This morning I went online to see about buying some of the recommended reading material for our upcoming trip to the Holy Land. In case anyone else is interested in the book titles, here they are (no links, you can do your own search online):
- Peace, For a Palestinian by Sahar Qumsiyeh. This woman is a Palestinian convert to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She writes about what it is like to live on the Palestinian side of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. I think I may have read some of her story before through emails posted to a group I used to belong to. (Are Yahoo Groups even a thing anymore?) It also could have been someone else. I guess we’ll see! I’m excited to read this book. It is available on Kindle starting Feb. 1st. I pre-ordered it.
- Discovering the World of the Bible, by Kelly Ogden & LaMar C. Berrett, two BYU professors. Mr. Hot Stuff prefers me to buy ebooks, because our shelf space is extremely limited – a fact I would rather not face. You should see all the places I have books stashed. This book however, is not available as an ebook, so I’ll actually be able to smell it. How I love the smell of books!
What do you do when you run out of shelf space? Unless you are Yeti, you can’t see these when you are standing on the floor. - The third book on my list is, Jerusalem: The Eternal City, by BYU teachers David Galbraith, Kelly Ogden, and Andrew Skinner. I’m kind of excited for this one, because it includes some of the history of the BYU Jerusalem Center, where my Ms. Electric studied for a semester. I was happy to see that I could get this one on Kindle.
- I’m also interested to read some historical fiction, and I’m considering, One In Thine Hand, by Gerald Lund, set during the Yom Kippur War, as well as another by Gerald Lund called, The Kingdom and the Crown. My only hesitation with these two is that Gerald Lund tends to write series novels, and I don’t know if I want to get sucked into that right now. I haven’t checked to see if they are available as ebooks.
If anyone can recommend some novels set in the Byzantine era, I’d love to hear about them. Please let me know in the comments. 🙂
“26 O then, if I have seen so great things, if the Lord in his condescension unto the children of men hath visited men in so much mercy, why should my heart weep and my soul linger in the valley of sorrow, and my flesh waste away, and my strength slacken, because of mine afflictions?” 2 Nephi 4:26
Sister Joy D. Jones’s talk from last October’s LDS General Conference was a further answer to prayer for me today. Nephi started it last night, and rereading her talk this morning confirmed it. When I feel fear about the unknown, whether it’s a calling, or family events, or something else, I need to remember that is Satan sewing his seeds of doubt and pride. When I remember, like Moses, whose daughter I am, I can stand with confidence in the knowledge that no matter what He calls on me to do, I can do it with His help. I might, of myself, be too weak or small, but my Father is the Creator of the Universe and He’ll help me.
“Satan is the father of all lies, especially when it comes to misrepresentations about our own divine nature and purpose.”“In contrast, the Lord assures us that when we have virtuous thoughts, He will bless us with confidence, even the confidence to know who we really are. There’s never been a more crucial time to heed His words. “Let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly,” He said. “Then shall thy confidence wax strong in the presence of God; and … the Holy Ghost shall be thy constant companion.”“If the love we feel for the Savior and what He did for us is greater than the energy we give to weaknesses, self-doubts, or bad habits, then He will help us overcome the things which cause suffering in our lives. He saves us from ourselves.”Value beyond Measure
Weathering The Journey 