Review
Title: Anxiously Engaged: A Biography of M. Russell Ballard
Author: Susan Easton Black and Joseph Walker
Publisher: Deseret Book
Genre: Religious Non-fiction
Year Published: 2021
Number of Pages: 406
Binding: Hardcover, eBook, Audio-book (CD & MP3)
ISBN-13 Hardcover: 9781629729541
Price: $32.99
Reviewed by Richard Ji for the Association for Mormon Letters
Anxiously Engaged: A Biography of M. Russell Ballard, written by Susan Easton Black and Joseph Walker, is aptly titled. Throughout the book, the pages are bursting with examples of President Ballard’s energy, drive, and his ability to get things done. And as the name of the book implies, his efforts were invariably engaged in a good cause.
The biography numbers 406 pages, with over three-quarters of them discussing President Ballard’s service in the Church. There are 20 chapters that follow his life chronologically and include black and white photos to compliment the text. As one might expect, the biography is devotional in nature and portrays President Ballard in a manner consistent with his calling. The book ends with his testimony per his teaching that “any talk of legacy begins and ends with his testimony of Jesus Christ and the Restoration of the gospel through the Prophet Joseph Smith” (p. 356). Following President Ballard’s testimony, there is a listing of selected writings, chapter notes, and an index.
In the Preface, President Ballard is quoted as saying that his “life has been filled with highs and lows, ups and downs, good things and bad…” (p. vii). But, it is clear that through it all, his desire to readily serve the Lord in whatever assignment he is given seems to drive him through whatever comes his way. President Ballard’s father’s first wife passed away two months after the birth of their first child. He then met and married Geraldine Smith. President Ballard was the first child of this new union. His mother understood that “there was something special going on here” (p. 10) and his sister Ann reminisced that “mother always dealt with him as though he were special” (p. 10).
Despite being a descendant of Hyrum Smith (maternal great-great-grandfather of President Ballard), Apostle Hyrum Mack Smith (maternal grandfather), and Apostle Melvin J. Ballard (paternal grandfather), President Ballard’s parents were less active. Notwithstanding this, “they encouraged him to do the right thing for the right reason but allowed him to decide for himself whether or not he would be involved with the Church” (p. 12). President Ballard’s choice to remain faithful to the Lord was made at an early age. During his missionary service to England, he received a convincing testimony while strolling along the Trent riverbank after a hard day’s work. While he believed in the key tenets of the Gospel, it was during this moment that “an overwhelming feeling of peace and understanding came over” him (p. 44). He realized that it was a moment of pure revelation, and in an instant, his “belief turned into knowledge” (p. 44).
President Ballard’s devotion and unyielding service to the Lord enabled him to receive inspiration throughout his life. I especially enjoyed one specific example. It was during the last trip to Edinburgh, Scotland, while on his mission. President Ballard remembered walking along a street lined with Scottish specialty cashmere sweaters. He was inexplicably drawn to a pink sweater set. After careful consideration, he purchased it, not knowing who it would be for but determined that whomever he would marry would fit the sweater. In essence, it became a Cinderella story of sorts but with a sweater rather than a glass slipper. It was just three days after his mission that President Ballard was introduced to Barbara Bowen. Barbara was lively, popular, and had many suitors. Despite this, ever confident President Ballard persisted in his courtship. In the winter of 1950, he presented the sweater set as a Christmas gift to Barbara, and it fit perfectly. They were not yet an exclusive couple at that time. She loved it and was touched by the story behind it. Barbara’s father was also not active in the Church, and she was determined to marry someone who would be strong in the Church. She was attracted to what she saw from the young President Ballard. After being encouraged to pray earnestly for an answer by him, Barbara received a personal witness, she relinquished her other dating prospects, and they were married.
Anxiously Engaged demonstrates President Ballard’s consistent confidence in pursuing courses of action through to successful completion. From his personal life, his military service, his successful business career, and through his ever-increasing Church responsibilities, President Ballard’s no-nonsense approach to standing with the Lord and getting things done permeates the pages of this book. He was the force behind the establishment of BYUtv, Just Serve.org, the Pioneer Sesquicentennial Celebrations, the book Gospel Principles, Preach My Gospel, and many other media the Church has successfully used. One notable accomplishment with personal impact to me was how he dealt with Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Kwan Yew. Prior to that visit, Singapore had notified the Church that the country would no longer allow English-speaking missionaries to proselyte. Furthermore, the Prime Minister did not want to meet with Church leaders. So, on this trip to the country, then Elder Ballard asked US Senator Jake Garn and businessman and friend, Jon Hunstman, to meet with him. Elder Ballard prayed together with them, and the duo was miraculously successful at reopening the country to missionaries. This appears to have happened shortly prior to my call to that very mission. Thank you, President Ballard!
Two of the most poignant moments in the book are related to miracles. The first was in Ethiopia in 1985. The country was experiencing severe famine. While on assignment there, Elder Ballard supplicated the Lord to bring about desperately needed rain on a clear and sunny day. Hours later, thunder was heard, and a torrential downpour started and continued throughout the rest of their trip (p. 183). The second was in Bolivia, where the water levels of Lake Titicaca flooded out many people living along the lake, including Church members. Elder Ballard, in the company of those who were with him, went to a small piece of dry land and pronounced a blessing. By virtue of his Holy Apostleship, he called upon the power of God and commanded the lake to recede. Within two weeks, the water levels of the lake dropped miraculously by 10 feet. Hydrologists could not explain the phenomena (p. 198).
President Ballard was Anxiously Engaged even through significant health issues, which seemed to me as the reader to be inconveniences to his drive rather than events that subsumed him. These included five arterial blockages (which he apparently went AWOL from the hospital within a few days of the surgery to get going with his life) and macular degeneration resulting in the loss of vision of his left eye, among other ailments. But the book which reflects his mindset perhaps makes just a small mention of these, with only the bypass surgery noteworthy enough to be in the index.
While his view that every talk of legacy be bookended by testimony, in fact, President Ballard’s life between the bookends (the end has yet to come) has been a living testimony. Anxiously Engaged: A Biography of M. Russell Ballard by Susan Easton Black and Joseph Walker outlines the life of one of the great ones, lived with urgency in the service of the Lord. President Ballard is rightfully proud of his ancestors on both sides of his family who devoted their lives to the Lord. When he sees them again, they will no doubt embrace him with reciprocated love and devotion for his contributions to their family legacies in the service of the Lord.