Saints Unscripted

We're stoked to be joined by Spencer Schmidt as he shares his musical journey with us! Spencer shares his story of feeling deeply inspired to devote more attention to his musical interests. Spencer comes from a musical household, his dad being Jon Schmidt of the Piano Guys, so music has always been a powerful tool in his life. After losing his sister in a hiking accident, Spencer recalled the music that was of most interest to her and decided it was that genre in which he wanted to pursue his work.

David Douglas shares his story of conversion as a teenager living in Florida. His story is so powerful! David talks about praying to know if God was real. Shortly after his prayer, he fell asleep and had a unique dream. Little did he know that his dream would come back to his mind years later and verify the spirit he was feeling!! At age 15, David wanted to prioritize God in his life. He had attended different churches but finally felt a pull to the LDS Church after speaking with a friend who talked about the priesthood. David's story doesn't end there!

Today on the show, the remarkable Lizzie and Nate Cottrell join us to share their story of pregnancy complications, the death of their child, and the challenges to their faith through it all. In 2019, Lizzie gave birth to twin boys born at 26 weeks gestation. One of the sweet boys died after one day and the surviving son was sent to the NICU for 8 months, being sent home with a tracheostomy at the end of his stay. The challenges continued as Lizzie and Nate learned how to care for their son who was still on a ventilator. Nate and Lizzie share how they were able to keep their faith in Jesus Christ and find strength in him, thanks to the help of those around them.

Today we had the incredible opportunity to talk to Matthew Godfrey about a unique character in LDS church history, John C Bennett. Matthew shares John's fascinating story and explains how he fits in church history. Matthew is a historian for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (otherwise known as the Mormon Church). He has done extensive research for the Joseph Smith Papers and continues to work with the church in sharing church history. John C Bennett had a variety of professional interests throughout his life including a medical background and military background. He reached out to Joseph Smith to express his disappointment in how Joseph had been treated. He then meets Joseph and joins the young LDS Church. He quickly gains popularity in the church, becoming the mayor in Nauvoo, and an assistant president to the First Presidency of the Church. However, soon John finds himself in the midst of controversy.

Cecilia shares her story of faith, trials, miracles, and happiness. She talks about how she went through many mental health issues and couldn't seem to find a way out of her difficulties. She grew up in very difficult circumstances and constantly found herself falling back into such difficulties. Finally Cecilia decided to pray to God for help. Shortly after, she saw missionaries and knew that God put them in her path for a reason.

Why should I go to church?? Is it necessary to go to the full 2 hours of church? Why is church important? In this episode, we answer these questions and more. Below are some answers we discuss: - Worshiping God is a commandment - The Sacrament helps us remember Jesus - God’s Church relies on you - Church services teach and uplift - God can speak to you

Today we had a very unique opportunity to talk to a service missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (otherwise known as the Mormon Church). Austin is the cream of the crop, as you'll soon see! Austin was called to a service mission in 2019. He always dreamed of serving a mission, particularly a mission on Temple Square in Salt Lake City. In this episode, Austin talks about what a service mission is like and his experience in the LDS Church.

Jon Schmidt, famous pianist and member of The Piano Guys, joined us on Saints Unscripted today to share his experiences with music, faith, and family. Jon talks about his process in writing music, where he generates ideas for his music, what it's like to be a member of the Piano Guys, and how his family has been fundamental to his career. Jon Schmidt is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ (otherwise known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church) and shares his faith without hesitation on his platforms.

We are elated to sit down with Loren Marks and hear his thoughts on the impact of a home-centered gospel. Loren has been studying the impact of faith on family for decades. In this episode, he discusses the content of his book, Home-Centered Gospel Learning and Living.

Today we are joined by one of our favorite scholars, Gerrit Dirkmaat! Gerrit recently co-authored a book called “Let's Talk About the Translation of the Book of Mormon.” In the book, Gerrit shares his research on how the Book of Mormon was translated, including the common misconceptions and little-known facts.

Today on Saints Unscripted we do a fun activity that is familiar to most members of the LDS Church (otherwise known as the Mormon Church). Today we try and relate as many random things to the gospel as we can! Do you know that person who stands up at every Fast and Testimony meeting to share how their weekend adventures made them think about the gospel in some abstract way? Well today we are them!!

Julie and Aaron Bujnowski joined us on Saints Unscripted to share their most recent project and one that has already impacted many people. During the pandemic of 2020, Julie and Aaron began writing down their experiences and feelings pertaining to the Latter-day Saint temple. They were eventually prompted to share their written thoughts with the world through a published book. In their book, they share their many temple insights and how each of us can gain more perspective and love as we study about the temple.

In this episode we are joined by the brilliant and kind Lauren Cassidy! Lauren moved to Utah from New York just a few years ago after she converted to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (otherwise known as the Mormon Church). Lauren joins us to share her conversion story. Lauren grew up knowing about God and did her best to live a good life. However, she wasn't praying to God and wasn't quite sure where religion would fit into her life. During her sophomore year in college, Lauren found a Bible in her dorm and decided to read as much of. the scriptures as she could. She began searching for a community of believers where she could engage with the scriptures with likeminded people. Lauren shares her experience searching for a religion and coming across the Church of Jesus Christ.

Johnny Harris, YouTuber and independent journalist, recently made a video titled "The REAL Story of the Mormon Church." But what do active Mormons (correctly known as Latter-day Saints) think about his video? Does the video portray the real story of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or are there incorrect portrayals of the history of the Mormon Church? Was Joseph Smith a fraud? Are the origins of the Book of Mormon a complete hoax? In this episode, David Snell watches the video by ex-Mormon Johnny Harris and responses as a faithful Latter-day Saint.

Everyone who has served a mission has a crazy story about their mission. Well, we recently came across an article that claimed to have some of the craziest mission stories ever! We wanted to put the stories to the test to see if they really were as crazy as they claimed to be. We’d love to know what you think about these mission stories :) Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are accustomed to seeing 19 and 20 year old men and women leave to different parts of the world to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. During one’s mission, many beautiful and challenging experiences occur— some having to do with theology, some being totally secular. In this episode, we share hilarious stories on the more secular side of the spectrum. Check out Third Hour for more stories like these!

Levi shares his story of growing up with lots of exposure to religion. He realized in high school that based on his life trajectory, he wouldn’t make it past 21 years of age. He decided it was time to look into religion because he became concerned about the afterlife. One night, Levi asked God to send religion to him. The next morning he heard a knock on the door. He began talking with the Jehovah Witnesses for 6 months but became frustrated. Due to some unfortunate experiences, Levi decided to quit his search of religion. His mom, however, had different plans. Watch the video to hear how Levi’s life dramatically changed!

Have you seen the latest photo of Joseph Smith?! If so, you probably have a lot of questions (as did we!). We brought Curtis Weber to the show to talk about his extensive research on the subject and his research is fascinating! Thanks so much for joining us, Curtis!

Today we are joined by Tyler Gordon, one of the kindest people we have had on the show. We chatted with Tyler before this episode about his experiences and the spirit he brought with him was powerful and humble. We are so grateful for his vulnerability in sharing his story! Tyler grew up in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He served a mission faithfully and “checked the boxes.” Upon his return home, he was quickly exposed to anti-Mormon content and quickly lost his faith as he dove deeper and deeper into the claims made against his faith. He decided to remove his records and distance himself from the church. Tyler then saw the missionaries outside and asked them for their help in carrying his groceries. He never would have expected what would come next!

Have you ever heard of Pioneer Day, an official holiday in Utah? Many Utahans celebrate the day that Mormon pioneers arrived in Utah before Utah was settled. Many pioneers died on the trek across the plains, though many miracles took place on their journey to Utah. In this episode, we take a quiz to test our knowledge about the Mormon pioneers!

Elizabeth joins us today to share her remarkable story of faith, conversion, excommunication, and regaining her faith. If you watch any Saints Unscripted episode, this is the one to watch!! Elizabeth powerfully shares how she grew up in unfavorable circumstances but remained strong in the faith. Unfortunately, poor relationships and temptations grew and grew until she found herself about to lose her membership in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (otherwise known as the Mormon Church). Elizabeth didn’t think she’s be excommunicated (now called “withdrawal of membership) until she was. Her bishop said some profound words that impacted her forever. Listen as she shares her journey coming back to the faith!!