- . Um, just with the idea of I wanna create some content for my young men so that
they see something good. Yeah. And then from there, you know, five people followed it,
50 people followed it, and now there's, uh, quite
a few that follow it. Yeah. - Almost 200,000 people, - Right? Yeah. Almost 200,000 probably
by the end of the week. And that's cool. Um, I, I just,
uh, it's kind of taken, uh, taking control of itself. Yeah. You know, and
people love the messages, and I just get excited
to share the content. - Yeah. So starting out, like how long ago was this
that you started it? Uh, - I created it in 2015. Oh, okay. But that was back Oh, wow. When you could only share
15 second clips Mm-Hmm. on video and
trying to get a good quote. And so I, I created the account,
didn't do much for a while, but then 2020, there was about
5,000 followers at the time. Um, and at that point I kinda made the
decision, okay, I'm gonna do this. Nice. Um, with a lot more effort. And then ever since then, it's grown. - Yeah. Now, typically
today, when you look at it, it's a lot of general
conference quotes right? Or quotes from general
authorities, apostles. Right. Um, was that the intent
from the beginning? Is that what you started sharing
from the beginning? Yeah, - It was, um, because kind of
going back to my mission, I, I was the missionary that
every time we walked into the apartment, I'd turn on
general conference on the cassette player, Uhhuh. And anytime I could find a
new general conference tape, you know, I, I get a recording of it. So I love listening to general conference. And so it just became
something that I did naturally. I love sharing and reading
general conference. And so I just started sharing those clips, and then all of a sudden I
learned people would share these clips with other people, and I was like, I'm back to being a missionary. Mm-Hmm. I love this.
Yeah. You know, so it's, it's really been a missionary effort. - Yeah. And so what's, what's it like watching
general conference now? Are you, I obviously
you're trying to listen, but you're like, oh, that's, I gotta, yeah. I gotta mark that one. - Yep. No, I do. Yeah. Um, it, it's, I don't do it anymore than
I've, uh, I did before. Mm-Hmm. , I, I've always loved general conference. I love going to general conference, but now I'll hear
something I was like, oh, I gotta make sure I write that note down. Mm-Hmm. Because I'm gonna do that one. Um, and it's, it's just fun. That's - Cool. Now, um, the reason I
want to and highlight, and you're also currently
serving as a bishop. Yeah. So we have, we have lots of directions we can
go today, which is fun. Uh, but, you know, I think there's a lot of youth leaders, just leaders in general. And, and I, I look at it
that, man, it's so, like, the more we can project the voices of living prophets
right, the better, right? Yeah. Because sometimes
there's this pressure, I'm, you know, obviously a content
creator with social media, there's this pressure of like, okay, I gotta like get a graphic
designer, a video editor, and, you know, do all these things, which to some extent that's helpful. Um, and, you know, and we
have to create the content, but over reality, the content's out there, we can just project it from,
especially from living profits. Yeah. Um, and we live in an
influencer economy, right? Mm-Hmm. . And,
and I think most leaders understand this, maybe the
older generation doesn't quite grasp it, where an
individual, whether it's youth or someone in their twenties
or thirties, they, they're, they're scrolling, right? Yeah. On Instagram or
Facebook or whatever, Twitter. And they're picking up that there's a, there's a message being delivered to their brain, like Mm-Hmm. just over
and over and over again. And I, I sometimes wish
we could, you know, this isn't my prerogative or powers of be, but you know, I, I think
like, it would be great if Elder Nar, elder Anderson or whoever was, was on social
media 10 times a day Yeah. Sharing a quick, casual, informal message. But for whatever reason,
that's not the case. And, you know, we do see it. Maybe they're sitting in their office a - Little bit more now than
- Before. Yeah, yeah. They're, they're right. And so, but what we can
do is share the messages. They've already spoken,
because we'll hear it at general conference, and Yeah. Then, you know, we may listen
to it again, or read it or review it in Elders Quo Relief Society, but to just share the gospel that way, it's really a powerful
way to do it. Right? - Yeah, absolutely. Um, the
word I like to, to use is I love to amplify their message. Mm-Hmm. Yeah. Um, and I think it's great that people are creating
their own content. Um, I've never really put
myself on the account, um, just because I was posting, you know, quotes from general, uh, general leaders. But I've tried to put myself
on there a little bit more, because I think it's
important if, you know, if we're gonna be missionaries
to find opportunities to share our own testimony. Mm-Hmm. . And so
I've, I've done it a little bit more, um, as, as you were
saying that there, there's, there's a hundred reasons
why I created the account, and there's another a hundred
reasons why I've done a little bit more, but just to
highlight a few of those. You, you mentioned Elder Bednar
in 2014 at BYU is when he gave his kind of his social media Yeah. Speech. And I was, um,
I was taken by that. I was like, man, this is amazing.
We need to flood the earth with positive messages. So that was one thing that kind of led into me creating the account, um, not thinking it would be what it is today, but I kind of feel like it's,
it's helped accomplish that. Um, and, and when I, when I
create the accountant, I, I post those, those quotes. The thing that I really love is I know that I'm creating content for other people to share naturally. Mm-Hmm. . Um, we love listening to general conference. We love listening to our profit, and I love creating a post
in a way that you mentioned that people are just scrolling through, if I can create something
for them to stop, listen to the prophet amplify his message, and hopefully they jump off
of wherever they're scrolling through, and they go read the talk Mm-Hmm. or they jump
into the scriptures, something that we can do to help them get more engaged with the gospel. And then there was a, a, a second talk by Elder Stevenson in 2017, and I think he was talking
at Women's conference, but one thing that really
stood out to me is he said, I hope you'll have the courage to swipe, to swipe up post tweet,
blog, all those things. Mm-Hmm. . And,
uh, I took from that we need to have the courage get on there. This is where people are at. People are listening to this, and they're spending their time here. And if we can be a digital missionary and share the gospel there,
people will get engaged. And there's been a lot of good experiences and blessings that have come from it. - So take me just like,
what advice would you give to the lay member who, you know, they've got a hundred followers, you know, it's just their friends and family. They're not looking to
have an impact or things, but they can still amplify
the amplified message, right? Yeah. That, that you're doing. Um, so how, how, what
advice would you give just to the lay members they
approach social media? Um, - I, I think the first thing that comes to mind when I read there's, you know, we have the church handbook, but there's also the missionary handbook that's available online. There's some really good things in there. But one thing it says,
talking to missionaries who are doing things on social media, it says, don't worry about the reach. Don't worry about your
followers. Just create content. And I'm paraphrasing, just
create content that's good. You know, I can get it out there. And I think that's the
advice that we have, that's being a digital missionary, um, that's sharing the gospel. Um, so rather than focusing
on getting a hundred thousand followers, we need a hundred
thousand people in the church sharing positive messages. Yeah. And I think that fulfills what Elder Bednar was saying,
we need to flood the earth with positive messages. Yeah. - I think of somebody who has,
you know, maybe isn't in Utah and surrounded by Latterday Saints, but you know, they have a
following of 200 people Right. In their circle of influence. Right. And maybe half of 'em
are non laar Day saints. Like as a missionary, if
you were invited to come to a conference room or a church or, or someplace to share a
message with a hundred people, we'd be like, this is incredible. Right. But now it is sort of, that's been skewed a little bit. We think like, oh, only
a hundred. Come on. No. But like, if you were in a
room with that many people, that would be well worth your time to do. Absolutely. So it's worth,
again, not that you have to create the content, but
amplifying these Mm-Hmm. This good, this good content online is, is the way to go. Right. - Um, a as you say that, going back to what L Stevenson said, another
thing that stood out to me, and, uh, you know, that talk was in 2017, a lot has happened since then. Um, but I've recently had
conversations with people, they're concerned about social media, and I have the same concerns. Are we spending too much time on it? You know, what are we consuming? How are we being influenced? Um, but Elder Stevenson
at BYU in 2017, he, he made the comment that
the benefits will outweigh, you know, the things
that might draw us back. And it's, it's sometimes
really hard to see Mm-Hmm. . But I think
you just pointed out, if you have an opportunity
to share your testimony to a hundred people, that's huge. Yeah. Um, and if we
stay focused on sharing and doing things in normal and natural ways, you'll see the lift. And I think we're already
seeing that right now. Yeah. So having the courage, um, to do it. - Cool. And this is just, again, more on a more practical level, people would just be
sharing it on like Instagram or on Facebook, or like, what do they
actually do if they see like the content you produce? - Yeah. Um, uh, kind of going back, you know, what's my advice? I think it's really
important that we stick with what the prophets have said, do things in normal and natural ways. Mm-Hmm. . Um,
so I, I'm not suggesting that people need to get on a
certain platform if you're not currently on it, but if
you are on a platform, if you are using Instagram or using Facebook, are you finding opportunities to share the gospel? Or are you just consuming? Right. Um, and, and that's kind
of the danger that I, I'm, I'm afraid of if we're
just on there scrolling, but not engaging that,
that, that's a concern. Yeah. But if we can find
opportunities in normal and natural ways to share
things that are important to us, just like you would share,
Hey, I went to the park, or my, uh, my child did
this in the school play. We share those things on social media. What do you enjoy about the gospel? And share it in the exact same way. - Yeah. And, uh, this goes back to some advice I got from my
friend, John Dye, uh, who, who emphasizes share
moments, not messages. Yeah. Where it's good to, you know, share a general conference quote or clip, you know, as, as they come. But if that's all you're sharing, we all, we all have that ant, right? Yeah. It's like the one ant
shares all political messages, , Uhhuh, the other t's just like, just fire hosing you with like
general conference quotes. Right. And it's like, here we go, we're gonna really give it to 'em. But mixing in there like
just natural moments, then you're going to capture, um, more people's attention rather
than just fire hosing them with religious messages. Right. - Yeah. Um, I was actually, that was actually the next thing I wanted to say is be balanced. Mm-Hmm. , the normal and natural is what do you do naturally? You know, there's seven days in the week, and one of 'em is, we go to church, we should be comfortable on a Monday to say, this is what I did on Sunday. And then on Tuesday we talked
about going to the play. But what I've learned over time is what messages resonate the most? Um, if I, - I I wanna ask you this. Yeah. Like, what, which
ones are standing out? - So, um, you know, on certain platforms when
people are really contentious on those platforms, you know,
if I post something about the Temple or like baptism
for the Dead, they jump in, you know, and it's negative, uh, because, because they're looking
for that opportunity. But what I really like to do, and what I found is
people love sharing quotes that talk about kindness,
that talk about family. Hmm. That talk about parenting. Um, there's a lot of people
out there with children who are struggling, and it's, they'll stop and they'll listen to somebody
say, Hey, I've had, you know, these challenges, I've
overcome these things, and this is something that
provides hope for them. And what I've learned
is if it provides hope, they'll want to share it. Mm. And so that's kind
of what I go looking for when I listen to general
conference now, is like, I know somebody's gonna share that, and so I get excited to
go create that content where they may not have the
digital tools to, to do it. I do. You know, and I've,
I've kind of built that skill. Yeah. So that's my way to help them if I can create the content. Um, especially President
Holland , there's, there's a quote, and I've posted
it probably 5, 6, 7 times. And every time it just, it's
something that goes viral. Uh, there's another quote about parenting. There's just some of these that I just know that will go viral. And so I look for opportunities to share the same, same messages. - Yeah. Yeah. And these are things, because I'm thinking back, like, um, October, 2023 conference,
uh, president Oak's talk, you know, he, he went in deep
about like the three degrees of glory and very, and a great talk, I mean,
gave a lot to unpack, but maybe, you know, some of those talks were like
super doctrinal focus. They, they may not be the type
of, of, of quote you share, but it's more the, the hopeful
encouraging, which, you know, those are intermixed, and
sometimes that is present. Oaks is giving that as well. Right? Yeah. Um, and, and I'm just thinking of the,
like, do you find that, um, even like, not, it goes
viral on like, in in places of even non-members or people who don't, you don't even know who this Jeffrey Holland
guy is, right? Yeah. Uh, - I'm glad you said that. Uh, there's a post from Lindsey Robbins where he talks about, um, parenting. And he says, you know,
some of us, if we're lucky to have children, you know,
you have an experience and they're obedient
and is parenting 1 0 1, but some, some children
can provide an experience where you're in parenting 5 0 5 . And he says, I hope that
you'll think about it. That not what did you do
wrong in the pre-existence to have to go through this experience? But he makes a comment.
Some of these children who are more challenging,
think of them as a blessing. You know, how much do you need them, as much as they need you? That's helping you become
more patient, more loving, more kind, and becoming
more like the savior. So he, he flips this upside
down that, oh, this is a, a blessing, you know, to have some of these challenges and families. So to your question, um, do,
do not members, you know, share this, that is one specific quote where they are taking his
message, recreating the real and putting pictures of their children and
their family Oh, really? And all these things. And I get so excited because I get to engage with them and have conversations with them, and they say, thank you for this message. I needed to hear this today. Yeah. And so, um, it kind of breaks
that boundary of just messages and communication within the church and us being able to provide opportunities to share the gospel with
people outside the church. - So, any stories, I mean,
I obviously, the, the intent isn't purely to
convert people to the church of Jesus Christ, latter
Saints, like you said, just putting message of hope,
encouragement, that ev I mean, that's the world be lit
if it needs more of that. Right. Yeah. And if our
general authorities can provide that, then great. Um, any like, stories of like,
people really being impacted or, or turning to, to
Christ in a different way? - Yeah. Um, the, the one that
probably stands out the most, and this happened last
year, um, I was, I, I, I'm from Bountiful and I was
just driving through Bountiful, and I saw the sister missionary
sitting on the corner of, down downtown, uh,
bountiful on Main Street. And I, I always take
the opportunity to stop and say, Hey sisters, will you share a message just
like you would if you're in somebody's home and say, before we leave, can I share a scripture with you? Uhhuh ? I'll stop and I'll record them and, and post it. And so we walked over, uh, in front of the Bountiful Tabernacle, and they shared their message
just like they normally would. And I posted it that night. And then a a few months later,
I didn't hear about this, but I knew somebody who was
in the mission presidency. Um, you know, he's a local guy, but he's in the mission presidency. And he said, Hey, did you
hear about the baptism? I was like, no. He's like, oh, I'll tell you next time you see you. And I was like, no, you're
telling me now . So I, I called him, I was like, what, what are you talking about? And he said, well, you, you,
um, found some of the sisters in our mission, and they posted
something on your account. And as, as I heard the story
that night, there was somebody that they were teaching,
and he was on social media, he was on Instagram, and he was scrolling. And what I was told is he was
having a really bad night, you know, just whatever
he was struggling with, he was having a really bad night. And he said, he was scrolling through and he said, Hey, those are my
sisters that are teaching me. And he said, normally,
I'll just scroll past that, but I know these sisters. So he looked at the account, and then he jumped over
to declare my word. And whatever he was struggling
with, I haven't heard, he was scrolling down and
found a quote from, um, other DDF Udo that was an answer to whatever he was struggling with. Hmm. And what I was told
is that night, he's like, there's no way that I could be
scrolling through Instagram, see the sisters, and then go
to a message from Elder Udo of what I needed to hear. And I knew that heavenly
father knew who I was. Wow. And so the next morning he
called the sisters, he's like, sisters, I need to be baptized. - That's cool. And - I hit so excited, because that's one example that I'm aware of. Um, there's other examples, uh, where people have sent me a message, they're not active in the gospel. They don't go to church.
Um, but one of my favorite, and I wish I had it so I could
actually read what he said, but in short, he just said, thank you for posting these things. Sometimes at night, I just
sit and scroll through these and cry because of what
I'm struggling with. Um, I don't go to church, but I love listening to Elder
Holland and what he says. And, and that was just a
testament to me that in, in small ways, it's, it, it
doesn't take a whole lot of time to post it and create the content, but it's making an impact
on somebody's life. Um, and I, I, I shared that. I took a screenshot of it and
I shared it with somebody, and I know that message got
in front of Elder Holland, uh, president Holland now. So I'm grateful that that's cool. Um, people are able to
have these experiences just from seeing a post. Yeah. But it's more than the
post it's hearing the word of God from prophets and apostles. Yeah. - Speak to me about, like, uh,
for youth leaders, you know, obviously we've, I think we've
all come to this place that, you know, the youth are
on social media, right? They're, uh, not getting off
even many on TikTok. Right. Which has a lot of negative,
uh, attached to it. That's a whole nother podcast for a whole other podcast, uh, network. Um, how, like, how can
youth leaders leverage what you're doing or, or
stimulate some of this, you know, declaring the word? Yeah. - Um, I think it's really important. It's, it's kind of a hard message because if somebody's not on
social media, I don't know that there's a message
out there saying, Hey, you need to be on social media. Mm-Hmm. .
But I think in the world that we live in today, in
whatever way most people are, they, they have an account. And I don't wanna encourage people to be on there more than they need to. Um, I don't feel like we need to say, we need more content creators. Mm-Hmm. , we
need people doing things in normal and natural ways. Mm-Hmm. . But,
um, being in young men's, being a counselor for the last five years, being a bishop right
now, for the most part, most people in my ward
are on social media. I know we have some engagement with them. So what I would say is, um, going back to what Elder Stevenson
said, you know, I, he, he made the comment, the benefits outweigh, you know, the risks. Um, and, and there are risks
that go along with that. But one thing that he
said is, we need people to teach the rising generation
how to use social media. Um, and I think that's the
role that we live in. Hmm. We need youth, uh, to be
taught by leaders, how to become missionaries, how to
become young men's leaders. And a part of that is we live in a world, how do we share the gospel? We share it with our neighbors. We, we don't live in a
world now that we meet with our neighbors, you know, down the street as much as we used to. Yeah. We engage with people online. So the environment has kind of changed, and we need to be a part of that. So if we're on social media, I
think there's a lot of things that we can do to teach
the rising generation how to share the gospel, um, and make a difference in
other people's lives. Yeah. - So is this something
like taking a few minutes and priest quo or wherever and, and looking at some different accounts? Or, or Yeah. Like what - Does that look like? Um, like in Priest Corps, um, yeah. This is another place that
I try to be really careful and I'll share something that, um, yeah. I, I, I was able to talk with an apostle, and I'll share that
story here in a second, but not every one of my
priest is on Instagram. Mm-Hmm. Um, or on social media.
Some of their parents, yeah. Say, no. And that's, that's fine. Um, but I, I try to go outta my way, uh, because the account is what it is, and they know that I'm on social media and they know that other people
in our warden doing other things, I do try to go outta
my way to say, Hey guys, I made this post and
here's this experience. The things that I've
shared with you is Uhhuh. is what I share
with them, because they may not be on social media right now, but I know that their friends are. Hmm. I know that their parents are, and some are using it
the way that they should, and some people are struggling with it. But I try to find every
opportunity I can just, like, uh, when I share, when I was
on my mission 25 years ago, I did this last week,
I had this conversation with somebody on Instagram. You know, I had this experience, you know, and I share that, that
baptism story with them. I'm always trying to find
ways to help teach them, to show them, uh, the example so that when they jump on social media, they have a picture in their mind of what they could do. Mm-Hmm. . - Yeah. I, we'll see the
apostle story, . - Oh, um, yeah, he teased us. Um, going back to Elder
Stevens said there, there's, there's quite a few, um, apostles
that I think have engaged with social media a little bit sooner. I think Elder Stevenson is one of them. Um, but in October, 2022,
I, I, I forget what quote or what he said, but I know
he said something about social media that day in October 22 conference. And that night, I was
talking to somebody else who has an account and I
collaborate with, I was like, if I ever had the chance
to talk to Elder Stevenson, I'm gonna ask him this question. The next morning I take my
dad to go get eye surgery. You know, uh, I forgot
what surgery it was, but I'm at the doctor's office. We're about to go out
there. I'm at the stand. I'm filling out my dad's paperwork, and then somebody comes up to the left and grabs a mask and said, can I take one? And I look over there and it's like, other Stevenson, how are you - nice. And, - And immediately I was like, less than less than eight hours ago, I
just sent a message saying, if I ever get to meet Elder Stevenson, I'm gonna ask him a que Well, he's, and, - And for those that do not live in Utah, this is not normal . We don't just run into
apostles at the grocery store, at the, at the clinic or
whatever. Yeah, yeah, yeah. - So, um, he was there 'cause his grandson was having
a procedure, so I didn't, I didn't want to interrupt,
but I, I shook his hand. I was like, elder Steven,
if you have a second, have a question I need to ask you. Um, and his son left. And so he was sitting there by himself. So I walked over, he
was like, elder Stevens, if I ask you these questions. And I, I kinda asked him
a flurry of questions, but mainly it was, I wanted
to ask him in the church, are we supposed to be encouraging people to engage on social media? But there's also a message
of, um, you know, you know, I've had bishops and I've
had other leaders saying, I'm trying to do whatever I can to get my kids off social media. Right. Yeah. I'm not gonna encourage them. And so that was the question is, yeah, what's the balance there? Um, and I just, he, he talked to me. I didn't write down, but
immediately afterwards, I just wrote down all
the notes that I could. But some of the things
that he said is, you know, it's a parent's prerogative
to, to say if they should be, you know, it's a family
decision if they should be on social media or not. And Bishop should have the right to say, I don't think you should
be on social media. You know, for whatever reason. Mm-Hmm. , you know, if
they might be struggling with something, but then he did layer in there, um, here are some opportunities. We, we can share the gospel. Um, the, the other thing
that he shared with me, and he kind of got through
halfway through the story, but then I've heard through other sources, you know, the rest of the story. But he said, you know,
there was a time that the 12 are really going back and forth on what should we do
with social media, you know, and the short story is
he, he said, you know, we were in core meeting and
half the brethren were four, you know, digital devices
and social media, you know, and missionaries using them. And it was kinda like the other half were maybe opposed to it. But then there was a time, and Sister Duke kinda shares
the rest of the story. That President Nelson, who was
the president of the Quorum of the 12, he said, he
came in, he said, we need to get every one of our
missionaries on these devices. And that was right before,
uh, COVID hit. Hmm. But he was just sharing that story with me that I just learned,
everybody's in a different boat. Everybody has a different scenario. Bishops have their keys to work with their wards as they need to. Parents need to make making a decision. And so, uh, that what
I learned from that is everybody is in a different boat, and I can't, you know,
proclaim one message other than one thing I'm, I am passionate about. If you're on social media,
we need to be influencers, not just with huge accounts. Every one of us has an influence. If we're on social media, we need to be sharing an opportunity, taking the opportunity to share a gospel. Yeah. - Love it. Love it. Um, anything else with, uh,
declare my word as far as, um, things to consider? Stories, principles? - Uh, let me, let me just share this. It's just one thing that, that
I feel important to share. Um, elder Marcus b Nash, uh,
gave a talk a couple years ago, October of 2021. And he was talking
about sharing our light. And I took a lot from this,
there's just a section in there where he said, sharing the gospel protects us from temptation. Lemme see if I can read this. He shared a scripture and
then shared a thought. He said, the Lord commands
hold up your light, that it may shine unto the world. Behold, I in the light,
which you should hold up, that which you have seen
me do, I have commanded that ye should come unto
me, that you might feel and see even so shall
you do unto the world. And whosoever breaketh, this
commandment suffereth himself to be led into temptation. I never thought of that
being a commandment. You know, if we don't share
the gospel, we're breaking and, and putting ourselves into - Temptation. Yeah. And make ourselves
vulnerable. Yeah. Yeah. - So this is what Elder Nas says, choosing to not hold up the gospel
light moves us into the shadows where we are susceptible to temptation. Importantly, the converse is true. Choosing to hold up the gospel
light brings us more fully into the light and the protection it provides against temptation. What a tremendous blessing
in today's world. Wow. So, you know, talking about what advice, I would just amplify what
El Nas says, and he is, or, or was, you know, the director
of missionary department. Oh, yeah. So I know that he's coming from, we need our missionaries
to be sharing this message, but this is what I think about the youth. Um, we have a lot of
youth that are struggling, but I don't know that it's
because they're on social media. I think the struggle is how
are they using social media? Mm-Hmm. how are the examples that they have using social media? And so that's why I always come back, if you're on social media, we
can consume and be influenced, or we can hold the light and be influencers If you
have one follower, or 10, or a hundred or a hundred
thousand, whatever it might be. Internally, are we taking the time and having the courage
to share the gospel? And so if we can teach our
youth, here's an opportunity to share the gospel, it will
bring them out of the shadows and help them feel comfortable to live, especially in a digital world. I can share the gospel and I
can feel comfortable going on a mission and sharing the gospel. So I think they have
a lot of opportunities to share the gospel earlier
than they used to because, because, and if they're on social media. - That's cool. So let's make a shift to just your experience as Bishop. Yeah. It's been almost a year now. Yeah. That you've been called since April. And you were in the
bishoprick before that? Bishop - Bur before, and young
men's before that, so. Okay. And, and I love it. Cool. I don't, uh, aspire for the callings, but I won't turn 'em down. And I love - Being there with 'em. So, so what's the first year been like? Like what, uh, anything that surprised you or new efforts you've tried or established your, your flavor
of culture in the ward, or? - No, I, I think the first
impression that I had was, you know, being a counselor,
you're there with a bishop, you're not in the same
conversations as the bishop is. Mm-Hmm. .
But you're just aware of some of the challenges of the ward. So becoming bishop, it wasn't a tremendous
shock or anything like that. But the thing that I thought
was most interesting is just the different way you feel about the members of the Ward. Mm-Hmm.
just all of a sudden. And, and I love the members.
I, you know, you love people. Yeah. But there's just something unique about the love that you have for people. Um, and that especially came out because I got to meet with everybody for tithing declaration,
and all day, every day. I just gotta sit there all day, every day, all day, every time I - Feel like that, I bet . But - For hours, I just
got to meet with people and talk about the blessings of tithing. And, um, that was just a
very unique experience, just the deeper love
that I have for people. Um, and, and people come
talking about their challenges and just, um, compassion that I don't think I've
ever felt before in my life. That was kind of a, a new feeling. Um, but as, as you sit there on the stand, and I don't need, you don't
need to be a bishop to see this, but if you just go to church,
and if you're on the stand and you just go down the aisles Mm-Hmm. , you know,
that every family has this challenge and blessings, but everybody's going through
some experience Mm-Hmm. , you know,
that's a real challenge. And so just doing that, there's just a greater sense
of compassion that comes. And I really do think it
comes with the keys. Yeah. - Now you're in Bountiful,
pretty traditional established Lattery saint community, right? Yeah. Any, any uniqueness
about it that you, that would be worth mentioning or, - Um, no, I, I remember
a general sorority came and, uh, that was actually
one thing that he said. He was talking, he was like,
you're in bountiful , you're in Bountiful, Utah. You know, thi these things don't
happen in bountiful . So I live in b Bountiful Utah. I, I grew up in Mesa, Arizona, which to me - Is another bountiful. Yeah. - It's a great place. Yeah. But I served my mission in Estonia. Wow. And that was right after, you know, the, the Iron Curtain came down and there wasn't a whole
lot of members there, but I was, uh, in tart to Estonia, which very few members, and I don't
think anybody knows where that is or, or what's there. And I just remember being there and just having 19 people come to church. The first Sunday I was there and I just picture, man, these saints are gathering together. I don't know, they had the same thought. Then as I think about
it now, yeah, I've kind of filled in some blanks, but
these 19 members get together and the strength that they
are to each other, um, and having an experience that
there was only one deacon 12 years old who was
passing aside from Wow. There was only one
deacon in all of Estonia. And I just remember watching
him stand there by himself, and I was like, man, he doesn't
know what's ahead of him. Um, so I just think about the strength of 19 people getting together, and also the strength of people in Bountiful coming together. Mm-Hmm. when
people gather in the gospel, it may be small numbers or big numbers, but there is huge strength
when people get together. Yeah. - Anything worth mentioning as
far as, you know, this effort to focus on the youth as a bishoprick, um, but also keep other things working? I mean, what's worked for
you or not worked or, um, - The first thought that
comes to mind is, uh, we, we did this a a couple years ago, but the stake will always come around and do visits to the ward,
which was really good. Um, but one of the things that
we did is we often will go and, and, and meet with members
who may not be coming and, and we continue to go meet with them. But on this particular, uh,
night, when we got together, instead of just going
randomly, we now take the youth with us, with stake leaders Okay. And go visit homes. And we,
it was such a good thing we had the youth and stake leaders and more leaders go together and go to the homes of people
who had served missions. Um, some of these people served in Germany like a long, long time ago. Um, and I wanted to provide
them an opportunity to meet and talk with these
people who serve missions. So the youth who were preparing
for missions gotta talk to people who had served a long time ago. And that just created a lot of, uh, oh, really a good communication. A lot of good stories were shared, but it was not only good for the youth, but it was also good
for those adults Yeah. Who had forgotten about some of these experiences that they had. - And adults are possibly people who aren't regularly
coming to church Yeah. Or whatever it be. And so,
but you take them back there, say, you know, talk to the 16-year-old, 17-year-old about your time in Germany, or whatever it was. And, - And there's a life that
kinda shows up when you, when you have great experiences
that maybe forget about and that light comes back into your mind. Yeah. Um, and you share that
story. That goes a long way. - Wow. That's great. That's great. Anything else related to youth
that, uh, seemed to work or, - Um, no. I, I, I think what it
comes back to, if you want to influence the youth, provide food, they'll always show up for food . I did. Yeah. Um, if there's a donut, it was a much better activity. . - Yeah. Love it. Uh,
anything else as far as like administrative stuff? How you run meetings, apps you
use as a, as a Bishop break or anything, anything
like that come to mind? - Well, one thing that, uh, we use is, uh, appointment setting. Okay. - Um, - You know, our
secretaries do a lot of good, you know, in scheduling things, but quite often people just
have a thought, I wanna meet with Bishop, you know, and
then trying to have to go to the secretary and
then try to find a time. So, uh, we use a scheduling tool. It just gives somebody an
opportunity if they wanna meet with the bishop or they want
to get their temple re renewed, or they wanna get their
patriarchal blessing, they can just go online and
get that scheduled with us. Um, you know, and they don't have to worry about coordinating it. And that's actually been really helpful. I, I kind of use it. Is it safe to say like, as a marketing tool? Okay. It's an opportunity
where I can share a link and, and they see, oh, patriarchal
Blessings Temple recommend or meet with whatever it might
be, oh, my recommends about to expire, I need to go get that renewed. So we've had a lot of
people schedule their own appointments, um, to get that done - Just through the link. Right. - I think that's helped
using modern tools Mm-Hmm. to, um, allow people to be better engaged with us. - That's great. Awesome. Alright, so as we wrap up,
take us maybe to that scripture that is the title of your platform. Declare My Word. Yeah.
What, what's the, the story? I mean, obviously a powerful scripture, but what comes to mind? - Well, when I was thinking
what should I name the account? I've, one thing I noticed is how often the scriptures say declare, you know, declare this. Um, one of 'em is declare my word, but then I thought about it. I think, uh, if you do a
search for declare my word, the scripture that's most
often quoted is seek not to declare my word, but for
seek e to obtain my word. Oh, yeah. So I thought, yeah,
is that a good scripture? You know, it's like the one
that gets saying don't. Yeah. Um, but the point is we need to learn the gospel before we share it. However, there are so many
examples in the scriptures that say, declare my word, um, declare, share your testimony, get out
there and do these things. But one scripture that I
really liked was from DNC 31 6, and this is when, uh, Thomas B. Marsh was being called on a mission. And in the verse, 'cause
going to serve remission is, it's a scary thing, you know? And for the youth, when
you're leaving your family, you're leaving what
you're comfortable with. It was scary for me. It was,
you know, have those stories. Yeah. I felt that . Um, but in the scripture, he's
talking to Thomas B. Marsh and says, behold verily, I say unto you, go from them meaning your
family for only a little time and declare my word, and I
will prepare a place for them. And I take a lot of comfort for that. Heavenly Father takes
care of his missionaries. Heavenly Father takes care of
those who share his gospel, who sacrifice and do those things. So that's kind of where it came from. Is declare my word, because if you do, I can take care of you. - Hmm. That's awesome. That's awesome. What, any final thoughts as like, obviously we hope people
follow, uh, maybe, uh, make sure people know where to follow you. Yeah. The, the, your platform so they can hear the good messages, but, uh, what should they
do with the messages or, or, uh, how, how should they maybe
consider actually jumping into the scriptures
Yeah. From the messages. - Um, well, a lot of
thoughts come from that, you know, what can they do? Um, I think last week at
least, I was listening to the podcast and remind me who it was, but you had a conversation with somebody who was a digital missionary
in, in Oakland. Oh, - Yeah. Um, Clint was his name. Clint.
Clint Argyle. Yeah. Clint - Arga. So he was talking, he
was a digital missionary. And I, I never thought about this, but as a digital missionary and he has background in
marketing, what he would, uh, ask people to do is go to Yelp Mm-Hmm. and go to your
church and write a review. And if you do that,
people see that on Yelp. And if they say, Hey
Siri, what's something to do in Bountiful Utah? Or, Hey Siri, what's something
they do in Tar two Estonia? Mm-Hmm. . If
there's reviews that pops up and people are showing up because we're reviewing that,
uh, or providing reviews. And that's a way that
we can share the gospel. So like with declare my word,
if you're on the account, if there's something that you
see or hear that inspires you and you're comfortable sharing it, please have the courage to do that. Um, and that, that would just
be my encouragement. Cool. I try to provide content
that people feel comfortable sharing, and hopefully
it kind of puts 'em out of their comfort zone that
if they're not comfortable with it, they find an
opportunity to do it. - Yeah. Perfect. People
can find you on Instagram and all other major social
media platforms, all - Of them that I'm aware of. I've tried to create an account, but Instagram's the largest following. Um, but wherever you're at,
anything you can do to help, uh, amplify the message would be great. - Awesome. Well, last
question I have for you. As you reflect back on
your time as a leader, uh, in the midst of being a leader, how has being a leader
helped you become a better follower of Jesus Christ? - Oh, that's great. Um,
being a leader, it's provided me a lot of opportunities
to share my testimony. And, um, you know, especially
as a bishop, just learning, having more compassion
for people, more love. And I think the, I've learned,
the more that I love people, um, and find ways to
serve them, the more, uh, you have a relationship with the savior and you know the things that he does. So in being a leader and serving people and loving people, you learn what it's like to be like the savior. And the more that we become like the savior, the more that we wanna follow - The end. That's it for this Leading Saints episode. I encourage you to check out some of the most popular
episodes of the podcast that we list at the
bottom of the show notes. If you haven't listened to
all of those, do so now. Remember, the Jody Moore
presentation about youth and mental health is waiting for you@leadingsaints.org slash 14. - It came as a result of
the position of leadership, which was imposed upon
us by the God of Heaven, who brought forth a
restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ. And when the Declaration
was made concerning the own and only true and living church upon
the face of the earth, we were immediately put in
a position of loneliness. The loneliness of leadership from which we cannot shrink nor run away. And to which we must face
up with boldness and courage and ability.