In the past week my heart has been broken hearing about the war in Ukraine. Such pointless death and destruction. About a million have been displaced and more are fleeing daily. 

Before Putin decided to invade Ukraine, I sat down with a woman named Samira Harnish.  She started a non-profit in Utah called Women of the World. This non-profit helps forcibly displaced women become gainfully employed and financially independent.  This upcoming Wednesday March 9 they will be having a fashion show to raise funds for the ladies seeking aid.  It was awe-inspiring to learn about this incredible organization.  

I’m so glad I got a chance to chat with Samira and learn more about this organization.  Go to womenofworld.org for more information and stories.  I hope you enjoy our conversation. 

I can’t think of a book that is more needed right now than the one Elisabeth chose for our book club: The Nature Fix by Florence Williams.  With so much stress and sadness all around us, needless war in Ukraine, and having lived through what seems like an interminable pandemic, a little more nature is probably just what we need.  Elisabeth and I preview this book for you.  

I am really excited about this book! I can’t wait to get started.

I have loved getting to know this organization: the Mormon Environmental Stewardship Alliance over the past 2 episodes.  I hope you have too. Rounding out the last episode, highlighting this fantastic organization is a conversation I had with Rachael Lauritzen who is the Chair of MESA.  

I’m so excited to start implementing some of the environmental ideas that Racheal shared in my daily life.  I loved chatting with her and I hope you’ve enjoyed these episodes with MESA as much as I enjoyed making them.

Today is part 2 of our series on the Mormon Environmental Stewardship Alliance or MESA.  I got the chance to speak with Marc Coles-Ritchie about his role at MESA.  He was the chair of the non-profit until this past January. 

I’m so glad I got the chance to talk with Marc. I love his optimism and enthusiasm for ideas that help make our water more pure and our air more breathable. I’m looking forward to the future of non-polluting energy.

In our Latter-day Saints in Action Facebook community page, one of our members  posted a message about an organization called Mormon Environmental Stewardship Alliance.  I decided to reach out and see if they would be willing to come onto the podcast and talk about the organization.  The next 3 episodes will be featuring members of the Mormon Environmental Stewardship Alliance (or MESA) board of directors.  I got the chance to speak with Soren Simonson who is a member of the board of directors.  

After talking with Soren, I feel like my mind has been expanded as to our mission here on Earth and what we will be doing during the millennium. I’m hopeful for the future. We can do a better job in caring for our planet.  I’m looking forward to the next episode when I talk with Marc Coles-Ritchie, the chair of MESA.

 I love chatting with our book club chair Elisabeth Westwood about what she’s reading and ideas she has for the book club.  We chatted earlier in the week about a new book she’s highlighting called The Paper Daughters of Chinatown by Heather B. Moore.

About half way through the interview, my daughter started practicing violin, so you might hear some violin in the background.

I’m so glad I had the chance to chat with Elisabeth and I’m looking forward to reading The Paper Daughters of Chinatown.

Last episode there was a lot that we couldn’t get to because of time, so I invited Heather Gardner on again to talk about boundaries and further expound on how to keep ourselves mentally healthy during the pandemic. I’m so grateful for the things that I learned from Heather and I’m excited to implement them as I work on creating clear and kind boundaries for myself and my family. 

This pandemic just keeps dragging on.  We are closing in on 2 years since everything shut down. I am finding myself exhausted thinking about life, work, and maintaining my relationships. I invited my Sister-in-Law Heather Gardner onto the podcast today to talk about mental health now that the pandemic is entering more of an endemic phase.  She is a licensed marriage and family therapy associate. 

I’m so grateful for the ideas and tools that Heather gave us and I’m excited to try some of them in my own life.  

This episode our host Matt Gardner borrows a remembrance from a member of congress who was there during the attack on our Capitol.  A reminder that the missing word in "E Pluribus Unum" is Love.

For the book club this month, our book club chair Elisabeth has decided on the book How to Change by Katy Milkman.  I’m super excited about this book.  Since recording the podcast I’ve started and it is so good! I can’t wait to chat with you about it on January 18 at 6:00 pm Mountain Time.

For a preview of the book, listen to this episode of the podcast.