend are sick and wounded. They finally make it to a hospital where Peter's friend Hans dies. Peter can take no more. He goes AWOL and joins fleeing refugees in hopes that he will not be caught. He is determined to never kill again even if it means forfeiting his own life.

This is another great addition to the already great series. I have loved watching Wally and the other POW's struggle with their determination to quell their hatred and find a way to forgive the Japanese. Also Alex and Peter are able to show that even though a nation may be wicked, not all of the people in the nation are. Despite desperate times and evil in the world, good can still be found in individuals.

Rating 5
Rating PG 13 War, violence, violent death, injury, hatred.

Since You Went Away

Since You Went Away by Dean Hughes Children of the Promise Vol. 2

In this second volume of Hughes WWII series, the Thomas family is pulled apart by the raging war. Alex joins the army paratroopers. Bobbi joins the navy as a nurse. Wally is still a POW in the Philippine Islands. When Gene graduates from high school, he joins the marines. Alex's love, Anna fights the Gestapo and her family is forced into hiding.

President and Sister Thomas are having to face the realities of war. Their children are being called to the corner's of the earth and the Thomases are hoping that they will all live to be reunited.
Alex joins the army after hard thought about staying to run his father's parts plant. He becomes a paratrooper, with the army's promise of later moving to intelligence because of his German background. Alex has a hard time thinking of German's as the enemy. The other soldier's in the paratroopers doing like his soft heart and love of the enemy. Even Alex's leaders think he is not cut out for the elite group. Alex proves them wrong and finds himself quickly working his way up the ranks. He is dropped behind the lines just before D day to make way for the incoming beach landing. Alex with only a very small platoon is able to disarm four large weapons. Just days later, while trying to lead his men toward enemy fire, Alex is shot in the leg. He ends up in a hospital in London. There he meets Anna again. They are reunited for the short time Alex recuperates. They get to know each other and find they are in love as much as they dreamed they would be. They marry and have a short honeymoon before Alex is shipped back to the front lines.
Anna and her family find themselves stalked by the Gestapo. Kellerman, the agent that hated the missionaries is on a mission to ruin the lives of the Stoltz family. He comes to their apartment one day while Anna is alone. He attempts to brutalize her. She slashes his face deeply with a knife and seals the fate of the family. Kellerman will never stop until he has had Anna and killed her family. The Stoltz's go into hiding by running away to Berlin and seeking refuge with another LDS family. On the verge of being discovered they run away and live in a bombed out building. Finally, Brother Stoltz is lead by the spirit to find the identification of dead man. He uses these to get other legal papers and find a job. The family is blessed to get an apartment and through Brother Stoltz's government job, their own legal papers. They work and lead a quiet life, waiting for the day they are discovered by Kellerman. Brother Stoltz hates the Nazi's. He decides to join an underground network in order to help save the lives of Jews. The family takes in a small Jewish family to hide. The Stolzt's are found out. They escape, but the Jewish family is taken away. The Stoltz family is able to escape Germany, but in the process are separated from Peter (Anna's brother). He is left somewhere inside of Germany. Anna and her parents make it to England where Anna and Alex are reunited.
Bobbi is stationed in Hawaii. She meets Afton, an LDS girl. They become friends, room together and attend church together. While at church they meet an AJA (American of Japanese Ancestry). We learn of the Japanese Americans being interred in camps because they could be spies. They are then asked to fight for the country that has treated them so regretfully. Bobbi and Afton also meet Richard Hammond, a sailor and also LDS. Bobbi and Richard fall in love but Richard is not able to reveal his feelings because he is afraid there will be no future for he and Bobbi.
Wally is still being held as a POW on the Philippine Islands. He is subject to atrocity after atrocity; no food, disease, death, violence, brutality, and hard manual labor. He is loaded on a train at one point, with so many men there is no room to move. His friends die or he is separated from them, but still he has the grit and desire to continue on. Wally is always the one trying to help those around him. He is proving to himself that he is not the family quitter. He dreams of the day he can return home and show his father what he is made of. Finally Wally is taken to Japan.
Gene joins up as soon as he graduates high school. He is a sweet and kind boy that has been better at sports than even his older brothers. Gene doesn't want to go to war but he feels like it is his duty. He joins the marines and stays true to who he is, not becoming foul and corrupt like many of the soldiers. Gene is able to be with Bobbi in Hawaii for a short time before he sees battle. On his first day on the beaches of Saigon, Gene is shot down and killed. The family mourns greatly over knowing that they will never be a whole family in this life again.

This is my favorite book so far, in this series and in the series to follow. It is heart wrenching and also a historical feast. Fabulous!
Rating 5
Rating PG 13 War and its atrocities.

Zion's Trail Last Days Vol. 2

Zion's Trail by Kenneth Tarr

This is the second volume of The Last Days series.

Pioneer One, the wagon train from Utah, is on its way to Missouri. They are attacked by bandits, shot at, go through a blizzard, dust storm, raging heat, disease, death, and dissension. Satan even makes an appearance.

The Antichrist is rising in power along with his formerly polygamist prophet.

The saints are persecuted in every nation as the Antichrist tries to rid the world of religion.

There were actually many good points brought up about emergency situations, natural plants and herbs for medication, war, and natural disaster. I had a good time reading this book. I was also thoroughly depressed and freaked out.

This series seems like it needs at least one more book. From the information I have found, it doesn't look like there is one. The rise of the Antichrist, the Saints left in Utah, the Saints around the world, and the nut job prophet that communes with Satan..........all of their story lines drop off and we never know what happens. I would really like to read about the building of Zion once Pioneer one reaches Jackson County.

Rating 4
Rating PG 13 Lots of violence, Satan, rape, murder, gang violence, natural disaster, disease.

The Gathering Storm

The Gathering Storm by Kenneth Tarr

This is an end of days book. Just the kind of book I should never read........mostly because I will never have built my food storage to its maximum requirement.

Steven is raising his children alone in Utah County. He lost his wife to a polygamist group in Southern Utah. His brother John is obsessed with dooms day preaching........and is therefore prepared. There are earthquakes, dam breaks, floods, tornadoes, plagues, wars, nuclear bombs, asteroids, tsunamis, break down of government, martial law, the mark of the beast, weapons removed from all Americans, the rise of the Antichrist, the desperate need for food storage and bomb shelters, and the need to know how to build a handcart. Yes this book has it all.
After natural disaster, plague, riot and death, Steven and his brothers are called to take the first company of Saints back to Missouri. Steven also finds a new wife from his new ward. She helps infiltrate the polygamist group that kidnaps one of his children.

I was pretty entertained........and scared witless. All I can say is I hope the end of the world is nothing like this, or I hope it is ages away because I don't want to be there. Steven and his family, although stricken with many trials don't seem to have the anxiety factor that I would feel. They get along fairly well.
In some ways the book seemed over the top with doom, but I guess if the world is going to end there is probably more than one way to do it. Sure it isn't the best lit out there but all in all I was truly entertained and plan to read the second volume to see what happens when the Saints move east.
Rating 4
Rating PG The book is clean of filth like sex and bad language but the natural disaster alone is terrifying.

The Holy Man

The Holy Man by Susan Trott

The Holy Man lives in a hermitage at the top of a mountain. He has monks or disciples that stay with him and help him keep things running during the summer months. People hear of the Holy Man and make a pilgrimage to see him. The line of people winds on and on all summer long. Many lasting relationships are formed by waiting in line. Sometimes people find their answers from the line before they even reach the Holy Man. Most of the time once one has made it to the front of the line, the door opens, the pilgrim asks to see the Holy Man. They are shown in by an unassuming monk. He leads then through the hermitage. They are shown out the back door and a path leading down the mountain. They are told to treat everyone they meet as if they are holy. Most are seriously disappointed until they consider what they have just been told.
There are also some stories of people the Holy Man does talk to for a little while. We hear about the Alcoholic, the next holy man, the Famous Man, the Angry Man also.
This was a tiny little book. It was a super fast read. I know it had great reviews by some other people. I liked the book okay and I can definitely see that we should treat other people as if they are holy, because everyone is, but I didn't LOVE this book. It didn't feel meaty enough for me.

Rating 3.5
Rating G