Precious Memories The Faith Promoting Series Book 16

This is the 16th book in the Faith-Promoting Series, and the second volume primarily written by George C. Lambert. Lambert worked closely with George Q. Cannon at Deseret Book, and after Cannon’s death he continued publishing volumes in this series. This book, just like the previous book in the series, Treasures in Heaven, has a special emphasis on temples and geneology work. The story of Thomas Briggs is one of a life-long pursuit to find geneological records. In spite of great personal and physical trials, including the amputation of his legs, Briggs made finding the names of his ancestors a priority in his life. He worked ofter at the Logan Temple, and before his death he had amassed a huge collection of geneology. George L. Farrell was a missionary in England in 1875. He had unique experiences with a number of people, and they continued later in his life when people he had ministered to there moved to Utah. The book concludes with a number of short experiences, regarding missionary work and the changes possible when the Spirit touches people’s hearts.

The assurances received of the beneficial effects of the earlier volumes of the Faith-Promoting Series encourage the hope and belief that the present volume may be none the less helpful and appreciated. Narratives of personal experience, especially when they relate to people familiar to the reader or the community in which he lives possess a peculiar charm to most people, and especially to the young, and may convey helpful lessons more effectually than homilies or treatises, however carefully written, are apt to. The reason therefor probably is that in the narrative the moral is applied in real experience whereas in the treatise or homily the moral is expressed in the abstract only, and doubt may exist in the mind of the reader as to just how to apply it in real life. The hope is entertained that not only may the narratives contained in this volume entertain and at the same time tend to promote faith in those who read them, but that they may also incite others in the community whose lives have been fraught with incidents that would be faith-promoting if published to have the same reduced to writing and supply us therewith for use in the Faith-Promoting Series, or else furnish us with the facts and allow us to prepare the same for publication.

This is the 14th book in the Faith-Promoting Series, a collection of books written with young Latter-day Saints in mind. The stories contained in each volume are designed to be exciting to read, teach important gospel principles, and most importantly bring the reader closer to the Savior and show the Hand of God in the everyday lives of everyday Saints. This volume includes experiences from Orson F. Whitney, Briant Stevens, and Thomas A. Shreeve. Whitney was a member of the Quorum of the Twelve, a notable writer of both fiction and non-fiction. He was assistant Church historian, as well as a teacher at BYU. Briant Stevens died not long after being ordained an Elder, but his shining example in the face of trials and suffering is inspiring. He was a true example of a normal member of the Church accomplishing extraordinary things with the help of Heavenly Father. Thomas A. Shreeve was born in England and joined the church there in 1864. Five years later he moved to Ogden, Utah, arriving on the second immigrant train to reach the Salt Lake Valley. In 1878 he was called on a mission to Australia, and served his mission in New Zealand. He organized the New Zealand mission and was witness to many miracles during that time. He was later ordained a patriarch in his home stake in Ogden.

Any member of the LDS Church has been told reasons why the Book of Mormon “just can’t be true”. One of the most common that seems to persist in folk culture is the myth that Sidney Rigdon wrote the Book of Mormon by basing it on the Spaulding Manuscript. The manuscript that Spaulding wrote and tried to sell to a publisher in 1812 contains the story of a group of ancient Romans that sail to the American continent and populate it. Sidney Rigdon supposedly read this manuscript during his acquaintane with the publisher, and used it as a basis for what would become the Book of Mormon. The first half of this book, the eleventh book in the Faith-Promoting Series, was originally published by Deseret Book in 1883 examines both the story behind the manuscript and the claims that Rigdon wrote the Book of Mormon. It was published the year that Spaulding’s original manuscript was found in papers donated to Oberlin University. It details not only the differences between the manuscript and the Book of Mormon, but also gives additional information that may be useful when a member of the Church is asked to defend the Book of Mormon from detractors. Following the Faith-Promoting Series book, I have also included the text of the original Spaulding Manuscript as it has been transcribed from the original manuscript submitted to the published by Spaulding. As an adventure story it has some interesting moments, but it really can’t compare to the Book of Mormon in excitement or depth. I hope that you enjoy perusing it, and that someday it will come of use to you when discussing the Book of Mormon.

This is the 12th book in the Faith-Promoting Series. Like many of the other wonderful books in this series, this book is a collection of experiences from missionaries, pioneers, and early Church members. The stories range from the miraculous with amazing examples of the Lord’s hand reaching out to help Saints in need, to the deeply spiritual and personal. While the Saints who tell these stories have long since passed on, their experiences and the faith that sustained them are just as relevant for us today as they were for their contemporaries. I hope that the stories told here will strengthen your faith just as they have strengthened mine, and will bring you closer to the Savior. The Faith-Promoting Series was started by George Q. Cannon, the founder of Deseret Book, as a way to help youth who weren’t interested in reading “gospel books” have quality, spiritually-uplifting materials to read. They were extremely popular when published in the 1800s and remain so today.

This is the 13th book in the Faith-Promoting Series. It is comprised of three stories from different authors, each with the common theme of sacrifice for the sake of the gospel. Like other books in the Faith-Promoting Series, it is designed to be easy to read, relevant to the daily lives of Latter-day Saints, and exciting. The first section, Leaving Home, is the story of Robert Aveson. Aveson was born in England and received a testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel, but his parents and other family members were violently opposed to him joining the Church. He attended meetings in secret for many years, until he had saved enough money to run away to the US and then on to Utah. His first two attempts at escape were stopped, but eventually he succeeded and successfully arrived in Salt Lake City. Years later his parents both converted to the Church and joined him there. William Anderson was a soldier, a man from a strict family who left behind a touching legacy for his posterity. He joined the Church and journeyed with his family to Nauvoo where he participated in the Battle of Nauvoo. O. B. Huntington relates a thrilling story of journeying through the desert in an area controlled by Native Americans. Amazing intervention from the Lord allows both the Native Americans and the travelers to arrive at their destinations safely.

This is the tenth book in the Faith-Promoting Series. Like many other books in the series, this volume is made up of sketches of various pioneers and other members of the Church from early Church history. The sketches in this volume are about John Tanner, Daniel Tyler, and Newel Knight. John Tanner was one of the primary finaciers of the Kirtland Temple. His conversion to the Church followed a miraculous healing. He and his family later moved to Missouri, Iowa (on the other side of the Mississippi River from Nauvoo), and then across the plains to the Salt Lake Valley. Daniel Tyler was an early convert to the Church who was familiar with both Hyrum Smith, who played an important part of his learning about the Gospel, and Joseph Smith who he knew in Missouri. Tyler was called on a mission to Switzerland and was the teaching missionary of Karl G. Maeser, who later went on to revolutionize education in Utah as one of the founders of Brigham Young University. Tyler also is the author of one of the early histories of the Mormon Battalion, A Concise History of the Mormon Battalion in the Mexican War. Newel Knight was an aquaintance of Joseph Smith before the time of the organization of the Church, and was one of the early converts in New York. He and his family joined the Church in May 1830 and was the branch president of the Colesville Branch. He continued to lead the branch after it left New York for Ohio and Jackson County, Missouri, and was a member of several of the early high councils of the Church.

This is the sixth book of the Faith-Promoting Series. Like many of the other books in the series, this book presents a series of vignettes from early Church history about missionary work, investigating and embracing the Gospel, and miracles that have happened in the everyday lives of members of the Church. It was prepared by George Q. Cannon, a member of the First Presidency and the founder of Deseret Book, for the inspiration and enrichment of young people. Today it stands as a wonderful, faith-enriching testament of the involvement of Heavenly Father in the everyday lives of those who follow Him. There are two sections of special interest. Lorenzo Dow Young, a brother of Brigham Young, writes about the experiences he had that let him to investigate and join the Church, including special visions and dreams that came to him. William W. Cluff and Benjamin F. Johnson’s missions to Hawaii also receive special mention. They describe the missionary work they were involved in while serving the Hawaiian people, the trials and challenges they faced, and the miraculous help they recieved from the Lord. The amazing healing of Lorenzo Snow is central to their memoirs. Like other books in this series, the writing style is clear and engaging, meant to be easily understood, and the stories are captivating. I hope that your faith will be strengthened as mine has been from the stories told here.