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Episode List
Episode 11 – Matthew 9-10, Mark 5, Luke 7 “These 12 Jesus Sent Forth”
***THE BOOK IS NOW AVAILABLE ON AMAZON! CLICK This episode is about lots of things... that I just now recorded. Haha. My mind is mush. It's about Jesus and the woman who washed his feet with her tears and what the means...
Episode 10 – Matthew 8; Mark 2–4; Luke 7 “Thy Faith Hath Saved Thee”
This Episode is about the faith of different people who the Savior touched. Here is a to the lesson on the church's website. I will add the show notes as soon as possible. For the latest on everything, please visit
Episode 9 – My interview with Will Cook about the power of the Book of Mormon
This episode is a special stand-alone episode about the power of the Book of Mormon. I had the great opportunity to speak to a very humble man named Will Cook about his experience with finding, leaving, and then returning to The Church of Jesus...
(Sorry for the confusion for some of you who may have downloaded this podcast before 8 am AZ time. I woke up feeling sick – that some things I had said were wrong. Heavenly Father has an amazing knack for letting me know when I’ve overstepped or maybe took some liberties on some scripture interpretation that wasn’t correct. And no one even had to tell me this time. So yay! Hopefully you will erase Episode 39 if you downloaded it this morning and upload the right one. SORRY PEOPLE!
And check out the last 9 min of the podcast!!! It’s Episode #1 of the Book of Mormon for YOUth podcast that is starting Jan 1. Hurray! Have your kids email their favorite scriptures in the Book of Mormon to me as soon as possible so I can get interviewing and recording! comefollowmeforus@gmail.com
September 23–29
The gospel of Jesus Christ offers freedom from spiritual bondage. But sometimes people who have experienced the freedom of the gospel turn away from it and “desire again to be in bondage” (Galatians 4:9). This is what some Galatian Saints were doing—they were turning away from the liberty Christ had offered them (see Galatians 1:6). Paul’s Epistle to the Galatians, then, was an urgent call to come back to “the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free” (Galatians 5:1). This call is one we also need to hear and heed because while circumstances change, the struggle between freedom and bondage is constant. As Paul taught, it’s not enough to be “called unto liberty” (Galatians 5:13); we must also “stand fast” in it (Galatians 5:1) by relying on Christ.
Brigham Young, the second President of the Church, reported: “The question was asked a great many times of Joseph Smith, by gentlemen who came to see him and his people, ‘How is it that you can control your people so easily? It appears that they do nothing but what you say; how is it that you can govern them so easily?’ Said he, ‘I do not govern them at all. The Lord has revealed certain principles from the heavens by which we are to live in these latter days. The time is drawing near when the Lord is going to gather out His people from the wicked, and He is going to cut short His work in righteousness, and the principles which He has revealed I have taught to the people and they are trying to live according to them, and they control themselves.’”
Episode 38
September 16–22
What would you do if you heard that a congregation of Saints in another area was struggling in poverty? This was the situation that Paul described to the Corinthian Saints in 2 Corinthians 8–9. He hoped to persuade the Corinthian Saints to donate some of their abundance to Saints in need. But beyond a request for donations, Paul’s words also contain profound truths about giving: “Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver” (2 Corinthians 9:7). In our day, there are still Saints throughout the world who are in need of help. Sometimes the most we can do for them is to fast and donate fast offerings. In other cases, our giving can be more direct and personal. Whatever forms our sacrifices take, it’s worth examining our motivations for giving. Are our sacrifices expressions of love? After all, it’s love that makes a giver cheerful.
September 9–15
2 Corinthians 1-7
Given the tribulation that Paul faced in his ministry, it’s not surprising that he wrote a lot about the purposes and blessings of tribulation. Think about ways your trials can be a blessing as you read 2 Corinthians 1:3–7; 4:6–10, 17–18; and 7:4–7. For example, you might ponder how God “comforteth [you] in all [your] tribulation” and how you can, in turn, “comfort them which are in any trouble” (2 Corinthians 1:4). Or you might focus on the light of Jesus Christ that “hath shined in our hearts,” even when you are “troubled” and “perplexed” (2 Corinthians 4:6–10).
See also Mosiah 24:13–17; Gospel Topics, “Adversity,” topics.lds.org.
September 2–8
1 Corinthians 14-16
“God Is Not the Author of Confusion, but of Peace”
Because the Church and its doctrines were relatively new in Corinth, it’s understandable that Corinthian Saints encountered confusion. Paul had previously taught them the fundamental truth of the gospel: “That Christ died for our sins … and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day” (1 Corinthians 15:3–4). But some members soon began teaching that “there is no resurrection of the dead” (1 Corinthians 15:12). Paul implored them to “keep in memory” the truths they had been taught (1 Corinthians 15:2). When we encounter conflicting opinions about gospel truths, it is good to remember that “God is not the author of confusion, but of peace” (1 Corinthians 14:33). Listening to the Lord’s appointed servants and holding to the simple truths they repeatedly teach can help us find peace and “stand fast in the faith” (1 Corinthians 16:13).
Here is the quote from Jeffrey R. Holland, Tomorrow the Lord Will Do Wonders among You.
“If we give our heart to God, if we love the Lord Jesus Christ, if we do the best we can to live the gospel, then tomorrow—and every other day—is ultimately going to be magnificent, even if we don’t always recognize it as such. Why? Because our Heavenly Father wants it to be! He wants to bless us. A rewarding, abundant, and eternal life is the very object of His merciful plan for His children! It is a plan predicated on the truth “that all things work together for good to them that love God.”10 So keep loving. Keep trying. Keep trusting. Keep believing. Keep growing. Heaven is cheering you on today, tomorrow, and forever.”
Check later for notes. I’m out of the country
August 19–25
1 Corinthians 1-7
“Be Perfectly Joined Together”
During the months that Paul spent in Corinth, “many of the Corinthians hearing [him] believed, and were baptized” (Acts 18:8). So it must have been heartbreaking for Paul to hear, just a few years later, that there were “divisions” and “contentions” among the Corinthian Saints and that in his absence they began to heed the “wisdom of this world” (1 Corinthians 1:10–11, 20). In response, Paul wrote the letter we now call 1 Corinthians. It is full of profound doctrine, and yet at the same time, Paul seemed disappointed that the Saints were not ready to receive all the doctrine he wanted to give them. “I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual,” he lamented, “for ye are yet carnal” (1 Corinthians 3:1–3). As we prepare to read Paul’s words, it might be helpful to examine our own readiness to receive truth—including our willingness to heed the Spirit and strive for unity within our families, with our fellow Saints, and with God.
Here are the references I talked about. Sooooo goood!!
Talk by Elder Rendlund and his wife “Doubt Not But be Believing
Video about unity (I didn’t reference it, but it’s good)
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/media-library/video/inspirational-messages-2019?lang=eng
President Russell M. Nelson in April 2018 general conference said: “You don’t have to wonder about what is true [see Moroni 10:5]. You do not have to wonder whom you can safely trust. Through personal revelation, you can receive your own witness that the Book of Mormon is the word of God, that Joseph Smith is a prophet, and that this is the Lord’s Church. Regardless of what others may say or do, no one can ever take away a witness borne to your heart and mind about what is true.”3
August 12–18
Romans 7-16
As he opened his epistle to the Romans, Paul greeted Church members in Rome by calling them “beloved of God” who were “called to be saints.” He remarked that their “faith [was] spoken of throughout the whole world” (Romans 1:7–8). Even though Paul spent much of his epistle correcting false ideas and flawed behaviors, it seems he also wanted to assure these new Christian converts that they truly were Saints who were beloved of God. In a humble show of empathy, Paul acknowledged that he had felt like a “wretched man” at times (Romans 7:24), but the gospel of Jesus Christ had given him power to overcome sin (see Joseph Smith Translation, Romans 7:22–27 [in the Bible appendix]). He went on to share tender counsel for all of us who struggle to feel beloved and for whom saintliness may seem out of reach. “Be not overcome of evil,” he said—both evil in the world and evil in ourselves—“but overcome evil with good” (Romans 12:21).
Quotes used:
Elder Dallin H. Oaks once observed (talking about the sacrament) “because it is broken and torn, each piece of bread is unique, just as the individuals who partake of it are unique. We all have different sins to repent of. We all have different needs to be strengthened through the Atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ, whom we remember in this ordinance.”
Dallin H. Oaks, “Introductory Message” (address given at the seminar for new mission presidents, June 25, 2017), 2.
Sister Linda S. Reeves “Worthy of Our Promised Blessings,” “I do not know why we have the many trials that we have, but it is my personal feeling that the reward is so great, so eternal and everlasting, so joyful and beyond our understanding that in that day of reward, we may feel to say to our merciful, loving Father, ‘Was that all that was required?’ I believe that if we could daily remember and recognize the depth of that love our Heavenly Father and our Savior have for us, we would be willing to do anything to be back in Their presence again, surrounded by Their love eternally. What will it matter … what we suffered here if, in the end, those trials are the very things which qualify us for eternal life and exaltation in the kingdom of God with our Father and Savior?”
Brigham Young: “We talk about our trials and troubles here in this life: but suppose that you could see yourselves thousands and millions of years after you have proved faithful to your religion during the few short years in this time, and have obtained eternal salvation and a crown of glory in the presence of God; then look back upon your lives here, and see the losses, crosses, and disappointments, the sorrows …… (He lists more) you would be constrained to exclaim, “But what of all that? Those things were but for a moment, and we are now here. We have been faithful during a few moments in our mortality, and now we enjoy eternal life and glory, with power to progress in all the boundless knowledge and through the countless stages of progression, enjoying the smiles and approbation of our Father and God, and of Jesus Christ our elder brother.”
“But we must be obedient to him, for he understands more than we do. We should destroy ourselves if we were suffered to take our own way; hence we are taught to suffer the Father to point out our path to an eternal duration hereafter, where our present afflictions will appear as flimsy as the shadows of the morning that flee upon the approach of day. God bless you! Amen.”
August 5–11
Romans 1-6
By the time Paul wrote his Epistle to Roman Church members, who were a diverse group of Jews and Gentiles, the Church of Jesus Christ had grown far beyond a small band of believers from Galilee. About 20 years after the Savior’s Resurrection, there were congregations of Christians almost everywhere the Apostles could reasonably travel—including Rome, the capital of a vast empire. But while Paul’s immediate audience was the Roman Saints, his message is universal, and it includes all of us today: “The gospel of Christ … is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth” (Romans 1:16, italics added).
Here is the quote from Jen Hatmaker about kindness and school.
“Dear Kids…. You have the best place to practice right now: public school. I can’t remember more insecure, difficult years than middle and high school. You are all a mess, but some kids have it worse, because they are son so different – and the teen years are not safe for the different. Some of your classmates barely get out the door everyday. You see them. They are picked on or mocked or completely ignored, as if they don’t even matter. They pretend they don’t care of can’t hear, but you know they do. These years will hurt for so long.
First, I hope you see them. This is harder than it sounds; you have to learn to see hurt people, because they figure out how to act invisible. Kindness needs recipients. The whole world is filled with lonely and left-out and humiliated and sad kids, and seeing them is the first step. Because they are just as precious as you. If you can learn this during the Family Years, it will change your life, because you’ll develop eyes for pain, which is exactly how Jesus walked around on this earth. If your mercy radar is strong now, God can do anything with your later.
My dream is that you see hurting kids and do the simple, brave work of kindness. This sin’t fancy at all. It sounds like; Do you want to sit with us? or I really like your outfit or What’s up, man? or What are you reading? It doesn’t seem like much, maybe, but if it’s the only kind word they’ve heard all day, it can literally give them strength to go on.
Sometimes kindness requires more serious courage, because hurt kids make easy targets, and cowards both bully and look the other way. I hope you stand between abusers and the abused, refusing to silently watch one kid break another down. I hope you say NO. I hope you say LEAVE HIM ALONE. I hope you tuck hurt kids into your arms, into your friend circles, protecting them. Bring them home to our table, and we will love them together. The tiniest scrap of hope is enough to save a lonely kid from drowning. You’d be surprised how powerful kindness actually is. I am not being dramatic: you can save hearts and lives with grace. Do this good work now, and you will do it for a lifetime.” – Jen Hatmaker For The Love
July 29–August 4
Acts 22-28
“When we are on the Lord’s errand,” President Thomas S. Monson promised, “we are entitled to the Lord’s help” (“To Learn, to Do, to Be,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2008, 62). We are not entitled, however, to a smooth road and an endless stream of successes. For evidence of this, we need look no further than Paul the Apostle. His errand from the Savior was “to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel” (Acts 9:15). In chapters 22–28 of Acts, we see Paul fulfilling this errand and facing great opposition—chains, imprisonment, physical abuse, a shipwreck, and even a snake attack. But we also see that Jesus “stood by him, and said, Be of good cheer, Paul” (Acts 23:11). Paul’s experiences are an inspiring reminder that when the Lord’s servants accept His call to “go … and teach all nations,” He will fulfill His promise to them: “Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world” (Matthew 28:19–20).
In this episode, I talk about Paul’s courage in declaring the gospel, the joy we feel when we share our testimonies, how Christ upholds us during our trials and how we should follow the counsel of the prophets and trust God when He gives us assurances.
Here’s the quote I shared.
“My relationship with God and engagement wit the Spirit in me are why I can have joy despite the chaos life might bring. But I also know what happens when I neglect disciplines that mark the well-lived spiritual life. I know from years of flowing in and out of consistent connection with God that keeping the connection is the only way my soul stays full and maintains joy.
Your connection with the Spirit of God is the only experience that will give your soul access to an always-flowing source of joy.
Even if we don’t have happiness, the Spirit offers us the gift of peace. Like my daddy says, “Peace doesn’t mean you won’t have problems. Peace means that your problems won’t have you.” While God calls us out of complacency, His peace allows us to choose contentment with our place in the world.
Know Spirit? Know peace.
No Spirit? No peace.
When you believe that you are loved by God and know the peace that He provides, you will know deep, abounding joy that is not dependent on your circumstances. Even in Galatians 5:22-23, joy makes its home between love and peace: “But the fruit of the Sprit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law’ (NASB).
But if you feel you just aren’t quite experiencing the fullness of God’s Spirit in your soul or the steady filling of joy of which I speak, can I ask you a question?
How much time do you spend reading His love letter to you?
How much time do you spend talking to Him and sitting in quiet waiting for Him to speak to you?
How much attention do you pa to living a life that make Him happy?
Relationships take time, and your relationship with God is no different.
I know you are busy, but make room for more of the filling of the Spirit in your life.
I know you are tired, but wake up a few minutes early to put His words in your heart.
I know you want what you want, but I dare you to go after what He wants for you and to watch our joy rise.
It’s simple. Know him, love him, and seek to please Him, and you will know an unexplainable joy that simply overflows.
Choose to nurture your soul by cultivating joy.”
–Chrystal Evans Hurst, “She’s Still There”
June 22-28 Acts 16-21
The Lord Had Called Us for to Preach the Gospel
Among the Lord’s final words to His Apostles was the commandment, “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19–20). While the Apostles didn’t quite make it to all nations, Acts 16–21 does show that Paul and his companions did make remarkable progress in establishing the Church. They taught, baptized, and conferred the gift of the Holy Ghost. They performed miracles, even raising a man from the dead, and foretold the Great Apostasy (Acts 20:7–12; 20:28–31). And the work they started continues with living Apostles today, along with devoted disciples like you, who are helping fulfill the Savior’s commission in ways Paul never could have imagined. Perhaps you are aware of people who do not know their Heavenly Father or His gospel. Perhaps you have felt that your “spirit was stirred in [you]” to share with them what you know about Him (Acts 17:16). If you follow Paul’s example of humility and boldness in sharing the gospel, you may find someone “whose heart the Lord [has] opened” (Acts 16:14).
In this episode, I talk about missionary work, having a good attitude among trials, how to become NOBLE by searching the scriptures every day and how we are all children of God.
Here’s the quote from Jen Hatmaker about our children.
“Remember this: No matter what, our children belong to God and He is very much paying attention. He is always at work; we are but a piece of their story. Our kids may detour. So many will crash and burn. They could walk away and they could come back.
They will ultimately make their own spiritual decisions, and no formula ensures any outcome. We cannot guarantee their safety or loyalty, their path or decisions. The best parents can have children who self-destruct, and the worst parents can have kids who thrive.
The best we can do is give them Jesus. Not rules, not behaviors, not entertainment, not shame. I have no confidence in myself but every confidence in Jesus. He is such a relief, isn’t He? He is always the true answer, the strongest touchstone, the best example. When I am grasping as a spiritual mentor to my kids, there He is. When words and ideas and “right answers” fail me, His life and legacy deliver. With good reason my kids may doubt their parents, church, Christian culture, and their own understanding, but it is harder to doubt a Savior as good as Jesus. He is so incredibly dependable.
Jesus is the only thing that will endure. He trumps parenting techniques, church culture, tight boundaries, and best-laid plans. Jesus can lead our children long after they’ve left our homes. He will lead them when our work is through.
So let’s give our kids Jesus and trust Him to lead, even if we don’t see results for five years, ten years, or until the other side of this life. Because no matter what their spiritual futures contain – the new trends, new kind of church, new worldview, new systems–Jesus will remain. He is the only constant, the only Savior that held through the ages.
Jesus is the best marker that exists, so let’s raise Him high.
—Jen Hatmaker, “For the Love”
Here is the video I talked about
2 thoughts on “Podcast”
Melanie,
I love to listen to your podcast on my lunch hour at work. You are so inspiring with your great stories and to help me remember that I am important in the Saviors eyes even when my world is upside down and it feels like I’m not. Thank you for what you do!
You and your sister are so great together! I do believe Heavenly Father has a sense of humor:)
You help remind me to find answers to ALL questions in the scriptures. I have been a listener since the beginning. I know I was lead to you. You truly speak my language and I feel I can relate to “the way you teach.” 😉 air quotes
Thanks!