Mari Vawn Tinney

Are you struggling to live in this chaotic, divisive time in the world with shifting values and opinions? Changed policies, wars, and civil conflicts worldwide created cruel hardships for 65 million refugees and others. A timely book for dealing with the confusion and hardships now, this book is a collection of firsthand accounts, stories, essays, prophecies, research results, and how-to tips. Each chapter of the book offers background to understand ways to respond better to complexities of 21st century issues and situations.

As a guide to more unity for our time, this book’s content invites using kindness and sensitivity to others as a key to reaching out to all in our midst. We offer spiritual, practical, and applied best practices and principles to close language and academic gaps, social gaps, and cultural gaps that exist in many current educational, neighborhood, and church situations. Knowing how and doing more to provide friendship, education, service, and mentoring can help soften the pain of our contentious world and reduce barriers.

People ask, “What is the Spirit of Jershon?” This is the spirit of compassion, kindness, unity, and Christian service in action. It is the Spirit of Aloha and the Spirit of Zion. How can we apply principles of Christ's gospel during these contentious times? Finding common ground and learning how Diversity and Unity can thrive within various groups of people is possible.

Thoughtful explorations for personal transformation are viewed through the lenses of education, culture, language, civility, and preparing a Zion people for the millennial reign of our Savior. We clarify topics in this book related to many misunderstandings and misconceptions that exist culturally, educationally, and in living our religion in actual practice. We can learn how to be kind in the Savior’s way as we interact with others.

Twelve authors wrote the chapters and appendices of this book In the Spirit of Jershon: Veronica Flores Rodriquez de Almeida, Jim Birrell, Janet K. Christensen, Kendel Christensen, Scott Ellis Ferrin, Barbara Morgan Gardner, C. Ray Graham, Lynn Henrichsen, Barbara J. Lovejoy, Paul T. Mero, George I. Monsivais, and Mari Vawn Tinney.

As co-editor with Dr. Scott E. Ferrin, Dr. Mari Vawn Tinney is the main editor and managed the majority of the book publication steps for this book. Each of the authors comes with varying political leanings. We 12 authors wrote for readers who are neighbors, parents, educators, legislators, leaders, policy makers, future missionaries, and people of good will everywhere.

We authors were a small ad hoc group of LDS Hispanics and Anglos with extensive experience who worked as public school teachers, university professors, policy analysts, and community leaders.

Besides a Kindle version of In the Spirit of Jershon, readers can order a print paperback book from Amazon or from http://www.DigitaLegend.com/catalog where you will find the Digital Legend Library page for this book. To order the printed book directly from the publisher, call the publisher.

Dr. Mari Vawn Tinney wrote seven of the 20 chapters. Born and raised in Montana, Mari Vawn enjoys traveling and knowing more of the peoples and cultures of the world. She has lived in Montana, Mexico, Utah, Maryland, Michigan, and Hawaii. A non-fiction author, editor, reviewer, book publisher, designer, technical writer, and a former English teacher, words and books are tools of Mari Vawn Tinney's profession. With a B.A. in English and Spanish and a teaching certificate at BYU, she taught English in Mexico for six years. Her M.A. in TESL Materials Development and Instructional Science is from BYU. She has taught at universities and in public, private, and church schools for 22 years, on all levels as a professional educator for K-12, college, government, and adult ed institutions.

She holds a Ph.D. in Instructional Technology from Utah State University (2007), and that further prepared her for years of fulfilling work experience as an instructional designer, author, corporate trainer, and professor in online/distance education for corporations and universities. She taught various courses at Benemérito in Mexico City, Brigham Young University, Western Governors University, and now at Walden University as a doctoral committee Chair and second committee member of Ed.D candidates.

As a seeker of truth and beauty, she loves to learn new things and loves all kinds of paper and books, the color purple, walks in nature, reading, writing, and travel. She loves life, her family, and her many friends around the world!

Mari Vawn has researched and written on a variety topics and formats for diverse audiences nearly every year of her life on the job and in personal and academic life. For example, she has written 30 refereed academic papers and workshops presented at academic conferences, has eight scholarly articles published, and many articles from freelance feature writing for newspapers and magazines. Also, she has researched, designed, developed, delivered, or evaluated 19 language-related courses on all levels of language proficiency.

Based on events and miracles in her life 40 years ago, she authored a nonfiction book, which was published in 1996: Marita: Missing in Mexico. Two years later the Marita: Perdida en Mexico version was published in Spanish. In 2016 in commemoration of the 40th anniversary of those events and miracles in 1976-77, Digital Legend made this Marita hardcover book available for a new generation of readers at www.digitaLegend.com.