Book Review: "Heaven Up Here"

[jkwilliams]

John described the incident with the cook in response to your post.  Didn't you read it?  You left out critical details that demonstrated that you glossed over important details, thus misrepresenting the incident.  It was not a simple matter of illiteracy and a one time bad meal leading to a heartless firing.  That's how you characterized it, but that isn't what happened.

 

You're entitled to your opinions, but you're not entitled to your own facts.

As I said earlier, my companion and I really did try to make things better with that cook, and we both felt terrible about having to let her go, but it was the right decision. And to clarify, no missionaries cooked for themselves, except for a few of the welfare sister missionaries, and that was only when they had access to a kitchen. We did not. The story Russell got so wrong happened near the beginning of my mission. Every night we ate the same thing: a clear broth made from boiled cow hooves and a bland stew made out of really poor-quality meat that was often mostly gristle. We asked the cook if she could buy chicken or vegetables or anything else, but she said that it was too expensive and wasn't available in the local market. As I mentioned, we often found strange items in our food, such as nails and rubber bands. And her kitchen was filthy, as were her hands. I remember her coming in one evening carrying two bowls of broth, with her thumbs inside the broth. When she put the bowls down, there were black thumbprints visible inside the bowls. Not surprisingly, both of us got sick (I had amoebas and 4 kinds of worms in my intestines), and I dropped down to 114 lbs. We asked the welfare missionaries what to do (my wife was one of them), and they said they could come and do an inspection and then try to teach our cook how to keep things clean and prepare safe, healthy food. They spent 3 full days with our cook, and for those 3 days things were better, but once they left, it went back to the way it had been before.

Even then we weren't thinking of firing her, but we were invited to a branch member's house for Sunday dinner, and we were shocked to be fed chicken and vegetables and other things we had been told weren't available. It turned out this other sister had previously cooked for the missionaries (and had been taught about hygiene and food preparation from the welfare missionaries), and we practically begged her to cook for us. We ate much better when she cooked for us, and it was half the price we had been paying. I don't begrudge the first cook for trying to maximize her family's income, but what we were eating was dangerous, and it was the right decision to stop having her cook for us.

Edited September 9, 2015 by jkwilliams

[mfbukowski]

Just stopped in to see why this ad for John's book is still popping up.

Nothing like digestive problems to do that I guess. Heavy.

[jkwilliams]

Yeah, whatever, but your assessment of John's book is quite simply overcritical and fault-finding to an extreme, not to mention full of misrepresentation (either inadvertent or intentional).  I'm pretty sure that if the author had not been someone who is currently in the "outs" with the church and critical of the church to boot, your assessment would have been far less negative.  Of course, there's no way for me to know this, so it's just my belief.

 

Understand that I usually appreciate your comments and I sometimes react to your posts by cheering.  But not this time.

 

I got a lot out of this book and found it worthwhile reading -- and even uplifting.

 

I had negative experiences on my mission, including with my next-to-last companion, that if I had written about them you might have been tempted to make similar observations.  If I had been jkwilliiams.

Thank you for the kind words. I've been really gratified at the response from readers, LDS or otherwise. I'll stop trying to defend my 19-year-old self now, as that seems kind of silly and pointless. My mission was the hardest thing I had ever done up to that point, and also the most rewarding. I loved my mission because of the good and the bad, and much of who I am today I owe to those two years. It's fine if some people react negatively to what I wrote.

[jkwilliams]

Just stopped in to see why this ad for John's book is still popping up.

Nothing like digestive problems to do that I guess. Heavy.

It keeps popping up because folks like you keep replying.

It is interesting that for some people, the most notable aspect of the book is the description of digestive trouble. Who would have thought?

[MorningStar]

It keeps popping up because folks like you keep replying.

It is interesting that for some people, the most notable aspect of the book is the description of digestive trouble. Who would have thought?

Heaven Up Here: One Young Man's Journey From Irritable Bowel Syndrome to Parasites

 

Seriously though, I would be extremely unhappy if I were sick the rest of my life after my mission, if I had served a mission.  My brother-in-law caught some sort of form of Malaria on his mission where he woke up in the hospital in stirrups with a bowl under him, vomiting all over himself, plus he got a parasite.  He's doing a lot better now, but there was an episode after his mission where he was detailing cars going up for auction and he had an "accident" in the back of a van right before it was taken off the lot.  It came back the next day.  No, I'm not joking. He thinks this story is hilarious, although humiliating to him.

 

I've never had an interest in even briefly visiting any countries where it's not safe to drink the water because I've had health problems without any added "help".

[jkwilliams]

Heaven Up Here: One Young Man's Journey From Irritable Bowel Syndrome to Parasites

 

Seriously though, I would be extremely unhappy if I were sick the rest of my life after my mission, if I had served a mission.  My brother-in-law caught some sort of form of Malaria on his mission where he woke up in the hospital in stirrups with a bowl under him, vomiting all over himself, plus he got a parasite.  He's doing a lot better now, but there was an episode after his mission where he was detailing cars going up for auction and he had an "accident" in the back of a van right before it was taken off the lot.  It came back the next day.  No, I'm not joking. He thinks this story is hilarious, although humiliating to him.

 

I've never had an interest in even briefly visiting any countries where it's not safe to drink the water because I've had health problems without any added "help".

 

You learn to live with it, and you figure out what avoids issues and what doesn't. It's no different than my birth defect, which requires me to be careful about what foods I eat and how slowly I eat them, lest my esophagus get obstructed. I'm 50 years old, and you would think I'd know enough to avoid those problems completely, but every few days, it happens again. The problems left over from my mission are a lot easier to deal with.

[jkwilliams]

I just realized something. Every complaint Russell has about the book, and every misreading, intentional or not, comes from the beginning of the book. He didn't read the whole thing, and it's obvious. That's why he didn't realize I served a 2-year mission; I was called for eighteen months, but you'd have to read about a third of the way through the book to learn that I was given the opportunity to extend my mission to two years, and I did so (clearly, because I felt my privilege was so outraged that I needed six more months of it). That's why he thinks I constantly remind readers that I am a descendant of Frederick G. Williams, even though I mentioned it once, again at the beginning, and only in connection with feeling like being the first in several generations of Williamses to serve a mission was a tribute to him. That's why he talks about my digestive issues as if they are a constant presence through the mission, but they aren't. Again, they were the most severe during the first few months of my mission, when I got really sick and lost 30 lbs (otherwise known as having an upset tummy unbecoming of a spoiled princeling). 

 

The only conclusion I can reach is that he read about one-quarter to one-third of the book, just enough to find a story he could spin in a way to demonize a 19-year old who later grew into me.

Edited September 9, 2015 by jkwilliams

[KevinG]

...which requires me to be careful about what foods I eat and how slowly I eat them, lest my esophagus get obstructed. I'm 50 years old, and you would think I'd know enough to avoid those problems completely, but every few days, it happens again.

 

Aha!  So you admit you are full of ____!

 

[jkwilliams]

Aha!  So you admit you are full of ____!

 

 

Uh, last I checked, that's not what the esophagus is for, at least not for this human.  

[cinepro]

Aha!  So you admit you are full of ____!

 

 

 Sadly, the book makes it clear that he seldom was, and often not by choice. 

Edited September 9, 2015 by cinepro

[jkwilliams]

 Sadly, the book makes it clear that he seldom was, and often not by choice. 

 

You win the thread.

[stemelbow]

Sheesh, Pahoran.

Will you just go read the whole book this time and get back to us? I think we'd all appreciate a renewed effort.

[jkwilliams]

Sheesh, Pahoran.

Will you just go read the whole book this time and get back to us? I think we'd all appreciate a renewed effort.

 

FWIW, Russell has clarified that his review is based on his memory of reading a draft four years ago. 

[Analytics]

I had the privilege of reading this book a number of years ago, in electronic format. I don't know how closely the version I read matches the published version, but here are my impressions of it.

 

There is a tendency for people to praise books critical of the Church of Jesus Christ for their "honesty," with the subtle insinuation that more positive views are somehow less honest. A number of people, not kindly disposed towards the Church, have offered that praise to this book. However, in this instance, I am inclined to agree. I think the book is indeed an honest one, if only for the reason that, to informed Latter-day Saints, it shows the author in a highly unflattering light; which is not usually a symptom of fabrication.

 

In the popular LDS phrase, a missionary is encouraged to "lose himself" (or herself) "in the work." I have never seen a missionary reminiscence in which the work was more palpably lost in the missionary. So much of the book is dominated by expositions of the author's internal state (often literally, as he treats us to medically detailed descriptions of his digestive woes) that it is easy to forget that any actual missionary work is even happening.

 

Heaven Up Here is, in large measure, a story of outraged privilege...

 

Getting “lost in the work” is a nice concept, but it doesn’t change the fact that when you are in a third-world country living as a missionary, just surviving does in fact take quite a bit of mental energy.  Acknowledging this fact doesn’t mean you are less dedicated to the job and aren’t doing your best to be “lost in the work.”

 

A simple example of this is that when I was in Argentina (in living conditions much better than what John was experiencing in Bolivia), my bed had fleas.  I was doing my best to be “lost in the work,” but that didn’t change the fact that every morning when I woke up, I had a few dozen new flea bites.

 

I suppose if Elder McGregor had been in that situation, he would wake up every morning at 6:30 sharp and be so focused and excited to read the Scriptures and Missionary Guide for two hours he wouldn’t even notice the itchy bumps all over his body, much less engaged in the self-indulgent act of scratching them.  But for me, it was an extremely uncomfortable and distracting issue that I needed to deal with.

 

I was living on $90 a month.  While that is more money than many people there had, it wasn’t enough to call a professional exterminator, much less buy a new mattress.  Doing my best to deal with the issues I had with the resources I was given, I took time out of my proselytizing hours to go to the pet store and see what they had for problems with fleas.  I’m sure Elder McGregor would have been too focused on saving souls to take time away from proselytizing to deal with these parasites.  Maybe he would have waited until P-Day, but if he dealt with it on P-Day, would he be criticized for mentioning it?  After all, some people living in poverty deal with fleas their entire lives.  Who is he to think he should have his flea problem solved while they do not?

 

So anyway, my companion and I went to the pet store, and they had flea collars.  The lady there asked us if it was for a small dog, a medium dog, or a large dog.  I said it was for a large dog, and purchased the largest flea collar they sold.  Dealing with things like this was a routine part of our lives as missionaries in Argentina.  That doesn’t mean we were princelings suffering from outraged privilege.   

Edited September 11, 2015 by Analytics

[Analytics]

You said she was fired because she was illiterate and made a mistake because she couldn't read a recipe. That's not true at all, but I suppose it served your narrative of the coddled princeling whining his way through Bolivia.

Yeah, I wouldn't call a lie a misrepresentation, either.

 

In defense of McGregor, (those are four words that none of us would ever guess I'd say), here is a transcription from the book:

 

 

 

His wife, a rather large woman with intense eyes and brown teeth, brought in something I would eat at almost every meal for the next two years. She would boil beef bones and then top the thin, greasy broth with french fries. I noticed that her thumbs were in the soup as she carried the bowls, and I could see the black thumbprint on the inside of the bowl as I ate. But at least I was able to eat at this point. The main course was a grim-looking stew made of tough meat and potatoes. I didn’t eat much. I thought even if I was feeling well, I wouldn’t find it very appetizing. Beck ate as if he hadn’t eaten in a while, and suddenly, he winced and grabbed at his cheek. He pulled a rusty nail out of his mouth. How it got there no one knew (Hermana Galarreta blamed the carnicería where she had purchased the meat). It wasn’t the last time we would find something in our food there: rubber bands, paper clips, pieces of paper, and assorted pebbles showed up over the next couple of months....

 

After another dismal lunch, Elder Beck asked Hermana Galarreta if there was any way we could eat something different once in a while. She brought out some recipe cards illustrated with bright photos. “Sure, elder, just pick something from these cards, and I’ll make it tonight.”

 

First Beck chose fried chicken, but she told him that it was impossible to find chicken in the market. She begged off on several other dishes, which she said were too difficult to make. Finally, Beck settled on a beef pot pie, which looked easy enough. She asked, “How do you make this?” “It’s just like any other pie,” said Beck....

 

We took the bus back to Villa Adela and went back to work, knocking doors until dinner time. We were both looking forward to dinner. Finally, something other than stew. The first course was, as usual, french-fry soup, but then Hermana Galarreta came out of the kitchen, beaming, as she carried a golden pie. She set it down and said she hoped we enjoyed it. Beck picked up his knife and cut into the pie. But something was wrong. The top crust looked kind of strange, and it was quite soft, the knife going right through to the bottom. “Oh, crap,” said Beck. “Do you know what this is?” No, I couldn’t guess. “It’s meringue,” he said. “It’s a meat meringue pie!” Indeed it was. Beck carefully scraped the meringue off to reveal underneath it the same vile stew we’d been eating since I got there.

 

“Didn’t you follow the recipe?” he asked Hermana Galarreta. “I can’t read,” she said, nearly in tears. “You said it was just like any other pie, so that’s how I made it.”

 

It was time to find another cook, we agreed.

 

Williams, John K. (2011-10-17). Heaven Up Here (Kindle Locations 1038-1040).  . Kindle Edition.

 

 

So, while McGregor's reading of this is incredibly uncharitable, the book does in fact link the impulse of wanting to find a new cook with Señora Galarreta's inability to read.

 

However, they never actively looked for a new cook, and kept on going back there every day. Señora Galarreta did not get fired until a few weeks later when the Elders found out that Señora Galarreta had been lying to them about chicken and vegetables not being available for sale, and found somebody who could cook much better food, much more safely, for less money.

 

I should note that I refer to her as Señora Galarreta because she was so offended by getting fired over this event, she left the church forever.  Señora Galarreta, her family, her decedents, and everybody they would have come in contact are losing countless blessings for all of the eternities because of this, and it's all the fault of Elder Beck and Elder Williams because they were princes suffering from outraged privilege who cared more about their own health than about the souls of others.

Edited September 11, 2015 by Analytics

[jkwilliams]

I can see how it comes across that way. That said, it was the dangerously poor quality of the food, her unwillingness to improve, and the exorbitant price that led to the "firing." So, while I still think Russell's interpretation is extremely uncharitable, I can see how one could reach that conclusion. I tried to portray the naive and often clueless boy I was, but I don't see a cold-hearted narcissist.

[Stargazer]

 

In defense of McGregor, (those are four words that none of us would ever guess I'd say), here is a transcription from the book:

 

 

 

 

So, while McGregor's reading of this is incredibly uncharitable, the book does in fact link the impulse of wanting to find a new cook with Señora Galarreta's inability to read.

 

However, they never actively looked for a new cook, and kept on going back there every day. Señora Galarreta did not get fired until a few weeks later when the Elders found out that Señora Galarreta had been lying to them about chicken and vegetables not being available for sale, and found somebody who could cook much better food, much more safely, for less money.

 

I should note that I refer to her as Señora Galarreta because she was so offended by getting fired over this event, she left the church forever.  Señora Galarreta, her family, her decedents, and everybody they would have come in contact are losing countless blessings for all of the eternities because of this, and it's all the fault of Elder Beck and Elder Williams because they were princes suffering from outraged privilege who cared more about their own health than about the souls of others.

 

It's been awhile since I read the book, so I don't recall that this lady was a member of the church, but Elder Williams and his companion didn't intend to offend her, and were sufficiently patient with her about the issue, that I don't see that any responsibility for her and her family's defection from the faith rubs off on them.  To start with, she was dishonest in her dealings with them, did not repent, and her withdrawal from Church activity. along with the concomitant loss of blessings for her descendants is solely her fault.

 

A close relative of mine got offended over something his bishop said in Ward Council meeting, and he immediately went inactive and stayed that way for the next ten years.  In that time three of his four children also withdrew from Church, and married out of the Church.  The bishop's action was truly offensive, in fact, and he was completely wrong.  But was it his fault that my relative went inactive, taking his children with him?  Hell, no!  The bishop made a little transgression by disrespecting my relative in his calling, in public, but my relative's choice to be offended and remove his family from activity in the Church was the greater transgression.

[ttribe]

It's been awhile since I read the book, so I don't recall that this lady was a member of the church, but Elder Williams and his companion didn't intend to offend her, and were sufficiently patient with her about the issue, that I don't see that any responsibility for her and her family's defection from the faith rubs off on them.  To start with, she was dishonest in her dealings with them, did not repent, and her withdrawal from Church activity. along with the concomitant loss of blessings for her descendants is solely her fault.

 

A close relative of mine got offended over something his bishop said in Ward Council meeting, and he immediately went inactive and stayed that way for the next ten years.  In that time three of his four children also withdrew from Church, and married out of the Church.  The bishop's action was truly offensive, in fact, and he was completely wrong.  But was it his fault that my relative went inactive, taking his children with him?  Hell, no!  The bishop made a little transgression by disrespecting my relative in his calling, in public, but my relative's choice to be offended and remove his family from activity in the Church was the greater transgression.

 

Analytics' "story" about the lady leaving the Church and generations being "lost" was satirical.

[Stargazer]

Analytics' "story" about the lady leaving the Church and generations being "lost" was satirical.

 

I kind of thought so, but like I said, it's been some time since I read the book and

as I said, I didn't recall her being a member of the Church -- but Analytics was still saying what he was saying.  If she weren't a member, then she could have been, but her "firing" dissuaded her from joining.  It's still a good point (if I do say so myself) that offenses aren't always just one-way.  That was my take on Analytics's point.

[mfbukowski]

I just realized something. Every complaint Russell has about the book, and every misreading, intentional or not, comes from the beginning of the book. He didn't read the whole thing, and it's obvious. That's why he didn't realize I served a 2-year mission; I was called for eighteen months, but you'd have to read about a third of the way through the book to learn that I was given the opportunity to extend my mission to two years, and I did so (clearly, because I felt my privilege was so outraged that I needed six more months of it). That's why he thinks I constantly remind readers that I am a descendant of Frederick G. Williams, even though I mentioned it once, again at the beginning, and only in connection with feeling like being the first in several generations of Williamses to serve a mission was a tribute to him. That's why he talks about my digestive issues as if they are a constant presence through the mission, but they aren't. Again, they were the most severe during the first few months of my mission, when I got really sick and lost 30 lbs (otherwise known as having an upset tummy unbecoming of a spoiled princeling). 

 

The only conclusion I can reach is that he read about one-quarter to one-third of the book, just enough to find a story he could spin in a way to demonize a 19-year old who later grew into me.

Poor John.

[Stargazer]

Poor John.

 

Oh, dry up.

[mfbukowski]

Oh heck I have looked like a prune for years now.

[jkwilliams]

Poor John.

 

I'll get over it, somehow.