Joseph Smith

Joseph Smith
Prophet, Seer and Revelator

Saturday, November 26, 2011

John Taylor is born.

A Boyhood Centered in Faith


We live in God, we move in God, and from him we derive our being.

In Northwest England the green rolling hills of Westmorland (now Cumbria) were heavy with dew. It was November and rain clouds crept across the sky, sheltering and watering the land. A new baby was born, a second son to James and Agnes Taylor – November 1, 1808. The village folk of Milnthorpe bustled about their business, eager to get indoors out of the cold fall weather. Many did not notice there was a new baby in the village, but God knew. He watched John Taylor from the beginning for this child was to grow to be his prophet.

John’s godparents knew. They predicted that John would “renounce the devil and all his works . . . believe all the articles of the Christian faith . . . [and] keep God’s holy laws and commandments . . . all the days of his life.”

Saturday, November 19, 2011

John Taylor

John Taylor


Defender of the Faith



If I can only fight the good fight of faith, and lay hold of eternal life, then all is right.1

As a child John Taylor saw a vision of an angel with a trumpet to his lips, sharing a message with the world. John didn’t know the meaning of the vision, but he kept it close to his heart as he grew up.

Teaching about Christ was his favorite thing to do, and, at the age of seventeen, he became a Methodist minister in England. But he knew Heavenly Father wanted him to preach in America.

After he joined the LDS Faith, he shared his testimony through the spoken and written word in many places on the earth: England, France and Germany, in addition to cities in America such as Nauvoo, New York City and in the Salt Lake Valley. He now knew the message of the angel with the trumpet and took it to the world.

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

November Blog Hop

My new book Texting Through Time, A Trek with Brigham Young has just been released in the stores this week. The book can be yours. Follow this blog, leave a comment, and your name might be chosen.

When 12-year-old Micah "borrows" his father's experimental time-travel phone, his dreams of seeing the future are dashed as he and his sister, Alicia, end up trapped in the past at Brigham Young's boyhood home. Their only hope is to text through Brigham's life to find the answer that can get them back to their own time.

A fun way to discover  Church history, Texting Through Time is one adventure you don't want to miss! Learn that no matter where--or when--you are, God is still aware of you.

Saturday, November 5, 2011

Building a Website

I’ve traveled a magnificent road from writing to publication and loved every minute of it. But I’d like to share my experience of building my website. I’ve had such a fun time with it.


First of all, I don’t have the skills to build the actual site myself, so I found someone who has done a wonderful job with that part. I just told him what I wanted, sent him the information and pictures, and he provided.

Since my first book is about Brigham Young, I decided to give my website a pioneer theme. Researching children’s pioneer games, crafts, cooking took me back to my childhood. We have a cabin in the Tetons where my father grew up, and I had done many of these things as a girl. I wanted pictures of kids on the website, so I orchestrated craft and cooking sessions this summer when we were together with the children in Idaho.

The girls loved making paper dolls. They colored them and kept them together in chains at first. Then they ripped them apart and spent the afternoon playing house with them. I didn’t think they’d have much fun making forest creatures, but they LOVED it. They spent a couple of hours finding twigs and leaves and pinecones they could tie together with string, etc. I purposefully didn’t use little eyes and other craft materials of today because I wanted to be true to the pioneer period. Gathering wild flowers also appealed to the crafty kids.

Cooking was also fun. Shaking the cream jar to music until the butter formed, energized them so they continued the dance fest with dress-up clothes long after the butter hardened. Fishing was the boys’ favorite. They sat by the stream for hours casting and recasting.

I was also surprised at the games. We started playing hide the thimble outside. I thought they’d only play long enough for me to snap some pictures, but they continued for almost an hour. Jack Straws was another activity they loved. Each of them made their own set of straws, and that was as fun as the game itself. I wanted an activity for the smaller children, and follow the leader was the one they enjoyed. (Maybe tromping around in my cousin’s grain field added to the delight—they stayed on the edge so as not to damage too much wheat.)

Visit the website and have as good a time with the pioneer theme as we did. www.christymonson.com

I’d love to hear from each of you about great experiences you’ve had with old-fashioned ideas. If you’re willing I’ll put them on my site.

Take Care! Share your ideas! Christy