This episode focuses on the recent sister missionary age change from 19 to 18. I actually really love this for a number of reasons. I talk about those, and I also highlight results from a study I led several years ago about the leadership development gained by women serving full-time missions for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint. Listen in!

UWLP Mission Study: The Leadership Development Gained by Women Serving Full-Time Missions

In September of 2025, the Utah Foundation – a partnerorganization that I have respected for years – published a report titled, “Households and Heritages: How Family Health Hooks into Social Capital.” The report begins with a statement that aligns with Latter-day Saint beliefs: “Family is the basic building block of society and a core component of social capital. Stable families provide ways for children to socialize and develop emotionally and intrinsically. The larger community benefits from this stability, especially when family connections are strong.” This report provides some results that are a little surprising in terms of Utah's ranking in reading to your children, screentime, eating dinner together, and overall time spent with the family.

RESOURCES: https://www.utahfoundation.org/reports/households-and-heritages-how-family-health-hooks-into-social-capital-index-metrics/

Dr. Chelom Leavitt is an amazing person with a fascinating background, from attending law school at BYU to later earning a Ph.D. in Human Development and Family Studies from Penn State. She now works as an associate professor at BYU where she studies healthy sexuality in committed relationships, including sexuality and mindfulness, and how women experience and contribute to sex differently than men. Sounds interesting? Well, I recorded this a year or two ago and felt it was a good time to re-release it again. You won't hear this type of conversation in the Church often, but it is so important! Listen in.

A month ago, the Salt Lake Tribune published apiece I wrote that they titled “Voices: In a place like Utah, ‘moral credits’ can’t make up for how we treat women.” The subtitle was “Maybe some of the conditions that create women’s conditions are unconscious — but they could beheightened in religious cultures.” In this episode, I read this for you as it is an interesting concept to think about. I do think it is broader than the title that the Tribune provided, so, I’ve titled this podcast differently as you'll see. Listen in!

RESOURCES:
https://www.sltrib.com/opinion/commentary/2025/09/26/voices-moral-credits-cant-make-up/

In this episode, I wrestle with the topic of people leaving the church for a variety of reasons and how I've evolved in my thinking about it. I also talk about why I choose to stay, and the "wrestle" many of us have with our minds and hearts in this space. This includes a conscious decision to make continuous efforts to keep our heart soft. I hope it is helpful for those who want to do the same.

Last week on this podcast I talked about what Elder Renlund said about the Church needing to do better for women, and I argued for a policy change and for all of us to believe women, particularly when bad things have or are happening. I also mentioned some research, so I want to focus this episode on telling you about this research. I published pieces of this in a Forbes article in February this year, and I’ll change the words to focus on our situation.
This research has helped me understand why men tend to support men even when those men perpetrate abuse of some kind. And, unfortunately, some women fall into that category too. So why do people support perpetrators? This research was focused on sexual misconduct allegations in the workplace, but its applications are beyond. I know I've been focusing a lot on abuse, but it feels right. I want you to be empowered to act as you are armed with the research! RESOURCE:

https://www.forbes.com/councils/forbescoachescouncil/2025/02/25/why-people-support-perpetrators-during-sexual-misconduct-allegations/

In March of 2025, an article in the Salt Lake Tribunesaid this: Speaking at a women’s conference this month in Arcadia, California, apostle Dale Renlund tackled head-on a question about the church’s lack of gender equality and representation. He observed that church leaders "haven't done as good a job as I think we can" to address existing imbalances "within the bounds that God has set." Then he said "So, we're going to do better. " I talk about that and suggest a policy change that could be incredibly powerful in the space of helping women. I also share some tips from the "Start by Believing" campaign. Listen in!

RESOURCE: https://startbybelieving.org/

In this special episode, I'm joined by Dr. Jenet Jacob Erickson who is a fellow of the Wheatley Institute and a professor in the School of Family Life at Brigham Young University. She is also a faculty member in the Department of Church History and Doctrine too. She and I discuss some new research on women’s wellbeing. It explored marital status and how itimpacts happiness, enjoyment, belonging, identity, and purpose. It focused on levels of flourishing and even how women experience greater meaning and purpose. Listen in.