ACCOUNTING HIS OWN FIRST-HAND EXPERIENCES.

Why Mormons Like it

• Mothers like to know what their children are really doing in “God’s Mormon Army.”
• Prospective missionaries get an absolutely straightforward look at what they can expect to experience.
• Returned missionaries consistently enjoy reliving their own experiences in “God’s Mormon Army.”

Why Non-Mormons Like it

• Straight-up look at a Mormon Mission – the most significant and formative event in a Mormon’s life until marriage, of course.
• Polygamy, the Trinity, prohibitions against smoking and drinking, and other doctrinal issues unique to Mormon life, are all addressed without excuse or prejudice.
• Great stories and experiences of spiritual confirmation and youthful exuberance.

This is the story of one typical missionary who served in Thailand during the 1973 Thai Revolution, while other Southeast Asian governments were collapsing following the U.S. withdrawal from the Vietnam conflict. With this political turmoil as a backdrop, the author follows his day-to-day missionary life, from the extremes of being threatened at gunpoint to the routine attempts to convince culturally, nationalistically and religiously bound Buddhists, that their lives would be better off both in this world and the next if they embraced Christianity as taught by the Mormons. This missionary experience is deepened and enriched by battles with parasites, broken ankles, rabid dogs, bicycle accidents, religious intolerance and the foibles of youth. Through it all, a Mormon mission can be the single most adventurous and influential event of a young person’s life. It is a process that is clearly worth living whether in the first person or vicariously through the chapters of this book.

Mormons. A self-proclaimed “peculiar people” that acknowledge that they are “in the world” but contend that they are not “of the world.” Most non-Mormons will agree that Mormons are indeed a peculiar people for a myriad of reasons. In many regards, however, Mormons share fundamental beliefs and practices with Christians of various denominations including a commitment to following the 10 Commandments, reading the Bible regularly, worshiping at church on Sundays, rendering service to others, alms to the poor, and resting their faith and hope in Jesus Christ as the Savior of the world.

Despite these several similarities to other religious sects, there remain a number of strange lifestyle and doctrinal differences that separate Mormons from what one might call typical Christian living. For one thing, Mormons follow a fairly strict dietary law of health called the “Word of Wisdom” that prohibits the consumption of alcohol and tobacco, coffee, and tea. In addition to Sunday worship in meetinghouses, Mormons also build and attend Temples for special religious practices throughout their lifetime. In addition to reading the Bible, Mormons also read from the Book of Mormon, which they hold as sacred scripture concerning ancient America as revealed by the prophet Joseph Smith in 1830. Finally, Mormons place a high standard on family home life and all of their teachings and activities are committed toward bringing families closer together in love and unity in hopes that this ideal will be perpetuated in the afterlife.