Heaven is Here

After listening to a General Conference talk by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland where he mentioned Stephanie Nielson, I became re-interested in her story. I looked her up online and saw she had written a memoir--Heaven is Here--so I checked it out from the library.  It tells of Stephanie's story--she was a young mother of 4 and a popular blogger when she was in a small plane crash with her husband.  The pilot was killed, and she and her husband survived but with burns all over their bodies.  The book chronicles her life before the crash (her life growing up, meeting her husband, starting their family) and then the crash and how her life changed after the tragedy.

This was a really inspiring book.  It was definitely very hard to read at times because of the difficulties that she went through, but she really showed how family and faith and hope can get you through times that seem impossible to overcome. Her life was really idyllic before the crash; she was the stereotypical young Mormon mom with a bunch of kids.  But I think understanding that life was important because it helped the reader better understand the devastation of the accident.  It was touching to follow her emotions from depressing and hopeless to the realization that there was still good and happiness in her life, even amid the terrible things she was going through.

Rating: * * * (3/3 = Loved it)

PS--There is also a great "Mormon Message" on youtube that tells a little bit of her story.  I just watched it last night and really liked it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHDvxPjsm8E