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Erica Glenn believes in the power of music and the healing process of creativity, and has seen from experiences around the world how creativity fosters communities. She started composing her own music from a very young age and has written and produced her own musicals, including The Weaver of Raveloe, which was performed at the American Repertory Theatre in Boston in 2014. She also actively uses her music abilities to bless others’ lives, whether it is through performance or

I had served as the Primary President for about 6 months when a new Young Women’s President was called. She joined us in Ward Council where a a discussion took place about which priesthood quorum’s turn it was to walk the sisters from the assisted living facility next door to the church building. Our ward rotated this responsibility each month between the High Priests Group, Elder’s Quorum, and Young Men’s quorums. The next month, the Young Women were added to the rotation.

Neylan McBaine, author of Women at Church: Magnifying LDS Women’s Local Impact (Greg Kofford Books, 2014), joins Meredith Nelson to discuss her book and her additional perspectives and experiences since its publication. In Part 1, Neylan talks about some of the challenges we currently grapple with as church members when it comes to gender relations. In Part 2, she outlines some creative solutions, and her hopes for the future of the Relief Society.

Neylan McBaine, author of Women at Church: Magnifying LDS Women’s Local Impact (Greg Kofford Books, 2014), joins Meredith Nelson to discuss her book and her additional perspectives and experiences since its publication. In Part 1, Neylan talks about some of the challenges we currently grapple with as church members when it comes to gender relations. In Part 2, she outlines some creative solutions, and her hopes for the future of the Relief Society.

Luisa Perkins began reading and then writing stories as a young girl as a way to find peace and escape from a troubled home life. She is now an acclaimed author who has published many books and essays, including Dispirited and The Book of Jeremiah: Premonition. Her latest novel, Prayers in Bath, centers on an LDS female archaeologist who discovers an ancient text that changes her view on the world and herself. Luisa deeply believes in the power of stories and their necessity

Cecilie Lundgreen, known as CC, is a Norwegian professional golfer. As she was climbing the ranks of European pro golfers, she lost several loved ones in a short space of time. She became friends with two Mormon women golfers from Africa, her coach Reeve Nield and golf pro Laurette Maritz, who offered her a glimpse of the Gospel. CC was baptized in 2002, shortly after she also lost her mother whose support she credits for her success.

Kay Conder was only 34 years old when she and her husband of 13 years divorced, in 1984. She was left to raise six kids between the ages of 2-10 by herself. Now at 68, she discusses how she managed, how views within the church membership and leadership have changed over the years, and the lessons she’s learned along the way.

Trisha Leimer was raising her family in Frankfurt, Germany when the global refugee crisis hit a tipping point in 2015. As she volunteered in and out of camps and continued to work with refugees, she developed personal relationships and realized how intertwined their stories are with our own. Together with five other people, she co-founded Their Story is Our Story: Giving Voice to Refugees, a group of artists and writers committed to sharing refugees’ stories in words and imag

Mariana Castro Heath has traveled around the world for her studies and her archeological work. Born and raised in Lisbon, Portugal, Mariana graduated with a BA in Archeology and Anthropology with Honors at BYU, and is now an Ertegun Scholar and MPhil Candidate in Classical Archeology at the University of Oxford. She has been described as a “Renaissance Woman”—her love for archeology, film, photography, journalism, and the Gospel show an insatiable desire to keep learning thro

Last year, I enjoyed being a part of the Gospel Essentials class in our ward. Before I was called to be a teacher in the Primary, I attended this Sunday School class regularly. We met in a room with a long table around which we all could gather and discuss, as a group of about 10 or less. Men and women of all ages sat at that high council table, discussing the gospel topic of the day.

In this episode, Jenny Reeder and Kate Holbrook join us to talk about women’s authority, titles, words, themes, and experiences across church history. They are the editors of At the Pulpit: 185 Years of Dicsourses of Latter-Day Saint Women, recently published by the Church Historian’s Press. The book has a dedicated webpage, including additional discourses which the editors were not able to include in the printed volume.

Marlene Peterson believes that the desire to learn any subject begins in the heart, and is sparked by stories, music, imagery, and poetry — the Arts. She has built a free online library called Libraries of Hope: an open-source collection of stories, poetry, and classical artwork which parents and teachers can use to educate the hearts of children. She additionally has published more than seventy printed volumes of this collection.

Janiece Johnson and Jenny Reeder joined us in March to discuss the experiences and distinct voices of women in the early days of the Restoration. They share anecdotes from church history you may never have heard before, and discuss the importance of knowing the stories of LDS women, and hearing their testimonies. Together, Johnson and Reeder recently authored The Witness of Women: Firsthand Experiences and Testimonies from the Restoration, which we discuss in this interview.

Melissa Wei-Tsing Inouye grew up in the Church. She earned her BA and her Ph.D. from Harvard University and now teaches history at University of Auckland in New Zealand. She and her husband, Joseph, are the parents of four children.

Deborah Soderholm married at 19 and was widowed at age 30 when her husband died from suicide. She continued her beloved teaching job as she waded through shock and grief, but chose to look to the future and vowed not to let the experience be a dark cloud over the lives of her two daughters. Deborah eventually reconnected with her “Superman,” a family friend whose wife died of leukemia, leaving him with two small children. They married and she became a stay-at-home mom to thei