Hi everyone! I am excited to share a few book thoughts about the biography of Spencer W. Kimball, 12th President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I have mentioned a few times before that I am LDS or Mormon. My religion is very important to me. If you would like to learn more, please let me know of check out this website. And I love learning more about the history of the church through biographies.

Lately, I have been really excited about the idea of reading biographies of all 15 Church Presidents. This is my second biography. I shared some book thoughts on my first biography (about current prophet Thomas S Monson) here.

I have not been a big biography reader until recently (and I still have only read a few total). But I actually enjoy reading a biography simultaneously with several other books. They are so different and refreshing. I read this book mostly on Sundays over four months.

President Spencer W. Kimball was the 12th president of the LDS church serving for 12 years. He has become one of the regularly quoted and referenced prophets in our church and was the prophet when my parents were in high school/college. I was really excited to get this book from my brother for Christmas.

One of my favorite aspects of these biographies are the beautiful quotes from the teachings of the prophets. I love learning from them. Here are some of my favorites.

This is another beautiful book that I love holding and seeing on my bookshelf. What is it about beautiful hard cover books that just make me so excited to read them?

I want to share a bit of background on President Kimball and why he was such an incredible leader in our church. President Kimball was born in 1895 (which seems so crazy) and grew up in Arizona (which I didn’t know). His mother died when he was a child and he always keenly felt her loss. He worked hard on his family’s farm and eventually graduated from high school (a big achievement in those days). He married his wife, Camilla Eyring, at the start of WWI and they had four children. He was called as an apostle in 1943 and supervised various area of the world including South America, The United Kingdom, and the Indian communities in the Southern United States. President Kimball was known for his intense work ethic and dedicated service to the individuals of the world.

He had several debilitating health problems during his life including throat cancer and heart problems. In the early 1970s, he underwent successful open heart surgery that saved his life. The stories in the biography of how President Kimball overcame these intense health challenges were incredible.

The most amazing detail from the book for me was that President Kimball never expected to be the prophet. President Harold B Lee (his predecessor) was 4 years younger than President Kimball and did not experience such difficult health problems. And yet, President Lee served for only a year and a half before his death. President Kimball then took on the heavy responsibility of the presidency for 12 years.

Now I actually am really interested in reading President Kimball’s book The Miracle of Forgiveness which is a bestseller and discusses the miracle of the Atonement and forgiveness from sin. And next on my biography list is President Gordon B Hinckley’s biography by Sheri Dew (she is just incredible).

I am grateful for the opportunity to read this biography and to learn more about the life and teachings of President Kimball. I feel such a closeness and a clearer understanding of the man he was and the preparation he experienced to strengthen him when he became the prophet. Excited to read more biographies!