All In

Latest Episodes:

Sy Snarr: What Makes Forgiveness Possible Oct 04, 2023

Show notes

Sy Snarr's son, Zachary Snarr, was a senior in high school when he was shot and killed by a complete stranger. After 17 years in prison, Jorge Benvenuto, the man who killed Zachary, wrote a letter to tell the Snarr family that he was sorry for taking their 18-year-old son and brother's life. What happened next captivated listeners of KSL's "The Letter" podcast and, on this week's episode of "All In," we explore the power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ that is woven throughout the Snarr family's remarkable example of forgiveness.

Show Notes

2:34- Before 3:57- Regret 7:15- The Bind of Bitterness 12:45- Who Hate Hurts 15:47- You Have To Want It 18:12- The Sacrament Talk That Changed Everything 20:38- Losing a Second Son 23:29- The Very Real Pain of Loss 25:51- Jorge 32:21- Since the Letter 36:34- Atonement For All 40:34- A Spiritual Experience 43:50- What Does It Mean To Be All in?

"My soul was tortured, it was broken with this anguish I carried…and the way you [forgive] is you fight back, you turn to God, you turn to the Savior, you pray a lot and let Them guide you." —Sy Snarr

Links & References:

Listen to The Letter podcast

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Brandon Pak: Worth It to Save Sep 27, 2023

Show notes

Brandon Pak seemed to be on the path to achieving what he'd always wanted: He was a student at Berklee College of Music, he'd opened for Pentatonix and had recently performed as a backup singer for Charlie Puth. And yet, he'd never felt more empty. So, he wandered into the church he'd attended but left as a young man. On this week's episode, we talk with Brandon about finding greater purpose than he could've imagined through the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Show Notes

1:45- A Place To Call Home 5:17- Church Starts and Stops 11:37- Berklee or BYU 16:50- Empty 22:01- Three Months 26:30- Getting to Serve 34-02- Music and Missionary Work 36:15- Processing Through Songwriting 39:36- Worth It To Save 42:45- What Does It Mean To Be All In the Gospel of Jesus Christ?

"I knew what it felt like to be lost and to find the gospel and what type of worth that gave me as a person…and I wanted other people to have that." —Brandon Pak

Links & Reference:

Listen to Brandon Pak's new single, "Worth Saving"

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Emma Nissen: Hearing Him Sep 20, 2023

Show notes

In her freshman year as a vocal performance major, Emma Nissen received devastating news. Just nine weeks into her studies, she learned that her vocal cords were damaged and required surgery. She very easily could've felt, in that moment, that everything she'd worked for was falling apart. But she remembered a prompting she had earlier that week—a prompting to serve a mission—and how she'd told the Lord if he'd create a window of time for her to serve, she'd go. So she went and the rest, as they say, is history. On this week's episode, we talk with Emma Nissen about how God's window opened a door for her to share her music in a way she never could've dreamed possible.

Show Notes

2:16- A Musical Family 10:00- God Opens a Window 14:49- Music On a Mission 37:08- Faith Reconstruction 49:43- Guided 51:49- What Does It Mean to Be All In?

"I like to think that the Spirit and I can banter." —Emma Nissen

Links & References:

Listen to Emma on Spotify

"Hear Him" new music video

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Jamie Jensen: The Perceived Tension Between Science and Religion Sep 13, 2023

Show notes

According to a 2015 Pew Research study, 59 percent of Americans believe that science and religion are often in conflict. This perceived tension between the two can be especially challenging for students in fields such as biology, who may encounter scientific theories that seem to contradict their faith. As a biology professor at Brigham Young University, Jamie Jensen has seen firsthand how science can either deepen or diminish students' spirituality. In this week's episode, she shares strategies for helping students approach science in a way that enhances their understanding of God's wonders, rather than detracting from it.

"When you're building a testimony and you're gathering spiritual evidence, that evidence is still real, it's still measurable, but the instrumentation we use is different. So instead of using thermometers, or rulers or calipers, we're using our spiritual eyes, personal revelation, feelings that are inside, and it's just as real, but it's not as tangible." —Jamie Jensen

Show Notes

1:45- Teaching Science to Students of Faith 6:02- Scientific Process and Spiritual Process 8:42- Big S Science and Little S Science 10:56- Science is Agnostic? 19:18- Comfortable in Uncertainty 24:19- Dogmatism 26:17- Correct Evidence and False Evidence 29:37- Teaching Science in the Home 32:17- One Take on Evolution 43:03- What Does It Mean To Be All In the Gospel of Jesus Christ?

Links & References:

Let's Talk About Science and Religion book

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mauli Bonner and Paul Reeve: Understanding the History of Blacks in the Church Jun 28, 2023

Show notes

In 1830, the same year the Church was organized, a former slave named Peter became the first documented Black member of the Church. Nearly 200 years later, Mauli Bonner first heard Peter's story when he started exploring his own faith as a Black member of the Church. This journey led him to Paul Reeve, a professor at the University of Utah who has studied Blacks in Church history extensively. On today's episode, Mauli and Paul explain not only the importance of the stories of early Black Latter-day Saints, but also how their stories can strengthen our faith and our testimonies of the restored gospel.

"The beauty of it all is that we are here now and have an opportunity to learn and do something good. That's what we have control over. We can't change what was, we were not there. But we are here now." —Mauli Bonner

Show Notes

3:24- Blacks in the Early Days of the Church

8:50- Legislation with Theological Implications

12:00- Learning the History as a Black Latter-day Saint

15:22- Green Flake and Brigham Young

25:28- Strengthening Testimony Rather Than Weakening

31:44- Historical Accuracy

37:12- What Needed to Change?

44:22- Why Monuments Matter

51:22- What Does It Mean To Be All In the Gospel of Jesus Christ?

This episode originally aired on May 19, 2021.

View full show notes and transcript at ldsliving.com/allin.

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Jennifer Lane: Temples—Orienting Our Souls to Christ May 31, 2023

Show notes

A 2020 First Presidency Message reads, "The sacred teachings, promises, and ceremonies of the temple are of ancient origin, and point God's children to Him as they make further covenants and learn more about His plan, including the role of the Savior Jesus Christ." Learning more about God's plan and the role of a Savior in that plan are things that all of us desire but religious rituals can be difficult to understand and the prospect of wearing sacred temple garments may cause apprehension. But the temple carries with it great promises from God and on this week's episode, we discuss the many blessings that are available to us as we choose to make promises with Him.

"Temple worship provides a way to put the Lord first, to stay oriented to Him, to love Him the most, to love Him first." —Jennifer Lane

Show Notes

2:10- Changes to the Temple Ordinances

5:40- Religious Rituals of Other Faiths

10:32- Garments and Taking His Name Upon Us

13:39- The Temple Garment as a Gift

18:49- Promise of Temple Garments

21:13- Freemasonry

25:01- Embodiment

29:02- Maps

33:01- Ascension

39:16- What Does It Mean to Be All In the Gospel of Jesus Christ?

Links & References:

Let's talk about Temples and Ritual

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kevin Rolfe: A Never-Ending Love Story May 24, 2023

Show notes

Kevin Rolfe knows that his wife, Lindsey, may have been hesitant to get her hopes up about their relationship. After all, who would choose to marry someone who was likely dying of cancer? But Kevin wanted to be the one who battled cancer with Lindsey—he chose to be that person. On this week's episode, Kevin shares the many things that have gotten him through since Lindsey's passing: A stepson, loving family and friends, and the hope of a resurrection that will allow him to see Lindsey again.

"I think part of marrying somebody with cancer...was because I have a strong faith and belief that no matter if she was to live 20 years or two, it wouldn't be the end for us." —Kevin Rolfe

Show Notes

2:16- Meeting Lindsey

4:52- #ThisTeam

7:36- A Choice

9:19- Acting in Faith and Acceptance

14:21- Sealed

17:36- Witnessing Grace and Feeling Gratitude

27:54- A Son

33:14- Music's Role in Grieving

37:15- Construction and Scaffolding

43:23- Imagining the Resurrection

47:46- The Price of Love

51:49- What Does It Mean To Be All In the Gospel of Jesus Christ?

55:31- From Lindsey

Links & References:

Lindsey Anderson Rolfe obituary

Elder David A. Bednar, "But We Heeded Them Not"

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Gaye Strathearn: Finding the Sacred in the Sabbath May 17, 2023

Show notes

Growing up in Australia, Gaye Strathearn faced a dilemma familiar to many faithful families: how to balance Sabbath day observance with the demands of the world. As a young girl, she worried that her non-member father might feel left out as the family spent hours at church. But as she grew older, Gaye began to see the Sabbath not as a burden but as a sacred opportunity to connect with God and with loved ones. Now, as a respected gospel scholar, Gaye has compiled a collection of essays exploring the commandment of the Sabbath from its origins on Sinai to its relevance in the 21st century.

"If this is a part of our covenant journey, all of us are at different places on that covenant journey and our understanding of the Sabbath is going to be at different places. And so let's have people grow into their understanding." —Gaye Strathearn

8:39- Assumptions

11:34- The Way We Ask Questions

14:18- Why the Study of the Sabbath?

22:37- The Sabbath as a Covenant

31:40- The Modern Sabbath

36:48- Be Still and Know

43:42- Praise

49:24- The Opportunity to Worship

52:40- What Does It Mean To Be All In the Gospel of Jesus Christ?

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Conlon and Rachel Bonner: Coping With the Death of a Child May 10, 2023

Show notes

On New Year's Day 2023, as many people were waking to the excitement and endless possibilities of a new calendar year, Conlon and Rachel Bonner awoke to find that their nine-month-old son Joshua had passed away. The youngest of their six children, Joshua had been a source of light and love since joining their family in 2022, and now they were left to figure out how to live without him. For the Bonners, this meant focusing on how to live their lives with faith pointed toward a future when they will be reunited with Joshua again.

"He is motivation. He is almost like a guiding light to hold on tight to our covenants, to our knowledge of what is right, to do our very best, and to help others along the way." —Conlon Bonner

Show Notes

1:35- A Sister, Ministering, and Facebook

6:49- Getting to Know Joshua

8:58- Turning Immediately to Christ

21:30- Helping Children Deal With Grief

27:48- Mourning With Those Who Mourn

31:43- Discovering Strength in Spouse

38:53- Waiting

42:09- Alive in Christ

46:05- What Does It Mean To Be All In the Gospel of Jesus Christ?

Links & References:

The Bonner Family

Shawna Edwards' video with Rachel and Conlon

Shawna Edwards' music video featuring Conlon Bonner

The Message

C.S. Lewis quote

Henry Van Dyke "Gone From My Sight"

"Never suppress a generous thought." -Camilla E. Kimball

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Scott and Ashley Laneri: A Tale of Two Adoptions May 03, 2023

Show notes

In this episode, we sit down with Scott and Ashley Laneri to hear their remarkable story of two very different adoptions. From an unexpected phone call that led them to consider adoption for the first time to the deliberate effort and patience required for their second adoption, the Laneris share their journey and reflect on the miracles that brought their family together.

"Yes, the Lord does love effort. But even if you put in all your effort and it doesn't work out, that doesn't mean it's impossible. It just means that the Lord also has His timing in his way. And true trust means really trusting in His timing, and in His way, and that He really can make it happen." —Ashley Laneri

Show Notes

1:31- In Vitro Fertilization

5:17- A Life-changing Phone Call

8:19- Being Open to a Different Plan

12:55- A Special Green

15:26- Two Different Stories

18:29- The Social Media Route

23:47- When Things Are Out of Our Control

27:51- A Marriage Strengthened

30:58- The Lesser-Known Challenges of Adoption

33:49- God Eventually Delivers

39:33- Suggestions