It was just different than it seemed

If you were to walk into my library and office, at home, you would find books on all the walls almost floor to ceiling. Over the years I have read a few books and the variety is in many ways pretty broad. At year end or anytime I suppose it is enjoyable to just look around and see what catches my interest.

With a lot of blogs over the years I have on occasion just mentioned a book or two. This year what catches my eye, and pauses me to ponder some, is that

four of the most interesting and different

books I can recall reading just "happened"

to me and were read over these last

few months.

They were "so" different than what I had read before and really in their own way were sort of life changing type books. One just does not continue on unchanged after these books.

What it is that causes me to think that they are life changing has to do with the subject of the books and a new insight into things that I thought I knew something about before and found I didn't. In addition a "personal connection" with the books theme can be a big thing when you venture into something different. Our son's mission was the connection to the two Hmong Books. Lots of things connected us with the book, When Faith Endures. It was about the fall of Saigon. A pretty big event in our lives but still mostly just a news story watched. The Van Nguyen (pronounced Tay Van Win) was charged with evacuating members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from his war-torn country and he tells it right up to and then after the helicopters so many. He was the President of the only Saigon Branch for the church. The national tragedy was added to by his hope to get his own congregation out of harms way.

Getting to know about something you thought you

knew something about and didn't is the common

theme in these4 books.

My connection was just "living through the time", learning about the Hmong who offer their own perspective of all of those events, of course, and knowing the Mission President in Hong Kong who helped this man through it all.

Then a book about a Doctor, "The Best........in the West" and he really seemed to be just that. It was in the 1800's in Soda Springs Idaho, and again through new eyes it was another look at a time when my own ancestors were going West. It was Kathy's Grandparents that provided the connection probably having gone to this interesting Doctor themselves.

So all things considered it was a good year. Needed my own Doctor by years end. Guess "my" book will have to wait.