A Light In the Darkness

Carrie Larson Johnson was raised in South Jordan, Utah, where she was taught by the example of her parents to love and live the gospel of Jesus Christ. Her life has been a series of detours on a joyous journey full of tender mercies. Carrie’s greatest passion is talking about and teaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ. In December of 2015, Carrie was injured in a car accident, which resulted in major physical injuries and learning to walk and talk again. In this episode we talk about the things Carrie has learned through that experience. She knows, without a doubt, she was saved to testify of God’s goodness, that miracles have not ceased, and that joy can be found in the darkest places.  Carrie enjoys life! She finds humor in nearly everything and loves to laugh.  Carrie is married to “the man of her dreams,” the mother of a beautiful, sassy-pants daughter, and a hilarious son-in-law, none of whom she could ever do without.

Carrie can be found on social media at Carrie Larson Johnson.

Carrie's blog/website: Joy Cometh In the Mourning

A blog post I wrote about Carrie and her JOY: Finding Joy In My Journey

Heather was raised in Riverton, Ut, and is the 4th of 8 kids. She graduated from high school and married her high school sweetheart, Dan Doney, in March 2000. They have 4 pretty cool kids ages 17, 15, 13, and 11. Heather loves to entertain, make new friends, and make people laugh. She's loved to dance since she was little and has learned to enjoy working out. She decided to combine the two things, and she became a certified Zumba instructor in 2011. She taught for almost 7 years when she had to quit because she was experiencing a lot of health challenges which led her in many different directions trying to figure out what was causing her health problems. Heather was diagnosed with Lyme Disease in January 2018 and it's been quite the journey for her - but she's since made social media accounts sharing the "happy habits" she's adopted into her life over the years. Since doing some treatments to combat the Lyme, Heather is doing well. She's continued to try and stay active and recently fulfilled a dream of having a viral video of her teaching Zumba in her backyard to all of her neighbors while they socially distanced during the quarantine. It's been viewed over 30 million times, featured on Good Morning America, PBS News Hours, local news stations, and even interviewed with Instagram guru Jay Shetty, and caught the attention of celebrities like Khloe Kardashian and Demi Lovato and The Kelly Clarkson Show. It's been a fun few months as she's learned the ins and outs of having a viral video. She hopes to inspire others to not give up when challenges seem unbearable, all while laughing along the way.

If you want to contact Heather you can find her on Facebook at "Happy Habits With Heather D." and on Instagram @heathers_happy_habits

You can also find her viral video here. 

As a survivor from the earthquake in Haiti in 2010, Williamson takes advantage of every moment, experience, and opportunity he is given in life. Those 27 hours under the rubble caused him to search for God, and he joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints 6 months later. He served a mission in his own country, and then moved to the U.S. to study in 2015. While studying here he also met the love of his life. He has shared his near death experience in many schools and functions all over Utah and Haiti. His passion is to empower youth all over the world to believe in themselves.  Through a lot of hard work - he now owns his own small business, and is the founder of a non-profit organization ARISE Project for Humanity. Arise empowers youth in Haïti to believe in themselves and change their own community. He continues to take trips back to his home country with his organization. They are now building the first Mentoring Center in the Southern Haiti.  Williamson is also a husband and father of 3 and lives with his family in Bountiful, Utah. In all of life's challenges, Williamson searches for a way to remain positive and hopeful.

Blog post Carly wrote using Williamson's story as inspiration: https://carlyrobison.org/2018/07/15/i-will-not-shrink/

ARISE website: https://www.ariseprojectforhumanity.com

Becky Mackintosh is a popular speaker known for her inspirational stories, honest approach and open heart. She enjoys traveling, humanitarian work and caramel apples. She is the best-selling author of Love Boldly: Embracing your LGBTQ Loved Ones and Your Faith. She is the proud and humbled mother of seven children and an ever-growing number of grandchildren. She lives in Lehi, Utah, with her husband, Scott, in a nest that’s never quite empty.

The Mackintosh family was filmed for the "Mormon and Gay" website, a video that now has over a million views.  If you'd like to learn why, you can visit: 

The Mackintosh Story

You can reach Becky on social media, or on her website http://www.beckymackintosh.com

You can find Becky's book here: Love Boldly: Embracing Your LGBTQ Love Ones and Your Faith

Drew Young is a native of the east coast, and now resides in Utah with his wife and daughter. He studied at Brigham Young University where he helped in teaching and developing curriculum for various student development courses. He’s been sharing his story with numerous audiences for the past five years, and has been featured in LDS Living's YouTube series and magazine.

Drew shares his story of battling separation anxiety, depression, and suicidal thoughts after coming home early from his LDS mission.  He said "It was in these moments that I learned a valuable lesson: we all have a mission, both in and out of the Church, and there is meaning in our missions. Regardless of what we may be going through: struggling with pornography addiction, lack of testimony, same sex attraction, feeling lonely and forgotten, experiencing mental illness, etc, there is purpose behind our pain, and there is hope in our struggle. It's up to us: are we going to go through life, or grow through life?"

You can contact Drew on Facebook (Drew Young, Cedar Fort Books) and Instagram (@mrdrewbyoung)

You can order Drew's book on Amazon and at Cedar Fort Publishing.

“ Love where you live.” That’s the mission of Utah Realtor Jake Melton. He has moved 12 times in the last 8 years and has come to appreciate what it means to live somewhere you love. He helps his clients not only find homes they love, but makes sure they are also in love with their neighborhoods and communities.

CANCER PATIENT TRIGGER WARNING:  Tina Kirkman is a military wife, mother, and lover of all things football!  Tina's husband KC is a former Air Force reserve member who served our country right after September 11th happened, and who is currently serving in the National Guard.  Over the years Tina has had some pretty big challenges throughout her life - including multiple cancer diagnoses, overcoming an addiction to prescription drugs, and most recently the loss of her Father In Law to COVID-19. Through her challenges Tina has learned to focus on the positive, and keep going no matter what.  Tina was ultimately diagnosed with terminal cancer, and in April 2019 she and her husband had to make one of the most difficult decisions of their lives.  She is now doing her best to live in the moment, and create lasting memories with her loved ones. 

If you want to contact Tina you can email her at [email protected]

On this episode Carly interviews Jodi Pettit.  Jodi Pettit is a wife, mother of 5, medical laboratory scientist & an athlete. At the age of 19 she was diagnosed with severe rheumatoid arthritis. At the time a rheumatologist advised Jodi to not have children. The doctor stated that her disease was severe, her best hope was to slow down the progression, and that she would be wheel chair bound within a decade and that having children she couldn’t care for was selfish and irresponsible. This was devastating news to a young newly wed who had dreams of a family and an active lifestyle with her husband. With the support of her husband Jodi learned to live with her disease and have a family. She has cared for her children and always stayed active and achieved big goals. Jodi has ran 8 marathons, countless half’s, a Full Ironman, a handful of Half Ironman’s and XTERRA off road triathlon qualifying for and racing in their World Championship race in Maui in 2018. She has not missed a day of actively moving since December 10, 2013. Her passion and goal is to share hope, by sharing her story Jodi hopes to inspire in others a desire to fight their own battles. No matter how dark, painful, depressing the circumstances you may be facing, they do not need to be permanent. There is joy, success and happiness to be found in the journey. Jodi Pettit has found light in her personal darkness. 

 You can get in contact with Jodi on Facebook at Jodi Brunson Pettit.

In this first episode Carly Robison shares her own story of finding light in her personal darkness. We find out that she has essentially been living the "pandemic lifestyle" for over 10 years, after being diagnosed with severe food allergies, including being extremely sensitive to airborne peanuts/peanut butter. This allergy has made it so she is pretty much home bound, and unable to participate in a lot of life. Isolation, loneliness, and occasional hopelessness led her to find ways to keep a positive mindset while facing her own "new normal." Carly started this podcast so she can share the things she's learned, hoping to help others as they face difficult times in their own lives. A Light in the Darkness.

You can reach Carly on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter at A Light In the Darkness, or at https://carlyrobison.org