Leading Saints Podcast

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...

In this episode of How I Lead, I had the pleasure of interviewing Carola Strauss, a Relief Society president serving in Lincoln, Nebraska. She is a German immigrant with an inspiring story of leadership. During the interview she shared stories from her life that illustrated great leadership principles. I didn't expect such lessons to come from the interview, but I am happy they did. Even though Si...

This is a powerful guest post by a new author (who will remain nameless). There are fantastic leadership lessons to be learned--focused on ministering to the one. Enter Anonymous Guest Author... We are called to lead a stake, ward, auxiliary, quorum or group.  Leading the many is not the way of the church.  Though it is absolutely necessary, ultimately our challenge and calling is to minister to t...

I originally found this story in the book Return: Four Phases of Our Mortal Journey Home by Elder Robert D. Hales (p. 89). It can also be found in the 2002 February issue of the Ensign.   Sometimes we feel that answers to our prayers and our pleading for guidance and direction should be given through dramatic manifestations, such as a voice from heaven or a visitation by an angel or a heavenly hos...

In this episode of How I Lead we interview Brad Lammi--a ward mission leader, former elder's quorum president. The ward mission can be as daunting as any other leadership assignment, especially in this time of the church when we are encouraged to "hasten the work" and make missionary work one of the primary focuses of a ward. Brad has a unique approach to involving the auxiliaries of the ward and...

Brad Wilcox is a well-known LDS author, Brigham Young University professor. He has served as bishop, mission president, and a member of a stake presidency. One of his greatest contributions to the Kingdom of God is putting the doctrine of GRACE into an understandable and applicable format. His books The Continuous Atonement and The Continuous Conversion are life changing to all that read them. 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, and currently serves as the executive secretary to his bishop.

Does the role of a leader end with your official release? No. Leaders spend years developing friendships with individuals and inspiring them to become more. You are still their shepherd after your release and sometimes it requires you to urge them back to the flock many years after. President Monson spoke of this principle in April Conference 1990: The desire to help another, the quest for the los...

Nathan Waldron is an elder's quorum president from Roy, Utah. He has a bachelors degree in Computer Information Systems, an MBA, and pursing a graduate degree in banking work as an analyst for Zions Bancorporation. He served his mission in Madrid Spain (Did I mention his wife and 3 kids?). I recently interviewed Nathan during the How I Lead segment on the LeadingLDS podcast (listen HERE).  Enter N...

We all know President Thomas S. Monson cared deeply for the widows of his ward when he served as bishop. There were many, and he continued to show them kindness throughout all their lives. This Christ-like love seems to come easy for President Monson; however, he also learned how to love from great men that came before him. In this segment of Leader to Leader we hear President Monson in 1980 (The...

In April conference of 2009 Elder David A. Bednar shared an experience he had when he was called as a stake president. He talked with a friend who had already served as a stake president. What he learned changed his focus and ministry as a stake president. "Strive to make temple preparation the center of all we did..." Shortly after I was called to serve as a stake president in 1987, I talked with...