Latter Day Radio, now podcasting from The Intersection of Faith & Freedom.

Podcasting partners Martin Tanner and Greg Jarrard are together once again to discuss a subject that pushes many friends and family members apart: politics, or more specifically politicians. Whether you're Left or Right or smack dab in the middle, when somebody asks the question in jest, "how do you when a politician is lying," you immediately know the answer: "When his lips are moving." Martin and Greg point out that most people agree that "it's the other guy" who is wicked. But, it's not that easy, is it? Martin makes the point that when people of good faith get all the facts without all the spin they are more likely to agree than disagree. They also remind us what Adams, Madison and others said about the Constitution, namely, that it was created for a religious and moral people and is totally unsuited for anyone else. And, that's where it gets messy when politics and religion often become an explosive mixture. Finger pointing isn't the answer – listen and come to your own conclusions.

Somebody once said that when somebody dies who has lived a full time and DOES NOT leave a story behind, it's like a library has burned down. Host Greg Jarrard interviews an old friend, a former partner from years ago, Mark Hurst who shares his stories and poetry with friends, family and new listeners to help him fend off the effects of Parkinson's Disease. Jarrard's new volume, BRING YOUR MEMOIR TO LIFE IN 6 WEEKS, is the impetus to encourage people like Mark Hurst share his thoughts, views and wisdom with others as both a cathartic device for himself and as a wellspring of hope and encouragement for others to keep plugging along despite life's millstones that slow them down. Hurst reads an introduction to his small volume, Milestones & Millstones, and encourages others to share their lives' stories while they still can.

As a vice president of IANDS, International Association of Near-Death Studies, Latter Day Radio co-host Martin Tanner discusses the recent conference held in Salt Lake City, Utah, over Labor Day weekend in September 2022. Among other things, Martin and his co-host GM Jarrard examine the relevance and impact of accounts of people who have "passed on and returned" for people of faith, particularly Latter Day Saints. They recount how in dark and troubling times these stories, often with messages for friends and family members–can offer great hope and pique interest in life after death. Martin and Greg also address the subject of why trials are for our benefit and help people appreciate light when enveloped in darkness. And, they point out how the hope for a better future can give people renewed strength to endure to the end.

In this Latter Day Radio podcast, first broadcast on KLO Radio in Salt Lake City, attorney, author and researcher Jonathan Neville makes the case that the events described in the Book of Mormon took place in North America, primarily the northeastern U.S. states of Ohio, New York and Michigan and the surrounding areas. Neville bases his theory on Oliver Cowdery's "Letter 7" that was published in 1842 to counter claims from enemies of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that Joseph Smith "borrowed" content from other sources, such as Solomon Spaulding. His studies led him to conclude that Benjamin Winchester under the direction of William Smith, the youngest brother of Joseph Smith, wrote accounts in the early LDS publication, "The Times and the Seasons," that led many researchers to "go on a snipe hunt" in Central America for clues and evidence to confirm the claims in the Book of Mormon. In Neville's view, statements made by Joseph Smith, Oliver Cowdery and other early Church leaders that the final battle between Nephites and Lamanites did indeed take place in the area of the Great Lakes and not in Guatemala nor Mexico. He asserts that his research of both documents and of archaeological sites in and around Ohio confirms his theory. Neville has written several books on the subject that are described on his website, MoronisAmerica.com.  GM Jarrard is the host for this podcast that was first heard on KLO in 2018.

The growing phenomenon of near-death experiences has attracted more and more attention in recent years. In August 2022, the annual convention of the International Association of Near-death Studies is taking place in Salt Lake City, Utah, where Latter Day Radio host Martin Tanner has been assisting in its organization. As he explains in this podcast, Martin has been investigating reports of people in all walks of life–including small children–who claim that an illness or accident led to an episode known as an NDE, or near-death event.

One of the more well known experts in the subject. pediatrician Dr. Melvin Morse joins Martin and co-host GM Jarrard and recounts his experience caring for a young girl who was found at the bottom of a swimming pool a couple of decades ago. After she described her “meeting with Jesus,” Dr. Morse and his team began investigating her experience and the experiences of many other children. As Morse explains, there is no other explanation that makes sense, except for her girl’s story.

This podcast adds to other other Latter Day Radio podcast episodes on the subject.

A Long Journey Back to Mongolia: A "No More Strangers" Podcast

It’s no secret that students who attend Brigham Young University very often leave with more than just a college degree. For many, they leave with a spouse, too. Such was the case for our current guests in this Latter Day Radio podcast episode.

Oh, those single wards on campus!

The expressed purpose of “single wards” is to take a varied assortment of members of the Church from places with strange-sounding names and pair them up. Think of it as a sock drawer! You just can’t leave socks as a loose collection of footwear; your job (if you’re the bishop, for example) isn’t done until they’re all rolled up together.

And, sometimes those socks would never have been paired up if they hadn’t been dropped into the same drawer!

Such is the case of Nadmid Namgur and Mayumi Yamanaka. They are both returned missionaries; Nadmid is a native Mongolian, and he served in San Diego, California, arriving in the mission field hardly speaking English. Mayumi hails from Kobe, Japan, and served her mission in Tokyo. So, when they met, they were forced to use English–their second language–as their primary means of communication.

But, they had one thing in common: a commitment to live the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. That was their glue.

She joined the Church as an eight-year-old when she and her mother were baptized; Nadmid’s conversion came later as a young college student in Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia, the world’s second largest land-locked country sandwiched between Russia and China. Its altitude is about the same as Salt Lake City (4,300 feet) and sits astride the Tuul River with a population of 1.3 million, nearly half of the country’s 3 million inhabitants.

Nadmid explains that it was the appearance of two young Americans in white shirt and ties, speaking–for them–a very foreign tongue that attracted his attention. His was no quick conversion; as he explains in the podcast, a new green missionary who spoke very little Mongolian made an impression that eventually led him to the waters of baptism and then to his surprise, a call to serve in the California San Diego mission.

Opportunities, scholarships and the Hand of the Lord gave Nadmid and Mayumi an opportunity to travel to Mongolia with their two small sons where he, with his newly minted MBA from BYU, was offered a job with Rio Tinto and a chance to serve as branch president in Ulaanbaatar.

A few years later, they found themselves back in Utah raising their two sons, David and Daniel, in the Daybreak “settlement” of South Jordan, Utah, in a nice, cozy cottage within walking distance of the Oquirrh Mountain Temple. Oh, and a new dog. Currently, Nadmid works in the Temple Department in the Church Office Building in downtown Salt Lake City. They both can be counted on to serve in any calling they are given; he’s on the High Council of the South Jordan Eastlake Stake, and Mayumi works in the Relief Society…that is, until July 1st.

That’s when Elder Nadmid Namgur and Sister Mayumi Yamanaka Namgur and their boys, 14-year-old David and 11-year-old Daniel, will relocate…back to Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, where “President Namgur” and “Mission Mother Namgur” will preside over this far-flung mission once the province of Genghis Kahn and his Empire.

This podcast is the first of many to come in a new category that we’re calling “No More Strangers,” patterned after a series of books written a generation ago by Elder Hartman Rector, Jr. We hope you’ll like our first one, featuring Nadmid and Mayuni Namgur, leaving soon for the Mongolian Mission.

You can learn more about their long journey by pressing the “Play” button on your smart phone or computer. And, in three years, we will are planning on their appearance again on Latter Day Radio.

gm jarrard

< Just a block west of the imposing Oquirrh Mountain Temple set against the backdrop of the Wasatch Mountains is a neat little cottage facing a tree-lined park in the Daybreak development of South Jordan, Utah.. On any weekday morning, a cheery young woman can be seen kissing her teenage girls goodbye as they leave for Herriman High School or college. It seems ordinary enough, this cozy setting taken right off the cover of a family magazine. But, the lady of this house wasn’t raised in a comfortable suburban American home. She wasn’t even raised in a home. Her earliest memories are of the Shkola Internat #3 Orphanage in Kyiv, Ukraine, where she stayed until a decision to take an English class taught by two young college-age American women changed her life. She is a long way from her roots, but that doesn’t mean she has forgotten them. In fact, she is busier than ever doing her best to help family, friends and fellow Ukrainians cope with the tragedy that has befallen her beloved homeland. Her name is Yuliya Anatoliivna Pernyatina Aukschun. And how she got from THERE to HERE is the story of this Latter Day Radio podcast. Her bubbly, happy personality is infectious. Maybe that’s because her personal experience of remembering where she came from and where she is today gives her context and appreciation for God’s blessings in her life. That first life-changing event occurred in 1993 when she jumped at the chance to learn from two young sister missionaries, Sister Jackson and Sister Fairbanks; she recalls that they “were not supposed to preach about their religion,” but that did not stop Yuliya from wanting to hear more of their message; within a week or so, she had taken all the discussions and had entered into the waters of baptism. After that, she experienced a number of life-changing events. She began attending branch activities in Kyiv, including socials, dances and the like. Then, about a year later, an American judge, who had been traveling to Ukraine on and off to help the newly emerging democracy learn about American jurisprudence, had met Yuliya and then inquired at the orphanage about the teen-age convert. He offered to adopt her and take her to the United States; she jumped at the chance, and sometime later, found herself in a suburb of Seattle, Washington, enrolled in high school, walking the halls after her ESL classes with an English-Russian pocket dictionary in her hand. Then, another member offered to pay her tuition to LDS Business College in Salt Lake City. She accepted that offer as well. At the college, she had been befriended by her Religion professor, Linda Aukschun, who told her son, Brad, about the young Ukrainian student, and when Yuliya dropped in to see her teacher, Brad was sitting at his mother’s desk working on her computer. Then, Professor Aukschun walked in, and after Yuliya left, Linda Aukschun asked Brad, “Did you get her number?” He shook his head and his mother retrieved Yulija, and unlike the storyline from “Fiddler on the Roof,” this time the parent’s desire was realized: 22 years later, the Cinderella story is being played out in South Jordan, Utah. Linda and Yuliya Aukschun have been close ever since, and in fact, a few years ago, they were able to attend a session at the Kviv Temple, this time with Yuliya helping with the translation. The most recent events have also been remarkable, with Brad and Yuliya Aukschun working tirelessly to help her younger sister and a childhood friend from the orphanage escape their war-torn country. With Brad’s round-the-clock effort and with the help of Google Translate, they managed to help the two women and their children catch flights to Brussels and find refuge in Belgium. In fact, today (March 28th), Yuliya’s friend’s six-year-old daughter starts school in Belgium. Yes, amidst all the tragedy of war with millions of refugees seeking safety, miracles still happen…in this case, miracles that began when a girl enrolled an English class in Ukraine.

In a previous podcast, “Wokeism and Teaching Kids,” we promised to follow up on our discussion of that subject. We discussed the looming problem, likely growing and wondered out loud where it’s headed. The question we try to answer in this podcast is: What are we going to do about it? And who is going to step out and hold themselves up to ridicule? 

Latter-day Saints recognize that free agency is essential to salvation. And, to be truly free, we must be able to choose between clearly defined opposites. But, when the powers that be prevent people from learning the truth, our spiritual growth is stunted. So, the question is, what are you, as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, going to do about it? Will you simply recite the 12th Article of Faith and simply say “We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers and magistrates, in obeying, honoring and sustaining the Law”? Is being compliant to government–even when it errs–the same as being obedient to God? Consider Christ standing before Pilate; the Savior informs the Roman governor that “to this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth hearth my voice.” In reply, the dumbfounded Pilate–like so many people in power today–asked, “what is truth?”

Truth is, indeed, a rare commodity. Prophets before Christ, like Him, paid the price of telling the truth with their lives. Prophets and apostles after Christ met the same fate. But, sharing the truth, if the burden is broadly supported is rarely fatal today, but there is a cost. In this podcast, we put it into historical context, quoting Joseph Smith, John Adams and Winston Churchill. During the darkest days of the Battle of Britain, Churchill exemplified “The Art of Being Fearless and provides an icon to follow for Latter-day Saints who today share the burden of testifying of the truth, and in this case, helping preserve the U.S. Constitution.

In a previous podcast, Wokeism and Teaching Kids, we promised to follow up on our discussion of that subject. We discussed the looming problem, likely growing and wondered out loud where it’s headed. The question we try to answer in this podcast is: What are we going to do about it? And who is going to step out and hold themselves up to ridicule? How many Lt. General Michael Flynns are there? Are you one of them?

Latter-day Saints recognize that free agency is essential to salvation. And, to be truly free, we must be able to choose between clearly defined opposites. But, when the powers that be prevent people from learning the truth, our spiritual growth is stunted. So, the question is, what are you, as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints going to do about it? Will you simply recite the 12th Article of Faith and san say “We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers and magistrates, in obeying, honoring and sustaining the Law”? Is being compliant to government–even when it errs–the same as being obedient to God? Consider Christ standing before Pilate; the Savior told the Roman governor that “to this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth hearth my voice.” In reply, the dumbfounded Pilate–like so many people in power today–asked, “what is truth?”

Truth is, indeed, a rare commodity. Prophets before Christ, like Him, paid the price of telling the truth with their lives. Prophets and apostles after Christ met the same fate. But, sharing the truth, if the burden is broadly supported is rarely fatal today, but there is a cost. In this podcast, we put it into historical context, quoting Joseph Smith, John Adams and Winston Churchill. During the darkest days of the Battle of Britain, Churchill exemplified “The Art of Being Fearless and provides an icon to follow for Latter-day Saints who today share the burden of testifying of the truth, and in this case, helping preserve the U.S. Constitution.

We are not the first generation that has wondered if the end times have arrived, that the world has been so corrupted that the only God’s intervention can make things right. Think of the 14th-century and the Black Plague, or the Thirty Years War a couple of hundred years later when the center of Europe was embroiled in war. Or a century and a half later when Napoleon marched back and forth across Europe and sounded the death knell to the Holy Roman Empire, followed by French revolution and more blood letting. That’s what Charles Dickens wrote about in his classic story of The Tale of Two Cities with these immortal words:

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way--in short, the period was so far like the present period that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.”

The difference today, is there is no place to hide. No Great Basin to settle, no place to where we can push a handcart. But, our prophets and apostles have told to make our own homes a refuge, to teach our families the truths of the Gospel, to resist the slings and arrows from the Great and Spacious Building.

This Latter Day Radio Podcast focuses on the “secularization of America” as evidenced by institutions from the media to prestigious universities’ and school districts’ adoption of such ideologies as “Wokeism” and Critical Race Theory. Host GM Jarrard is joined by two guests, Homeschooler Amber Peterson, mother of four who has homeschooled her children for seven years and former CBS executive in New York City, co-founder of the A&E Network and former mission to Ireland.