Saints Unscripted

*This was originally released on April 1, 2021* The best weekend of the year for members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (otherwise known as Mormons) is FINALLY here!! Twice a year, an event known as General Conference happens where the prophet and other church leaders give us counsel and direction. We also get to hear some beautiful music all about God and Jesus Christ. And the whole event is seriously underrated

Sarah joins us today to share her story about being hit head-on by a drunk driver. Her story is absolutely wild and heart wrenching, yet Sarah’s faith shines so bright! Sarah shares the details of her accident, talks about her friends also involved in the accident, and how she navigates life today with positivity and faith. Her 75-day stay in the hospital was a time of progress and strength, as you will see from the video. Sarah shares her belief in being trusting of God. She is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (otherwise known as the Mormon Church).

We always love conversion stories and this one is no exception! (In fact, it might be one of the most fascinating ones we have heard.) In this episode, Peregrine shares his story of being quite atheist, suffering from addiction, and eventually learning about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (otherwise known as the Mormon Church).

FRIENDS. This is our NINTH episode responding to your comments! We loveeeee reading your comments but can’t respond to all of them so every-so-often we dedicate an episode to responding to a few. Sometimes they’re nice, sometimes they’re mean, sometimes they just don’t make any sense… and today, we’re going to respond to a little bit of each!    This time, David and Taylor respond to your comments from our playlist called Faith and Beliefs, which is written and hosted by David and edited by Taylor.

Today we have the amazing Allex on set to talk about her parents’ divorce. (Random and fun fact: You’re going to see a lot more of Allex in coming episodes:)) Allex grew up in Colorado where her family seemed quite ideal in the eyes of outsiders. Even in the eyes of Allex, her parents’ seemed to be happily married. However, all of that took a turn when they announced their separation and eventually divorced.    Allex talks about how she has been coping with the news over the past few years and how it has influenced her marriage, as well as her dating prior to marriage. Allex also addresses how the divorce of her parents has impacted her faith in Jesus Christ and her membership in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Barrett Burgin, a brilliant filmmaker and critic, speaks with David all about LDS cinema. What makes LDS cinema good? What makes Mormon movies fun? Are there christian movies that are just the worst? In this episode, we talk about it ALL!! Barrett even references the many, many movies in which the Church of Jesus Christ (otherwise known as the Mormon Church) is mentioned.    Barrett has been interested in film for a very long time and talks all about his experience learning about film and how he was able to develop a critical eye for such important cinema.

In this episode, David talks with Tony Fieldson about his experience in learning about and joining the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (otherwise known as the Mormon Church). Tony knew about the existence of the church from friends in high school but wasn’t necessarily focused on joining the church until college. Tony ended up serving a mission and getting married in the temple. He now has been helping people who go through difficult faith transitions and supporting so many people in their journeys. You will LOVE the miracles he shares in his stories!

Today we’re challenging Sam and Justin to the ultimate game— who knows President Russell M. Nelson the best?? In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, otherwise known as the Mormon Church, the current prophet is named Russell M Nelson. And let us be the first to tell you— he is INCREDIBLE. His knowledge and kindness and love of God is unparalleled. So we wanted to see which of our hosts knew the prophet of the church the BEST!

*This episode contains spoilers to the Netflix series.*   Netflix published a new series called Murder Among the Mormons… and many people have been asking what Mormons think about the series. So today, Taylor and David are reacting to the first episode of the series!    David and Taylor released a video (over a year ago) on the Faith and Beliefs playlist (linked below) about the Mark Hofmann forgeries so we knew we had to hear their reactions to the full Netflix documentary. Mark Hofmann was raised in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (otherwise known as the Mormon Church) and had spent much of his life involved with forgery of different collectibles, not just for the church but for all kinds of collectors. However, things took a series turn when two people were murdered by Mark Hofmann in order for him to cover his tracks.    In this episode, David and Taylor react to the cinematography, the involvement of the LDS Church, and the storytelling at large.

We share many conversion stories on Saints Unscripted and they always leave us so inspired. This one is absolutely no exception! Josh’s story brought tears to our eyes and motivated us to be better disciples of Jesus Christ. And it had some pretty hilarious moments, including the cops being called on the missionaries, the missionaries speaking American Sign Language not knowing that Josh was fluent, and more!    Josh talks about how he grew up near the Sacred Grove (the place where Joseph Smith saw God the Father and Jesus Christ) but had no idea that it was such a historic landmark for members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (otherwise known as Mormons).

In many instances, members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints understand a principle (like fasting, for example) but practice it differently than one another. This often occurs with principles that aren’t necessarily “exact” commandments-- there isn’t an exact formula for fasting. In this episode, Taylor and Sam talk about their experience with the law of the fast. If you are unfamiliar with fasting, we encourage you to watch our other videos first and then come back to this one when you’re more familiar with our observance to fasting. What is Mormon Fasting? https://youtu.be/B0tfQW3AgYY

We have filmed over 600 videos on hundreds of topics, a few of which we have filmed multiple times… but NEVER have we filmed with missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (otherwise known as Mormon missionaries).   In this episode, Sam asks three missionaries about their decision to go on their missions, what it’s like to be a missionary, what advice they have for future missionaries, and more. You don’t want to miss this episode!

In this episode, we welcome Doug to the Saints Unscripted studio! Doug is Taylor’s friend and also a fellow YouTuber. Doug decided to start a YouTube channel about miracles -- from small to large, quiet to loud, and everything in between. As members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we certainly believe in miracles and that God speaks to us today often through miracles, no matter how small. So today, we chat with Doug about his experience with miracles, how he finds miracles, and the power that miracles have had in his life and the lives of those he interviews.

There have been MANY misconceptions about the LDS Church (otherwise known as the Mormon Church) over the past, well, almost 200 years! In an effort to understand Mormonism correctly, as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we are going to debunk some of the “Mormon misconceptions.”   Some common misconceptions (a few of which we address in the video) are:  - The current LDS Church and it’s leaders speak directly for God. - They teach that other churches are inferior.  - They are taught that the Book of Mormon is superior to the Bible.  - They are taught that Mormon women should not pursue an education and that young people should delay their education to serve a mission.  - They must have as many kids as they possibly can.   These are all misconceptions! We are eager to address them in this and other videos :)   We hope this video helps in understanding Mormonism a little bit better

Were leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints always calm and collected? Certainly not. In fact, many of the early leaders of the church (otherwise known as the Mormon Church) weren’t always obedient to the laws of the land, which we are now encouraged to obey… and maybe these stories illustrate reasons why!

Video games have been controversial since their conception. Are video games damaging? Are video games addicting? Should I stop playing video games? While we aren’t going to answer those questions in this video, we DO want to address how we believe video games should be consumed. And we will also address what the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (otherwise known as Mormons) has addressed playing video games. THIS IS ALL OPINION. We’d love to know in the comments below what you believe about the consumption of video games.    Both David and Justin play video games, though Justin clearly plays more frequently, as you’ll see from the video ;) Justin talks about video games he avoids, the amount of time he spends playing video games, and the benefits of playing video games. While David doesn’t play as frequently as Justin, he talks about his consumption and advice moving forward in the video game world :)

In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, young adults starting at age 18 are encouraged to serve a mission. A mission is essentially a period of time (usually 18-24 months) that is dedicated to preaching the gospel to people in a given geographical location. In this episode, Justin and David talk about the craziest things that happened to them while they were serving missions. They both served in Mexico, though in different regions. While they had remarkable experiences, there were certainly experiences that would be best forgotten ;)

This is our third episode in our series about women’s issues and it’s definitely worth watching! If you haven’t watched the other videos, check out the playlist: https://bit.ly/2UNDkWu In this episode, Samantha and Taylor talk about violence against women, sexual harrassment, domestic abuse, and other topics relevant to sexual misconduct. What is sexual harassment? The definition by the Equality Act of 2010 says, “unwanted conduct of a sexual nature which has the purpose or effect of violating someone’s dignity, or creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for them.” Taylor and Sam both explore what sexual harassment is, what it is not, and how to end sexual harassment. Sam shares statistics that are both shocking and disappointing. Taylor shares a story of when he learned about the frequency of sexual harassment.

Sam and Justin grew up in different places with different ratios of Mormons to non-Mormons (‘Mormon’ being the informal term for a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints). Sam grew up surrounded by many members of the Church, which greatly influenced her friendships, moral standards, and gospel understanding. Justin, on the other hand, grew up as one of very few members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Such background influenced Justin’s dedication to the gospel and his ability to stand up for his beliefs.    There are many pros and cons to growing up with and without members of the Church and in this episode, we address the ones we experience the most.

 Is sin relative or universal? If I commit a sin, is the consequence the same if someone else commits the same sin? Does the severity of the sin change based on the knowledge of the person committing the sin? Can someone sin in ignorance? Today we discuss what we believe in regards to sin, if one can sing in ignorance, and how to navigate the question of sin.    The most important point: We are NOT judges to determine who goes to celestial kingdom. Fortunately, God is the judge and knows our individual circumstances. Jesus Christ knows every scenario and will judge us accordingly. Jesus forgave all kinds of people that would never have been forgiven by their communities.    From the Church’s website: “To commit sin is to willfully disobey God’s commandments or to fail to act righteously despite a knowledge of the truth (see James 4:17​).”