For All The Saints With Ben Hancock

Daryl Watson recently completed 3 years leading the Belgium/Netherlands Mission of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints with his wife.  I wanted to speak to Daryl about how he reflects on the experience of leading the mission and the logistics and practicalities of what it's actually like to serve in that calling. Some highlights from this episode include how missionary work has ch...

James Perry is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' Area History Manager for Northern Europe, he was a historian and editor on previous volumes of 'Saints' - a narrative history of the Church. He was the general editor of the fourth and final volume of 'Saints.' I wanted to speak to James about his experience joining the Church as a young adult and becoming ena...

I travelled to London to meet with a group of Latter-day Saints from all different walks of life to see what they thought of the most recent General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.. I do this every 6 months, and this is the third time, as I love to see what insights others had from watching, what hearing from living Prophets and Apostles means to people and how the C...

Austin Fife is the author of the Light and Truth Letter, which exposes the tactics of manipulation used by people who seek to destroy the faith of members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I wanted to speak to Austin about his powerful faith journey culminating in the Light and Truth Letter, but also to help us all (including me) become better equipped to answer questions that ma...

Dan Belnap is a Professor of Ancient Scripture at Brigham Young University. One of the topics he writes on extensively is ritual worship. I wanted to speak to Dan about why we worship in rituals and with symbolic clothing, as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints rituals and symbols are central mediums for how I express and live my faith. Some highlights from this episode inc...

Dr Rosalind W Picard is an American scholar and inventor who is Professor of Media Arts and Sciences at MIT, founder and director of the Affective Computing Research Group at the MIT Media Lab, and co-founder of the startups Affectiva and Empatica. She has received many recognitions for her research and inventions. I wanted to speak to Dr Picard about her conversion from self-professed proud athei...

Mama Sosa is a Latter-day Saint influencer who fearlessly shares her powerful faith story and gospel insights on social media. I've wanted to speak to Sosa for a while on the podcast, she was on our Harrison Butker roundtable and I'm a big fan of her content on social media, so many things she has shared have inspired me to be more bold in sharing the Gospel online. This was a timely opp...

Eric Huntsman is the Academic Director of Brigham Young University's Jerusalem Center and wrote, among other books, the excellent book 'Becoming the Beloved Disciple: Coming Unto Christ Through the Gospel of John.' I wanted to speak to Eric about why John was so beloved and the importance of John's writings in the New Testament specifically.  Some highlights from this episode i...

Garrett Batty is a beloved Latter-day Saint movie director who has created classics like The Saratov Approach and Freetown. I wanted to speak to Garrett about his newest movie - Faith of Angels, how it came to be and what his new film shows about the resurgence of Christian, feel-good movies of faith. Some highlights from this episode include why Garrett chose this true story to make a film on, wh...

Jared Halverson is an associate professor of Ancient Scripture, working at BYU after 24 years of serving in the Church Educational System. Jared also hosts the popular YouTube channel Unshaken  I wanted to speak to Jared to learn more about how to become a great student and teacher of the scriptures. I've always been so impressed and inspired by the talented teachers in the Church, and Jared...

Dr Janiece Johnson specialises in American religious history—specifically Mormon history, gender, and the prosecution for the Mountain Meadows Massacre. Janiece worked on Richard E. Turley Jr.'s 'Massacre at Mountain Meadows' book and was the general editor of the recently published Mountain Meadows Massacre: Collected Legal Papers. As a magnificent culmination of her work on the ma...

Joe Wilson is a BBC Presenter who hosts the longest-running faith and ethics broadcast on the network which goes out every Sunday on BBC Radio Lancashire.  This is the 50th episode of For All The Saints - I want to take a moment to thank you all for your ongoing support, I love what I do and am grateful for the opportunity to use my professional expertise to share faith-refreshing conversations. I...

Jared Ludlow wrote the book 'Exploring the Apocrypha From a Latter-day Saint Perspective' and has been teaching in the Ancient Scripture Department at BYU since 2006. Previous to that, he spent six years teaching Religion and History at BYU Hawaii, and served the last two years as Chair of the History Department. I wanted to speak to Jared Ludlow to see what Latter-day Saints can learn a...

Andrew Olsen and Jolene Allphin co-wrote 'Follow Me to Zion: Stories from the Willie Handcart Pioneers'. Respectively, they wrote further books about these pioneers, in Andrew's book he says, 'although this story is one of the most frequently told of all Mormon pioneer accounts, it is also among the least understood.'  I wanted to speak to both of them about why they felt...

Devan Jensen is the executive editor and social media manager at the BYU Religious Studies Center. He and Rosalind Meno Ram are editors of Battlefields to Temple Grounds: Latter-day Saints in Micronesia and Guam.  I wanted to speak to Devan about the establishment of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Micronesia and Guam, considering its unique history during wartime and the geogra...

Eric Robertson is the host of the 'Men Who Love God' podcast, a billboard charting producer, and the co-owner and CEO of Pleasant Pictures Music Club.  I wanted to speak to Eric to see what he's learned from interviewing countless men who love God - what are their strengths, challenges, experiences? Some highlights from this episode include the keys to becoming a powerful spiritual...

Dr. Jason R. Combs is an associate professor of Ancient Scripture and affiliate faculty of Ancient Near Eastern Studies at Brigham Young University. He also edited the book 'Ancient Christians: An Introduction for Latter-Day Saints.' I wanted to speak to Jason as I am often saddened that I gloss over the 1500+ year period of what we call the Great Apostasy, I find it quite a disparaging...

Dr Andrew C Skinner is the former Dean of Religious Education at Brigham Young University. I wanted to speak to Dr Skinner about one of the most powerful - and sometimes uncomfortable - doctrines of the Restored Gospel: Theosis, Human Divinization, or simply - becoming like God.  Some highlights from this episode include what other faiths believe, the King Follett discourse, and why this doctrine...

Kurt Francom is the Host & Executive Director of Leading Saints.  I wanted to speak to Kurt about his hope-inspiring and uplifting new book, 'Is God Disappointed In Me: Removing Shame From a Gospel of Grace'.  Some highlights from this episode include why Kurt decided to write this as a leadership expert, was King David forgiven for his awful sins, and is there any utility in shame?...

Dr Sy Garte is a retired biochemist and has been a professor at New York University, University of Pittsburgh, and Rutgers University. I wanted to speak to Sy about his incredible conversion from a militant atheist to a lay leader of a church. Sy's story is powerful, I feel emotional whenever I hear it - but his insights are incredibly valuable about the intersection of faith and science too....

Josh Coates is the Executive Director of the B.H Roberts Foundation which supports education and research related to the culture, doctrine, and history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.   I wanted to speak to Josh as the Foundation recently released results of a survey they conducted with thousands of current and former members of the church. There were some really interesting in...

*Apologies for technical difficulties around 3 minutes in* Harrison Butker is a well-known figure in the American Football world. He is the Kicker for the Superbowl Champions Kansas City Chiefs, coached by Latter-day Saint Andy Reid. Harrison recently came under scrutiny for a graduation speech he gave at Benedictine College, a Catholic college. I wanted to get together with some of the best Latte...

This faith-refreshing conversation is all about spotlighting and learning from an incredible man whose faith has helped him build an impressive career.  Jason Smyth MBE is an Irish retired sprint runner. He competes in the T13 disability sport classification as he is legally blind, with his central vision being affected by Stargardt's disease; he also competes in elite non-Paralympic competit...

This faith-refreshing conversation For All The Saints podcast is all about the Church in Mongolia. Felipe & Petra Chou work at BYU Hawaii and co-authored Voice of the Saints in Mongolia, the first comprehensive history of the Church in Mongolia.  I wanted to speak to Felipe & Petra about the unique history of the Church there and the incredible people who were the pioneers there. You will...

This faith-refreshing conversation on the For All The Saints podcast is all about the restoration of the Aaronic Priestood.  Steven J. Lund currently serves as the Young Men General President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he has served in this role since 2020.  I wanted to speak to President Lund on the week that commemorates the restoration of the Aaronic Priesthood (May 15,...