Salt Lake City, Utah, is home to an interesting state park that is currently called This Is the Place Heritage Park. I remember it as This Is the Place State Park. It is home to a grand monument to Brigham Young, the Mormon pioneers, and other explorers of the early American West. The rest of the park is a number of reconstructed early pioneer homes, outbuildings, and buildings such as a blacksmith’s shop, a general store, and other buildings typical of frontier towns. As a kid, the thing that attracted me most to the park was that they sold candy in the general store, there were farm animals to see, and there were a few things that kids could do, such as give combing wool a try (it was much more difficult than it looked). I had little appreciation for the pioneers that the park and monument were originally meant to honor (“originally” is a key word because now it’s billed as a “living history museum” and they’ve even added that old, traditional pioneer facility, the splash pad).
Saints: No Unhallowed Hand (ISBN: 978-1-62972-648-9) is the second volume of a multi-volume history published by the Church itself. This volume follows the Church’s exodus from Nauvoo to the Salt Lake Valley. It tells the story of the wagon trains and hand cart companies that forged the Mormon Trail. The Church was forging into new territory as well, as Brigham Young became the second president of the Church and the second prophet of this era. In addition to trekking across the North American plains, the Church was expanding internationally, with missionaries taking the message of the restored gospel to Europe, South Africa, and the islands of the Pacific. Missionary work didn’t always go so well, and there were plenty of other locations, like Southeast Asia, where missions resulted in extremely few converts. The book also chronicles the early Church’s struggles with the American government. After the lack of concern the federal government showed the Church when Missouri’s official position was persecution, most Church members were wary of the U.S. government. Brigham Young and his successors were wary, but also saw the wisdom of working toward a reconciled position. This led to things like the Mormon Battalion and helped influence Church members’ thinking as some later struggled to accept the end of polygamy. A major theme in the book was the construction of temples. They required great sacrifice, but also resulted in great blessings. The book is written in the same way as the first volume in the series, so there were no surprises this time with formatting, style, or anything like that. I probably enjoyed reading this volume a little more than the first one because I am less familiar with the early missionary efforts and the stories of Church members across Europe and the Pacific. I thought most of the stories were good: interesting and something one can learn from. The book dealt in depth with polygamy, which was never something I struggled with, but I know it’s a question that many, both inside and outside the Church have. The book touched on the Mountain Meadow massacre in a way that I thought presented a good level of detail and the level to which Church members were involved. The stories of faith and sacrifice were what made the book a worthwhile read, though, teaching of their importance and the attendant blessings they bring to our lives.
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Assisted: An Autobiography (ISBN: 978-1-60907-570-5) by John Stockton, if nothing else, proved me right in my assumption. Memoir might be a better description of the book, but those arguments about semantics take nothing away from a rather thorough look at Stockton’s life as a little kid roaming the neighborhood with his friends on long summer days to his time as an NBA star and through his post-retirement activities. He told about his upbringing, his childhood, his high school days, his experiences in college, including various summer jobs, basketball, and dating. He talked about making it in the NBA, being a rookie, changes in the game, some of former Jazz owner Larry Miller’s quirks, and a host of other things that fans and disinterested parties alike might find interesting. He talked about his family, and his parents and wife in particular. He discussed a couple of his coaches, including Jerry Sloan, an NBA great and another hard-nosed, down-to-earth, blue-collar guy. Stockton’s discussion of the Olympics was fascinating because he was very open about his love for his country and the great responsibility he felt putting U.S.A. on his chest. He discussed his life after basketball, except that it hasn’t really been life after basketball as some of his kids of played at a very high level, he’s restored a warehouse and turned it into a community sports center, and he’s still involved in the occasional pickup game. Finally, as part of the proving my assumptions true, his tale is woven throughout with references to family, God, prayer, hard work, and other old-fashioned values.