Leading Saints Podcast

Wayne Brockbank was a mission president in the Nigeria Uyo and the Ghana Accra missions from 2006-2009. He has lived and worked as a consultant and professor in Abu Dhabi for the past 7 years and experiences the unique culture of the LDS church in a Muslim country. He was born in Salt Lake City and grew up in Petaluma, California. As a young man, Wayne along with his wife served missions in the So...

I live in a very transient ward. Some month we get up to 30 new members moving in and roughly the same amount moving out; most of these we never see in church. It's the nature of our ward and it has its pros and cons. This results in the fact that we have a significant number of members on our rolls that we don't know. They are just a name with few facts. About a year ago I went through the ward r...

Today we head down to Friendswood, Texas to visit with Beth Young. Prior to becoming a Texan Sister Young was raised in Arizona in a family without the blessings of the Gospel. In this episode Beth shares what it was like to be raised in a home without the restored gospel by a father and mother who loved her but struggled with alcoholism. Sister Young was introduced to the Gospel in high school wh...

Jason Lyle Black is an award-winning concert pianist, composer and stage performer from Salt Lake City. He is also know as “The Backwards Piano Man,” who’s music videos have over 30 million views. In this interview Jason tells the story of how he went from an EFY performer to performing on the Ellen Show. He gives great advise to parents on how to support your musically-inclined child as well as h...

Greg McKeown has dedicated his career to discovering why some people break through to the next level—and others don’t. He has also dedicated himself to the gospel of Jesus Christ and currently serves as a bishop in Menlo Park, California. From Greg's online bio: "He has authored a remarkable book which was an instant New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller, Essentialism: The Disciplined...

David Terry is a former Bishop and Stake President in Washington State. David and his wife answered an advertisement in a newspaper to teach English in China. After this experience, they were able to serve in the temple presidency in the Kiev Ukraine Temple. This interview follows the life and service of David Terry, in and out of the church. He shares stories of successful missionary work and tou...

Jerry Smith is the author of Schooling the Prophet: How the Book of Mormon Influenced Joseph Smith and the Early Restoration. He is originally from Salt Lake City and served his mission in the Boston Massachusettes area and later returned there to continue his college education. He now teaches in the School of Management at Boston College and also teaches LDS institute classes. He has served as bi...

Geoff Thatcher grew up in Farmington, Utah in an LDS home. He is a descendant of the apostle, Moses Thatcher. He served his mission in the Kentucky Louisville Mission. He graduated from BYU in Journalism and now lives in Cincinnati, Ohio where he works with large corporations to help them create attractions and museums to advertise their brands. Geoff Thatcher's calling involves working with all s...

When someone dies in a local ward many families turn to the bishop and or Relief Society president for direction and organization. In this episode I interview Greg Ballard, who is a former bishop and has had 20+ years of experience as a funeral director in Salt Lake City, Utah. We discuss some best practices of conducting and facilitating funerals.

In this episode I interview Scott Newman who has had over 25 years of leadership experience in Corporate American and now shares of that experience by teaching business courses at LDS Business College. One class inparticular that he teaches is called Leadership for Life where he focuses on 5 pillars of leadership. We take time to discuss some of these principles and how they relate to leadership i...

Thanks Bishop, but now what? As a newly called bishop in the inner city of Salt Lake, there were a lot of things I didn’t know, but this was one of the questions that worried me the most. I felt that if I gave a member a Bishop’s Order for Commodities (food and supplies, clothing, household goods or an authorization for services) that I should be able to let them know what happens when they go to...

In this episode I am pleased to introduce you to the voice of LeadingLDS Italia, Marco Ferrini. Marco is a bishop in Florence, Italy and got turned on to the LeadingLDS podcast last year by another bishop who recommended it to him. He loved the resource so much that he contacted me about doing a similar podcast in Italian. I am excited to extend the LeadingLDS brand over to Italy and continue the...

Blake Dalton is a full-time teacher from West Valley City, Utah. He served a full-time mission in Eugene, Oregon. He has served as an elder’s quorum president, a high councilman, executive secretary, and currently serves as the bishop of his ward. Also, be sure to listen to Blake's How I Lead interview. Enter Blake… In April and May of 2016, Freakanomics Radio did a series of episodes on self-impr...

Christine Shaw is no doubt an individual on a mission of service. Though she has completed a formal mission with her late husband in Malaysia, she has been on a mission all her life. In this episode she tells of her experience as a Relief Society president and Primary president in a branch that was started with the help of herself and her husband. She tells interesting stories of helping invite Au...

One of my favorite gospel stories is about the father who brings his possessed son unto the Savior to be healed (Mark 9). After pleading with the Savior's disciples "that they should cast him out; and they could not," the Savior quickly rebuked His disciples. He then turns to the father and says, "If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth." The father's response has lead...

Chris Kittle lives in Leesville, Louisiana and works as an oral maxillofacial surgeon (a really awesome dentist). He has been bishop for 2+ years for a military ward. In this episode he shares with us his Catholic background, joining the LDS Church at 19 and then serving a mission in Brazil at the age of 22. Bishop Kittle's 5 Leadership Principles Be Flexible Use Your Counselors Communication, Com...

Warwick & Samantha Allen live on the east coast of Australia in beautiful city of Brisbane. Warwick is currently serving as the bishop or his ward and his wife Samantha is a great support and has many years of leadership service herself. In this episode we learn about their unique background of gaining a strong testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ while dealing with growing up in a home impacte...

From time to time church leaders will counsel with someone in their flock that has concerns and confusion related to how science relates to the Book of Mormon; more specifically how DNA relates to the people talked about in the Book of Mormon. It would be beneficial for all leaders to listen to this podcast interview and also review the links below. This will help leaders to have more confidence w...

We have learned by sad experience that it is the nature and disposition of almost all men, as soon as they get a little authority, as they suppose, they will immediately begin to exercise unrighteous dominion. —Joseph Smith, D&C 121:39 In the history of the world, we're hard-pressed to find more George Washington's. That's part of why he's so revered and even deified. He could have taken a lot mor...

This was a fun interview! I had the chance to chat with Kalee and Neal Mortensen, both Arizona natives, who have been living in São Paulo, Brazil for the last 2 years. They have had a unique experience as newly weds in a foreign country while also attending a familiar church. Neal, who served his mission in Brazil, has served as ward clerk and is currently in the bishopric. Kalee is the Young Wome...

Brigham Rupp is a full-time seminary teacher in Gilbert, Arizona. He’s served as elders quorum counselor, executive secretary, stake Sunday School, and currently serves as bishop. He served a mission in Chicago, Illinois and share many of his scriptural thoughts at The Silver Grey. Also be sure to listen to Brigham's How I Lead interview.

A few years ago a close friend was over at my house visiting with my wife (we will call her Ashley). As I entered the room Ashley said she wanted to tell us about a conversation she had with one of her longtime friends. Ashley's friend called the day before to let her know she experiences same-sex attraction. They had a good talk about the gospel and what this means for her spiritual journey going...

Greg Trimble is a very popular blogger that produces great content around LDS culture (see gregtrimble.com). Part of that content includes leadership articles, teaching articles, and some inspiring words for those serving full-time missions. I had the opportunity to interview him for the LeadingLDS podcast about leadership and what inspires him to write about leadership. It turned out to be a grea...

Adult leaders probably feel pretty hip now that they have their own Facebook account. Sorry to tell you this, but that was totally last decade! Facebook has a problem, and they know it. The youth are bored with Facebook and many don't even bother to check their feed regularly. Apps like Snapchat provide a more dynamic experience that appeals to the youth. So if you only have a Facebook account to...

Like any Mormon boy who was raised going to a church with an indoor gymnasium, I love playing basketball. It was one of the focuses of my teenage years and it taught me many life lessons. One of the great things about basketball is you can learn so much about the character and personality of individuals that are on the court. A manager would have an easier decision about whom to hire by watching t...