Leading Saints Podcast

Heather Mecham was born and raised in Indiana. Moved to Utah about 20 years ago and currently lives in West Jordan, Utah. She has two daughters ages 14 and 17. Until recently she had been serving as the Young Womens President in her ward until her husband was called as the Bishop. Heather first reached out to Kurt after his interview with @ldsEQpres recorded in May 2014 to give positive feedback s...

Brian Crane is the creator of Pickles Comic Strip (see more information below about Brian and Pickles), which is the fullfilment of a childhood dream. He is a life-long member of the Church who was born in Twin Falls, Idaho and raised in the San Francisco Bay area. Brian served in the Uruguay Paraguay mission (the same mission as Steven Shallenberger whose interview you can listen to here). He att...

Steven R. Shallenberger is the father of six grown children (five boys, one girl) and lives in Provo, Utah. His journey started in Vallejo, California where he learned about setting goals (he counted down to the time he could serve a mission--2,153 days). It is during this count-down that he was exposed to different economic conditions through various jobs he had and he began to wonder “what makes...

A story about unity in councils and meetings. Listen to how Joseph F. Smith urges B. H. Roberts to change his perspective about a church policy regarding politics.

Oswaldo Tello is originally from Lima, Peru where he was baptized at the age of 18. While serving a mission a little more than a year after his baptism in the Peru Mission his family slowly began to join the church. After his mission he started his family and career in the banking industry. In 1992 he was called for the first time as a bishop and served until a job change came which moved he and h...

This is an episode of random thoughts, I'd love to hear your random thoughts as well. My first thought is regarding the discussion of disciplinary councils. Have you participated in such councils? Has your experience been good? Bad? Spiritual? I shared some thoughts on the subject over at This Week in Mormons in my article titled Mormon Disciplinary Councils Aren't About Sin.  Please give the arti...

Mark Francis is the director of LDS-BSA Relations, which is a branch of the Boy Scouts of America that strives to maintain a positive and helpful relationship with the LDS church. In this interview we discuss: A brief history of relationship between The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the Boy Scouts of America. How LDS Scout troops differ from non-LDS Scout troops The Green Scoutin...

Are you the same Bishop/President/Counselor/Teacher today as you were on week two of your calling? As you look back to the rookie you, are there ideas and a spark that made your new calling something exciting and your service such that benefited those you were called to serve? Has that changed if you’ve been in your calling for a while? If so, Liz Wiseman’s book Rookie Smarts: Why Learning Beats K...

Have you ever been frustrated with trying to collect home teaching and visiting teaching information? Brad Oldham is a software developer and winner of the 2008 LDS Tech Award from Irvine, CA. In 2006 his Stake President challenged his Elder’s Quorum to report their home teaching 3 times per month. In response to that challenge Brad, serving in an elder's quorum presidency at the time, began worki...

I wasn't planning on posting this episode until I was on the treadmill this morning (burning off the various calories that I will be eating over the next 24 hours). As I ran I was watching a BYUtv movie titled Silent Night. I strongly recommend you watch this. It's a great Christmas movie and one that teaches great church leadership principles. It's also free to watch on BYUtv.org. After watching...

This story was shared by Elder Carl B. Cook in the October 2011 General Conference. At the end of a particularly tiring day toward the end of my first week as a General Authority, my briefcase was overloaded and my mind was preoccupied with the question “How can I possibly do this?” I left the office of the Seventy and entered the elevator of the Church Administration Building. As the elevator des...

Jon Clark (a.k.a. Honest Jon....a.k.a. J.D. Clark) is from Knoxville, TN. He has served as an executive secretary, bishopric counselor, and is currently serving in his ward's Young Men's Presidency. He works full-time creating music for television shows. In his part-time he is making members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint laugh through his Honest Jon comics. Check out his websit...

The following quote and story come from President Packer's address entitled "I Say Unto You, Be One" at a BYU devotional back in February of 1991. He touches on priceless principles of unity in a council when seeking the Lord direction and revelation. In recent years, the board of education of the Church and the board of trustees for Church colleges and universities has been the First Presidency,...

"Someone is singing flat! It's one of the tenors.", said Mr. Christmas (no relation to the man in the North Pole, although they shared the same physique). This was high school junior choir back in 1998. I had joined the choir under the encouragement of my sister who promised me it would be fun. I had no background in singing nor did I really want to sing. But here I was sitting among the tenors be...

Jessica Mortensen and her family live in Meridian, Idaho just west of Boise. She is married and has 4 children between the ages of 13 and 7. Jessica has been serving as the Primary President for the past 2 years in her ward that has about 80 primary children. Her previous callings include, among others, Wolf Den Leader, Ma for Trek, Counselor and Secretary in Primary. In this conversation Jessica...

Justin Ropelato is a father of three living in Roy, UT. He grew up in Hooper, UT and works for his family business. His grandmother, an Italian immigrant, was the first member of the church in his family, starting the faith-filled legacy he enjoys now. Currently serving as Second Counselor in the Bishopric, Justin has previously served in various roles in the Elders Quorum Presidency including Pre...

President Boyd K. Packer "The Power of The Priesthood" President Joseph F. Smith made this statement about the priesthood in the home: “In the home the presiding authority is always vested in the father, and in all home affairs and family matters there is no other authority paramount. To illustrate this principle, a single incident will perhaps suffice. It sometimes happens that the elders are cal...

Tithing Settlement can be a big feat to take on during the business holiday season of the year. We gathered a handful of experienced bishops together to discuss how they have found success with tithing settlement. It turned into an interesting discussion where many ideas were shared that will be very valuable to all bishopric […]

Sunny Morton and her family live east of Cleveland on the shores of Lake Erie near the Canadian border. She was raised in the Chicago area and grew up as the only sister of 5 brothers, which she says prepared her well to work within a ward council setting. When she was 24 she served as a missionary in the California Arcadia Spanish Speaking Mission. After returning home she married and began a fam...

Elder F. Burton Howard "Commitment" April 1996 General Conference Our justifications are many. We say we will do it later. We have something more important to do right now. We don’t feel well or we don’t feel qualified or we don’t want to be fanatical about it. When I think of those who want to postpone performance until another time, I remember a question someone once asked at a stake conference....

Chris Staggs is a father of four boys who lives in Overland Park, Kansas (suburb of Kansas City) and works in marketing for a multi-national corporation.  He grew up in western Kansas and, through a friends courageous question was led to the gospel.  He was baptized after high school, weeks before starting college at the University of Kansas, where he met his wife. He was recently released as bish...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLaEW0X-_rA&feature=youtu.be The Consequence Stick is a visual aid made out of solid wood. The lettering and design is lazer cut to precision. I keep my own consequence stick on my bishop's desk. It has become a powerful tool in teaching the atonement. Ideas and Examples of How to Use the Consequence Stick The Consequence Stick isn't just a good bishop's tool, it is...

Have you been in a fast and testimony meeting with long drawn out silence? Most members of the church are used to this and don't necessarily find the moment "awkward". However, If you are a leader, those minutes feel like hours. All these people that have come seeking a spiritual meeting and now they sit in silence. In contrast, there are testimony meetings when the speakers line up and time runs...

Mary Wilson and her husband live in Puyallup, Washington outside of Seattle. They are the parents of four children and five grandchildren. She is a convert to the church and was baptized shortly after marrying her husband. Education is very important in their lives. Both she and her husband have earned advanced degrees that includes her PhD from the University of Colorado in Leadership Research an...

Greg Memmot is a 17 year-old priest from Draper, Utah. In addition to earning his Eagle Scout Award, he achieved the amazing accomplishment of earning all 138 merit badges. In this interview with Greg and his father Lester, Greg touches on how youth leaders in the ward and his parents supported him in his effort to tackle this feat. Greg shares how the effort has strengthened his testimony of the...