Russell Ballard explains the Church and LDS beliefs in a clear and inoffensive way. Elder Ballard discusses the Apostasy, the need for the Restoration, the Book of Mormon, the priesthood, the plan of salvation, the Articles of Faith, the Word of Wisdom, temples, missionary work, and benefits of living the gospel. Through personal experiences he reveals how the gospel has benefitted him and concludes by bearing his testimony. You can feel confident in giving this book to nonmember--or less active--friends and family.

    How can you teach your family with the Spirit of the Lord? How can you reach a wayward child? How can you hold more effective, enjoyable family home evenings? In Raising Up a Family to the Lord, Elder Cook teaches parents how to counter the destructive forces in the world we live in and explains how children can be taught to love the Lord.

    Each chapter is filled with insights. Sister Okazaki's straightforward, practical, and cheerful view of life has brought strength to people all over the world. A leader with both feet firmly on the ground and a twinkle in her eye, she believes without equivocation that the gospel is good news.

    Do you sometimes feel like the Lord thought up the commandments just to keep you from having fun and enjoying life? John Bytheway explains how the Lord's guidelines fit into our lives and how they can help us solve our oproblems.

    As he relates the story he draws parallels to staying on course in life, relying on such instruments as prayer and the Holy Ghost. He tells how to listen for the Spirit and helps young people understand that they can receive personal revelation to help them navigate along the strait and narrow path.

    

    With equal expertise and enthusiasm she radiates her testimony of the brightness of hope that the gospel brings.A bumper sticker she quotes could well be a summary of this collection of addresses. 'Hard-hat construction area: christian under construction'. She adds: 'We're all Christians under construction, and that's an area where we need hard hats. It's . . . a little risky sometimes'.Sister Okazaki shares her personal experiences reaching out to the reader with love, support and encouragement. Her often penetrating insights into the tests of mortal life ring with truth and sincerity. Just as with the pattern of the cat's cradle, our lives connect and intersect. She describes those connections in both inspiring and practical terms over a broad spectrum of topics: partnership in marriage and in Church callings; love, the heart of the gospel; the process and the joy of service; replacing circles that exclude with circles that include; the changes life brings and the responses we choose; how to accept and handle our mistakes; bringing hope and growth out of the deserts of adversity; using the flowers of our loves for either joy or consolation, as needed; and much more. Pervading every address is Sister Okazaki's sense of the reality of Jesus Christ and how we can make his cause- love- more deeply our own.

    But, as Elder Gene R. Cook emphasizes in his book, that blessing doesn't come through casual effort. In Searching the Scriptures, Elder Cook explores how we can effectively ponder, question, and mark the scriptures and understand how they apply to our lives. He also shares his testimony of the power and blessings that come from knowing God's word. And he gives suggestions on how to organize family study and how to use the scriptures as a way to bless each family member. Relating personal experiences to show what has worked and what hasn't, Elder Cook shares ways to motivate everyone in the family to participate and work to invite the Spirit to be present at reading time. Elder Cook's hope is to help Latter-day Saints gain a deeper understanding of what scriptures really are and how they apply to us today, and thereby have a desire to learn more from them.

    Packer. “This is a Christmas parable.” With that introduction, President Packer relates the tender story of a man whose strange dream during a difficult Christmas season awakens him to the reality of the Savior's atonement. This meaningful story is highlighted by President Packer's own paintings. A Christmas gift sure to be remembered.

    

    Rich with scripture and the words of modern prophets. A positive, upbeat tone to death as being, certainly for the faithful Church member, the beginning of a beautiful and happy life. Enlightening and exciting. While emphasizing that we must examine these accounts carefully and perhaps critically because conclusions must conform to Church doctrine—since doctrine comes only from the standard works and modern prophets—the authors say, "We were amazed at the similarities and consistencies between near-death accounts and the doctrines of the restored gospel." The reader accordingly will be fascinated with the discussion on what the NDE's report: A "being of light" who greeted them in the spirit world; one's sense of having a perfect, vitalized spirit body; the rapid, graphic review of one's mortal life; seeing populated cities of dazzling brilliance; meeting with loved ones; communication by thought transference; spirits in radiant white robes; an intense, dynamic light that does not hurt the spirit eyes; travel at phenomenal speeds; all levels of beauty and brilliance in the different realms and conditions; expanded comprehension and memory powers; gorgeously beautiful scenery and vegetation. All this and much more in an environment which NDE's describe as all-encompassing, ineffable light and love.

    The Lord will look at that person's circumstances and the degree of his accountability at the time of the act." Elder M. Russell Ballard, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, comments on a controversial action that results in great anguish and heartbreak. He offers hope in a day of despair through faith in the atonement of our Lord, Jesus Christ. Elder Ballard's perceptive observations and wise counsel will bring peace of mind to tormented survivors who must deal with the realities of a deceased loved one's final actions.

    Cook shares personal insights he has gained through his lifelong study of the standard works and conveys his deep affection for the word of God. Engaging his fireside participants in a comfortable and informal dialogue, Elder Cook tells how to search and understand the scriptures. He explains why we must prepare our hearts before reading and describes how to discern the voice of the Lord in the sacred verses. More than a lecture, Personal Scripture Study is a practical lesson in which Elder Cook demonstrates How to identify scriptural patterns. How to mark and cross-reference key ideas. How to ask questions while reading. A printed summary of these principles is included with the tapes. By applying these principles in our study of the scriptures, we are able to enjoy the guidance of the Holy Spirit and thus receive personal revelation. A companion tape entitled Family Scripture Study illustrates how parents can use scripture study to assist in converting their children to the Lord.

    An LDS perspective on understanding and healing emotional, physical, sexual, psychological, and spiritual abuse.