What a clever premise! I seriously COULD NOT put this book down! Now and then, you'll come across a book with a super clever premise, but as you read it, the cleverness quickly peters out, it gets stale and predictable, and then it just ends when, frankly, even the author gets too bored to write anymore. **NOT THIS BOOK!!!**
"Muckwhip's Guide" is super clever and it stays real, fresh, and unpredictable to the very end, with a myriad of unexpected twists and turns along the way. I found I could totally relate to the experiences this poor "target" goes through, in all stages of my life so far. I also recognized the same crafty and cunning traps the adversary sets at every turning point in life, especially just when any important decision approaches.
As a missionary serving in northern California, I had to be always diligent to prepare my investigators and reactivated members about Muckwhip-like tricks and traps every time we would commit someone to come to church, get their life in order with gospel teachings, be baptized, pay tithing, and any other big step along the way. Many times we succeeded, but--just like the circumstances in this book--sometimes we did not.
Every RM knows that there's nothing like committing someone to baptism to watch the adversary pull out all the stops to keep it from happening! In the short week or so between commitment and baptism, the unthinkable ALWAYS happens - relatives and neighbors pop up with anti-Mormon materials, the investigator falls and breaks his leg, he suddenly gets called into work for 3 days straight (over his baptism date, of course), and old now-repented-of sins and temptations crop up and push their tender testimonies to the breaking point.
The adversary is sly and tricky, and Muckwhip's destructive advice to his evil underlings really does provide us with a sneak preview into just how jealous, dastardly, and cunning the evil one can be. There are always simple ways to sidestep the traps he sets, though, and we've got far more powerful forces on our side, rooting for us and guiding us along. Poor Muckwhip is in for a big surprise if he thinks all his old tricks will work on everyone!
When I was only halfway through with reading the book, I already loved it enough that I bought several extra copies that I plan to give away as Christmas gifts to my seminary students and family members. Since then, I've finished reading it cover to cover, and I'm happy to report that I LOVED it and will read it again and again. It's honest, down-to-earth, easy reading and it entertains and delights to the very last page. You may even find your vocabulary getting stretched, by accident!
Muckwhip's Guide to Capturing the Latter-day Soul makes the ideal non-stocking-non-stuffer for everyone on your list - teens, prospective missionaries, returned missionaries, youth leaders, bishops, parents, grandparents, etc. You won't be disappointed!
