Mormon Stories Podcast

Jillian Orr became a national news story last week when she flashed rainbow colors sewn into her graduation gown during her graduation from Brigham Young University - coming out as bisexual. This is her story. Show notes:  Matt Easton MS Interview Jeff Holland Musket talk MS episode Number of women in BOM Latter-gay stories "On the Record" document CES Letter Jillian’s Instagram Account Glennon Doyle - Untamed ————— We are 100% donor funded! Please click HERE to donate and keep this content coming! Click here to donate monthly: $10 $25 $50 ————— MSP on Spotify MSP on Apple Podcasts MSP Blog Instagram Patreon TikTok Discord   Contact Us! *MormonStories@gmail.com *PO Box 171085 Salt Lake City, UT 84117

Today John is joined by LDS Discussions and Nemo to review the history of the "Golden Plates" as they relate to the creation of the Book of Mormon.  Who did the first accounts come from of the existence of these plates? Were they real? What became of attempts to see, show, or steal them? What implications do these stories have on Mormon origins and beliefs regarding encounters with celestial beings, including the God supposedly at the center of their coming forth? Special Guest: Nemo the Mormon on YouTube LDS Discussions Essay on the Golden Plates Episode Show Notes _________________________ LDS Discussions is made possible by generous donors! Help us continue to deliver quality content by becoming a donor today: One-time or recurring donation through Donorbox Support us on Patreon Pick “Mormon Stories” as your charity on Amazon Smile or through the Amazon App LDS Discussions Platforms: LDS Discussions Website LDS Discussions Playlist on YouTube Contact LDS Discussions: Twitter: @ldsdicussions Facebook: @ldsdiscussion Insta: @ldsdiscussions Email: ldsdiscussions@gmail.com Contact us: MormonStories@gmail.com PO Box 171085, Salt Lake City, UT 84117 Social Media: Insta: @mormstories Tiktok: @mormonstoriespodcast Join the Discord

Join Margi and John for our next episode of Thrive Stories this coming Tuesday at noon (MST). Come listen and participate in the conversation as we talk to Dre Robinson, cofounder of BeautyLab.  Dre will  talk a bit about her life growing up as a smart, assertive, and driven woman existing in a structure and culture that had a very limiting beliefs about women and their roles in the home, life, and the world. As things began to fall apart, Dre came into her own and began embracing and redefining herself in ways that have allowed her to show up in her relationships and in life in an integrated and honoring way. .Join us in a conversation about gender roles and the limiting structure of the gender binary! Thrive Stories is a new podcast series where Margi (alongside John or Jenn) will be interviewing a member of the community twice per month.  The interviews will be shorter (1-2 hours), story-based, but will be focused on a particular aspect of healing and growth AFTER a Mormon faith crisis (thus the THRIVE name).  They will happen on Tuesdays at noon (MST). Some examples of areas of thriving include:  Family Relationships, Healthy Boundaries, Finding Community, Finding Meaning/Purpose, Dealing with Grief/Death, Religion after Mormonism, Health Sexuality, Parenting, Improving Physical Health, Identity, Health Marriage/Relationships, Secular Spirituality, Word of Wisdom 2.0, and Women Finding Their Own Voice after Mormonism. If you would like to nominate someone you know who would be a great candidate for a THRIVE interview, please nominate them (or yourself) here. Show Notes: Mormon Stories Podcast Real Housewives Don’t leave foundation Beauty Lab Laser Untamed By Glennon Doyle ————— We are 100% donor funded! Please click HERE to donate and keep this content coming! Click here to donate monthly: $10 $25 $50 ————— MSP on Spotify MSP on Apple Podcasts MSP Blog Instagram Patreon TikTok Discord   Contact Us! *MormonStories@gmail.com *PO Box 171085 Salt Lake City, UT 84117

Join John and Jenn for part two of our interview with popular Mormon podcaster Radio Free Mormon, wherein he shares with us the story of how he lost his Mormon faith. Listen to Part 1 of this interview by clickig the links below:  On Apple Podcasts On Spotify Show Notes: Radio Free Mormon podcast Mormonism Live with RFM and Bill Reel "A Treasured Testament," by Russell M. Nelson, Ensign, July 1993; one of few early examples of the Church admitting Joseph used a rock in a hat to produce the Book of Mormon New Testament Scholar Bart Ehrman on Mormon Stories Discuss Mormonism forum (RFM uses the handle "consiglieri") RFM's first interview on Mormon Stories Cleanthes' "Hymn to Zeus" Secular Buddhism podcast "Race and the Priesthood," Gospel Topics Essay "How About an Apology for the Priesthood Ban?" on Radio Free Mormon Bishop Bill Reel on Mormon Stories "Bill Reel Discusses His Falling Out with FAIR and Faithful Dissent of LDS Policy" on Mormon Stories "Bill Reel's Evolution" on Mormon Stories "Bill Reel's Pre-Excommunication Interview" on Mormon Stories "The Excommunication of Mormon Bishop and Podcaster Bill Reel" on Mormon Stories "John Larsen interviews RFM" on Radio Free Mormon "The Adam-God Historical Subterfuge," on Mormon Discussion podcast Robert Ritner's interview on Mormon Stories RFM vs. Midnight Mormons Debate The Church is Not True podcast, with Mike Norton "Rodney Meldrum Founder of the Heartland Model" on Mormon Stories Rodney Meldrum and the Heartland Model, Pt 3" on Mormon Stories Upcoming Events at Mormon Stories ————— We are 100% donor funded! Please click HERE to donate and keep this content coming! Click here to donate monthly: $10 $25 $50 ————— MSP on Spotify MSP on Apple Podcasts MSP Blog Instagram Patreon TikTok Discord   Contact Us! *MormonStories@gmail.com *PO Box 171085 Salt Lake City, UT 84117

Mormon Stories Donors, We are super excited to let you know that we have organized a special event for you next week in Salt Lake City. Beloved Mormon podcaster Radio Free Mormon (RFM) (Radio Free Mormon podcast and Mormonism Live Podcast) will be in town, and so we have scheduled an intimate evening with him...and YOU (our beloved donors)! The event will be held on April 26th at 7pm in American Fork, Utah.  There will be some treats, RFM will be preparing some remarks, and then we will invite you to ask RFM any question you want. It should be a fun evening, and most importantly, it will be your/our chance to let RFM know how much he has meant to you/us over the years. Please join us if you are able. Seating will be limited (150 max).  Cost is $15/person and proceeds from the event will go to cut RFM a big fat check to thank him for his amazing work.  You can register for the event here.  The exact address for the event will be emailed to you register, a few days before the event. We hope to see some of you there!  And thank you for donating to support Mormon Stories Podcast.  We couldn't do it without you. Sincerely, John Dehlin and the Mormon Stories Podcast Team

Join Margi and John for our next episode of Thrive Stories this coming Tuesday at noon (MST). Come listen and participate in the conversation as we talk to Holly Ashton Wallin. Holly will talk about the role of passion in her life, beginning as a young girl where she was a dreamer, a lover and a fighter. She will take us through how she lost herself along the way--and with that, her passion. Holly eventually came to experience the loss of her marriage, her faith, her career path, and her health. Witness how Holly rebuilt her identity and her life after loss by connecting back to that fire within. What does it mean to live “a life on fire?” Join us to find out! Thrive Stories is a new podcast series where Margi (alongside John or Jenn) will be interviewing a member of the community twice per month. The interviews will be shorter (1-2 hours), story-based, but will be focused on a particular aspect of healing and growth AFTER a Mormon faith crisis (thus the THRIVE name). They will happen on Tuesdays at noon (MST). Some examples of areas of thriving include: Family Relationships, Healthy Boundaries, Finding Community, Finding Meaning/Purpose, Dealing with Grief/Death, Religion after Mormonism, Health Sexuality, Parenting, Improving Physical Health, Identity, Health Marriage/Relationships, Secular Spirituality, Word of Wisdom 2.0, and Women Finding Their Own Voice after Mormonism. If you would like to nominate someone you know who would be a great candidate for a THRIVE interview, please nominate them (or yourself) here. Show Notes: John Gottman - Marriage book- The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work Getting the Love You Want: A Guide for Couples: Third Edition Esther Perel - The State of Affairs: Rethinking Infidelity Brene Brown - Braving the Wilderness A New Earth - Eckhart Tolle Falling upward by Richard Rohr Mormon Stories Thrive interview with Dave ————— We are 100% donor funded! Please click HERE to donate and keep this content coming! Click here to donate monthly: $10 $25 $50 ————— MSP on Spotify MSP on Apple Podcasts MSP Blog Instagram Patreon TikTok Discord   Contact Us! *MormonStories@gmail.com *PO Box 171085 Salt Lake City, UT 84117

John John, Jenn, and special guest Aimee Heffernan as we check in with Natasha Helfer on the one year anniversary of her excommunication from the Mormon church, largely in response to her work as a licensed sex therapist to Mormons and ex-Mormons. Show Notes: Natasha Helfer's Pre-Excommunication reflections on Mormon Stories Live Vigil at Natasha's Excommunication Natasha's Post-Excommunication Debrief on Mormon Stories Ward-less: A Post-Mormon Field Guide podcast with Aimee Heffernan "My Official Stance on Masturbation," by Natasha Helfer, August 6, 2012 "I Am Not Broken," Natasha Parker, Thrive 2019 "To Young Men Only," Boyd K. Packer's 1976 General Conference talk, in which he uses an extended metaphor comparing male genitals to a "Little Factory" to discourage masturbation Natasha's first interview on Mormon Stories, in which she was still afraid to talk openly about masturbation Feminist Mormon Housewives Natasha interviews Jennifer Finlayson-Fife on Mormon Mental Health podcast American Association of Pediatrics' position that masturbation is normative childhood behavior The 1982 letter from the First Presidency, calling oral sex "an unnatural, impure, or unholy practice;" this position was later officially reversed, but is still widely believed among members "The Lord's Standard of Morality," by Tad R. Callister, Ensign, March 2014 "Morality? We can do much better than this..." Natasha's response to Callister condemning masturbation as "self-abuse" Mormon Mental Health podcast "We can all be more civil on LGBT issues, Mormon leader says," by Peggy Fletcher-Stack, Salt Lake Tribune, January 30, 2015 "Elder Oaks…stop it!" Natasha's response to Dallin H. Oaks on LGBT issues "Come Follow Me," Russell M. Nelson, General Conference, April 2019, also known as the "Sad Heaven" talk "LDS Church has great power, which it has wielded irresponsibly," A letter to the prophet from a mental health practitioner, Salt Lake Tribune, April 21, 2019 "Your Divine and Eternal Destiny," Dale G. Renlund addressing the Women's Session of General Conference, April 2022 Sonia Johnson and Kate Kelly on Mormon Land podcast Jennifer Finlayson-Fife discusses Natasha's excommunication on Mormon Land Women and Authority: Re-emerging Mormon Feminism by Maxine Hanks "Teaching Adolescents from Twelve to Eighteen Years," A Parent's Guide, Ch 5 Year of Polygamy with Lindsay Hansen Park Natasha's new project and website Symmetry Solutions Mormon Mental Health Association ————— We are 100% donor funded! Please click HERE to donate and keep this content coming! Click here to donate monthly: $10 $25 $50 ————— MSP on Spotify MSP on Apple Podcasts MSP Blog Instagram Patreon TikTok Discord   Contact Us! *MormonStories@gmail.com *PO Box 171085 Salt Lake City, UT 84117

Sandra Tanner, longtime researcher and critic of Mormonism who co-founded Utah Lighthouse Ministry, recounts her journey from believing the Book of Mormon to rejecting it. She discusses family influences, textual changes, anachronisms, King James language parallels, plagiarism research, debates over translation methods, and the book’s role in conversion. Short, candid reflections on scholarship and controversy.

Legendary researcher Sandra Tanner joins us for our third episode on Joseph Smith's polygamy and how the LDS church deals with this controversial subject. In this final episode, we will discuss the final part of Doctrine and Covenants 132, which tends to go unnoticed by members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Follow along with textual references to Doctrine and Covenants 132 Show Notes: "Doctrine and Covenants 129-132 with Dr. Kate Holbrook," on followHIM podcast An Insider's View of Mormon Origins by Grant Palmer "Preguntas y Respuestas con Elder Bednar para JAS" (English audio), in which Bednar says Mormons do not have free agency because when they got baptized they agreed to follow their church leaders and God Full text of "The Happiness Letter," Joseph Smith's Alleged 1842 Letter to Nancy Rigdon "Your Divine and Eternal Destiny," Dale G. Renlund addressing the Women's Session of General Conference, April 2022 The Ghost of Eternal Polygamy: Haunting the Hearts and Heaven of Mormon Women and Men by Carol Lynn Pearson Carol Lynn Pearson on Mormon Stories Carol Lynn on Mormon Stories discusses her book, The Ghost of Eternal Polygamy The Black Menaces on TikTok The Black Menaces on Instagram Upcoming Events at Mormon Stories Lost and Found Club Utah Lighthouse Ministry ————— We are 100% donor funded! Please click HERE to donate and keep this content coming! Click here to donate monthly: $10 $25 $50 ————— MSP on Spotify MSP on Apple Podcasts MSP Blog Instagram Patreon TikTok Discord   Contact Us! *MormonStories@gmail.com *PO Box 171085 Salt Lake City, UT 84117

Cara Santa Maria is a Los Angeles Area Emmy and Knight Foundation Award winning journalist, science communicator, television personality, author, and podcaster. Cara is the science correspondent on National Geographic's popular television series Brain Games as well as the creator and host of the weekly science podcast Talk Nerdy with Cara Santa Maria. In addition to co-hosting the long-standing Skeptics' Guide to the Universe podcast, she also coauthored the Skeptics Guide to the Universe book. Cara was also raised Mormon. This is her story. *Content Warning: This episode includes discussion of suicidal ideation. If you need help, reach out: National Suicide Prevention Hotline (800) 273-8255 Trevor Project Hotline for LGBTQ+ Youth (866) 488-73876 Show Notes: National Geographic's Brain Games Talk Nerdy podcast with Cara Santa Maria Talk Nerdy The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe podcast The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe: How to Know What's Really Real in a World Increasingly Full of Fake by Steven Novella, et. al. Bill Maher "unbaptizes" Mitt Romney's dead father-in-law Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl "Existentialism is a Humanism," lecture by Jean-Paul Satre in 1946 Cara's Instragram Cara's Facebook Cara's Twitter Godawful Movies ————— We are 100% donor funded! Please click HERE to donate and keep this content coming! Click here to donate monthly: $10 $25 $50 ————— MSP on Spotify MSP on Apple Podcasts MSP Blog Instagram Patreon TikTok Discord   Contact Us! *MormonStories@gmail.com *PO Box 171085 Salt Lake City, UT 84117