But God keeps showing up in the least likely of people—a church-loving agnostic, a drag queen, a felonious Bishop and a gun-toting member of the NRA. As she lives and worships alongside these “ac­cidental saints,” Nadia is swept into first-hand en­counters with grace—a gift that feels to her less like being wrapped in a warm blanket and more like being hit with a blunt instrument. But by this grace, people are trans­formed in ways they couldn’t have been on their own. In a time when many have rightly become dis­illusioned with Christianity, Accidental Saints dem­onstrates what happens when ordinary people share bread and wine, struggle with scripture together, and tell each other the truth about their real lives. This unforgettable account of their faltering steps toward wholeness will ring true for believer and skeptic alike. Told in Nadia’s trademark confessional style, Accidental Saints is the stunning next work from one of today’s most important religious voices.From the Hardcover edition.

    Gorgeous and uplifting, Tattoos on the Heart amply demonstrates the impact unconditional love can have on your life. As a pastor working in a neighborhood with the highest concentration of murderous gang activity in Los Angeles, Gregory Boyle created an organization to provide jobs, job training, and encouragement so that young people could work together and learn the mutual respect that comes from collaboration. Tattoos on the Heart is a breathtaking series of parables distilled from his twenty years in the barrio. Arranged by theme and filled with sparkling humor and glowing generosity, these essays offer a stirring look at how full our lives could be if we could find the joy in loving others and in being loved unconditionally. From giant, tattooed Cesar, shopping at JCPenney fresh out of prison, we learn how to feel worthy of God’s love. From ten-year-old Lula we learn the importance of being known and acknowledged. From Pedro we understand the kind of patience necessary to rescue someone from the darkness. In each chapter we benefit from Boyle’s wonderful, hard-earned wisdom. Inspired by faith but applicable to anyone trying to be good, these personal, unflinching stories are full of surprising revelations and observations of the community in which Boyle works and of the many lives he has helped save. Erudite, down-to-earth, and utterly heartening, these essays about universal kinship and redemption are moving examples of the power of unconditional love in difficult times and the importance of fighting despair. With Gregory Boyle’s guidance, we can recognize our own wounds in the broken lives and daunting struggles of the men and women in these parables and learn to find joy in all of the people around us. Tattoos on the Heart reminds us that no life is less valuable than another.

    Book by Chris Williams

    She is barely an adult when the trials of motherhood and marriage put her on an unexpected collision course with Jesus. After finding her faith at a suburban megachurch, Jamie trades in the easy life on the cul-de-sac for the green fields of Costa Rica. There, along with her family, she earnestly hopes to serve God and change lives. But faced with a yawning culture gap and persistent shortcomings in herself and her fellow workers, she soon loses confidence in the missionary enterprise and falls into a funk of cynicism and despair.

Nearly paralyzed by depression, yet still wanting to make a difference, she decides to tell the whole, disenchanted truth: Missionaries suck and our work makes no sense at all! From her sofa in Central America, she launches a renegade blog, Jamie the Very Worst Missionary, and against all odds wins a large and passionate following. Which leads her to see that maybe a "bad" missionary--awkward, doubtful, and vocal—is exactly what the world and the throngs of American do-gooders need.

    "Some of my gay friends—as well as some of the LDS friends—are a little surprised that I think it's possible to be a gay Mormon."In That We May Be One, Tom Christofferson shares perspectives gained from his life's journey as a gay man who left The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and then returned to it. After having asked to be excommunicated from the faith he was raised in, Tom spent two decades in a loving relationship with a committed partner. But gradually, the love of family, friends, and strangers and the Spirit of the Lord worked on him until he found himself one night sitting in his car in front of the bishop's house...This book is about the lessons Tom, his family, and his fellow Saints learned while trying to love as God loves. It is about the scope and strength of this circle of love and about how learning the truth of our relationship with God draws us to Him. For anyone who has wondered how to keep moving forward in the face of difficult decisions and feelings of ambiguity; for anyone who needs to better understand the redeeming power of our Savior, Jesus Christ; for anyone who seeks to love more fully; this book offers reassurance and testimony of God's love for all of His children.

    And in her new book, Help, Thanks, Wow, she has coalesced everything she knows about prayer to these fundamentals.It is these three prayers – asking for assistance from a higher power, appreciating what we have that is good, and feeling awe at the world around us – that can get us through the day and can show us the way forward. In Help, Thanks, Wow, Lamott recounts how she came to these insights, explains what they mean to her and how they have helped, and explores how others have embraced these same ideas.

    Jane's fascinating personal story and unique insights will inspire women to raise their awareness and perception of this important--and often difficult--role.

    But what does it mean to always have the Lord's Spirit with us? And how can we recognize the presence and guidance of the Holy Ghost in our lives?Paired with both inspirational and personal photography, this new book brings together some of Elder Ronald A. Rasband's greatest stories and counsel about recognizing the divine hand of the Lord in our lives. Get to know Elder Rasband and his teachings as he draws upon personal experiences from his younger life and his ministry as an Apostle. Through his own experience, he helps us learn first how to seek the Spirit and then how to recognize and respond to divine guidance in our families, with friends and colleagues, in our Church service, and during times of trial.Each of these short quotes, heartfelt stories, and brief messages is an important reminder that the Lord is in the small details of our lives. He is interested in our success and eternal happiness, and He has provided the Holy Ghost to offer divine guidance and lead us back to Him.

    Oaks in the introduction to this unique book. "This is an autobiography of learning and application rather than a compendium of doctrine." Masterfully blending personal experiences with the doctrines of the gospel, Elder Oaks invites us to join him on a journey through some of the turning points in his life and the lessons he has learned through a lifetime of devotion to the Savior. The short but potent chapters offer perceptive observations into such diverse topics as the purpose of adversity, the importance of respecting those with whom we disagree personally or politically, the merits and limitations of law, the blessings of tithing, the seeming conflict between science and religion, the Lord's use of imperfect people to further His work, and the power of the Atonement to recover those who have fallen behind. Elder Oaks also relates the very personal lessons he learned from the death of his wife, June, and from his subsequent marriage to Kristen McMain. Woven throughout the book is Elder Oak's powerful testimony of the Savior and His mission. Life's Lessons Learned is a rare glimpse into the experiences of the heart that have shaped the life of an Apostle of God."

    All their appeals have been exhausted at both the state and federal levels---humanly speaking, they have run out of options.But despite their hopeless situation, Carol and her husband live a life full of grace. Kent reveals how life's problems become fruitful affliction where we discover the very best divine surprises, including peace, compassion, freedom, and adventure. Through the Kent's remarkable ongoing journey, Jason's riveting letters from behind bars, and true 'grace place' stories from the lives of others, Between a Rock and a Grace Place reveals that when seemingly insurmountable challenges crash into our lives, we can be transformed as we discover God at work in ways we never imagined. With vulnerable openness, irrepressible hope, restored joy, and a sense of humor, Carol Kent helps readers to find God's 'grace places' in the middle of their worst moments.

    

    After a few weeks of drying tears (sometimes his own), changing diapers, and watching Sesame Street, Dean came to understand what mothers really do and why they're so important. In this thoughtful and often hilarious book, you'll find plenty to ponder and to laugh about.

    

    Enzio Busche, emeritus member of the First Quorum of the Seventy, was born in Germany in 1930, three years before Hitler's rise to power. Fifteen years later, when World War II ended, Enzio was a prisoner of war, having been drafted into the German army at age fourteen. The war left Enzio with many questions: Is there a God? What is the purpose of life? What happens after death? In time, he learned the answers. "Yearning for the Living God" is a collection of Elder Busche's experiences - both before and after his conversion - and an account of the life-changing awakening that can come to all who search for truth in this world.About the Author:Elder F. Enzio Busche is an emeritus member of the First Quorum of the Seventy of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He was sustained a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy on October 1, 1977, at the age of forty-seven. He has also served as president of the Germany Munich Mission and president of the Frankfurt Germany Temple. He and his wife, Jutta, are the parents of four children and the grandparents of nineteen.Tracie A. Lamb comes from the small rural town of Manila, Utah. She graduated from Weber State College and served in the Germany Munich Mission while Elder F. Enzio Busche was mission president there. She received a Master's degree from Arizona State University and then taught English in Seoul, Korea, for three years. She teaches English as a second language and lives with her husband and two daughters in Auburn, Washington.

    Perfect for new and longtime temple worshipers alike, this priceless volume is guaranteed to help you use the temple experience and its rich symbolism to find healing and hope that will let you see yourself more truthfully, then seek God more trustingly.