The elders could see nothing but smoke until they turned the corner onto the street where the fire was. And then, both of them stopped. “The synagogue!” Elder Thomas said. It had never occurred to him that anyone – even the Nazis – would do such a thing. Elder Thomas got his camera out. He snapped the shot but then heard someone say, in German, “What are you doing there?” He tucked the camera inside his coat, under his arm. He tried to appear normal, but his heart was suddenly beating hard. A man was crossing the narrow street and coming toward them. “Making pictures?” the man asked as he walked closer. Elder Thomas took a better look. He saw what he feared: the black uniform with silver trim and braided hat. Gestapo. Elder Alex Thomas wants only to teach the gospel to the people of Germany. But it soon becomes obvious that he will never complete his mission. War is coming, and that will affect not only Elder Thomas but also his family back home in Salt Lake City. In the family is Wally, Elder Thomas’s younger brother, who usually just wants ot have a good time, but lately doesn’t seem to care much about anything. There’s his sister Bobbi, who is supposed to marry Phil Clark, the most eligible bachelor in the Salt Lake Valley. The problem is, she can’t ignore her attraction to Dr. Stinson, a University of Utah professor who’s not a member of the Church. And there are Elder Thomas’s parents, D. Alexander Thomas, stake president and his wife, Bea, who want their children to be true to the values and ideals they’ve taught them. But President and Sister Thomas are finding they can’t just tell their children what to do anymore, and they’re worried about what will happen when the United States enters a war that no one seems able to stop. In Rumors of War, the first volume of the series Children of the Promise, author Dean Hughes recreates the era of World War II in stunning detail. But more than that, he shows how the war affects an ordinary family of Latter-day Saints. If you’re interested in Church or world history, or if you’re simply looking for a powerful LDS novel, you won’t want to miss Rumors of War.

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