The Ward Family

Members share experiences they've had with General Conference and how it's helped them and others.

President Nelson celebrates his 100th birthday on September 9, 2024. As he celebrates this milestone birthday, we celebrate him.

We're excited to welcome Phil, Jen, and their kids into our ward. Among other things, we talk about lots of sports growing up, a mission in Peru, not quite love at first sight, and now raising a young family.

Taking a moment to reflect on why we are here on Earth in the first place and how it relates to trying new things

I'm issuing a challenge to all of you to try new things and support others in trying new things. To help you meet that challenge, I share a number of practical and spiritual suggestions on how to do that based on my experience doing 73 new things in 32 days that were outside my comfort zone.

An opinion piece that I published on May 17, 2024 in the Salt Lake Tribune about the need for women to have a meaningful seat at the table when decisions are being made, have legitimate influence and say, and have equivalent authority as men in their sphere of influence.

With the publication of Saints Volume 4 expected later this year, we revisit a summary of Saints Volume 2 along with reflections by ward members on it

Revisiting a lesson given in our ward about how we can identify things in our lives that have more control over us than we have over them and what we can do as a result to gain more control over our lives

A lesson from a few years back on how to become a more effective teacher within your home and at church

We revisit a lesson given in our ward on singles in the church and how we can be more sensitive to their needs

Revisiting a group conversation about race and how our approach to it affects all of our lives.

Revisiting a conversation with our then-Bishop about a deep dive that he had done into the Priesthood and what all of us should understand about it.

We revisit a conversation with Marla about women in the scriptures and why this is an important topic for us to all know more about - both as women and as men.

As we look forward to the Stake RS Women's Conference next week, we revisiting a panel discussion from a few years ago about how to show greater Christlike love to our LGBTQIA+ brothers & sisters

An update on how three of the missionaries from our ward are doing

Revisiting a conversation about family history work - why it matters, what holds us back, and what we can do to make this happen.

Revisiting a conversation with our then-Bishop about a deep dive that he had done into the Atonement and how we can apply it in our lives.

Ward members share reflections on April 2024 General Conference.

We hear from ward members about their experiences celebrating Easter and what this special day means to them.

Moroni 10:3-5 What happens when you read the Book of Mormon with a sincere heart and real intent? Greg shares his story.

Some observations from a 2019 BYU Devotional. For the full talk, go to https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/j-b-haws/wrestling-with-comparisons/.

After 100 episodes of the podcast, we're entering a new chapter where we'll experiment with some new ideas and approaches and things.

We hear from ward members about their experiences with the Book of Mormon and what they hope to get out of their Come Follow Me study of the Book of Mormon this year.

As you're thinking about new years resolutions for 2024, this episode provide some suggestions on things that you may want to include. Happy New Year everyone!

We sit down with Natalie and learn more about her life, including growing up in this area, going off to school at BYU, and then returning home to our stake.

We sit down with Iain, one of our High Council members, and learn more about his life, including traveling the world and being converted to the gospel, serving a mission, and building a family along with the challenges that come along with it.

As we approach Christmas, we hear from ward members about their favorite Christmas memories and traditions at this special time of year.

We sit down with Jim and Heidi, our newest members of the ward, and learn more about their lives, including experiencing new cultures, getting married last year, and now exploring and enjoying everything the Bay Area has to offer.

As we celebrate Thanksgiving, we reflect on the power of gratitude and ward members share what they're thankful for.

I started doing this podcast since I saw a need for greater connectedness within our ward family and an opportunity to do something to help address it. In that same spirit, I thought it would benefit our ward family to do this special episode to create greater understanding and empathy for the experience of our sisters within the Church. There is far more discussion and understanding needed over time but, as Elder Holland has said, “empathy sounds pretty inadequate, but it is a place to start.” For those who want to read Amy Allebest's essay rather that listen to it, here is where you can find it on Medium: https://mormondom.com/letter-to-a-mormon-man-8d251aa1f062.

We sit down with Lance and learn more about his life, including being a Bishop's son, spending precious time with his wife, and now being in a new chapter as a widower and empty-nester.

We sit down with Natalie and learn more about her life, including being a farm girl growing up, serving a mission in Nova Scotia, and recently revisiting that mission three decades later.

We sit down with Ken and learn more about his life, including sparking an early interest in electrical engineering, serving a mission in Germany, and being comfortable about what he does and doesn't know in the gospel.

We sit down with Lori and learn more about her life, including an impactful move to the east coast as a youth, a challenging mission experience, and discovering she enjoys being a parent much more than she would have expected.

We sit down with AJ and learn about his life, including rollerblading down steep hills as a kid, having a transformational experience on his mission, and being the dad of two energetic kids.

We sit down with Amy and learn more about her life, including hearing "no" from the Lord at critical points in her life, discovering yoga in difficult circumstances, and being a reluctant leader within the church.

We sit down with Lily to learn more about her life, including an early passion for soccer, meeting her husband on the first day of her mission, and now having young kids.

It's General Conference weekend. This is a short message and testimony based on a talk in October 2019 by Elder Hans T. Boom of the Seventy entitled "Knowing, Loving, and Growing".

We sit down with Daryn and Anna and learn more about their lives, including growing up in very different places, getting engaged in a very magical way, and now becoming parents and building a family together.

We sit down with Karen, our Stake Relief Society President, and learn more about her life including growing up all over the world, making the transition to being a school teacher, and serving in a number of callings within the Church.

We sit down with Diane and learn more about her life, including growing up in Santa Clara County before it was Silicon Valley, becoming a teacher, and serving a mission later in life. (Note: this episode was recorded before Steve left for his trip to Wyoming)

We sit down with Steve and learn more about his life, including attending the University of Utah as both a child and a young adult, serving two missions, and building a family over 25 years of marriage. [Note: there is a fair amount of background noise from a fan but hopefully you'll still hear everything said ok]

We sit down with Soren and learn more about his life, including being a student-athlete rather than an athlete-student, serving a mission and drawing closer to Jesus Christ in the process, and now heading off to BYU to study industrial design.

We sit down with Miles and learn about his life, including hearing stories about his father's mission growing up, serving a mission of his own, and now returning to BYU.

We sit down with Cameron and learn about his life, including taking an early interest in science and math, becoming a doctor, and serving in various callings in the church.

We sit down with Garrison to learn more about his life, including growing up in a small town, gaining greater perspective as a missionary, and learning what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.

We sit down with Matt and learn more about his life including growing up overseas, discovering that his wife was "the one" during long car trips, and ultimately learning that you don't have to do it all yourself.

We sit down with Pete and learn about his life including serving a mission in Korea, working on the Chicago temple, and raising a family in the Bay Area.

We sit down with Deniece and learn more about her life including growing up in the Philippines, moving to Oklahoma, and then making her way to the Bay Area.

We sit down with Brian and Stephanie and learn about serving missions in Brazil and Japan, spending a lot of time in the Provo area, and now enjoying walks with dog lovers and hoping to move to walks with other dogs.

We sit down with Mike and learn more about his life, including growing up street smart, going into the Army, turning to the Savior, and ultimately finding happiness in life.