Tuesday, November 28, 2017

Book Review: Moroni's Guide To Surviving Turbulent Times



I loved this little book. With our turbulent world today, it can sometimes be confusing as to how best to balance our life. This book is a survival guide, using Moroni's last chapters and words, which are packed full of perspective and insights on how best to meet our trials with these solid strategies.

John Bytheway is one of my favorite speakers because he has such a down-to-earth way about him when he speaks. He talks about gospel topics and always presents new ideas and thoughts to me. In this book, Bro. Bytheway starts out by talking about all the temples and how many there are now, but the one thing that stood out to him is the angel on top of the temple. He'd never really thought about how much Moroni had contributed while he was alone---a single adult living through a difficult and sorrowful time. I'd actually never thought about it like that, either.

Bro. Bytheway then goes into each chapter, sharing insights from Moroni's life and example, but also using quotes from the prophets that really bring home what Moroni was trying to teach us, what we can learn from his experiences, and how we can use it as a survival guide today. For example, he points out that, at first, Moroni seems unsure about what direction to go in after his father's death, he's so stunned and grieving for what's happened to his family. But then he remembers his heritage, finds a new direction, and goes forward. Bro. Bytheway shows us how Moroni stopped dwelling on it, remembered who he really was and his heritage, and then began to find his way to move forward. How many times have we suffered through a difficult trial and wanted to dwell on it? Wallow a bit? Murmur or complain? But if we truly can follow Moroni's example, we'll stop rehearsing the past, remember who we are, and turn our focus to our mission.

There were so many great chapters, I couldn't pick my favorite, but I did love that they all end with how we can liken ourselves to Moroni. It's a nice summation of what Bro. Bytheway has been teaching and just gives me a reminder and even goals to work on. This is a small book, with short chapters, but each one is packed with so many things to ponder. As always, the survival guide is presented in such a usable and easy to understand way, and this is a book I can use for myself and my children. I highly recommend this one.

You can get your copy here

Here's the back copy:

The prophet Moroni, who spent at least the last twenty years of his life alone and wandering to avoid being captured and killed, has in the latter days become one of the symbols of our religion. His statue watches over nearly every temple and has been depicted on the cover of millions of copies of the Book of Mormon in dozens of languages. In this book, best-selling author John Bytheway suggests that Moroni's last words were both intensely personal and universally applicable. In the closing chapters of the Book of Mormon we discover a wonderful formula for surviving today's turbulent times. Moroni's topics, and even the sequence in which he shared them, become a strategy for remaining steadfast and true in our day. John suggests that whatever latter-day challenges we face, we can successfully navigate them by "likening Moroni."

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