Out of the Best Books - LDS Living

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CHAPTERS: Wrestling with the Restoration by Steven Harper Feb 24, 2025

Show notes

This episode explores a topic that is going to answer a crucial question of faith many of us have asked before: why does this church matter? And with our study of the Doctrine & Covenants for the Come, Follow Me year, this chapter from Steven Harper's Wrestling with the Restoration: Why this Church Matters will add to your knowledge of prophetic revelation. It will change the way you respond the next time you encounter prophetic revelation.

This chapter invites us to be a part of the ongoing restoration, and the book is a salve to any who is deep in their wrestle with the doctrines of the restoration.

If you want to listen to the rest of this brilliant book, download Bookshelf+ app where you can listen to the entirety of Steven's work, plus a library of other really great books. Or head to deseretbook.com or your local Deseret book to get your copy.

Thinking Different about the Restoration with Steven Harper Feb 17, 2025

Show notes

This episode jumps into something that is right the Out of the Best Books alley. It's all about asking this crucial question of our faith: why does this church matter? We'll explore how we can encourage the wrestle of that. Hopefully we can see our study of the Doctrine and Covenants this year in a new light, and it may enlighten the conversations we have around the Sunday dinner table.

The perfect person to have this conversation with is Steven C. Harper. He is a professor of Church history and doctrine at Brigham Young University. Steven helps students develop resilient faith and is passionate about them becoming lifelong disciples of the Savior. And his book Wrestling with the Restoration inspired today's conversation.

Get your copy of Wrestling with the Restoration: Why this Church Matters at your local Deseret Book Store or on deseretbook.com, or download the Deseret Bookshelf+ app today!

CHAPTERS: The Law of Love in Action by Steve Young Feb 10, 2025

Show notes

In time for Valentine's Day this year we have an audio excerpt with a focus on love–real Christlike love. Steve Young's book The Law of Love in Action holds stories and commentary about letting love lead out in all relationships. Heard is a piece from chapter 10: No Expectations, No Transaction.

Steve Young is a first ballot NFL Hall of Famer, author, and public speaker. He has written QB: My Life Behind the Spiral, The Law of Love, and the recent Law of Love in Action

Learning to love as Christ would love is a life-long persuit, and we are all in it together. Love, as Steve says many times, is undefeated. You can order The Law of Love in Action or check it out on the Deseret Bookshelf Plus app today.

CHAPTERS: My Lord, He Calls Me edited by Alice Faulkner Burch Feb 03, 2025

Show notes

My Lord He Calls Me: Stories of Faith by Black American Latter-day Saints edited by Alice Faulkner Burch celebrates the stories of Black Latter-day Saints. It's an essay compilation by active Black American members of the Church whose ancestors were brought to the United States from Africa and enslaved. Because it's Black History month, we wanted to hear about their conversion stories, what life is like as a Black Latter-day Saint, and why they choose to remain in the Church. You will be inspired by the faith, testimony, endurance, wisdom, and spiritual strength of these faithful Saints.

This episode pulls an essay called "Our Roadtrip to Jesus" and it's written by Haley and Millie Fletcher, two teenage sisters who are living in Utah. Their mother, who is white, encourages and plans a cross-country roadtrip with them so that they can connect to their ancestral roots. Their story promises that by finding out our own stories, we learn to connect with Jesus.

If you want to listen to the rest of the essays, download Deseret Bookshelf+ where you can hear the entire audiobook. You can also head to your local Deseret Book or deseretbook.com to order your copy today.

Revelation for the Early Saints and Us with Janiece Johnson Jan 27, 2025

Show notes

Revelation is crucial to the restored gospel and crucial to our lives today. As Latter-day Saints, we know the heavens are open, but perhaps we all want to know how to hear God better and understand what revelation looks like in our own lives.

This podcast episodes features Janiece Johnson who will help us see that revelation is indispensable. She is a church historian and acquisition director at Deseret Book. She specializes in American religious history—specifically Latter-day Saint history and in her new book Revelation: Themes in the Doctrine and Covenants, she focuses on revelatory moments in the D&C.

You can pick up your copy of Revelation: Themes in the Doctrine and Covenants now at your local Deseret Book store, or online at deseretbook.com. You can also read now on the Deseret Bookshelf+ app.

Mindfulness in Worship with Carrie Skarda and Jacob Hess Jan 20, 2025

Show notes

Today we're talking all about how to slow down and commune with God. It's a topic that we hope will help remind us how to draw closer to God without doing more.

With so much going on in the world, so much to do and be, why would anyone want to focus on stillness? Because that's what Jesus Christ did.

In this episode, authors of The Practice of Stillness Carrie Skarda and Jacob Hess share their focus on mindfulness and how we can get away from our "frantic doing" and do more with God by doing less.

CHAPTERS: Seven Visions by Adam Miller and Rosalynde Welch Jan 13, 2025

Show notes

In this episode, we're sharing audio from chapter five of Rosalynde Welch and Adam Miller's new book Seven Visions: Images of Christ in the Doctrine and Covenants called, "Christ in the Bosom of the Father."

Adam and Rosalynde put President Nelson's call to seek Christ intentionally at the forefront of this effort. Chapter five focuses on Doctrine and Covenants Section 110, providing perspective as we begin our Come Follow me study of the D&C this year.

Learning to hear God's voice is the goal of a lifetime, and in their book, Welch and Miller explore the themes of light in the Doctrine and Covenants and how that leads to knowing God. Their book has an important message: that learning how to hear God's voice should be urgent to us all. You can order Seven Visions: Images of Christ in the Doctrine and Covenants now or check it out on the Deseret Bookshelf Plus app.

Seeing God in Our Lives with Rosalynde Welch and Adam Miller Jan 06, 2025

Show notes

Deseret Book authors Rosalynde Welch and Adam Miller join this episode to discuss their book Seven Visions: Images of Christ in the Doctrine and Covenants.

Learning to hear God's voice is the goal of a lifetime, and in this episode, Welch and Miller explore the themes of light in the Doctrine and Covenants and how that leads to knowing God. They share an interesting insight that we want to dive more into: that learning how to hear God's voice should be urgent to us all.

This book is a great companion to the new 2025 Come Follow Me study of the Doctrine and Covenants. Order Seven Visions now or try a free trial of the Deseret Bookshelf+ app today to hear the audiobook.

CHAPTERS: A Case for the Book of Mormon by Tad R. Callister Dec 30, 2024

Show notes

In this episode, we're sharing audio from chapter 2 of Tad R. Callister's book A Case for the Book of Mormon called, "Man-Made or God-Given?"

A common criticism of the Book of Mormon is that it's man-made. Brother Callister addresses this common argument and addresses many of the critics theories. Plus he shares a testimony of Emma Smith that you'll be thinking about for days.

In this book, author Tad R. Callister presents compelling evidence, both physical and spiritual, for the authenticity of the Book of Mormon. He invites readers on a spiritual journey that promises a witness stronger than any intellectual argument could create. You can order A Case for the Book of Mormon now.

CHAPTERS: To Always Have His Spirit by Gerald N. Lund Dec 23, 2024

Show notes

In this episode, we're sharing audio from chapter four of Gerald Lund's To Always Have His Spirit: A Divine Promise for the Latter Days. This is a fresh look at the covenants we take part in every Sunday and how we can strive to take the sacrament from routine to remarkable.

Chapter Four is aptly titled, "The Voice of the Lord: Key concepts about personal revelation," and in this excerpt, you'll hear this compelling idea: that understanding the Spirit leads to having Him abide with us.

Gerald Lund is an acclaimed author of The Work and the Glory series available at Deseret Book. He has also written several non-fiction books, served as a general authority, and been a lifelong teacher with the Church Educational System. You can order To Always Have His Spirit now or listen to the full audiobook on Deseret Bookshelf+.

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