Mormon Stories - LDS

Continuing our series on “Losing the Lamanites,” we interview Gabriel Misla who originated from the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico.  We cover:

  • Gabriel’s experience joining the Church as a young man in the island territory and his eventual immigration to the mainland US
  • His mission service to the Dominican Republic, and the cultural nuances between the two islands that heightened his sensitivity to how race is viewed in the LDS Church
  • How he came to terms with his sexuality and his experience as a gay Latter-day Saint, including spending time in Evergreen
  • His reminiscence of elation of being from the tribe of Ephraim in his patriarchal blessing because  it meant he was more like his white Utah missionary companions—and now his regret over how his thinking was influenced by the Church’s views on race
  • His thoughts and feelings over the Book of Mormon’s still accepted views on Lamanites and race, and what he feels the Church should do
  • His vision and plans for the future as a post-Mormon still living in Utah
Direct download: MormonStories-778-GabrielMislaPt2.mp3
Category:Religion -- posted at: 8:59am MDT

Continuing our series on “Losing the Lamanites,” we interview Gabriel Misla who originated from the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico.  We cover:

  • Gabriel’s experience joining the Church as a young man in the island territory and his eventual immigration to the mainland US
  • His mission service to the Dominican Republic, and the cultural nuances between the two islands that heightened his sensitivity to how race is viewed in the LDS Church
  • How he came to terms with his sexuality and his experience as a gay Latter-day Saint, including spending time in Evergreen
  • His reminiscence of elation of being from the tribe of Ephraim in his patriarchal blessing because  it meant he was more like his white Utah missionary companions—and now his regret over how his thinking was influenced by the Church’s views on race
  • His thoughts and feelings over the Book of Mormon’s still accepted views on Lamanites and race, and what he feels the Church should do
  • His vision and plans for the future as a post-Mormon still living in Utah
Direct download: MormonStories-777-GabrielMislaPt1.mp3
Category:Religion -- posted at: 8:57am MDT

Ruthie Robertson ignited a nationwide firestorm when she revealed she was fired as an adjunct professor at BYU-Idaho for an LGBTQ-supportive Facebook post on her private page.  During these episodes of Mormon Stories, we delve deep into Ruthie’s Mormon background and her motivations in publishing her post, as well as her opinions about the decision to terminate her employment.  John and Ruthie also discuss the possible “chilling effect” this event could have on students and professors at BYU-Idaho who wish to support their LGBTQ friends and family.

Direct download: MormonStories-776-RuthieRobertsonPt2.mp3
Category:Religion -- posted at: 9:07am MDT

Ruthie Robertson ignited a nationwide firestorm when she revealed she was fired as an adjunct professor at BYU-Idaho for an LGBTQ-supportive Facebook post on her private page.  During these episodes of Mormon Stories, we delve deep into Ruthie’s Mormon background and her motivations in publishing her post, as well as her opinions about the decision to terminate her employment.  John and Ruthie also discuss the possible “chilling effect” this event could have on students and professors at BYU-Idaho who wish to support their LGBTQ friends and family.

Direct download: MormonStories-775-RuthieRobertsonPt1.mp3
Category:Religion -- posted at: 9:06am MDT

In this episode of Mormon Stories/Transitions, John and Margi interview the brilliant Dr. Julie DeAzevedo Hanks about her article titled “30 Questions Nobody Asks My Husband at Church.”

John, Margi, and Julie focus on the powerful cultural messages about gender, potential, life decisions, and worth that are broadcast in the questions we ask.  During the interview, cultural assumptions are challenged in some of the questions from Julie’s article:

  • Did you know that you are a son of your Heavenly Mother?
  • What does your wife do for a living?
  • Who’s watching your kids?
  • Why are you getting a graduate degree?
  • Will you go home and change? Your clothes are distracting the sisters.

…and many more.

Direct download: MormonStories-774-30QuestionsNobody.mp3
Category:Religion -- posted at: 8:07am MDT

In these episodes of Mormon Stories, we interview former LDS Stake President and LDS Chief Architect Laurie Lee Hall. Laurie Lee’s story is fascinating on many levels:

  • Laurie Lee worked for 20 years as Chief Architect for the LDS Church and as Director of Design and/or Construction for around 40 LDS temples.
  • She served as Stake President of the Tooele Utah Valley View Stake in Tooele, Utah for 8 years.
  • While she remembers identifying internally as a woman from a very young age, she began to experience intense pressure to transition to female while serving as an LDS Stake President. This ultimately led to her being released as stake president after 8 years of service.
  • About two months ago Laurie Lee was excommunicated stemming from her decision to transition gender presentation while living in her home ward/stake.
  • Laurie Lee and her spouse have been married 32 years this month and are the parents of five children and 11 grandchildren.
  • Laurie Lee remains a believer in many of the core tenets of Mormonism (e.g., Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, the atonement), and reads the Book of Mormon daily.
Direct download: MormonStories-773-LaurieLeeHallPt4.mp3
Category:Religion -- posted at: 4:05pm MDT

In these episodes of Mormon Stories, we interview former LDS Stake President and LDS Chief Architect Laurie Lee Hall. Laurie Lee’s story is fascinating on many levels:

  • Laurie Lee worked for 20 years as Chief Architect for the LDS Church and as Director of Design and/or Construction for around 40 LDS temples.
  • She served as Stake President of the Tooele Utah Valley View Stake in Tooele, Utah for 8 years.
  • While she remembers identifying internally as a woman from a very young age, she began to experience intense pressure to transition to female while serving as an LDS Stake President. This ultimately led to her being released as stake president after 8 years of service.
  • About two months ago Laurie Lee was excommunicated stemming from her decision to transition gender presentation while living in her home ward/stake.
  • Laurie Lee and her spouse have been married 32 years this month and are the parents of five children and 11 grandchildren.
  • Laurie Lee remains a believer in many of the core tenets of Mormonism (e.g., Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, the atonement), and reads the Book of Mormon daily.
Direct download: MormonStories-772-LaurieLeeHallPt3.mp3
Category:Religion -- posted at: 3:39pm MDT

In these episodes of Mormon Stories, we interview former LDS Stake President and LDS Chief Architect Laurie Lee Hall. Laurie Lee’s story is fascinating on many levels:

  • Laurie Lee worked for 20 years as Chief Architect for the LDS Church and as Director of Design and/or Construction for around 40 LDS temples.
  • She served as Stake President of the Tooele Utah Valley View Stake in Tooele, Utah for 8 years.
  • While she remembers identifying internally as a woman from a very young age, she began to experience intense pressure to transition to female while serving as an LDS Stake President. This ultimately led to her being released as stake president after 8 years of service.
  • About two months ago Laurie Lee was excommunicated stemming from her decision to transition gender presentation while living in her home ward/stake.
  • Laurie Lee and her spouse have been married 32 years this month and are the parents of five children and 11 grandchildren.
  • Laurie Lee remains a believer in many of the core tenets of Mormonism (e.g., Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, the atonement), and reads the Book of Mormon daily.
Direct download: MormonStories-771-LaurieLeeHallPt2.mp3
Category:Religion -- posted at: 3:36pm MDT

In these episodes of Mormon Stories, we interview former LDS Stake President and LDS Chief Architect Laurie Lee Hall. Laurie Lee’s story is fascinating on many levels:

  • Laurie Lee worked for 20 years as Chief Architect for the LDS Church and as Director of Design and/or Construction for around 40 LDS temples.
  • She served as Stake President of the Tooele Utah Valley View Stake in Tooele, Utah for 8 years.
  • While she remembers identifying internally as a woman from a very young age, she began to experience intense pressure to transition to female while serving as an LDS Stake President. This ultimately led to her being released as stake president after 8 years of service.
  • About two months ago Laurie Lee was excommunicated stemming from her decision to transition gender presentation while living in her home ward/stake.
  • Laurie Lee and her spouse have been married 32 years this month and are the parents of five children and 11 grandchildren.
  • Laurie Lee remains a believer in many of the core tenets of Mormonism (e.g., Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, the atonement), and reads the Book of Mormon daily.
Direct download: MormonStories-770-LaurieLeeHallPt1.mp3
Category:Religion -- posted at: 3:33pm MDT

In this episode recorded for use on Bart Campolo's "Humanize Me" podcast, John and Bart interview each other on their experience at building communities post religion

Direct download: MormonStories-769-BartCampolo2.mp3
Category:Religion -- posted at: 6:37am MDT

In these episodes of Mormon Stories, John and Margi interview Carol Lynn Pearson, Jana Riess, and Jana Johnson Spangler to explore their experiences as they navigate progressive Mormonism.

We cover important topics such as:

*Each panelist’s experience when their faith became more complex and whether they would self-describe as a Mormon
*What made them choose to remain engaged in the Church
*What the most valuable aspects of the faith are to each of them, and how they inform and impact their life
*Their social experience in their wards and whether they feel alone or among many others who are navigating a middle-way
*How they approach Sundays and whether they have supplemented their Sunday experience with anything that would be helpful to share with our audience
*Whether they observe a decline in the health and vitality of the Church

Direct download: MormonStories-768-NavigatingProgressiveMormonismPt2.mp3
Category:Religion -- posted at: 8:37am MDT

In these episodes of Mormon Stories, John and Margi interview Carol Lynn Pearson, Jana Riess, and Jana Johnson Spangler to explore their experiences as they navigate progressive Mormonism.

We cover important topics such as:

*Each panelist’s experience when their faith became more complex and whether they would self-describe as a Mormon
*What made them choose to remain engaged in the Church
*What the most valuable aspects of the faith are to each of them, and how they inform and impact their life
*Their social experience in their wards and whether they feel alone or among many others who are navigating a middle-way
*How they approach Sundays and whether they have supplemented their Sunday experience with anything that would be helpful to share with our audience
*Whether they observe a decline in the health and vitality of the Church

Direct download: MormonStories-767-NavigatingProgressiveMormonismPt1.mp3
Category:Religion -- posted at: 8:33am MDT

In these episodes of Mormon Stories, John and Margi interview 3 of the hard-working moderators of the “A Thoughtful Faith” Facebook group.  The group comprises LDS members who are working to stay engaged in constructive ways within Mormonism and offers a safe space to ask faith-challenging questions.

Mark Crego, Jeralee Renshaw, and Dan Wotherspoon answer questions about the purpose of the group, but also embark on a very interesting conversation about how they each are able to remain happily involved in the Church despite being aware of the faith-challenging aspects of the Mormon faith.

Direct download: MormonStories-766-AThoughtfulFaithPanelPt2.mp3
Category:Religion -- posted at: 9:02am MDT

In these episodes of Mormon Stories, John and Margi interview 3 of the hard-working moderators of the “A Thoughtful Faith” Facebook group.  The group comprises LDS members who are working to stay engaged in constructive ways within Mormonism and offers a safe space to ask faith-challenging questions.

Mark Crego, Jeralee Renshaw, and Dan Wotherspoon answer questions about the purpose of the group, but also embark on a very interesting conversation about how they each are able to remain happily involved in the Church despite being aware of the faith-challenging aspects of the Mormon faith.

Direct download: MormonStories-765-AThoughtfulFaithPanelPt1.mp3
Category:Religion -- posted at: 8:58am MDT

In this series on Mormon Stories, we interview the fabulous Natasha Helfer Parker, MFT, CST — moderator of the Mormon Mental Health podcast — to finally hear her “Mormon story.”

This interview covers:

*Being raised in the Church with convert parents in Spain and her eventual move to the US
*Natasha and her family’s concerns about the practice of polygamy and frustration that their questions never seemed to be answered, yet remaining true-believers
*The impact of being a victim of sexual abuse as a child and teenager and how it influenced her experiences exploring her sexuality as a teenager and young adult
*Her removal from BYU because of her sexual experiences and her thoughts now about the unintended consequences of honor code enforcement
*How she met her husband and disclosed her sexual past in an act of transparency, and how it affected the first years of their marriage
*Her thoughts now about the difference between behavior and self-worth within the Church, especially as it relates to sexual behavior
*Her decision to become a sex therapist and how her move to the Midwest became an impetus to develop a wider online presence
*How being a believer in the faith, but having a nuanced view of sexuality led her to being widely known as the “Mormon Sex Therapist”
*How cracks developed in her Orthodox faith foundation
*Her feeling of being in a continuing faith transition for much of the 20+ years of her practice

http://www.mormonmentalhealth.org

https://www.symmetrysols.com

Direct download: MormonStories-764-NatashaHelferParkerPt3.mp3
Category:Religion -- posted at: 8:11am MDT

In this series on Mormon Stories, we interview the fabulous Natasha Helfer Parker, MFT, CST — moderator of the Mormon Mental Health podcast — to finally hear her “Mormon story.”

This interview covers:

*Being raised in the Church with convert parents in Spain and her eventual move to the US
*Natasha and her family’s concerns about the practice of polygamy and frustration that their questions never seemed to be answered, yet remaining true-believers
*The impact of being a victim of sexual abuse as a child and teenager and how it influenced her experiences exploring her sexuality as a teenager and young adult
*Her removal from BYU because of her sexual experiences and her thoughts now about the unintended consequences of honor code enforcement
*How she met her husband and disclosed her sexual past in an act of transparency, and how it affected the first years of their marriage
*Her thoughts now about the difference between behavior and self-worth within the Church, especially as it relates to sexual behavior
*Her decision to become a sex therapist and how her move to the Midwest became an impetus to develop a wider online presence
*How being a believer in the faith, but having a nuanced view of sexuality led her to being widely known as the “Mormon Sex Therapist”
*How cracks developed in her Orthodox faith foundation
*Her feeling of being in a continuing faith transition for much of the 20+ years of her practice

http://www.mormonmentalhealth.org

https://www.symmetrysols.com

Direct download: MormonStories-763-NatashaHelferParkerPt2.mp3
Category:Religion -- posted at: 8:08am MDT

In this series on Mormon Stories, we interview the fabulous Natasha Helfer Parker, MFT, CST — moderator of the Mormon Mental Health podcast — to finally hear her “Mormon story.”

This interview covers:

*Being raised in the Church with convert parents in Spain and her eventual move to the US
*Natasha and her family’s concerns about the practice of polygamy and frustration that their questions never seemed to be answered, yet remaining true-believers
*The impact of being a victim of sexual abuse as a child and teenager and how it influenced her experiences exploring her sexuality as a teenager and young adult
*Her removal from BYU because of her sexual experiences and her thoughts now about the unintended consequences of honor code enforcement
*How she met her husband and disclosed her sexual past in an act of transparency, and how it affected the first years of their marriage
*Her thoughts now about the difference between behavior and self-worth within the Church, especially as it relates to sexual behavior
*Her decision to become a sex therapist and how her move to the Midwest became an impetus to develop a wider online presence
*How being a believer in the faith, but having a nuanced view of sexuality led her to being widely known as the “Mormon Sex Therapist”
*How cracks developed in her Orthodox faith foundation
*Her feeling of being in a continuing faith transition for much of the 20+ years of her practice

http://www.mormonmentalhealth.org

https://www.symmetrysols.com

Direct download: MormonStories-762-NatashaHelferParkerPt1.mp3
Category:Religion -- posted at: 8:06am MDT

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