At Last She Said It

Latest Episodes:

Episode 113: Revisiting the Mother Tree — A Conversation with Kathryn Knight Sonntag Oct 04, 2022

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In her book, The Mother Tree: Discovering the Love and Wisdom of Our Divine Mother, author Kathryn Knight Sonntag wrote, "Further exploration of the Mother is part of the unfolding Restoration in our hearts." Today many women are feeling led to explore the divine feminine more deeply, or for the first time, in an effort to erase the separation that has existed between Latter-day Saints and our Heavenly Mother. In Episode 113, Kathryn shares insights and ideas gleaned from her personal research and experiences. It's a conversation about creating wholeness and healing the mother wound in our theology.

Episode 112: What About Purity Culture? Sep 27, 2022

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What does it mean to a Latter-day Saint young woman when she hears that virtue and chastity are 'most dear and precious above all things?' Purity Culture is a movement built on teachings of sexual abstinence before marriage, with the insidious slant that girls and women are responsible for not only their own purity, but that of boys and men. Young women face strict dress codes and years of lessons about how to avoid tempting or distracting. Some even internalize a message that's difficult to overcome: a woman's personal worth is linked to her sexual purity. In Episode 112, therapist Colette Dalton joins Cynthia and Susan for a conversation about changing the conversation. How might the Church teach chastity in ways that promote sexual health and spiritual well-being throughout our lives?

Episode 111: Raising Healthy Kids in the Church—A Conversation with Michelle Larson Sep 20, 2022

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For women who have experienced some kind of faith shift or feminist awakening, how to raise children in the Church may become a perplexing question. We may want something different from the messaging and experiences—cultural or religious—we grew up with. We may want a more expansive idea of God than is presented in correlated materials. We may hold more nuanced views than some official positions. We may wonder how to answer questions about issues to which we don't really have answers ourselves. In episode 111, Cynthia and Susan are joined by Michelle Larson who assures us all parents get some things wrong, but we also get many right. It's an exploration of ideas for finding personal approaches that best fit each family.

Episode 110: We Don't Believe Our Own Stuff—Repentance Edition Sep 13, 2022

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How do you think about repentance? Is it a way to become pure? A way to change direction? A way to accept responsibility for harm we've caused ourselves or others? And how do you feel about an organization that doesn't apologize? Can we make amends without acknowledging harm? Repentance is something we hear and talk a lot about at church, but we don't all think about it the same way. In Episode 110, Cynthia and Susan share personal ideas about repentance, and discuss whether or not Latter-day Saints believe our own stuff when it comes to the second fundamental principle of the gospel.

Episode 109: BONUS—A Few More Thoughts About Sealings Sep 09, 2022

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In this short bonus episode, Cynthia and Susan share a few more listeners' experiences and feelings about temple sealings and the policies around them. Spoiler: It's complicated.

Episode 108: What About Sealings? Sep 06, 2022

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Disparity in the Church's sealing policies for men and women is something many members never think about until their life experience reveals it in some way. The truth is, a variety of complex real-life scenarios may change the idea of sealing from a joyful eternal prospect to a painful eternal sentence for some Latter-day Saint women. If you are widowed, divorced, remarried, or single, your sealing options as a woman are limited, and you have little to no power in the process of determining what's right for you. In this episode, ALSSI listeners share their personal experiences with the Church's sealing policies, and the complex emotions that arise as a result of living within these limitations.

Episode 107: In Search of Self — A Conversation with C.A. Larson Aug 30, 2022

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Having learned about her well-defined role as a wife and mother from the time she is a young girl, when and how does a Latter-day Saint woman develop an understanding of who she is as an individual? Over time, not living in alignment with our true self is exhausting, and may be detrimental to health and happiness. 'Finding yourself' may sound cliché, but self-discovery is key to making choices about our life and identity that will lead to personal fulfillment. Therapist C.A. Larson joins Cynthia and Susan for a conversation about some of the unique challenges LDS women may face in our search for Self.

Episode 106: What About Blessings? Part 2 Aug 23, 2022

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'Blessing' is a catch-all word. From prosperity gospel to the laying on of hands, it is used to describe a transactional approach to our relationship with God: we do something and believe we are 'blessed' as a result. But when we try to connect those specific dots in our lives, things can get tricky. Such a transactional view may challenge our faith as often as it affirms it. In this follow-up conversation, Cynthia and Susan take another look at some complicated ways Latter-day Saints perceive, experience, and express the idea of blessing.

Episode 105: The Process of Staying...A Few More Thoughts—BONUS Aug 19, 2022

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In this short bonus episode, Susan shares "Circles of Light," the essay in which the phrase 'I'm in the process of staying' originated.

Episode 104: The Process of Staying Aug 16, 2022

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"Why do you stay? How do you stay?" Because the conversations on this podcast often highlight problems Latter-day Saint women have observed or experienced in their church lives, these questions come up a lot. Every so often, it's helpful to check in with oneself for the current answers. In this episode, Cynthia and Susan discuss the process of staying: what that process looks like for them, and why they each continue to find value engaging with it today.

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