Kleenex, please.

What can I say about this book other than it is 1:30 a.m. and I finished it two hours ago and I am still crying.......and crying.....and crying.

Very inspirational and I suggest that everyone should read it. I could only hope that I would have that much faith and fortitude to do what the Mormon pioneers did in trying settle new areas all because we were asked by God. I struggle with the little bitty everyday things.

A few years ago, Blaine & I had the opportunity to see the "Hole in the Rock". In our stupidity, we hiked up the crevice expecting to see a "hole". Well, needless to say, it's not a "hole". Here's our sign! After reading the story at the top we started realizing that the marks on the walls were from wagons and that people actually went down this awful area. Nobody said we were up on our church history! However, until I read this book, I didn't fully grasp the faith and perserverance the pioneers had.

I highly suggest this book, even if you are not Mormon, the feats that these people accomplished are awe inspiring.

If you don't believe me, read the following that I got from the Amazon website.

Review

One of the greatest things about my job is that I often get to read and work on some of our most anticipated books long in advance of their release dates. And one of my most exciting projects of the year has just gone to press and will be out the first week of August. Gerald N. Lund is one of those amazing authors who can interweave true historical events with fictional characters to create a spellbinding story that actually teaches something at the same time. Thousands of people said The Work and the Glory got them fascinated with Church history for the first time. For me, Fire of the Covenant had that same effect: I knew the story of the handcart pioneers (or thought I did), but it became REAL to me when I experienced it through the eyes of Lund s characters. And now, after a seven-year hiatus, he s done it again in The Undaunted. The subject this time is even less familiar, but in some ways that makes the story even more compelling. Before I read this book, I knew a tiny bit about the Hole-in-the-Rock pioneer expedition. I didn t know it was a projected six-week trip that turned into a six-month saga of determination and sacrifice, with a good handful of miracles sprinkled in. I didn t stop to consider that people who had already given up everything, some of them multiple times, were asked to do it again, leaving comfortable homes and businesses to travel to a desolate corner of the territory and stand as a buffer between civilization and lawlessness. I didn t understand that our pioneer heritage extends far beyond the trek across the plains; it has been carried out again and again in the lives of people who have laid everything they have and are on the altar of the Lord so that His kingdom can go forward. This is what The Undaunted is to me: so much more than a good story, although it is that. It is so much more than an engaging and heart-clenching read, although it s that, too. It is a testimony to me of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and the courageous Saints who laid its foundations. It is our story. --Emily Watts, editor, Deseret Book Company

Product Description

The journey was impossible. But they had no other choice. At the call of their prophet, they left well-established farms and businesses to strike out yet again into the untamed wilderness. A small band of men, women, and children formed the 1879 pioneer company. Their mission: stand as a buffer between lawlessness and civilization. Their road: only what they created themselves, blasting out a perilous trail over slick rock and through desolate cliffs. Their hearts: UNDAUNTED When it comes to creating spellbinding historical fiction, nobody does it quite like Gerald N. Lund. In The Undaunted, he transports readers first to the coal mines of Yorkshire, then across the ocean and the plains to the territory of Utah, where, even in 1879, there is pioneering to be done. A little- known and perhaps even less- appreciated chapter in the Church s history comes to life in this gripping story of a stalwart group of Saints called to create a settlement to serve as a buffer between the established communities of Utah and the lawless frontier of the Four Corners area. Their challenge will be enormous but the biggest part of it just may be getting there in the first place. Skillfully interweaving historical figures and events with fictional characters, Gerald Lund takes us through the Hole in the Rock and over miles of uncharted country that even today is impassable without all- terrain vehicles. His account of the adventure, romance, and sacrifices of these undaunted pioneers will resonate with readers who love a good story as well as those who want to better understand the incomparable legacy and unconquerable faith of those valiant Saints.