Ep. 19 – Three Reasons Why You Should Read The Holy Ghost from A to Z

Liz’s book, The Holy Ghost from A to Z, was released today! Find out 3 reasons why YOU should read this inspiring, uplifting book.

Order from Amazon, CedarFort.com, Walmart, Target, or Barnes & Noble.

Outline

• The Holy Ghost from A to Z: What the Spirit Can Do for You (by Liz Kazandzhy) was published today!
  • Order from Amazon, CedarFort.com, Walmart, Target, or Barnes & Noble
• Overview
  • A non-fiction doctrinal book that discusses 26 ways the Spirit can bless you
  • “It’s time to unwrap the gift of the Holy Ghost!”
• Reason #1: It was written for YOU!
  • Most people (1) are busy, (2) like when things make sense, and (3) want to be able to do something as a result of what they read
  • This book (1) is relatively short, (2) is written in a very understandable, conversational way, and (3) has a “Spiritual Inventory Quiz” to lead you to the most relevant chapters, and each chapter ends with “Liken to Yourself” questions with specific ways to apply what you learn
  • Within 10-15 minutes, you can learn something new that’s relevant to you and know exactly how to apply it
• Reason #2: It’ll bless your life tremendously
  • “There is no greater blessing that can come into our lives than the gift of the Holy Ghost.” (President Gordon B. Hinckley)
  • Don’t live beneath your privileges—learn what the Spirit can offer you so you can experience it in your life
• Reason #3: It’s been endorsed by best-selling authors
  • The Holy Ghost from A to Z has been endorsed by Alonzo Gaskill, David J. Ridges, Susan Easton Black, Jack R. Christianson, and others
  • From David J. Ridges: “Liz Kazandzhy’s The Holy Ghost from A to Z is a delightful and compelling read. I believe it will be very helpful to anyone who would like to increase the effectiveness of having the gift of the Holy Ghost in their lives.”
  • From Susan Easton Black: “The Holy Ghost from A to Z puts a new light on our understanding of the Comforter. Organized in a fun, beautiful way, Kazandzhy packs the book with words of Church leaders and prophets of all ages. Any reader will come away feeling the love of our Heavenly Father and will feel instilled with a new relationship with the Holy Ghost. With lifetime lessons of peace and hope, this is a read for all to enjoy.”
• Takeaway invitation
  • If you order the book and enjoy it, please leave a review! Whether it’s on Amazon, Goodreads, or CedarFort.com—or all of the above—writing a review is basically the very best way you can support an author.

Transcript

I’m Liz Kazandzhy, and you’re listening to the cozy little podcast “Latter-day Saint Book Nook,” where we talk about books from a gospel perspective. Whether fiction or nonfiction, religious or not, great books are like wells of wisdom just waiting to be drawn from, and that’s exactly what we’re going to do. So if you love books, and you love the gospel of Jesus Christ, you’re in the right place. Come and learn from the best books to help you live your best life!

Hey everyone! Today’s episode is a bit different than normal because today is a special day—the official release of my book, The Holy Ghost from A to Z: What the Spirit Can Do for You. If you’ve listened to this podcast before, you know that every other week I share a spiritual thought taken from the book. And today I just want to take a few minutes to tell you about the book as a whole and explain three reasons why you should read it.

[1:00]

Introduction

So first, a little about the book. Despite it’s catchy “A to Z” title, it’s not a children’s book. It’s a non-fiction doctrinal book, and the reason it’s called The Holy Ghost from A to Z is because I use the alphabet as kind of a framework to talk about the different ways the Spirit can bless you. So, you’re probably familiar with some of them, like how the Spirit can comfort you, give you direction, and warn you. But there’s also so much more that He can do, such as improve your relationships, reveal your life mission, and even physically strengthen you.

Anyway, the “tagline” for the book is “It’s time to unwrap the gift of the Holy Ghost.” Because if you’re a member of the Church, you’ve been given the gift of the Holy Ghost after you were baptized, but having a gift given to you isn’t the same thing as receiving it, opening it, and enjoying it. And so that’s my goal for the book—to help you truly receive and enjoy the gift of the Holy Ghost.

[2:00]

Reason #1: It was written for YOU!

Alright, so reason #1 why you should read The Holy Ghost from A to Z is because I wrote it for you. Now, you’re probably thinking, “But you don’t even know me!” But what I do know is that people are busy, they like when things make sense, and they want to be able to apply what they read—not just read it. So those were the three guiding pillars that I used while I was writing this book.

So, instead of an intimidating 200- or 300- page book that would take you months to get through, you could easily read this 100-page book within a few weeks. I mean, each letter section is about 3 or 4 pages long, and the entire audiobook came out to be two and a half hours long. So it’s something you could read quite quickly if you’d like, but it’s also so packed with rich doctrine that you could totally take longer if you want and really ponder its messages.

Now, as for the desire for things to make sense, I wrote this in a very understandable way, with a conversational, clear tone to it. This is different than many other doctrinal books that are often written by religion professors or general authorities that are very academic and formal. And there’s nothing wrong with that—it’s just that I wanted my book to resonate with everyone, not just well-educated members who don’t mind long paragraphs and big words. So it’s a very accessible book, written in a way that’s easily digestible, you could say.

And lastly, I wanted the book to be really focused on application—so that it can actually impact your life instead of just going right through you. Because there are a lot of great Latter-day Saint books that you can read all the way through and then think, “Wow, that was awesome! But now what am I supposed to do?”

Well, in this book, I make it extremely easy to answer that question because at the end of every chapter is a “Liken to Yourself” section that has about 2-3 open-ended questions—very specific things for you to think about or do so that you can more fully experience the Spirit in that way.

And another awesome thing about the book is that I also made it extremely easy for you to find the parts that are most relevant to you in the first place. It’s got this “Spiritual Inventory Quiz” at the beginning of the book, which is basically a list of statements about how you’re doing, what you’d like more of in your life, that sort of thing. So you just kind of mark which ones most apply to you, and you can actually use your answers to jump right into whatever chapter is most relevant and interesting to you. (Because fun fact—you totally don’t have to read the book in order.)

So for example, listen to these statements from the Spiritual Inventory Quiz:

• I’m experiencing contention with another person.
• I’ve run across a gospel doctrine, principle, or practice that I’m having a difficult time accepting.
• I feel defensive after receiving correction from God or others.

Well, if you feel like that describes you right now, then head straight to chapter H, which is about how the Spirit can soften your heart. Then, when you’re done reading that short, doctrine-packed chapter, you can ponder the three “Liken to Yourself” bullet points. And just as an example, one of these questions is, “In what circumstances are you most likely to harden your heart? In moments like these, what could you do to invite the Spirit back into your life to soften your heart?” And that’s it! That means that within 10-15 minutes, you can learn something new that’s relevant to you and know exactly how to apply it. And that’s the beauty of this book.

Well, just to wrap up this point—this book is written with you in mind, which is why it’s short, understandable, and very applicable.

[5:48]

Reason #2: It’ll bless your life tremendously

Alright, reason #2 that you should read The Holy Ghost from A to Z is because it’ll bless your life tremendously. Guys, the Holy Ghost is amazing! As President Hinckley put it, “There is no greater blessing that can come into our lives than the gift of the Holy Ghost.”

And do you remember Elder Uchtdorf’s story about the man on the cruise boat? How he lived beneath his privileges because he didn’t know that all the food and events and activities were all included in the price of his ticket? Well, that’s exactly how the Holy Ghost is, and this book is like a brochure of blessings that the Spirit offers—so that you know what’s included in this incredible gift from God. And the more you learn about Him, the more you’ll be able to experience the countless blessings that He offers.

[6:37]

Reason #3: It’s been endorsed by best-selling authors

Okay, and finally reason #3 why you should read this is because it’s been endorsed by several best-selling authors. And I mention this because it’s one thing for you to hear me gush about the book, but obviously I’m totally biased because I’m the author. But it’s another thing to hear the reviews of other people who you might be familiar with—best-selling authors such as Alonzo Gaskill, David J. Ridges, Susan Easton Black, and Jack R. Christianson.

For example, Susan Easton Black, who has 54 books listed on the Deseret Book website, said, “The Holy Ghost from A to Z puts a new light on our understanding of the Comforter. Organized in a fun, beautiful way, Kazandzhy packs the book with words of Church leaders and prophets of all ages. Any reader will come away feeling the love of our Heavenly Father and will feel instilled with a new relationship with the Holy Ghost. With lifetime lessons of peace and hope, this is a read for all to enjoy.”

And David J. Ridges, who has sold over a million copies of his books worldwide, wrote, “Liz Kazandzhy’s The Holy Ghost from A to Z is a delightful and compelling read. I believe it will be very helpful to anyone who would like to increase the effectiveness of having the gift of the Holy Ghost in their lives.”

So, don’t just believe me—believe them as well and order the book if these three reasons are compelling to you. And if you do decide to order this book, and you enjoy it, the one favor I ask of you is to leave a review. Whether that be on Amazon, Goodreads, or CedarFort.com—or all of the above—that’s basically the very best way you can support an author.

Well, thanks for listening today. I’ll get back to my normal podcast schedule now, reviewing a book next week and sharing another spiritual thought after that. Thank you again for your support, and I hope you have a great week!

Thanks for listening to Latter-day Saint Book Nook, hosted by Liz Kazandzhy! If you enjoyed this episode and you’d like to support the podcast, please share it with others, post about it on social media, or leave a rating and review. You can also visit ldsbooknook.com to stay up to date with me and the podcast. Thanks again, and I’ll talk to you next time!