TO THE RESCUE
By Heidi S. Swinton
Deseret Book Company, 2010, 588 pages
Reviewed by Michael Beach
As the subtitle notes this book is The Biography of Thomas S. Monson. The book was published not long after the principle was named President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Heidi Swinton wrote the book because she was asked to by President Monson. There have been a number of these official biographies of modern prophets written over recent years. The work is informative and inspirational.
President Monson has clearly led a life of service, lifting others in so many ways. His positive perspective and courage are shown over and over in examples throughout the book. One of the more well known stories was when he was in Navy bootcamp. When the Chief told them to file out for church, calling each denomination, President Monson was still standing in formation, from his perspective he was all alone and facing a grumpy old Chief. When asked what he was, he shouted "Mormon, sir!" only to realize that others behind him were shouting the same thing. He had the courage to stand alone, then realized that he was not alone.
I always find the more I know about the general leadership of the church the more I'm both amazed and saddened. The amazed part is the gratitude I feel to know that the Lord has raised up some wonderful people in our day. The intelligence, the prophetic insight, the loving humanity of these leaders always inspires me. The sad part for me to think of my own life in comparison, how far I still need to go to live up to the truths I have been taught. Then I am reminded of the parable of the talents. I don't have to be as good as anyone in particular. I just have to be better than where I started. Improvement is the goal.
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