“We can do things a little differently and still be okay,” says Anne Pimentel. She’s a natural—but also intentional—space-maker, devoted to the idea that one can be a “good member” of the Church without fitting the mold. In Episode 192 Anne joins Susan and Cynthia for a conversation about how she learned and has internalized this lesson for herself. She’s a Latter-day Saint woman whose desire to be an ally in all areas continues to shape the way she shows up in her ward and in the world.
Jul 23, 2024•1 hr 6 min•Season 8Ep. 192
“My faith life really begins with death,” explains Pam Heggie. “Meaning, the real, genuine experiences of my life that molded me, shaped me and taught me what love and empathy really are, began with deaths. Four (so far) to be exact. Five if you count my own.” In Episode 191, Pam joins Susan and Cynthia to discuss lessons she’s learned at the intersection of grief and faith. In what ways might being a member of our church make grieving easier...or harder? Her experiences are packed with insights...
Jul 16, 2024•1 hr 11 min•Season 8Ep. 191
Bonus Episode 190 contains all the voicemails we couldn’t squeeze into the previous episode's discussion exploring unique complexities of being a Sister missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Jul 12, 2024•20 min•Season 8Ep. 190
In Episode 189, ALSSI team member and returned missionary Katie joins Cynthia and Susan for a dive into listener voicemails about women’s experiences as sister missionaries for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. From the pressures around the decision to serve to the daily realities of mission life, there’s plenty to unpack. The rigors of mission service can pay big dividends and/or cause ongoing pain for years post-mission. Every missionary’s experience is individual—a complicated ...
Jul 09, 2024•1 hr 21 min•Season 8Ep. 189
“If you lift up a prism, depending on how you slightly turn it, the light will hit different facets, refracting and coming out in different ways. That's how I like to approach the scriptures,” explains Cynthia, “Turning them just ever so slightly to see what different meanings there could be.” In Episode 188, she turns her personal prism on the story of Jesus and the Syrophoenician woman, exploring some interpretations of the unique dialog between them. It’s a short story touching on big themes ...
Jul 02, 2024•56 min•Season 8Ep. 188
“Spiritual stretching ... makes you stronger, gives you more balance, and keeps you stable. It took me years to understand that my questions and seeking that stretch me, and are really difficult to wrestle with, are healthy and completely in line with our theology. [...] We need more stretchy saints.” Amy Watkins Jensen has plenty of hard-earned wisdom to share with those who may be experiencing challenges—even heartbreak—on their journey as Latter-day Saint women. In Episode 187, she joins Cynt...
Jun 25, 2024•1 hr•Season 8Ep. 187
“Life as a member offers relatively little social time or enjoyment,” writes Candice Wendt. “Being in the ward is mostly about passive listening and being told to follow leaders and go to the temple. [...] You’re more likely to get asked to clean our very dirty building than be asked to dinner." In episode 186, Candice joins Susan and Cynthia for a discussion of some of the ways church has changed, with more focus on things like covenants and temple attendance, and less on community. It’s a conv...
Jun 18, 2024•1 hr 7 min•Season 8Ep. 186
Rob Bell describes interacting with scripture like this: there’s the black ink (what’s written on the page), then there’s the white space around it (where we dance with what’s written). In Episode 185, Susan and Cynthia take on what Latter-day Saints commonly call the Parable of the Talents, from Matthew 25. It’s a conversation about grace out of hand, covenant relationship, and how we may have come to think about things the way we do. If you’re a fan of the #gracepeddlers, you won’t want to mis...
Jun 11, 2024•58 min•Season 8Ep. 185
Many of us make temple covenants as young adults. Are we expected to have the same perspectives and priorities at 80 that we had at 18? In a church that emphasizes concepts like “staying on the covenant path” and “enduring to the end,” it can be hard to know how to navigate when our life experiences invite us to grow in new directions. In Episode 184, Jana Spangler joins Cynthia and Susan to discuss the challenges Latter-day Saints may face as they change and mature within an inflexible paradigm...
Jun 04, 2024•1 hr•Season 8Ep. 184
We asked, you answered! Of all emotions, anger might be the least acceptable for Latter-day Saint women. Many of us are not comfortable being around it, expressing it, talking about it, or even feeling it. But when we choose silence over healthy dialogue, what’s the toll on our physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being? In Episode 183, Cynthia and Susan share listener voicemails about anger. Can we create space in our church culture for women to both experience and express this natural respo...
May 28, 2024•1 hr•Season 8Ep. 183
Does devotion always require walking uphill? What’s the difference between good-hard and bad-hard? Do some Church members see the difficulty of a thing as a measure of the righteousness it requires? Has “more suffering and sacrifice” somehow come to mean “higher and holier” in the LDS narrative? In Episode 182, Valerie Hamaker of Latter-day Struggles podcast joins Susan and Cynthia to discuss these questions and more as they unpack the notion that harder is better when it comes to living our fai...
May 21, 2024•1 hr 6 min•Season 8Ep. 182
As the centerpiece of Sunday worship and an ordinance pointing directly to Jesus Christ, the sacrament holds deep meaning for many Latter-day Saints. In Episode 181, Cynthia and Susan turn their grace-peddling to a conversation about the sacrament. What matters more: worthiness, or willingness? When did this simple remembrance of Jesus become about “renewing our baptismal covenant,” and what does that mean? How might the evolution of personal faith impact the way one thinks about and engages wit...
May 14, 2024•1 hr 10 min•Season 8Ep. 181
Mary once put a vinyl motto above her kitchen door that read, “That’s What We Do!” It was a 4-word description of her life as a Latter-day Saint woman. For many years, she and her husband were “the couple who could get it done” at church. She describes looking back with grace for that younger self: “She was doing the best she could with what she knew. But she was exhausted and her children and family structure suffered. More importantly—she suffered.” Then Mary changed. In Episode 180, she joins...
May 07, 2024•1 hr 3 min•Season 8Ep. 180
What is spirituality? Am I doing it right? What does it look or feel like? Who decides? Episode 179 rounds out the intro of our theme with an exploration of James Finley’s idea: “The greatest teacher of God’s presence in our life is our life.” Cynthia and Susan discuss the difference between communication and communion, finding points of connection in our daily experiences, and identifying and/or choosing personal spiritual practices for ourselves.
Apr 30, 2024•1 hr 6 min•Season 8Ep. 179
Like flowers in the cracks of a sidewalk, women’s spirituality has had to work its way around and through thousands of years of religious beliefs and practices established and maintained by and for men. “I have stopped trying to make my life look spiritually acceptable to men. Men have very specific criteria for what spirituality is, based on the reality that men have been the only ones writing religious rites and scripture,” explains Brittney Hartley. Her words are deeply resonant for many Latt...
Apr 23, 2024•1 hr 6 min•Season 8Ep. 178
“There is room to honor and hold space for the precious and the meaningful even as we evolve in our beliefs, our homes, and our lives. It’s okay to bring some things with you.” These wise words from writer Sarah Bessey help shape the conversation of this Season 8 opener. Everyone who’s moved knows it can be hard to decide what to toss and what to keep. Latter-day Saint women may find it challenging to honor the evolution of our personal faith within the church brand we’ve known and loved. It's o...
Apr 16, 2024•1 hr 13 min•Season 8Ep. 177
In this short bonus episode, Susan and Cynthia look ahead to the upcoming season of podcast conversations. Season 8 will center on Latter-day Saint women digging and drawing from our individual spiritual wells. Hope you’ll join us!
Apr 09, 2024•21 min•Season 7Ep. 176
In this bonus episode, Cynthia and Susan revisit part of an earlier discussion exploring the idea of Latter-day Saint women’s complicity in our own marginalization. Recent events have once again highlighted ways women may be the biggest obstacle to achieving greater parity of roles within the organization. It’s still an itchy topic with no easy answers. This conversation is a call for women to support other women as a necessary first step to change. The underlying question remains: if we can’t a...
Apr 02, 2024•1 hr 5 min•Season 8Ep. 175
On March 17, 2024 the Church broadcast a Worldwide Relief Society Devotional featuring remarks from the RS General Presidency and President Nelson. In this bonus episode, Cynthia and Susan discuss some of the messages delivered and the social media outpouring from Latter-day Saint women in response.
Mar 19, 2024•54 min•Season 7Ep. 174
Some topics come up in these podcast conversations again and again, and that gets our attention. They frustrate us but also feel like obvious opportunities: areas where the church we love could take a step forward, and even small changes might make a big difference. In Episode 173, Cynthia and Susan call out a few of their frustrations and imagine possible responses that would feel like real progress.
Jan 30, 2024•1 hr 4 min•Season 7Ep. 173
Talk a lot about guilt and shame and eventually, you'll probably crave a hefty dose of grace! The conversation in Episode 172 is just that. Cynthia and Susan focus on challenges Latter-day Saints might have decoupling works and grace. Is it possible accepting grace actually requires more faith than depending on our own good works? How might pivoting toward grace propel us forward? Good news spoiler: We don’t have to save ourselves!
Jan 23, 2024•1 hr•Season 7Ep. 172
In Episode 171, Susan and Cynthia continue their discussion with therapist C.A. Larson about guilt and shame. Where are they coming from? What are some specific ways these emotions might affect Latter-day Saint women, and how can we recognize and work through them in healthy ways?
Jan 16, 2024•52 min•Season 7Ep. 171
“The most liberating process is to realize that no one’s expectations for my life matter but my own,” says therapist C.A. Larson. In Episode 170, she joins Cynthia and Susan for the first part of a discussion about guilt and shame. What’s the difference between these two emotions? How do they help or hinder our growth and progress? And what tools can we use to manage them in healthy ways, and move toward greater self-acceptance?
Jan 09, 2024•1 hr 1 min•Season 7Ep. 170
“My religious life is beyond the confines of my ward or stake,” says Lisa Torcasso Downing, a Latter-day Saint woman for whom using her voice is an integral part of her faith life. She describes her long-running blog, Life Outside the Book of Mormon Belt: "That's where I’ve been saying it!” In Episode 169, she joins Susan and Cynthia for a rich conversation about everything from her unique conversion story to some of the foundational ideas that shaped her Mormonism to the ups and downs of learni...
Jan 02, 2024•1 hr 4 min•Season 7Ep. 169
Some questions need to be revisited often so we don’t lose sight of the fact that no satisfactory answer has been given. In Episode 91, Cynthia asked, “If history shows that patriarchy is bad for women, and data shows that girls and women fare better when they can see themselves at every level of leadership in our churches, schools, and societies…why do LDS women and men continue to cling to old ideas that deny history and data?” Unfortunately, her question stands, as little if any progress has ...
Dec 26, 2023•1 hr 25 min•Season 7Ep. 168
Sometimes it’s good to just have fun! Episode 167 is a peek behind the curtain at ALSSI. Cynthia and Susan turn on the mics for an unscripted chat about everything from podcaster-pet-peeves to “spilled tea” to Christmas traditions. It’s the kind of conversation that’s probably good to publish now and then just to remind ourselves and everyone else: we’re two average LDS women trying to keep it together and figuring stuff out as we go.
Dec 19, 2023•55 min•Season 7Ep. 167
Lyric Montgomery Kinard uses the word expansion to describe her faith journey because, as she says, “it feels like spirituality has burst my Mormon box wide-open.” In Episode 166, she joins Susan and Cynthia to talk about her experiences as a Latter-day Saint. It’s another glimpse into the life of a woman who’s given herself permission to walk the path in her own way, honest about what fills her and what doesn’t, and willing to speak her truth.
Dec 12, 2023•1 hr 5 min•Season 7Ep. 166
We asked, you answered! In Bonus Episode 165, women from the ALSSI community share personal experiences and thoughts about Patriarchal Blessings.
Dec 08, 2023•26 min•Season 7Ep. 165
When it comes to Patriarchal Blessings, there are as many experiences as there are members who give and receive them. In Episode 164, Cynthia and Susan are joined by Blakelee Ellis for a discussion about some of the many ways these highly anticipated blessings can be complicated for Latter-day Saint women. From the experience itself to the advice given or promises made, there can be plenty to unpack at the time the words are spoken, but also as we continue to revisit the transcript throughout ou...
Dec 05, 2023•59 min•Season 7Ep. 164
The image of the compass feels central to Autumn McAlpin’s book, But Jesus: A Conversation. Autumn explains, “Right now, my spiritual practice is centered on this—I read pure religion as found in the gospels in the New Testament, then try my best to keep up…” In Episode 163, she joins Cynthia and Susan to talk about the journey behind the book, and how her experiences as a mother and Latter-day Saint LGBTQ+ ally continue to shape her commitment to following Jesus and focusing on love.
Nov 28, 2023•1 hr 7 min•Season 7Ep. 163
