Today's conversation felt like a sacred pause in the middle of a busy season đ¤ . This week on enLIGHTen I sat down with BYU Professor Eric Huntsman to talk about worship, tradition, and Adventâ and how the season leading up to Christmas invites us to slow down and revisit the many witnesses of Christâs birth . From prophets and angels to shepherds and seekers, Advent helps us remember that Christ did not come quietly or alone . These traditions donât replace faithâ they shape it, guiding our hearts to worship more intentionally as we celebrate His coming and look forward to His return.
Today on the enLIGHTen podcast, I sat down with President Brian Cordray of the Adriatic Mission and our conversation kept returning to this incredible sacred truth from Elder Quentin L. Cookâs conference message: The Lord is hastening His work. HASTENING. ⨠Not rushing. Not racing past. But being moved forward by heaven. We talked about what that word really means for our livesâ how this generation of missionaries has been quietly, powerfully prepared⌠how the gospel is moving into hearts and nations with divine precision⌠and how this most marvelous work doesnât belong to âsomeone else.â It belongs to us. To our voices. To our daily discipleship. If you feel the pull to step in, to lift, to serve, to shareâ this episode is for you. Let the spark catch. Share His Light! And come be part of the Hastening. â¨
President Nelson once said, âThe human body is a MANIFICENT MASTERPIECE.â And this week on enLIGHTen, we explored just how true that is. With my good friend Tanna Fox @live_right_nutrition, we dove into the miracle of the body as a temple for our soulsâ And vessel of His grace and light and how choosing light in small, everyday ways lifts both the physical and the spiritual. Because it seems that the more we honor this gift, the more we feel and come to know the Giver.
This week's episode of the enLIGHTen podcast took us through the Nativity exhibit at the Kirtland Temple Visitorsâ Centerâ hundreds of symbols, stories, and cultures all pointing us back to Jesus Christ . As we walked and talked, we were reminded that every nativity is a testimony crafted through someoneâs gifts . Every artisan adds their piece to the story⌠just like we can . God magnifies whatever weâre willing to offer . This Christmas season, may every shepherd, every star, and every humble manger pull our hearts back to Him . Because remembering Him we remember ourselves the one God truly knows His own divine, beautiful and magnificent creation!
HIS NAME changes everything.  In todayâs episode with Amber Dawn Pearce we talked about the way mountains move almost quietly when we stop trying to lift them on our own. How the shift often begins the moment we step toward someone else even when it doesnât make sense yet. How sacrifice and small obedience carry more power than we realize.  Because bearing His name isnât just saying it â itâs walking it.  Itâs showing up with light where fear used to live.  Itâs trusting that He works in motion not stagnation.  And somehow as we move things around us start to move too.  May your mountains feel lighter today as you carry His Name.
This week, weâre talking about the power of wordsâ how Christ Himself is the Word, how through words God spoke light into being, and how our own words still hold creative power. . With Yarley Varley and her sweet daughter, Taytum we explored how words can heal or harm, build faith or fear, and how choosing truth and kindness aligns our voice with His. . Heaven and earth may pass away, but Godâs words remain. They shape eternityâ and when we speak with love, so do ours. . May we remember today that every word carries lightâ and the closer our words echo His, the brighter our lives will shine.
This week, weâre talking about what it means to honorâboth the parents who gave us life on earth, and the Heavenly Parents who gave us eternal life in spirit. We looked at how Jesusâeven knowing He was the Son of Godâchose to humble Himself, to listen, to serve, to obey. He showed us that honoring those we see teaches us how to love the One we cannot see. When we thank God, when we cherish the gifts Heâs given, when we honor those Heâs placed in our careâ we keep the circle of divine love turning. His giving meets our gratitude, and together they become glory. . May we learn from Christâs exampleâto honor with our hearts, to thank with our lives, and to let every act of love shine back to Heaven.
In this weekâs enLIGHTen episode with my dear friend, Anna Miller we explored what it truly means to be proved and strengthened in Christâ to walk through refining seasons not alone, but with Him beside us. We talked about how His love doesnât spare us from the fireâ it stays with us in it. Every trial, every âproving,â can polish our hearts the way pressure and heat turn carbon into a diamond. Because in His hands⌠the proving becomes the shaping. The breaking becomes the brightening. The weight becomes the witness of His strength within us. When we let Him walk with us, He turns what feels impossible into something eternalâ something brilliant. đŤ May we trust the process, embrace the proving, and let His light make us shine.
An enLIGHTen conversation with Beth Martineau @saltandhart In todayâs enLIGHTen episode, I sit down with my dear friend Beth Martineau to open our hearts to what it really means to have Christ open our eyesâ to see not just the world, but the truth behind it. We talk about how easy it is to go through life looking but never truly seeing⌠and how one quiet moment with Him can change the way you see everything. When He anoints our eyes with light, our fears lose focus, our path becomes clear, and our hearts begin to recognize what was there all alongâ His love, His truth, His presence. Because SEEING through Christ isnât about sharper sightâ itâs about sacred perspective. He helps us notice the unseen miracles, the divine details, and the holy in the ordinary. May we let Him open our eyes again and again, until we see as He sees.
Today, we looked deeply at Godâs goodness with Brandee Sanders and her daughter Ellie â an hour of lifting truth. When life feels like youâre sinking, weighed down by the sea-weed of whatâs gone wrong, the light of His mercy reaches in. Brother Holland reminds us: âThis awe-inspiring mercy ⌠is perfectly suited to you, designed to relieve your individual agonies and heal your particular pains.â Too often we beat ourselves up over our imperfections, forgetting the One who made mercy for us. But hereâs the promise: Seek Him with your whole heart. Stay the course. Look to His light in His Holy House. And your soul will be buoyed beyond whatever storm youâre riding. Because you are seen. You are known. You are loved. And in Him, you will rise.
Today I got to sit down with Rachelle Chase who just returned from serving as a mission leader in Chicago. We spoke about how we can find rest even in the most crazy and trying times. God doesn't promise "comfortable." But He absolutely promises to comfort us in our afflictions, to walk with us, to lift us and sustain us beyond anything we could do alone. Because of our covenants we can trust those promises and walk in the joy of His light no matter what is going on in our lives and the world around us.
What are you trusting God with right now? đ⨠Today I had the honor of speaking with Sister Rebecca Fredrick, whoâs serving as a mission leader in the BogotĂĄ Colombia South Mission. She shared how moved she has felt seeing the trust these young missionaries have in their leaders. And we talked about what it really means to trust in the Lord â The shield of faith, Linking our faith together and how God takes our vulnerability and reshapes it into gratitude and power Faith isnât something we just have â Itâs something we choose to grow into. And in that growth, we come to know Jesus Christ. We feel His power.
Today I had the privilege of talking with @michelledcraig3 about the joyful transformation that is Holiness. Maybe holiness isn't about proving we're good enough to God... Maybe it's about surrendering our imperfect offerings â and allowing Him to make them part of Him. It doesn't happen automatically. But if we're willing, it does happen. That quiet, radiant transformation â being magnified through His light and moved by His love
Can waiting actually increase our joy? đ¤â¨ Today I had the joy of sitting down with the incredible Leah Morris to unpack the beauty and purpose in Waiting on the Lord. đ. This is more than just delayed gratification or sitting idly by and waiting for God to do His thing. Itâs active pursuit âPatiently seeking Him, Speaking of Him, Staying rooted in His perfect light and goodness. This is joy and patience all in one đ.
What does it feel like to be rescued by Jesus? Today Gale Teuscher and I got together to talk about the power of Christâs Atonement â to rescue us, to lift us, to heal us and bless us. Even in lifeâs storms, He fills our hearts with His peace and His joy. But it doesnât stop there â His power fills us with capacity to:Â heal, bless, lift, and to join Him in the work of The Great Rescuer!
Creativity is a way to partner with God, to testify of Christ, to build up Godâs kingdom, to find joy in life, to find resilience through trials and to Glorify God! When we are being creative, we partner with God and can fight compulsion consumption and comparison!!! Some gifts we talked about: Storytelling Record keeping Writing Cooking to keep our bodies healthy and take better care of them. Following inspiration and revelation and acting about it. Creativity tied to faith, survival and covenant making and keeping. Doctrine and Covenants 89:18-19 Proverbs 3:7-8 amazing promises in the scriptures also Daniel 1:17 And this great quote by our beloved Prophet â I urge you with all the hope of my heart to pray to understand your spiritual gifts to cultivate use and expand them even more than you ever have. You will change the world as you do so.â Oct 2018 â¤ď¸â¤ď¸â¤ď¸
Today I got to sit down with mother and violinist Lauren Smith to talk about the many impossible dreams which our God fulfills as we seek Him. Whether its the mountains in our lives, a rocky period, or just the unknown His love moves and transforms what was once stone into windows for His light to pour through
Today my dear friend Cassie Shepherd and I had the most wonderful time discussing Hobbits, Doors and the great adventure we discover living in God . It seems that all great stories reflect the one greatest story of them all and wherever our path made lead as long as go through the one true door we will find our way both "there and back again"
God has such a generous, giving, parent-heartâand He loves to shower us with His light and love. đ Today I got to sit down with my Boston friend Portia Thompson and talk about these incredible giftsâand how we can prepare our hearts to receive them. đ So much of this journey is simply letting God: be more, do more & love more than we ever imagined He wouldâŚor thought we deserved.  The gifts donât always have to look like what we planned. But we trust the Master Planner. He knows exactly what we needâhow, when, and why. The more we: spend time with Him, learn of Him, see His light & come to know His love âŚthe more we realize just how HAPPY He is to give us what He hasâ and how ready He is to help us grow, draw closer, and help others do the same
What a remarkable reunion & discussion with one of my former missionaries in Bulgaria, Elder Travis Wolsey, as we talked about making Jesus and His eternal light the center of our lives . How amazing that as God prepares the world for Jesus to return He begins by preparing us in our hearts and souls to know and feel Him . So that even as things get chaotic around us He who set the stars in the sky can bring order, light and His perfect peace to our souls