My friend Mary Alice Hatch (married mother of 2) joins us from her home in San Clemente, California to share her story. Mary Alice talks about her son coming home from his mission early after receiving personal revelation it was the right thing to do. She talks about her support of her son and honoring his personal revelation and the need for our culture to do the same.

This experience of seeing first-hand how the culture can be damaging for some Latter-day Saints, inspired Mary Alice to start a podcast call “What Now” which focused on how to improve the experience for Latter-day Saints. It is a powerful and needed podcast in our community.

Mary Alice also talks about what her Relief Society Presidency is doing to create a safe culture for members to feel safe opening up about the realities of their lives so we can better heal and support others. She talks about how “people don’t connect to perfection but to vulnerability”. Mary Alice offers ideas on what we can do in our circle of influence to improve our culture.

Thank you, Mary Alice, for being on the podcast and your great work in our community. I encourage everyone to check out Mary Allice’s podcast.

Podcast links:

What Now Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/what-now/id1474476293

Mary Alice Instagram: @podcastwhatnow

Elder Holland’s Talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iEjWlwoi7A

Richard Ostler’s chapter on supporting early release missionaries: https://www.dropbox.com/s/14w6jnbyia6e7dc/Chapter%208%20Variations%20in%20Missionary%20Service.pdf?dl=0