In this episode, Latter-day Faith host Dan Wotherspoon reflects on the life of his wonderful friend, mentor, sounding board, and wise soul Curt Bench who passed away recently. In sharing about Curt and the pivotal role he played in Dan's life, his hope is that we each will take time to consider the people who have made a genuine difference in our lives, especially those who found joy in who we are and have helped us come to understand ourselves more deeply and perhaps point us toward our genuine spiritual gifts. Dan also reflects on the importance of finding more of those kinds of people in our lives. Sometimes they will fall into our orbit naturally, but we also shouldn't hesitate to actively try to develop friendships that might be transformative for us.

In the final section of this episode, Dan reads an essay of Curt's that is found in the 2021 book, Why I Stay, volume 2 (Signature Books). In it you will get to meet Curt in his own words as he describes his journey within Mormonism and how he had found fulfillment there even amidst everything that is less than ideal. A part of that journey was his finding examples of others who inspired him in much the same was that Curt inspired Dan. This is a very personal episode. Thank you for allowing this indulgence.