After 20 years as an election lawyer, Audrey Perry Martin has definitely seen the negative sides of politics. But despite her own cynicism from the things she has seen in her career, Audrey is sharing in this interview why she is encouraging Latter-day Saint women to jump into the political scene and run for office. She discusses why she created Project Elect, a non-partisan organization to educate, encourage and support Latter-day Saint women to get involved in public service. Audrey also share...
Oct 27, 2021•30 min•Season 5Ep. 35
Listen to Laura Cragun, a wife and mom of 3 young kids share about her personal challenges with mental health including depression, anxiety, eating disorders and suicidal ideation. Laura discusses how she has sought help through therapy and medication as well as through daily spiritual practices that help her feel connected to God. Laura also talks about how each of us has a hole in our heart and gives her witness of how Christ has been the missing piece to fill the hole in her own heart. Journa...
Oct 20, 2021•30 min•Season 5Ep. 34
How do you teach your child to stay on the covenant path and make and keep covenants? That was a question mother and youth leader, Sharla Goettl, heard a lot. Writing a book with help for these questions was never on Sharla’s radar but after repeatedly being compelled by the Spirit, Sharla jumped in and wrote Spiritual Resilience: Leading Our Youth to Go and Do , to add her perspective for parents who want to help their children be spiritually resilient. In this interview, Sharla shares how she ...
Oct 13, 2021•30 min•Season 5Ep. 33
Graciela Moore was raised in the Catholic church in her native Puerto Rico but stopped going to church after high school. In this interview, you will hear how Grace felt God guiding her throughout her life to find the gospel and be baptized in 2020. Of her journey on the covenant path, Grace shares, “Waiting for things to happen and to come–that’s my story.” Grace also says her journey wasn’t conventional but she knows everything she experienced had a purpose in God’s mind which she describes as...
Oct 06, 2021•31 min•Season 5Ep. 32
Surprise! I’m thrilled to be back to podcasting. This is a solo episode where I tell you how I learned that walking the covenant path with a checklist in one hand and a pen to check off “all the things” in the other hand was not going to get me where God wanted me to be. Episode Links Go HERE to sign up for my email list, learn the details about the Beyond the Checklist community and get my free video about prayer journaling....
Sep 30, 2021•23 min•Season 5Ep. 32
Natalie Reeve gained a testimony of the gospel at a young age but also experienced a time in her life that left her feeling shattered by abuse, lack of trust and an eating disorder. Natalie describes this period of her life as falling into a hole very quickly and climbing out very slowly. In the interview you will hear how Natalie relied on the Spirit to rebuild her life by turning to God to not only feel His love but also to see the divine nature within herself. She shares the miracle she saw i...
Jul 28, 2021•32 min•Season 5Ep. 31
After being married for three months, Alexis Tanner felt a prompting that she and her husband should start their family. Alexis followed the prompting but was disappointed when the pregnancy ended in miscarriage. In this interview, Alexis, who is now mom to 5 kids ages 10 to 3, shares how she developed the faith to follow the promptings she felt from God about having children. She talks about how she kept her faith in the middle of challenges and turned to God to guide her. Alexis also shares ho...
Jul 21, 2021•22 min•Season 5Ep. 30
Niki Olsen, a mental health therapist, coach wife and mother of two, grew up with no spiritual guidance or knowledge in her life. At the age of 19, Niki converted to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints but says she was mostly just going through the motions for many years after her baptism. Several years ago, Niki decided she wanted to have a closer relationship with her Heavenly Parents, Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost, so she started to dive in deeper in her study of the gospel. Alo...
Jul 14, 2021•26 min•Season 5Ep. 29
Abbie Twingstrom’s journey on the covenant path has included both darkness and light. As a young adult missionary and newlywed, Abbie felt troubled by the lack of answers she received and struggled to continue to choose to stay in the church . In this interview Abbie shares how she navigated that difficult time and ultimately came to learn how the Savior can be found in the darkness and in the light as well as in all the phases in between. Overall, Abbie expresses her faith that no matter where ...
Jul 07, 2021•28 min•Season 5Ep. 28
Elisabeth Robinson’s father died when she was a baby and she often found herself feeling like a “nobody” in the church because she would never be the bishop’s daughter. She is also half Japanese and half Brazillian and Elisabeth often felt she didn’t fit the “cookie cutter” mold of a Latter-day Saint. Fortunately, Elisabeth grew up with a strong and faithful mother as well as church leaders who helped her to see that God had a placed for her and her covenants were what made her belong in the chu...
Jun 30, 2021•21 min•Season 5Ep. 27
Have you ever thought that you don’t have any talents or wondered how your quirky gifts could possibly help someone else? If so, you’ll totally relate to my guest, Sally Dupaix. Sally grew up cooking and baking with her mom and developed a love for food. She also learned how to make friends easily with frequent moves in her childhood. But Sally never thought of these two things she loved and was good at–food and friendship–as something she could use to build God’s kingdom until a few years ago. ...
Jun 23, 2021•30 min•Season 5Ep. 26
Nicole Utley is someone who has taken gathering others and self-improvement to a whole new level. She believes gathering is a Christ-like act when you have a purpose and you plan with the needs of those attending the event in mind. She also embraces passion projects, something she does just for pure joy, as a way to improve herself and also focus on others. In the interview, you’ll hear unique and creative ways Nicole has brought other people together as well as the simple passion projects she h...
Jun 16, 2021•27 min•Season 5Ep. 25
When Alisse Coil was 16 years old, she visited the Sacred Grove in New York. Alisse was sure this visit would be the defining moment of her testimony. So, she was a little taken aback when the only answer she received that day from God was, “You already know.” In this interview, Alisse shares how that experience over 30 years ago helped her to realize that God doesn’t usually answer her prayers with periods. He answers with commas. Alisse explains how the answers with commas have given her the n...
Jun 09, 2021•33 min•Season 5Ep. 24
Anne Maxson grew up in Minnesota going to the Lutheran church. While attending graduate school in Chicago, Anne reached out to friend she had known through a church camp growing up and that friend introduced Anne to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In the interview, you’ll hear Anne’s conversion story as well as the struggles and blessings she has experienced being the only member of the church in her family. Anne talks about how she gained confidence to move forward with her dec...
Jun 03, 2021•28 min•Season 5Ep. 23
I have been feeling really weighed down by many things in my life for several months. Recently, I realized the reason I feel weighed down is because I am relying on myself instead of giving my burdens to Jesus. This week, as I have been working through some of the burdens I feel, I remembered a solo episode I did two years on the podcast called My Yoke is Easy and My Burden is Light where I shared an experience I had learning to give my burdens to the Savior. Fast forward two years and here I am...
May 28, 2021•19 min•Season 5Ep. 23
Laura LaBerteaux has struggled with postpartum depression several times in her motherhood. She especially felt the darkness of depression after her third child was born when she was also facing her husband being called as a bishop, a house fire and her husband’s cancer diagnosis. In this interview, Laura shares how Jesus Christ was there for her during the darkness in both small, everyday ways as well as in big, miraculous ways. Laura discusses how she used personal revelation to know the path t...
May 26, 2021•24 min•Season 5Ep. 22
Heidi Dunkley grew up in the same town her whole life. But that all changed on her 19th birthday when, as a freshly married couple, she and her husband moved to New York. Heidi shares about the experiences she had as she was thrust into a new life that was very different from the way she grew up. In this interview, Heidi talks about how only having her husband in a new place forced her to be with herself and open up to the Spirit. Although the move to New York from Utah was meant to be just one ...
May 19, 2021•29 min•Season 5Ep. 21
Although Trish Braunersrither has been a wife and mother for many years, she says her full-time job for most of her life has been trying to shrink her body. In this interview, Trish shares how disordered eating affected every area of her life for over 30 years. She talks about how she always felt broken in her own body and how she turned to dieting to help her feel whole. Trish discusses how she was finally able to break the cycle of dieting and turn to God for help. She shares how focusing on t...
May 12, 2021•35 min•Season 5Ep. 20
As a child, Denita Bremer attended The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints with her grandparents. She had undeniable experiences where she learned that God wanted to communicate with her. But Denita’s home life with her parents was anything but picture perfect with drug and alcohol abuse and poverty. As a teenager, Denita stepped a way from the church. In the interview she shares how this part of her journey and other experiences have shown her what she didn’t want and helped her wholehe...
May 05, 2021•42 min•Season 5Ep. 19
Karen Krammer is someone who has experienced great trials and tragedy in her life including what she calls “the four Ds”–disease, death, divorce, debt. In this interview, Karen shares how her 25 year marriage ended in divorce after her husband sexually abused their daughters. In the process, two of her sons tragically passed away. Karen was bankrupt and left to pick up the pieces. Karen discusses how she learned to forgive and look past the chains others have placed on themselves through sin in ...
Apr 28, 2021•33 min•Season 5Ep. 18
In this interview, you’ll hear Natalie Bogle say the same phrase many times, “Heavenly Father said to do this.” Whether it’s adopting, homeschooling, moving, starting a business or anything else, Natalie Bogle always finds herself saying “Yes” to God. In the interview, Natalie shares how she has learned to recognize God’s voice in her life and be intentional about following Him even when she doesn’t understand the why behind the prompting. She shares some of the practical things she does to hear...
Apr 21, 2021•26 min•Season 5Ep. 17
After growing up in the church, attending BYU and marrying in the temple, Audra Elkington found herself with serious questions about her membership in the church. At the age of 32, she walked away with the intention of never coming back. But after five years, through a series of events Audra describes as miraculous, she found herself walking back through the chapel doors. In this interview, Audra discusses her journey of coming back to the church. She shares how she stays close to the Spirit, na...
Apr 14, 2021•30 min•Season 5Ep. 16
Have you ever questioned your conversion because you haven’t had a huge, miraculous spiritual experience? If so, then you’ll totally relate to my guest, Courtney Lee. Courtney shares how she has always had a natural trust in Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. She talks about how she doesn’t feel like she’s had huge moments where she has seen and felt Them. Instead Courtney says she has seen them in small tender mercies with experiences such as miscarriages and moving. You’ll also hear how Courtne...
Apr 07, 2021•21 min•Season 5Ep. 15
Three days before Jessica Frew married Steve, he confided in her about his pornography addiction. Jessica prayed and fasted and felt peace and guidance that she should marry Steve. Even though she was sure of the answer she had received, Jessica still had trials and challenges. Eventually, Steve confided in her that he was gay and their marriage ended after infidelity. In this interview, Jessica shares how she trusted in the answers she had already received from God and moved forward boldly with...
Mar 31, 2021•34 min•Season 5Ep. 14
In this interview, you’ll hear from Noelle McBride. Noelle shares part of her journey on the covenant path which involves divorce and learning how keeping her covenants helps her truly belong to Jesus. Journal Questions Noelle shared this quote from Elder Gong, during the episode: “When we covenant all we are, we can become more than we are.” What do Elder Gong’s words mean to you? How have your covenants helped you become more? How have you seen and felt Jesus Christ knitting your heart back to...
Mar 24, 2021•30 min•Season 5Ep. 13
In this episode, I’m sharing what I’ve learned about priesthood power. One of the biggest things I’ve personally learned is that understanding priesthood power is about more than studying scriptures, reading conference talks, and attending the temple. For me, understanding priesthood power has been about asking questions and seeking personal revelation to find answers to those questions. Each of us can know in a very individual way what our Heavenly Parents want us to know about priesthood power...
Mar 24, 2021•27 min•Season 5Ep. 12
Welcome to season 5 of the Spiritually Minded Women Podcast. I am so happy to be back behind the mic! Listen to this short episode to hear what you can expect in the new season including: Interviews with women from many different backgrounds sharing how they have journeyed on the covenant path. Journal questions at the end of each episode to help you apply what you are hearing and learning on the podcast. An easy way you can share your own journey on the covenant path. Journal Questions How have...
Mar 24, 2021•11 min•Season 5Ep. 11
One of my favorite talks from the April 2020 general conference was by Sister Joy Jones. She shared about the roles of covenant-keeping women in the Restoration. Sister Jones said, “In the final analysis of women’s continuing roles in the Restoration, and for us all, what role is preeminent? I testify that it is to hear Him, to follow Him, to trust Him, and to become an extension of His love.”This season on the podcast we have talked about each of these four roles that Sister Jones called “preem...
Dec 09, 2020•14 min•Season 4Ep. 10
Can you be guided to know what your purpose is and what your personal journey on the covenant path should look like? Absolutely. Listen to hear how you can shift your thinking to see your flexible, less-defined path as a Latter-day Saint women as evidence your Heavenly Parents have confidence in you. Episode Links Get the Full Course – 10 Ways to Embrace Your Journey on the Covenant Path...
Dec 02, 2020•14 min•Season 4Ep. 9
When I first started planning episodes for this season, I knew there had to be one on repentance because sin is something every one of us will experience on our journey on the covenant path. You can’t move forward without repentance. Listen to hear the relationship between repentance and change. I share how I learned that repentance isn’t something you save up or only use for the “big stuff” (whatever that is!). Repentance is a beautiful gift from our loving Savior we can use and cherish every d...
Nov 25, 2020•12 min•Season 4Ep. 8
