On this podcast you have heard me talk a lot about how we need the voices of women in places of power and influence.  As a father of only girls I know how important it is for those voices to be heard and for women to be elected into positions of influence in our society.  Recently a friend of Latter-day Saints in Action board member Kristin Hilman was elected to be the first female mayor of Bountiful in Utah.  We asked her to be on the podcast and she agreed.  I’m so grateful for good people in our places of government.  I am amazed at the number of honorable women and men of integrity are placed in governmental positions.  I am really excited to watch Mayor Harris’ career and look forward to more women joining her in positions of influence in our communities.

Last year I had the chance to interview my wife about the traditions we have in our family and this year my two daughters joined us for this podcast.  We talk about traditions, what they mean, and how they help shape our lives.

Recently the Davis School District in Utah received a Justice Department report talking about widespread racism in the schools and how administrators and teachers routinely ignored or downplayed when students reported racist harassment. The report stated that, “Many Black students said the harassment was so pervasive and happened so often in front of adults that they concluded school employees condoned the behavior and believed reporting it further would be futile.”

I reached out to Grace Soelberg, one of my friends on Twitter who is Black and grew up in the Davis School District.  I wondered what her experience was like and I also asked about her perspective as a newly graduated history major from BYU.

Latter-day Saints in Action has decided to create a Facebook group for our community.  This episode goes into detail into why we made that decision and how to start thinking of our own neighborhoods as communities.

At Latter-day Saints in Action we want to make sure that candidates get a chance to educate the public about who they are and what their stance is on issues that are important to their constituents. As such, I had the great privilege to interview and get to know a candidate running for a United State Senate seat here in Utah. Her name is Becky Edwards. She shared stories of how the Church has impacted her political life and helped her emphasize listening. She shared stories of successes and failures during her time in the Utah State House of Representatives, and even talked about how perceived failures can turn into successes when given enough time.

It is incredible to see how members of the Church are impacting so many areas of life.  During the interview, Becky said something that I think is indicative of her political philosophy, "I want the average Utahn to look at a piece of legislation and say, 'That actually connects with my life.  That makes a difference.'"

To learn more about Becky and her candidacy go to beckyforutah.com.

This week I'm joined by Elisabeth and Kristin, frequent guests of the show and fellow board members from the Latter-day Saints in Action board of directors.  We talk about a few talks and themes that struck us during General Conference.  Hopefully this helps spark some of your own thoughts and ideas that came to you.

It has been a while, but we're back!  I have missed the book club and can't wait to dig into the book for this month: Everything Sad is Untrue (a true story) by Daniel Nayeri. Join Elizabeth and me as we preview this entertaining book!

Every time I start thinking about Climate Change I get stressed out.  It seems like no matter what I do individually, I can’t make a dent in the problem.  While that may be partly true, it still feels good to sit down with someone like Emily Hales who is doing something who IS making a difference. She is doing the work to make change stick, and has the faith to pull us through.  

I am increasingly convinced that the best way to solve climate change is systemic - creating laws that fund effective solutions and defunding problems.

I’m so glad I got the chance to speak with Emily.  As you listen, I hope you feel her enthusiasm for this issue like I did when interviewing her.

I think this Summer and the past year have really opened so many of our eyes as to what climate change and the warming of our planet can really do and is currently doing.  Fires burning throughout the Western United States have left a smokey haze over the mountains in my region here in Utah.  We are in our second year of incredible drought, while at the same time having 25 year flooding storms happen within a couple weeks of each other here in my city. And we are only beginning to feel the effects.  While attending a political event at my sister-in-law Camie Hodlmair’s house for a fantastic Senatorial Candidate Becky Edwards, I struck up a conversation with 2 women who advocate for policies that reverse the effects of Climate Change.  This week I got the chance to speak with Christi Leman who works with Mormon Women for Ethical Government’s (MWEG)’s Environmental Advocacy.  Christi made it clear that she is not representing MWEG and what she said here is her own.  It was such a fantastic conversation.

We can’t go back and change the beginning.  But we can start where we are and change the ending. - CS Lewis.

What if we did go back to learn from our mistakes in the aftermath of 9/11?  What if instead of endless wars, we focused our energy elsewhere?  And what should we do from today?

This episode explores these things and more.