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Book Review: Mafia to Mormon

Mafia to Mormon: My Conversion Story by Mario Facione

We had the flu at our house last week and I read Mafia to Mormon while I was down for my 24 hours.  Often times, non-fiction books can be heavy and laborious to read.  But not this one.  And let me assure you, you don’t have to be a Mormon to enjoy and learn from this book.

True Story

Let me begin with a very brief overview.  Mario Facione was a member of the Italian Mafia in Detriot back in the 60’s and 70’s.  But all of that began to change when he was flew into Salt Lake City, Utah, looking for his next big scam.  We got our copy from Jax’s grandmother’s estate so there was a little something extra tucked in the front cover.  Grandma Petersen had clipped a newspaper article from the Deseret Morning News on Dec. 6, 2005.  Entitled “Utah scam led to LDS faith and a new life for Mafioso,” by Doug Robinson, the article added to the intrigue of the book.

“As the title suggests, Facione joined the LDS Church and gave up his life of crime.  After doing a fireside a few years later, he was approached by a woman about doing a book.  Facione declined.

“‘I was scared,’ he says. ‘ I told her when I get through talking you won’t want to do this. When this gets on the street, you’ll evaporate with your family.’

“She persisted. He finally relented. He talked, she wrote (she still does not want her name published).  Facione put the project off for two more years because ‘I had to wait for two guys to leave the scene,’ he says, meaning they had to die. He also did a thorough check of the statute of limitations. The book took 18 years to complete.”

Content

The book encompasses how Mario got involved with the Mafia and his subsequent role as their “cash cow.”  But when two Mormon missionaries, who he mistakes for Feds, show up at his door, he finds his convictions changing rapidly.  His religious conversion is accompanied by loss of fortune and family, and his struggle to transition between two lifestyles, resulting in his potentially lethal request to get out of the mafia.

The book might be described as Mario’s realization of what is meant by the saying ” you cannot serve two masters.”  While discussing the many deals made in his life where a man’s word is his bond, Mario states, “Everything still comes down to a deal in my life, only this time the deal is between me and the Lord.”

Recommendation

I give Mafia to Mormon 12 out of 12 dozen rolls.  This book had me laughing, crying, and gasping in unbelief as I root for a member of the mafia.  And no, you don’t have to be a Mormon to enjoy it.

 

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Angels Among Us

I believe in angels, both the seen and unseen.  The immortal ones, and the average, everyday, human kind of angel.

I was at a church event this week (New Beginnings) with my daughter, Caitlin.  It was kind of a recognition ceremony that doubled to encourage the girls to live by the values they profess.

When talking of doing “good works” one of the presenters there shared the story of the High School valedictorian who gave a speech where he told the story of how he had cleaned out his locker and was planning on committing suicide that weekend… only someone noticed him as he was on his way home and they spent the weekend (and high school years) together.   (Here’s a link to the story of Kyle).

Well it got me to remembering the Angel that saved my life, Ryan Neilsen, while I was at Fort Huachuca.   I had a hard time at Fort Huachuca do to the unfortunate presence of just a couple of soldiers there who found particular delight in my misery, but it was the presence there of Nielsen that helped me survive the place.

I had filed several informal charges* against one particular guy who was the main problem.   Despite this though the cadre provided no relief and he didn’t restrain himself at all, in fact he was encouraged by the lack of action by the NCO’s.  So things got worse for me.  Thankfully there was  a friend in the unit who was a strength at a time I was weak.

After one particularly bad week of harassment and abuse I had decided to just give up.   I was done.  I couldn’t handle the stress of the current situation and had started to believe it would never get better.  I had broken down and was sobbing and slightly hysterical.   I stumbled over to the Chaplain’s office to try to reach out for help from him, but it was locked and he was gone.

I probably spent 10 minutes just sitting outside the locked doors sobbing and thinking of ways to make the pain/suffering stop.  After a while I was able to stop shaking enough to pull my phone from my pocket and called Nielsen**.   I don’t know that he could understand a thing I said and I tried to talk to him.   He knew I was in bad shape though and asked where I was.   Thankfully he was nearby, close enough that in just a few moments I saw him sprinting his way toward me.

It was a sight I’m sure I’ll never forget, seeing him running toward me to save me from the darkness I was enveloped in.   He talked to me, calmed me, and helped me find additional care.   He was an angel of comfort doing the Lord’s work.  Because of that day, and others like it, Ryan quite literally saved my life.   My family was the reason I chose to kept living, but Nielsen was the one who help me make that choice.

That man has my undying gratitude and will forever, eternally, have my respect and love.  I don’t know if he even remember this incident, but I hope that he knows that if he ever needs me, I will likewise come running to his aid.

In a world full of ugliness, terrorists, hatred, and pain, it is easy to believe that those things are the only things to find in the world.  But you can find some way to be an angel.  Find some way to encourage those around you.  Try to SEE those around you who are hurting, are afraid, are alone, or are ready to give up.  It might only take a moment of kindness to save a life.   It only took a moment to save Kyle’s, and it only took a moment to save mine.

 

* I did end up filing formal charges.

** I could have called Julie, but she seemed too far away.  Plus I wanted to shield her from the pain I was feeling.