Jane Manning James

Who: Jane Manning James was one of the early members of the restored church of Jesus Christ. She hungered to find God's true church, and when she was a teenager she heard the missionaries teach in her Connecticut home, felt the veracity of the truths they taught, and was baptized a member of Christ's church the following Sunday. During her long life as a member of the church (her membership spanned over 70+ years), she traveled from Connecticut to Nauvoo, Illinois; from Illinois to Winter Quarters, Nebraska; and from Nebraska to Salt Lake City, Utah. She suffered many racial persecutions along her journey (including from other members of the church), endured cracked and bleeding feet along her long journeys on foot, and survived the crop failures that resulted from a cricket infestation in 1848; among many, many other trials. She married Isaac James in 1844 and raised 10 children.

How I Learned About Her: I first learned about Jane during a worldwide broadcast in June 2018. Her diligent faith, even in the midst of the unkindness and injustices presented to her, inspired me. I further learned about Jane's story when my cousins Abbey, Faith, and I saw this beautiful film at the movie theater last fall:

Why She Has Blessed My Life: There are many things about the history of my church that I don't understand, but I do know God lives, and I have felt his love and confirmation of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon and the reality of the authority of His prophets. Jane has given me a stalwart, strong example of holding tightly to the truths I do know, while waiting patiently for understanding, clarity, and justice for the things I don't understand or agree with. I admire her spunk, strength, and most of all, her unyielding love and testimony of the Savior, Jesus Christ.

Source: https://history.lds.org/article/jane-manning-james-life-sketch?lang=eng

Day #295

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The Problem with Chick Flicks.

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Have You Ever Read a Book That Made You Grieve? Rejoice? Weep?

Have you ever read a book that spoke so deeply to your soul that you wept while you read it, couldn't put it down even for the pain, and thought about it for days after you finished? I have. I've been fortunate to wander upon many books that have done such for me, but the most recent literary treasure of this variety in my life has been "Between Shades of Gray" by Ruta Sepetys. I don't want to give much away, but I will say this: this book brought to my awareness of the WWII era histories of many Estonian, Latvian, and Lithuanian people. Previous to this novel I was aware that Jews (and other persecuted groups alongside them such as gypsies, the intellectually disabled and homosexuals) were victims of holocaust crimes under Hitler. But I was not aware that Stalin held his own "cleanse" and subjected millions of people to labor, cruelty, and death. The reason why I loved this book was because of the humanity and true charity many victims chose ...

God is Good to the Johnsons

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