Unlike most of our conversations, which deal with family updates and the like, he began this call with a rather firm declaration. "I know what your next book should be," he said. I had recently completed a book with two dear friends, the late Rex E. Lee and his wife, Janet-and I responded that I did not have plans to write another book. He continued, undeterred, "No, you need to write a biography of  James E. Faust." Though still half asleep, I knew immediately that he was right, but I asked him anyway why he would make this suggestion. His answer was simple: "Because he's a good man, and the members of the Church don't know enough about him." Not knowing President Faust, but feeling a need to act on my father's suggestion, I passed the idea along to Sheri Dew, who is the vice-president of publishing at Deseret Book and a long-time friend. She, in turn, discussed it with Ron Millett, president of Deseret Book, and the two of them arranged to meet with President Faust and discuss the idea with him. He listened politely and said he would consider their proposal and then let them know of his decision. Having read, some months later, his journal entry for that day, I know that his initial reaction was a preference that such a book not be done. But after several weeks of discussion with his wife, family members, and a few close associates, he informed Ron and Sheri that he would agree to have a book done-but with two conditions: First, that the biography be brief; and, second,  that a selection of his teachings be included in the same volume.

    This book explores how truth, beauty, and goodness can save our relationships even when we disagree with those we love.This book is for:1) Mormons who want to better understand a family member or friend who doubts2) Unorthodox or former Mormons who are looking for ways to talk about their transition with believing family members and friends3) People who are experiencing a Mormon faith crisis and wondering where to turnExcerpts from this book can be found at jonogden.com

    Richards, a Presiding Bishop and Ordained One of the Twelve Apostles, offers an outline prepared to assist missionaries in their study and presentation of the gospel in a systematic and logical manner. Contents: The Position of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; The Visit of the Father and the Son; Personality of the Father and the Son; False Doctrines and Universal Apostasy; A Marvelous Work and a Wonder to Come Forth; The Coming Forth of the Book of Mormon; The Book of Mormon Fulfills Bible Prophecies; Evidences of the Divinity of the Book of Mormon; Restoration of Priesthood Authority; The Ordinance of Baptism; The Mission of the Holy Ghost; Setting up the Kingdom of God Upon the Earth; The Mission of Elijah; Marriage for Time and for All Eternity; The Gathering of Israel; Israel in the Latter Days; The Coming of Elias; The True Church, A Missionary Church; Fundamental Differences Between Salvation and Exaltation; Whence Cometh Man?; Why Is Man Here?; Where Is Man Going?; The Sabbath Day; Predestination and Foreordination; The Word of Wisdom; The Law of Tithing; and By Their Fruits Ye Shall Know Them.

    Three years later, an angel guides him to an ancient record buried in a hill near his home. With God’s help, he translates the record and organizes the Savior’s church in the latter days. Soon others join him, accepting the invitation to become Saints through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. But opposition and violence follow those who defy old traditions to embrace restored truths. The women and men who join the church must choose whether or not they will stay true to their covenants, establish Zion, and proclaim the gospel to a troubled world. The Standard of Truth is the first book in Saints, a new, four-volume narrative history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Fast-paced, meticulously researched, Saints recounts true stories of Latter-day Saints across the globe and answers the Lord’s call to write history “for the good of the church, and for the rising generations” (Doctrine and Covenants 69:8).

    In the first of three volumes spanning the entire Hebrew Bible, David Bokovoy dives into the Penateuch, showing how and why textual criticism has led biblical scholars today to understand the first five books of the Bible as an amalgamation of multiple texts into a single, though often complicated narrative; and he discusses what implications those have for Latter-day Saint understandings of the Bible and modern scripture.

    

    And its defenders too often fail to ponder it deeply enough to respond effectively to such criticisms.But, as author Bob Bennett writes, “For anyone truly interested in the Church and its claims, a thorough examination of the Book of Mormon as a possible forgery is a requirement. Instead of being just a footnote in an overall review of current Church activities, discussion of the book should be a primary focal point of the investigation.” with that in mind, he brings to bear his own fascinating experiences with the world of forgery in this careful examination of the Book of Mormon and its claims.In his role at billionaire Howard Hughes's company, Bennett had opportunities to help disprove two significant attempts at forgery: Clifford Irving's supposedly authorized biography of Hughes and later the fake Hughes “will.” In the process, he became acquainted with several tests commonly used to help identify a forgery. Leap of Faith chronicles the discoveries he made as he applied those tests to the Book of Mormon.Though Bennett concludes that “no final answer can be drawn about the authorship of the Book of Mormon on the basis of analysis alone,” his exploration of the book and explanation of its contents will be invaluable to anyone interested in understanding it more clearly. His own leap of faith provides a springboard for meaningful discussion by people of all faiths.This compellingly written work offers a unique perspective about a book beloved by tens of millions. It is made even more interesting by the author’s experiences working for the reclusive billionaire Howard Hughes, the victim of more than one attempted forgery.

    But unless you were raised a Mormon, you probably don't have a clear picture of LDS beliefs and practices. Covering everything from Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon to tithing and family home evening, this friendly guide will get you up to speed in no time. Discover: * How the LDS Church differs from other Christian churches * What Mormons believe * What happens in Mormon temples and meetinghouses * The history of the LDS Church * LDS debates on race, women, and polygamy

    Anderson. 1996, Deseret Book.

    Ostling and fellow journalist Joan K. Ostling navigate the Mormon Church's complex origins and inner workings. They explore the dramatic changes in its policies on polygamy, its conviction in its manifest destiny as the true religion of America, its vocal dissenters, and the ways in which the church handles its vast financial, media, and educational resources.Richard and Joan Ostling give readers a comprehensive and insightful look into this intriguing religion, complete with the church's history, beliefs, culture, and plans for the future. They shed light on the church's phenomenal success and the strong appeal of its teachings, and provide previously unreported details about its financial investments, worldwide missions, and internal politics.In Mormon America, Richard Ostling picks up where his widely read 1997 Time magazine cover story, "Mormons, Inc.," left off, by illuminating the church's continuing surge in power and popularity. The Ostlings assemble through their reportage the complete story behind the most prosperous religious group in contemporary America.

    One of the nascent faith’s early initiates was a twenty-three-year-old Ohio farmer named Parley Pratt, the distant grandfather of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney. In The Mormon People, religious historian Matthew Bowman peels back the curtain on more than 180 years of Mormon history and doctrine. He recounts the church’s origin and development, explains how Mormonism came to be one of the fastest-growing religions in the world by the turn of twenty-first-century, and ably sets the scene for a 2012 presidential election that has the potential to mark a major turning point in the way this “all-American” faith is perceived by the wider American public—and internationally. Mormonism started as a radical movement, with a profoundly transformative vision of American society that was rooted in a form of Christian socialism. Over the ensuing centuries, Bowman demonstrates, that vision has evolved—and with it the esteem in which Mormons have been held in the eyes of their countrymen. Admired on the one hand as hardworking paragons of family values, Mormons have also been derided as oddballs and persecuted as polygamists, heretics, and zealots clad in “magic underwear.” Even today, the place of Mormonism in public life continues to generate heated debate on both sides of the political divide. Polls show widespread unease at the prospect of a Mormon president. Yet the faith has never been more popular. Today there are about 14 million Mormons in the world, fewer than half of whom live inside the United States. It is a church with a powerful sense of its own identity and an uneasy sense of its relationship with the main line of American culture.  Mormons will surely play an even greater role in American civic life in the years ahead. In such a time, The Mormon People comes as a vital addition to the corpus of American religious history—a frank and fair-minded demystification of a faith that remains a mystery for many.

    He trudged around the United States and England to gain converts for Mormonism, spoke in spiritual tongues, married more than fifty women, and eventually transformed a barren desert into his vision of the Kingdom of God. While previous accounts of his life have been distorted by hagiography or polemical expose, John Turner provides a fully realized portrait of a colossal figure in American religion, politics, and westward expansion.After the 1844 murder of Mormon founder Joseph Smith, Young gathered those Latter-day Saints who would follow him and led them over the Rocky Mountains. In Utah, he styled himself after the patriarchs, judges, and prophets of ancient Israel. As charismatic as he was autocratic, he was viewed by his followers as an indispensable protector and by his opponents as a theocratic, treasonous heretic.Under his fiery tutelage, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints defended plural marriage, restricted the place of African Americans within the church, fought the U.S. Army in 1857, and obstructed federal efforts to prosecute perpetrators of the Mountain Meadows Massacre. At the same time, Young's tenacity and faith brought tens of thousands of Mormons to the American West, imbued their everyday lives with sacred purpose, and sustained his church against adversity. Turner reveals the complexity of this spiritual prophet, whose commitment made a deep imprint on his church and the American Mountain West.

    The resulting Senate investigative hearing featured testimony on every peculiarity of Mormonism, especially its polygamous family structure. The Smoot hearing ultimately mediated a compromise between Progressive Era Protestantism and Mormonism and resolved the nation's long-standing Mormon Problem. On a broader scale, Kathleen Flake shows how this landmark hearing provided the occasion for the country--through its elected representatives, the daily press, citizen petitions, and social reform activism--to reconsider the scope of religious free exercise in the new century.Flake contends that the Smoot hearing was the forge in which the Latter-day Saints, the Protestants, and the Senate hammered out a model for church-state relations, shaping for a new generation of non-Protestant and non-Christian Americans what it meant to be free and religious. In addition, she discusses the Latter-day Saints' use of narrative and collective memory to retain their religious identity even as they changed to meet the nation's demands.

    The struggle for reconciliation between the contending forces is not an easy one. It cuts deep into the soul and usually leaves scars that ache while life endures. There are thousands of young people in the Church to-day, and hundreds of thousands throughout the world, who are struggling to set themselves right with the God above and the world about them. It is for these young people, primarily, that the following chapters have been written...