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Heroes from the Book of Mormon
Book of Heroes in the book of mormon
218 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1995
18 people are currently reading
344 people want to read
About the author
Gordon B. Hinckley
100 books362 followersPresident Hinckley was known, even at the age of 95, as a tireless leader who always put in a full day at the office and traveled extensively around the world to mix with Church members, now numbering nearly 13 million in 171 nations.
His quick wit and humor, combined with an eloquent style at the pulpit, made him one of the most loved of modern Church leaders. A profoundly spiritual man, he had a great fondness for history and often peppered his sermons with stories from the Church’s pioneer past.
He was a popular interview subject with journalists, appearing on 60 Minutes with Mike Wallace and on CNN’s Larry King Live, as well as being quoted and featured in hundreds of newspapers and magazines over the years. During the Salt Lake Olympics of 2002, his request that the Church refrain from proselytizing visitors was credited by media with generating much of the goodwill that flowed to the Church from the international event.
In recent years, a number of major developments in the Church reflected President Hinckley’s personal drive and direction. In calling for 100 temples to be in operation before the end of the year 2000, the Church president committed the Church to a massive temple-building program.
In 1999 — 169 years after the Church was organized by its founder, Joseph Smith — the Church had 56 operating temples. Three years later that number had doubled, largely because of a smaller, highly practical temple architectural plan that delivered these sacred buildings to Church members in far-flung parts of the world. Many more Church members can now experience the sacred ceremonies that occur only in temples, including marriages for eternity and the sealing of families in eternal units.
President Hinckley was the most traveled president in the Church’s history. His duties took him around the world many times to meet with Latter-day Saints in more than 60 countries. He was the first Church president to travel to Spain, where in 1996 he broke ground for a temple in Madrid; and to the African nations of Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Zimbabwe and Cape Verde, where he met with thousands of Latter-day Saints in 1998. In 2005, he traveled nearly 25,000 miles on a seven-nation, nine-day tour to Russia, South Korea, China, Taiwan, India, Kenya, and Nigeria.
At a general conference of Church members in April 2001, President Hinckley initiated the Perpetual Education Fund — an ambitious program to help young members of the Church (mainly returning missionaries from developing countries) receive higher education and work-related training that they would otherwise likely never receive.
Closer to his Salt Lake City home, President Hinckley announced the construction of a new Conference Center in 1996 and dedicated it four years later. Seating 21,000 people, it is believed to be the largest religious and theater auditorium in the world and has become the hub for the Church’s general conference messages to the world, broadcast in 54 languages.
Even before his term as president, President Hinckley’s extensive Church service included 14 years as a counselor in the First Presidency, the highest presiding body in the government of the Church, and 20 years before that as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
President Hinckley was born 23 June 1910 in Salt Lake City, a son of Bryant Stringham and Ada Bitner Hinckley. One of his forebears, Stephen Hopkins, came to America on the Mayflower. Another, Thomas Hinckley, served as governor of the Plymouth Colony from 1680 to 1692.
President Hinckley’s first job was as a newspaper carrier for the Deseret News, a Salt Lake City daily. After attending public schools in Salt Lake City, he earned a bachelor of arts degree at the University of Utah and then served two years as a full-time missionary for the Church in Great Britain. He served with distinction and ultimately was appointed as an assistant to the Church apostle who presided over all the Europe
His quick wit and humor, combined with an eloquent style at the pulpit, made him one of the most loved of modern Church leaders. A profoundly spiritual man, he had a great fondness for history and often peppered his sermons with stories from the Church’s pioneer past.
He was a popular interview subject with journalists, appearing on 60 Minutes with Mike Wallace and on CNN’s Larry King Live, as well as being quoted and featured in hundreds of newspapers and magazines over the years. During the Salt Lake Olympics of 2002, his request that the Church refrain from proselytizing visitors was credited by media with generating much of the goodwill that flowed to the Church from the international event.
In recent years, a number of major developments in the Church reflected President Hinckley’s personal drive and direction. In calling for 100 temples to be in operation before the end of the year 2000, the Church president committed the Church to a massive temple-building program.
In 1999 — 169 years after the Church was organized by its founder, Joseph Smith — the Church had 56 operating temples. Three years later that number had doubled, largely because of a smaller, highly practical temple architectural plan that delivered these sacred buildings to Church members in far-flung parts of the world. Many more Church members can now experience the sacred ceremonies that occur only in temples, including marriages for eternity and the sealing of families in eternal units.
President Hinckley was the most traveled president in the Church’s history. His duties took him around the world many times to meet with Latter-day Saints in more than 60 countries. He was the first Church president to travel to Spain, where in 1996 he broke ground for a temple in Madrid; and to the African nations of Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Zimbabwe and Cape Verde, where he met with thousands of Latter-day Saints in 1998. In 2005, he traveled nearly 25,000 miles on a seven-nation, nine-day tour to Russia, South Korea, China, Taiwan, India, Kenya, and Nigeria.
At a general conference of Church members in April 2001, President Hinckley initiated the Perpetual Education Fund — an ambitious program to help young members of the Church (mainly returning missionaries from developing countries) receive higher education and work-related training that they would otherwise likely never receive.
Closer to his Salt Lake City home, President Hinckley announced the construction of a new Conference Center in 1996 and dedicated it four years later. Seating 21,000 people, it is believed to be the largest religious and theater auditorium in the world and has become the hub for the Church’s general conference messages to the world, broadcast in 54 languages.
Even before his term as president, President Hinckley’s extensive Church service included 14 years as a counselor in the First Presidency, the highest presiding body in the government of the Church, and 20 years before that as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
President Hinckley was born 23 June 1910 in Salt Lake City, a son of Bryant Stringham and Ada Bitner Hinckley. One of his forebears, Stephen Hopkins, came to America on the Mayflower. Another, Thomas Hinckley, served as governor of the Plymouth Colony from 1680 to 1692.
President Hinckley’s first job was as a newspaper carrier for the Deseret News, a Salt Lake City daily. After attending public schools in Salt Lake City, he earned a bachelor of arts degree at the University of Utah and then served two years as a full-time missionary for the Church in Great Britain. He served with distinction and ultimately was appointed as an assistant to the Church apostle who presided over all the Europe
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
October 6, 2011
The Book of Mormon is full of such amazing people. This book takes an in depth look at some of the main characters. The various essays written by General Authorities are all great. After reading each section you will be inspired by the heroes found in the Book of Mormon. As this is a compilation of writing from church leaders this would be a great companion to any reading done for Sunday School. I plan on reading it again along with Christ and the New Covenant by Elder Holland next year when we study the Book of Mormon.
July 10, 2018
Not quite as rich as Heroes Of The Restoration. But perhaps that is because I knew more about this topic than the previous. There were some lovely essays. But much of the information wasn't new.
May 5, 2016
Insightful, Educational, Informative & Inspiring! A Enjoyable Read! I Loved It!
February 12, 2013
Our stake was given a challenge in 2012 to choose a person from the Book of Mormon to emulate. All the High Council talks over the year focused on this topic. So I can't really blame the authors of this collection of essays that I felt like I'd heard it all before. But it is those "ah-hah" moments that make me connect to a religious book, and I just didn't have many of them with Heroes from the Book of Mormon.
3.5 stars.
3.5 stars.
May 28, 2010
This is one of those books I could turn right around a read again. I love the insights each author gives and seeing how examining the lives of their heroes in the Book of Mormon has made them stronger and more faithful. I loved using this book as a companion study during my scripture reading and wished I had taken more notes on the impressions I recieved.
October 13, 2010
Hooray! Finally finished this (took me awhile). It's a collection of essays, by general authorities of the Church, about different "heroes" in The Book of Mormon. I found little nuggets in various essays, reminders that I needed. I learned the most (about faith and the atonement of Christ) from Merrill J. Bateman's amazing essay, "Lehi's Tree and Alma's Seed."
April 8, 2012
This book was both a beautiful journey into the character of the heroes of the Book of Mormon and an amazing map of the chronology of the book as well. Since the Heroes are explored in the order they appear in the Book of Mormon you get a very unique overview of the whole timeline. Very good book for any one who is LDS or who wants insight into the way Mormons think about this sacred record.
February 13, 2010
I loved the perspective from general authorities of the characteristics and attributes of the heroes from the Book of Mormon. It personalized those people for me and gave me incentive to try and be more like these people who overcame many adversities to be great leaders.
October 16, 2008
I loved how this book took lessons learned then and applied them to modern day. I also loved the different perspectives from the different authors. (check out the chapter my dad wrote about Samuel the Lamanite.)
January 20, 2010
This is one I'm going to buy. I'm just waiting for a coupon. It opened my eyes a little and made me realize just how exciting and adventurous the Book of Mormon truly is. The best part? It's based on true stories of amazing heroes who lived long ago! :)
November 6, 2014
It's so important for our children to have heroes that are not necessarily celebrities-heroes with real character & integrity. This book provides great material for FHE lessons & family scripture study.
November 14, 2013
I liked this book. I wish I could rate each chapter since each chapter is written by someone different. For the most part, I enjoyed the book....some chapters more than others. Definitely gave me something else to think about while I read the Book of Mormon.
September 28, 2014
In this day and age when so many people don't have heroes of strong character, it was so refreshing to read a book that shares stories, teachings, examples, and experiences of people who are worthy of being emulated. This is a book I definitely want to read again.
April 1, 2015
One of the best books I have ever read. The prophets of the Book of Mormon just came to life as each one was "explained" by a General Authority. The insights those men gave to the ancient prophets was so thought provoking.
March 3, 2010
Love the bite-size chapters by different people. Great Sunday read!
September 7, 2016
Lots of information about most of the big names in the Book of Mormon. A good scripture study companion.
February 14, 2016
There were a few chapters that were enthralling and a few that I struggled to get through.... but overall a great read. It was wonderful to read the insight and understanding that the authors shared.
November 19, 2020
This has been a nice companion book to studying the Book of Mormon. Here is just one insight I
loved from comments Elder Wirthlin made about Alma as a Persevering Parent. He says,
“Alma the Younger's conversion was brought about by his father's persevering faith. Despite the profound depths of worldly wickedness into which his son had sunk, Alma did not give up on the son he loved. Here is a case where a righteous man surely loathed the sin, but dearly loved the sinner. He diligently, hopefully, fervently prayed for his son. The angel messenger who visited Alma the Younger told him that he had 'come to convince [him] of the power and authority of God, that the prayers of his servants might be answered according to their faith.' The angel said to the younger Alma, 'Alma, who is thy father has prayed with much faith concerning thee that thou mightest be brought to the knowledge of the truth' (Mos. 27:14).
When we are faced with the pain of wayward children or other loved ones who stray from he gospel path, let us remember the persistent faith of Alma. Remember that the prayer of the righteous availeth much (James 5:16). In fervent, faithful prayers of our own, we can seek the Lord’s help in reaching out to grasp the hands of loved ones who have lost their grip on the iron rod.”
loved from comments Elder Wirthlin made about Alma as a Persevering Parent. He says,
“Alma the Younger's conversion was brought about by his father's persevering faith. Despite the profound depths of worldly wickedness into which his son had sunk, Alma did not give up on the son he loved. Here is a case where a righteous man surely loathed the sin, but dearly loved the sinner. He diligently, hopefully, fervently prayed for his son. The angel messenger who visited Alma the Younger told him that he had 'come to convince [him] of the power and authority of God, that the prayers of his servants might be answered according to their faith.' The angel said to the younger Alma, 'Alma, who is thy father has prayed with much faith concerning thee that thou mightest be brought to the knowledge of the truth' (Mos. 27:14).
When we are faced with the pain of wayward children or other loved ones who stray from he gospel path, let us remember the persistent faith of Alma. Remember that the prayer of the righteous availeth much (James 5:16). In fervent, faithful prayers of our own, we can seek the Lord’s help in reaching out to grasp the hands of loved ones who have lost their grip on the iron rod.”
July 23, 2020
Each chapter is by a different author who discusses a different hero of the BOM. Some authors quote quite a bit from the scriptures; I wanted to hear more discussion, rather than quotes. The chapter on Pahoran was particularly disappointing because it was more about Moroni and quoted from scripture too much to be an actual study/discussion on Pahoran himself. It was a nice, quick read with short chapters, and I certainly don't regret reading it. It's just that I was looking for something more . . . Something deeper, maybe? More horizon-broadening. There were not a lot of "new" things for me to "a-ha" over. Still, though, it's always worth it especially since each author was a general authority (I think--from the 70s on up).
March 9, 2022
It took me a while to read this book because I tried to read the parts about the different people as I came to them in my reading of the Book of Mormon. I haven’t quite finished this reading of the Book of Mormon—I’m in Mormon right now—but I decided to go ahead and finish this book anyway. It has some good insights. I likely won’t be reading it again, but it was nice to read essays by general authorities about the prophets and leaders k of the Book Of Mormon, and the principles that stood out to them.
January 6, 2020
3.5 stars. Fun, little essays on prominent characters in the Book of Mormon. Each one is by a general authority from twenty years ago. I sped read this to get through it quickly and prepare for the year of studying the Book of Mormon.
November 10, 2021
This has by far been my favorite book about prophets in the Book of Mormon. This book isn’t about the doctrine itself, but rather each chapter is a different General Authority’s thoughts on an individual prophet from the Book of Mormon with specific examples. I loved reading their viewpoints.
September 25, 2008
great insights to the book of mormon. loved this book.
October 2, 2014
This book was great. Wish I would have read it earlier.
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews