SOM Transcript - S5E2 (2024)

Season 5 Ep. 2

The following transcript is intended to aid in your study. However, while we try to go through the transcript, our transcripts are primarily computer-generated and often contain errors. Please forgive the transcripts’ imperfections.

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[00:00:00] Tammy Uzelac Hall: In last October's conference, Sister Tamara W. Runia challenged us to zoom out to view the family relationships as a powerful vehicle to teach us the lessons we came here to learn as we turn to the Savior. Now, many of us are familiar with the story of Lehi and Sariah and their family leaving Jerusalem and then going back to get the plates, but I have never zoomed out.

to view the family relationships in this story and how 1st Nephi chapter 1 through 5 can turn us to God and the Savior. So that's what we're going to do this week. We're going to take the challenge of Sister Runia that she gave to us and we're going to apply it to Lehi and Sariah's family.

Welcome to the Sunday on Monday study group, a Deseret Bookshelf Plus original brought to you by LDS Living, where we take the come follow me lesson for the week and we really dig into the scriptures together. I'm your host, Tammy Uzelac Hall. Now if you're new to our study group, please follow the link in our description.

It's going to explain how you can best use this podcast to enhance your come follow me study just like my friend, Rebecca Mullen. Hi Beck. Now another awesome thing, and my favorite thing about our study group. Cause each week we're joined by two of my friends. So it's always a little bit different. And today we have two new friends.

We've never heard from them and I've been wanting them to be on the podcast for so long. And here they are. You guys, we have Alexis Bradley and ChantÃ© Stutznegger. Hello ladies.

[00:01:22] Alexis Bradley: Hi. We're so excited to be here.

[00:01:26] Tammy Uzelac Hall: I've been following you on Instagram for a long time slash stalking you. I know you don't know that.

I told you, I just love your posts. Okay. So tell us a little bit about yourselves. How do you two know each other?

[00:01:37] Alexis Bradley: So we are sisters. We are biological sisters, best friends. We've done everything together pretty much since ChantÃ© was born. I am the older sister. I'm two years older than ChantÃ© . So We still have to try hard to not fall into those dynamics, but we do because I'm a little bossy, right?

[00:01:58] ChantÃ© Stutznegger: And I sometimes fall into the little sister princess role. I admit it.

[00:02:06] Tammy Uzelac Hall: See, we're going to love this discussion today because Alexis, I laugh so hard because I'm the oldest of five kids. And there was a meme going around that said the oldest daughter in the family is the toughest man you'll ever meet.

Amen, right?

[00:02:21] Alexis Bradley: Oh my goodness. That is me too. I really, I'm like, when we're moving even big furniture, my husband's like, maybe we should get some guy to come help us. I'm like, why? I can't like, I've been moving stuff since I was five. We've got this. Yes. Yes.

[00:02:36] Tammy Uzelac Hall: We need something fixed. Yeah. I can fix that. Please.

We're not calling a handyman.

[00:02:41] Alexis Bradley: I'm not a fixer, but I can move heavy things. That's for sure.

[00:02:45] Tammy Uzelac Hall: Oh, I love it. I love it. Okay. And then you two started an Instagram account and it's called Let's Talk Sis. Tell us what the whole background is for that and why you have that Instagram account.

[00:02:56] Alexis Bradley: So it actually was an accident.

It was one of those fun little. Things that we never imagined doing together as sisters, but we did an interview that went really big. Like a lot of people viewed it, saw it, were engaged in it, where we talked about some of our experiences growing up as black biracial women in Utah, and some of the challenges and then raising.

multiracial families here in Utah. Some of just our different experiences and family history. And it was during 2020 when people were really wanting to have some of these hard conversations, they're just, it, they didn't feel very accessible and we tried to make it more accessible.

[00:03:40] ChantÃ© Stutznegger: I think it was a divine accident.

And, you know, after we finished that interview, there were so many people saying, we want more conversations. We'd love to keep talking about this. And so we didn't just want to give out our personal Instagram accounts. That seems a little scary. So Alexis literally on a whim was set, said, we talk about everything.

We're sisters. Let's be, let's talk sis. And so that's where it began.

[00:04:05] Tammy Uzelac Hall: It's so fun because some of my favorite ones you post or when you're in the car together. And you're just talking.

[00:04:11] ChantÃ© Stutznegger: It's our office, our workspace.

[00:04:14] Tammy Uzelac Hall: Your workspace is your car. I love that you call it that. And I've really, I've just enjoyed your conversations because you're real.

And that's what I think, that's important to me. I love transparency. I love people who are just willing to be real. Um, sometimes you're doing your makeup in the car. You don't care. I mean, it's just, it's awesome because that's a, for me, that is a breath of fresh air. So. Thank you. Yeah. No, thank you for starting that.

And for starting these conversations that really are sometimes tricky to have and tricky to hear. So

[00:04:43] Alexis Bradley: well, you are welcome. We enjoy it. And it's a blessing that we've had so many fun adventures the past few years with Let's Talk Sis together as sisters. So yeah. Yes.

[00:04:54] Tammy Uzelac Hall: Oh, I bet. Well, for those of you listening, if you want to know more about my guests, you're going to want to go read their bios.

and find the links to all their information, which are going to be in our show notes. And you can find those at ldsliving. com slash Sunday on Monday. So go check it out and follow them on Instagram. You will not regret it. All right. So everyone grab your scriptures and whether you're studying alone with family or friends, we are going to dig into first Nephi chapters one through five.

Okay, before we even dive into family dynamics, here's our first question we ask all of our guests. Just tell me as you guys were preparing for this discussion, what did the Holy Ghost teach you from 1st Nephi chapters 1 through 5?

[00:05:30] ChantÃ© Stutznegger: You know, it's interesting because I think these are the chapters that I've read the most out of anything in the Book of Mormon because I can't tell you how many times I've started the Book of Mormon.

Um, but as I was reading it, I had a different perspective and I think it was, I think it was a blessing as the spirit was guiding me, but I started seeing so much of myself in Layman and Lemuel. And it felt a little yucky and negative. And then I thought, no, no, no, no, no. This is fabulous that I see those tendencies of the natural man in myself, because it's an opportunity to, to course correct and to shift in your whole life.

You hear about murmuring and stiff neckedness and all of these things that are so negative. And I really had sort of some come to Jesus moments where I'm like, life gets really, really hard. And it is so easy when things come at us to murmur and to complain and be angry. And what Nephi does in these chapters is, it's so beautiful, but it's also so difficult and takes intentional work to be that close to the spirit and have that much faith in every step.

[00:06:44] Tammy Uzelac Hall: Great answer. I like that. I found myself in that too, because you think to yourself so many times, I would have complained for sure. Like, are you kidding me? That's not really effective. Couldn't we have done that before we left? I mean, just all these like, Right. I for sure would have complained. Oh, that's good.

Okay. What about you, um, Alexis?

[00:07:05] Alexis Bradley: So I feel like I had two thoughts as I was going through this. First of all, I was thinking, Oh my goodness, I need to ask for help more from the Lord that I need to recognize that my abilities are very small compared to what I can do with the Lord's help. And when something feels so hard and impossible, do I go to my knees and do I ask God for help?

And then That was quickly accompanied by another thought is would my children trust me if I asked them to do something really hard and knowing that I had received that personal revelation, would my children get on board and have I taught and prepared them in a way that they would know to go and be prayerful and find their own answer if maybe they didn't trust mine.

And that really created a lot of thought and I thought, I don't know. I honestly don't know. So this is so exciting to dig into this deeper because I can just see all of the family dynamics, even thoughts for me personally as a parent. And I'm just really excited to talk about it.

[00:08:16] Tammy Uzelac Hall: Okay. This is going to be so awesome because when I was originally planning this, I thought it would be fun Rania's challenge, but then to have both of you on as sisters, it is going to just.

Explode these first five chapters, and I like how you said, Shantae, you've read these chapters so many times, and I think all of us have. We can relate. In fact, everybody can recite the first verse without even looking at it, which I'm going to have you do in the next segment or two, because we have read it.

But it is so cool. There's a different way to read so much of this. So we are going to just jump into these chapters, taking sister Rania's challenge. And I think what we have to know is who's this family, what are these dynamics and what role did God play in this family's lives? So here we go. Get ready, grab something to mark your scriptures with, and we're going to dive into this story.

Segment 2

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[00:09:10] Tammy Uzelac Hall: Okay. So hello, you two are sisters. Tell me about your family. Do you have more siblings? What's it all? Give me the breakdown.

[00:09:16] Alexis Bradley: Okay. So it is the two of us. My mom, um, married a guy who had been married before. So we have half siblings, but we did not really grow up with them. So it was just my sister and I, and when I was Two years old.

My dad got really sick and he passed away of lung cancer and Shantae was actually born two months after my father passed away So I say Shantae is the biggest blessing that Heavenly Father knew I needed my whole life Because if you know me You know, I could not have been an only child. That I needed this best friend.

And it's just such a gift that during such a hard time for my parents, she was a happy little surprise. And she was born after my father passed away. And we have just been inseparable ever since.

[00:10:13] Tammy Uzelac Hall: I didn't know that part of your story. That's amazing to me. Okay. Then you grew up and then you had, you got married and you had children.

How many children do you have between the two of you?

[00:10:23] ChantÃ© Stutznegger: We have seven total, so I have three and Alexis has four, and it's been really, really fun raising kids side by side, and I did get to have the best opportunity because she started having kids before I did, and being an aunt when you don't have children is the best thing on this earth.

I don't think there's anything more fun, so, but now we just, we're very close, our kids are like sibling cousins, really.

[00:10:53] Tammy Uzelac Hall: Oh, that's so fun. Tell me then, when you get together, are there dynamics, are there roles that these kids play in each other's lives? Oh, yeah. You see? Tell me about that.

[00:11:02] Alexis Bradley: Yes. Well, it's interesting because my first two had the undivided attention of my side of the family.

So they were the first grandkids and everything revolved around them. So they have kind of an interesting place, I feel like, on our side of the family and they are very close to ChantÃ© . Okay. So sometimes she hears. About little dramatic things that happen at school and weird things before I even hear about it because it's easier to tell their auntie before they have to confess to their mom.

And so it's really, it's really fun. And she's great. She always keeps their trust and encourages them to talk to me. And then the younger ones, I feel like they just. Kind of have meshed together like siblings. So then I have, so I have a 14, well, 15 now. She's 15. She just turned 15. 12 year old boy and then 9 year old boy and 7 year old little girl and Shantay as a 10 year old boy So that's right above my 9 year old and then a 5 year old and then now an 11 month old and so I feel like all the younger ones just kind of act like siblings and they really have fun together and they get along well.

And then the older ones. Just, I don't know, keep track of everyone, even sometimes Shantay and I get so caught up in conversation that our poor mom is like, girls, who's watching the kids, you know? Themselves.

[00:12:35] Tammy Uzelac Hall: They're watching each other. It's 1982. Give us a break. Right. Right. That'll be fine. We were, right?

Yes. Oh my gosh, that is a beautiful family dynamic. I think this is going to be such a fun discussion because when we look at who is involved in this story, let's go in to find out who we have and we're going to talk about these family dynamics. So the first place we want to go is everyone turned to where it says the first book of Nephi.

It's the first page of the Book of Mormon narrative. Okay, here we have the first book of Nephi, and we are just going to read the first sentence. And Alexis, if you would read that for us, as Alexis reads it, I want all of us to put a square around each name of the family members in this family. All right, Alexis, hit it.

[00:13:17] Alexis Bradley: An account of Lehi and his wife, Sariah, and his four sons being called beginning at the eldest, Laman, Lemuel, Sam, and Nephi.

[00:13:26] Tammy Uzelac Hall: There we go. That's who we're dealing with right here. Okay. So let's find out a little bit about these family members and what the scriptures can teach us about each one of them. So Nephi wrote this, that beginning part right there, he tells us about what they're doing.

It kind of gives us a breakdown of what's going to happen throughout the book of first Nephi at the top. It says his reign and ministry. His is Nephi and the word reign applies to him being the king or leader of the people and then his Nephi ministry, which means he was a prophet. So he's teaching about him being a leader and him being a prophet for all of his people and then we have these siblings.

Okay, so here we go you two. I want you just to give me without even reading it from the Book of Mormon. Recite 1st Nephi chapter 1 verse 1. Go.

[00:14:11] ChantÃ© Stutznegger: Oh boy. Okay. I, Nephi,

[00:14:14] Alexis Bradley: having been born

[00:14:15] ChantÃ© Stutznegger: of goodly parents.

[00:14:17] Tammy Uzelac Hall: That's it. That's all you need.

[00:14:19] Alexis Bradley: I was like, don't make me go any more than that one.

[00:14:23] Tammy Uzelac Hall: We all know that line.

Okay, highlight the word goodly. Let's find out what that word means in context of Lehi and Sariah, because I think this is so cool. So, I've been studying Hebrew for the past eight years, and this word has struck me as I've been reading it, because this word is used Every time a day is created in the Old Testament, the Lord saw that it was good, and Hebrew, good means tov, so, okay, it really can mean, and it was good, like, good job, well, it's pleasing, I'm really glad with how things turned out.

Now, another thing it could mean, though, and I thought this was powerful, Hugh Nibley teaches that the word goodly could mean, it means they were wealthy. And that they were well to do so a nephi having been born of parents that were well off had riches, because later we're gonna find out they're gonna leave it all.

But then I found this, the word goodly, or the word goodness in scripture often is attributed to keeping covenants. And so then you read this, a nephi, having been born of covenant keeping parents. Now, how does that affect the way you view the story?

[00:15:28] ChantÃ© Stutznegger: I, I got chills as you read it that way because I've always thought of it.

You know, as either being wealthy or just, you know, they were good people, but it does completely change how it starts even because, you know, we know the sacrifices that they're about to make and Nephi was so prepared. He was so prepared for what he was stepping into that it goes back to what Alexis was saying.

Have I prepared my kids? Would they be ready? Do they have that faith? If they were covenant keeping parents. That groundwork was laid, you know.

[00:16:03] Tammy Uzelac Hall: Right. Ooh, I like that so much, ChantÃ© . Well, and then when you consider this idea, Covenant Kinking Parents, and then you look at all how their children turned out, what does that tell you?

How does that affect the story?

[00:16:16] ChantÃ© Stutznegger: We get to make our own choices in this life. Yes. That's what it says. Yes.

[00:16:20] Alexis Bradley: That darn agency. Yeah. And it's, it's so fascinating because, ugh, I don't know. You know, being a parent is hard. And sometimes you think, if I teach them all of these things, and If I'm prayerful, but you really do see that each child has their own personality.

Obviously their own free agency and their own even spiritual gifts. And so some of this as you can see, like with Nephi, he, it's, he naturally goes there. Like you can see some of his spiritual gifts and you can see where it's maybe more of a challenge for some of the other siblings. But it is interesting to think that, you know, that they did have that foundation growing up.

If that means covenant keeping, that really is fascinating.

[00:17:10] Tammy Uzelac Hall: Yeah, I thought so, too, because as parents, we're just trying to do our best. We're trying to keep our covenants. And then we have kids. The end.

I mean, they're all over the place, right? It's so varied. And, you know, I really appreciated, ChantÃ© , how you said you found yourself in Lehman and Lemuel. So, we marked all of the names in the very beginning, and if you guys have a journal or something to write of, write their names down the side. Just make a column, write Lemuel, Sam, Nephi.

And I just want to, really quickly, let's just sum up each one of these siblings or people in the family based on what you read about them. So, we'll start with Lehi. As a Covenant Keeper, what else do we know about him from scripture? In our show notes, we actually have listed the names with scripture references that will teach you about these people.

But I wanted to just have a conversation about what we know about these people, just based on the whole story that we've heard our whole lives. So what do we know about Lehi?

See Also

Story Transcripts | Sounds of Sunday

[00:38:04] ChantÃ© Stutznegger: What are you going to want? Exterminator, but I don't know that that is a possibility.

[00:38:10] Tammy Uzelac Hall: Did you say an exterminator? Yes. I love it. Okay. Keep going.

[00:38:15] Alexis Bradley: I mean, I think shelter. I think, um, yeah, I think shelter is probably the biggest for me that I would want. A safe place for my family.

And maybe it's not even totally safe. Maybe it's just safer.

[00:38:29] ChantÃ© Stutznegger: Yeah, sure. Yeah. And then just those basic needs of, you know, knowing that you have food and water and, and things like that. And I can't even imagine having a baby in the wilderness, but they did it, you know?

[00:38:45] Tammy Uzelac Hall: Yes, absolutely. Okay, so let's continue with this idea then when we go back to the children of Israel.

They knew they couldn't stay in Egypt. That was no longer an option. I kind of think of us pre earth life. We knew we couldn't stay there. So they, and they knew where they wanted to go. They knew they wanted to go to the promised land. And we know that we were going to return what to this proverbial land flowing with milk and honey, which is to live with God again.

We know we want to get there. And so yet for this to happen. We have to be in the wilderness. Every single one of us has to experience this. And I think it's beautiful because I have this thought like, our heavenly parents know the benefit of the wilderness, but do we? Am I really savoring this experience of being in the wilderness?

Because it sure is yucky. And I like, I agree. Let's get an exterminator. The shelter needs to be nice. Can the food be really good? Because sometimes it's not and the situation surrounding us in the wilderness are less than pleasing. And yet here's our heavenly parents going, it's for your good. And I think of Heavenly Father saying to Lehi, get your family going to the wilderness and like, what?

Really? And God's like, yeah, you can't stay here anymore. You can't stay in Jerusalem because I need you to go to somewhere else. In fact, look at first Nephi. We're in chapter two. Look at verse 20, what he says about where they're going to go. And Shantay, can you read verse 20 for us?

[00:40:03] ChantÃ© Stutznegger: And in as much as ye shall keep my commandments, ye shall prosper and shall be led to a land of promise.

Yea, even a land which I have prepared for you, yea, a land which is choice above all other lands.

[00:40:18] Tammy Uzelac Hall: And you can just see Lehi going, yes, I want that. I mean, that's us. Yes, we want that. We want that. And then the Lord says, in the meantime, you're going to have to spend some time in the wilderness. So here's my question for both of you, because you gave great examples of what you would want if you were really living in the wilderness.

But if we apply this to us spiritually, what do we need to survive spiritually in this wilderness? Give us some examples of maybe what's helped you to survive in your wilderness.

[00:40:45] ChantÃ© Stutznegger: I, I did have a thought and maybe this isn't flawlessly answering your question, but as you were talking, I thought these, these family dynamics were crucial because I, I wouldn't survive in the wilderness alone.

I would not. But I think of the strengths of my family members and that would be my hope. to survive. And so even now, like our own wilderness as we're navigating, Heavenly Father gave us families for a reason. It is, it's our home base. It's what we can turn to in our struggles and our trials and the dynamics that we have in our families here, though they're hard sometimes.

We all have laymen and lemmels in our families. Sometimes that's who the role we play in our own But we also, those connections and those relationships. And I think building off of the connections and relationships, that's what got them through was their relationship with Heavenly Father and Lehi and Nephi and Sam and Sariah and their ability to trust to trust each other in those difficult situations and also to trust Heavenly Father that He did have a plan for them.

[00:41:59] Alexis Bradley: Well, and I think that those, kind of with the spiritual aspect of all of that, I mean, having an understanding the power of prayer, because I just feel like that is something that you are going to utilize a lot. And I even know that sometimes with those family dynamics, even in my weak moments when I hear my mother's prayer or when my husband gives me a blessing and hearing it come from even someone else's mouth can strengthen me even when I feel that I'm weak.

So I do think that there are a whole bunch of spiritual resources that I think would be needed in the wilderness. And I think that that individual faith, those spiritual gifts, um, you know, scripture, a place to worship. There's so many things that I think would be helpful, but I do think that not being there alone is, is powerful in more than one way, just not only with the family dynamics, but also Knowing that you have access to the spirit and to your heavenly parents.

[00:43:13] Tammy Uzelac Hall: Okay, you two just knocked it out of the park. Thank you so much for all, just, just for listening to that and then writing these down and coming with your insights because it was absolutely perfect. And I really appreciate your answers. You know, Shantae, when you said it's, we all need a home base. And our family is that home base.

And then Alexis, I wrote down how none of us can do this alone. And we need family and we need each other and we need prayer and we need God. I think that is brilliant. And so I'm thinking now about this family dynamic and Lehi and Sariah's family, and what did their home base look like in the wilderness and where did they live?

We're going to find out in the next segment.

Segment 4

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[00:43:59] Tammy Uzelac Hall: Okay. This is so much fun because when I was teaching seminary every year, we would always have a fun lesson where I would say, everyone turned to your favorite scripture in wherever it is and share it with me. So kids would be looking and a lot of them came from the book of Mormon, but inevitably every year I would get a boy, it was always a boy that would say, my favorite scripture.

I love how I imitate a boy's voice of a favorite. That's not how boys talk. I don't really know. I don't have, I don't have any boys. Who am I kidding? But a boy would always say 1st Nephi chapter 2 verse 15. Let's go there. We're here in chapter 2. And Alexis, read verse 15. Shortest scripture in the Book of Mormon.

[00:44:35] Alexis Bradley: Verse 15. And my father dwelt in a tent.

[00:44:40] Tammy Uzelac Hall: Okay, and then they would laugh because they would say it's that one and then Jesus wept. Those are the two that kids would always share. But I think it's really profound. It's probably one of the most profound verses for me in the Book of Mormon because Why in the world would Nephi take the time to tell us his dad dwelt in the tent?

Now it could be because he wants us to know he left his house and now they're camping out, right? And my dad left a beautiful home and we're living in a tent. However, I think it has far more to do with the social structure of the Book of Mormon and who's in charge than anything. And this is so cool, you guys.

I learned this a couple of years ago from my Hebrew teacher and this is what she taught me. So going back again to the Old Testament, The entire Bible, the whole Old Testament, is based and built on a very important social structure. And this social structure is going to really change the way we read the Book of Mormon this year.

So I want to tell you about it. Here we go. First, before we even get into the social structure, on your picture that you have of your wilderness, I want you to draw a tent. Like, if you had to live in a tent, what's that tent going to look like? So draw for me a tent on your picture. Maybe some of you are going to draw a hotel.

That's fine, too. Whatever you need to live in. I love it. Chante is shaking her head, yes, yes, a hotel. So draw for me your tent.

If I was teaching this to my seminary students, I for sure would have moved all the tables away and I would set up a tent in the middle of my classroom. And we would try to fit as many as we could in that tent. And it would be so much fun. I love stuff like this. Okay, tell me about your tent. What does it look like?

[00:46:22] ChantÃ© Stutznegger: My tent is as large as I could draw it. Because I can't imagine having to have multiple tents. I'd want all of my family in the same tent with me.

[00:46:32] Alexis Bradley: Yes! That's only because you have little kids, though. If you had teenagers, you may not want all of them in the same tent with you.

[00:46:40] Tammy Uzelac Hall: They have their own tent.

Yeah. Oh, that's so fun. Okay. You know, Alexis, what does your tent look like?

[00:46:47] Alexis Bradley: Mine looks like just a really basic tent. I just tried to fit it in. And it's just simple, but it provides shelter, and hopefully it, is a good tent.

[00:46:58] Tammy Uzelac Hall: Okay, this is so great. So ChantÃ© , I like how you said you'd want to all live together.

That may have well been what it was like for Lehi and his family. Here's a picture of a today, modern day tent. This is what a friend of mine took when she was over in Egypt. And I want to show you what this tent looks like. It's super fascinating.

[00:47:18] Alexis Bradley: Oh, wow. Right?

[00:47:21] Tammy Uzelac Hall: Now isn't it not what I would have thought of at all?

No. Now why'd you say wow? Tell me about it.

[00:47:27] ChantÃ© Stutznegger: It just was so much less luxurious than was in my head. Mm

[00:47:31] Tammy Uzelac Hall: hmm. What else do you notice about it?

[00:47:34] Alexis Bradley: I mean, it, it's definitely, like, it's kind of slumping a little bit in the middle, but you can still see that it would provide shelter. But I do think that our modern version of tents.

are just really easy to put up and they have a great shape and, you know, and this, I definitely, yeah, this is probably a lot more accurate of the type of shelter.

[00:48:02] Tammy Uzelac Hall: What do you make of all the different colors? Do you notice that?

[00:48:06] Alexis Bradley: Yes, it's very colorful and there's kind of like patchwork quilt.

[00:48:11] Tammy Uzelac Hall: Oh yeah, a patchwork tent.

Yeah. That's a good way to put it. Okay, so you want this picture in your mind. Because here is how the Old Testament social structure was set up. So this is what it's all about. So we have these family groupings that live together. There's one head person. Over this whole tribe or family and he is called the head kinsman.

That's his job now The kinsman played a super duper important role in the lives of those he was in charge of here's what he would do If he was your kinsman, he would protect you. He would feed you. He would fight your battles pay your debts He would share his land with you He would free you from enslavement and he would even marry the widow of a brother or a near kinsman So basically a kinsman meant being taken care of and you wanted a kinsman.

So there's two ways you could have a head kinsman. The first way is called kinsman in blood. It meant you were born in the tribe. So you automatically, it would be your father, most likely. He's the head kinsman. He's the main person over the whole tribe and he's going to take care of everybody. We have classic examples of this in scripture, Abraham, when he left because he was going to be killed and the Lord told him to get out, then it tells us in the book of Genesis chapter 12, he took his family and they lived in a tent.

So he's the head kinsman. He's going to take care of everyone. So you can be a kinsman in blood. Great. I'm born into the family. But what if you need a kinsman? So this is kind of a cool thing, and this still exists today. During Old Testament times, if you were fleeing for your life in the desert, and you were looking for someone to take care of you, it was the custom that you could seek shelter in the tent of a great sheik.

So you would run up to the tent of the picture I showed you, and you'd stand at the tent door, and you would yell this. You would yell, Ana Daki Luka. Anadakiluka! And you'd wave your hands in the air screaming, Anadakiluka! And what this means is, I am your suppliant, or I am your beggar, please help me, take care of me.

The sheik, or the lord of the tent, would hear this, and he would walk to the door, and he'd open it. And he'd see you there and he had two choices to make. Number one, he could say, go, leave, we're not gonna, we have no room for you here, we can't help you. Or he would take the hem of his robe and he would lift it up and he would wrap it around your shoulders and he would say, let him enter.

You would be allowed to come in to the tent and you'd be able to be with the family. Now the way this then worked is if he agreed to take you in. The head kinsman or the sheik would say, okay, now you have to enter into a covenant with me and with all my people. And so with this covenant, here's what I'm going to do.

I'm going to take care of you. And that's everything we said. I'm going to pay your debts. I'm going to get you out of enslavement. I'm going to protect you from anybody who's trying to hurt you. I'm going to feed you and I'm going to share my land with you, but you have to promise me that you will remain completely loyal and true to my family.

This is called a kinsman in law. You're entering into this law or this covenant. It's where we get sister in law. mother in law. That's where this comes from. Isn't this fun? So you become a kinsman in law to this head kinsman through a covenant relationship. Okay, now this is kind of cool. You can also marry into the family.

So when you marry into the family, you're adopted into this. You become a kinsman in law and on your wedding day, After you get married, you don't go off on honeymoon and get all these really cool gifts. You actually get a woven piece of goat's hair that the women weaved into a big gigantic piece of material that might be a different color that they're going to add on to the tent to make the tent bigger so that you can live with the family in a big gigantic tent.

Shantae, there's your big tent. You're just gonna keep And that's why the tent is different colors because you just keep adding on to the tent to make it bigger and bigger and bigger. Now you guys are going to love this because this is in Moroni. So we're just going to fast forward in Moroni. Moroni is done.

He's writing on the plates. He has one little bit. A little bit of metal left to ride on. And here he is going to combine two Isaiah scriptures into one thought. And here's what he has to say to us. He's already given us Moroni's challenge. Read the Book of Mormon, find out if it's true. And then he says this, go to Moroni chapter 10, verse 31.

This is such a cool verse of scripture. And you've heard it before, but now it's going to just make so much more sense with this idea of kinsmen intent. So Moroni chapter 10, verse 31. And Alexis, can you read verse 31 for us? Yes. Yes.

[00:52:46] Alexis Bradley: And awake and arise from the dust, O Jerusalem, yea, and put on thy beautiful garments, O daughter of Zion, and strengthen thy stakes, and enlarge thy borders for ever.

For thou mayest no more be confounded, and the covenants of the Eternal Father which he hath made unto thee, O house of Israel, may be fulfilled.

[00:53:08] Tammy Uzelac Hall: Okay, pause. We're the house of Israel. God, we've entered through into covenants with him. He is our head kinsman. And when he says to enlarge your borders and strengthen your stakes, he's talking about the tent.

Heavenly Father's tent. He's saying there's a lot of people that got to fit in this tent. We're in the gathering. Moroni is basically saying you guys better get ready. Those of you reading the Book of Mormon, this is the last thing I have to say to you. Enlarge your tent. Enlarge your borders, strengthen your stakes, because we got a lot of people who are going to come in and join us through a covenant relationship with God.

They're going to enter into covenants. They're going to join this family, this tribe. And I like this so much because When, when you have a head kinsman, you obey the head kinsman. When he speaks, you listen. When he asks, you obey. But when you break your kinship, when you break your covenant with him, it's a big deal.

Essentially, he can cut you off and he'll say, I can't protect you anymore. I can't give you food anymore. You left me. You want nothing left to do with me. So this breaking of this covenant is a big deal. And then we apply it to our relationship with Christ. Christ is our head kinsman. He's over our tent.

We're all in this tent together, every single one of us. And it just, you're going to see a lot of this wording as you read the book of Mormon, where you're going to read about being cut off, keeping the covenants of our Lord. And it just reminds us like. Whose tribe we belong to? Christ's. Whose tent are we sleeping in?

His. Every single one of us. So, when you go back to 1st Nephi chapter 2 verse 15, and Nephi takes the time to say, My father dwelt in a tent, he's saying, My dad's the head kinsman and anybody who wants to join us has to do it through a covenant. If he's the head kinsman, that means when Lehi speaks, we listen.

When Lehi asks, we obey. And that's kind of what's going to happen, hopefully in this next story. So all of this then I want to know, is your brain just swirling? Tell me some of your thoughts.

[00:55:07] Alexis Bradley: My brain is swirling. And I, I really love, because I think that that helps you see the order of things. And And it does, it ties even to things that we have nowadays, like brother and sister in law, and then just that caretaking responsibility.

Of Lehigh presiding over his family and then eventually taking care of and protecting even more people. That is really interesting. And I do just feel like enlarging our tent, like what a beautiful visual of just seeing a tent with multicolors on it that is welcoming and inviting more people. But there's still be an order to that.

It is so interesting to me.

[00:55:55] Tammy Uzelac Hall: Oh, that's really cool. I like your how you sum that up.

[00:55:59] ChantÃ© Stutznegger: And that's really where my mind went was just It's expanding our tents and what does that look like now, you know, as, as we try and apply these things, it, I love what Alexis said is there was order to it. You know, it wasn't this like chaotic, let everyone in, but it was about commitment and trust and loyalty and working together.

And it just is, to me, it's those fundamentals of. This community and being, you know, being the body of Christ and what that, what that all means. So the imagery as you were speaking was just so beautiful for me.

[00:56:39] Tammy Uzelac Hall: Oh, thank you for, for saying that, you know, for years I had this thought, why do we keep covenants?

Like I've had dear family members and friends leave the church. They're happy. Life is great for them. Like, why do we stay? And someone once said because of covenants and I was like, Yeah, that's a lot of work. And then when I learned this idea of God being the head kinsman and entering into covenants with him and what he can do for us.

He will protect us. He will provide for us. He will feed us. He will get us out of enslavement. I mean, it's so beautiful. And then this idea of when he speaks, do I listen? When he asks, do I obey? And that is what Nephi is teaching us. My father dwelt in the tent. Yeah, he did. And he's in charge. And so now when he asks his sons to do things, We understand why, even though they complained, they were still obedient.

And so we're going to learn about that story in the next segment.

Segment 5

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[00:57:43] Tammy Uzelac Hall: Okay, you two, I asked Alexis and ChantÃ© to help us tell the story because Lehi gets this vision. They got to go back to Jerusalem. What? And so I wanted you two to tell us the story in your own way. I think it's going to be so fun. We're very familiar with the story, but I want to know your take on it and what you have to say.

So hit it, you two.

[00:58:02] ChantÃ© Stutznegger: Well, to me, this was a story of I can do hard things. And that's kind of been the theme in the Stutznegger household. That is our thing. Stutzneggers can do hard things and nothing's this hard. For us, it's like practicing piano. You know, we can do hard things. But as I'm imagining this.

You know, you were talking about that journey from Jerusalem to the, to the Red Sea, and it's just, that's a long way to go back. So here we have Nephi and Laman and Lemuel and Sam, and they're supposed to take this journey back to get these plates, and they have no idea how they're gonna do it, and immediately Nephi, he believes that he can go and do this, and he has faith and trust in Heavenly Father, and I think as I was reading it, I thought, You know, but prior to this, Nephi had been crying unto the Lord and praying.

And so, of course, he was in a mindset of faith and just ready to take this journey. And so they get there and, I mean, I can only imagine, you know, four brothers. Who's going to go in first? Which one is it going to be? And so they essentially kind of draw straws and it's, it's Laman. And he gets to go in and ask.

And Laban was not happy. This was, this was not a good interaction. And he says, pretty much calls him a robber and says, I'll kill you, you know. And so he leaves. And Nephi's not willing to give up. No, we've been asked to do something. The Lord's going to provide a way for us to do this. So let's go do it.

And he has this idea. You know, we left all of everything in Jerusalem, so let's go back and get these, these, this gold and silver and all of this and maybe we can offer this to Laban and he'll Take this and give us the plates. Well, it didn't go that way. And, you know, again, they flee for their life. And this time, Laman and Lemuel are pretty ticked.

And I think I would be pretty ticked, too.

[00:59:57] Tammy Uzelac Hall: Because you're scared.

[00:59:58] ChantÃ© Stutznegger: And you're, not again. You're nervous of this. And so, again, um, oh, and this is where they start beating their younger brothers. Yeah, they're beating them up. Beating them up, like, we don't want to do this, we're done. And so, an angel comes, and, you know, they have their come to Jesus moment again, and so, here Nephi, he's ready to go back in.

And he is trusting. For me, this is probably the most profound part because he doesn't know how. He doesn't know how, but he knows Heavenly Father will provide a way. And I think we see this theme throughout the scriptures, even, even as we look at the pioneers as they journeyed, and they're stepping into this, these shadows, these darkness of uncertainty, knowing that God's going to provide a way.

And so Nephi goes back and Laban is there and he's drunk and he's laying out asleep and so Nephi takes his clothes and he is prompted to slay him. And this is a part that's really hard for me to explain to my children, but I want them to understand that sort of the laws of the time and the commandments and how, you know, we lived were different back then.

It wasn't the same as it is now. And that Nephi had a deeper understanding that People had to grow and perish and these were vital. These plates, these stories of their fathers were so important and this was going to lead them to belief and they were gonna be able to share these words and it couldn't perish with Laban.

And so it was about God's work really growing and and spreading and so he did what he was asked to do and their servant Gives him the plates, and he is able to fulfill what his father knew, what Lehi knew he could do, and also what Heavenly Father knew he could do. And it's just a story of doing hard things.

Through faith and trusting in Heavenly Father. And I'm sorry, Alexis, because I just did the whole thing and I didn't let you in.

[01:02:10] Alexis Bradley: Yay! Applause! It was wonderful. It was so good. Well, and the part that sticks out to me is, Yeah. I feel like when I have something difficult that I know that I need to do, and I'm prayerful, I go to the temple, and those answers just don't come.

But sometimes it is line upon line, and I feel like with several attempts to get these plates, I don't know if they were failed attempts. I think it was more of they were doing what was asked, and I don't know what parts were inspired, what parts were just really great ideas, what parts were maybe even out of desperation.

But at the very end, when Nephi goes that last time, it is. Like, Lord, tell me what to do and I'll do it and that how he's relying. On the spirit and that partnership right there in that moment, I think is beautiful, even though I will admit I'm like, Oh, he just killed someone. Oh my goodness. And it does feel so different when then you're teaching these things to your kids, you know, because they're asking all these really good questions.

But I do think of just the times in my life where I felt like everything else moves aside. And it's just me and the Lord and we just have to figure it out. And it's just this partnership. And I think that's what is so cool about this story is that the Lord's work and the mission that needed to be fulfilled in this moment, he helped Nephi do it.

And Nephi shows us time and time again, he is willing to go and do the things that the Lord commands over and over again. And I think of how quickly. I will be like, the answers just aren't coming, or maybe I'll just do this, and the process is too hard, or it takes too long, that you see in this situation, it just, it took a lot of times to actually do it.

[01:04:16] ChantÃ© Stutznegger: And I always want to know before, like what's the plan, what are we going to do, what happens after A, what does B look like, and you know, Nephi, he literally says, and I was led by the spirit not knowing beforehand, he had no idea what he was going into. But just one step at a time. And then he says, nevertheless, I went forward.

Like he, he just did it.

[01:04:41] Tammy Uzelac Hall: I think that's so cool because here they are, they're in Jerusalem, but really Nephi's in his wilderness. Like this is where he really learns about God, how to hear, how to listen, all of that. And not knowing beforehand, I'm really grateful you brought that up. That is powerful. Good stuff.

It's such a good story. So can I show you some cool, a really cool Hebraism in the story that we're familiar with? Yes. Okay. This is super fun. First thing is go to first Nephi chapter four, because in first Nephi chapter four, this is where Zoram. So as in the story, as it goes, Zoram follows them out into the wilderness.

And then he realizes, wait a minute, this isn't Laban. This is some guy who dressed as Laban and he tries to flee. And Nephi. This is Nephi chapter 4 verse 31, it says, Nephi being a man large in stature, so he grabs Zoram, but this is kind of cool. Verse 32, it says, And it came to pass that I spake with him.

This is Nephi saying, I spake with him, Zoram, that if he would harken into my words, I would As the Lord liveth and as I live, even so that we would hearken unto our words, we would spare his life. Highlight, as the Lord liveth and as I live. That is the oath of all oaths wording. That is covenant wording right there.

That is where Nephi is saying to Zoram, if you make this covenant or this oath, in fact verse 33 says, and I spake unto him even with an oath. That's where he enters in and becomes a kinsman in law. And Zoram says, you bet, I'll do it. He entered into an oath of all oaths with Nephi at that moment. And Nephi says, we will take care of you.

We will prepare for, and we will provide for you from here on out. And Zoram's like, I'm in. And so that's how he gets connected with the family. Covenant right there. And he's like, my dad, the head kinsman in the wilderness, he's got a tent. You can live with us. We'll totally take care of you. So I think that is so cool.

That's that connection. Okay. But here's a cool Hebraism. Now that we call them Hebraism. So here's what we're going to do. Everyone listening. I'm going to introduce this. So throughout this year, I'm going to show you some really cool Hebraisms. Those are cool little things in the Book of Mormon that you only find in Hebrew writing.

And you're like, why would that be in the Book of Mormon? Here's what President Nelson had to say about Hebraisms. And ChantÃ© , will you read this quote for us from our prophet? Yes. He said this when he wasn't the prophet, though. He gave this quote back in, at a missionary president's seminar back in 1992.

But here's what he said about the Book of Mormon in Hebrew.

[01:07:08] ChantÃ© Stutznegger: Because the Book of Mormon is a translation of a modified Hebrew language, It contains many Hebraisms.

[01:07:15] Tammy Uzelac Hall: Thank you. So I'm going to show you a bunch of those because Joseph Smith, he published and pre printed and published the Book of Mormon, but he would not study Hebrew for at least five or six more years because some people are like, well, he studied Hebrew.

He did not study it when he was translating the Book of Mormon. So he, there's no way he could have known any of these things. So here's what we want to do. We're going to highlight a specific verse, go to first Nephi chapter three, and you told us this story, so I'm going to show it to us. First Nephi chapter three.

And we just want to look. At verse three and four, there are two Hebraisms, Hebraisms in these verses. So I'm going to, I'm going to read these verses and have you mark them. Here we go. For behold, Laban hath the record of the Jews, also a genealogy of my forefathers, and they are engraven upon plates of brass.

Highlight plates of brass. And then in verse 4, Wherefore the Lord hath commanded me that thou and thy brothers should go unto the house of Laban. Highlight that, house of Laban. And seek the records and bring them down hither into the wilderness. Okay, plates of brass and house of Laban. are what we call in Hebrew the construct state.

So I have just highlighted those and written to the side, the construct state. As opposed to a possessive state, which is what we use in the English language, we would never say plates of brass. What do we call them in our English language? Brass plates. There it is. You would never say, I'm going to the house of Laban.

If you're going to your friend's house, you would say, where are you going? Goin to Laban's house. Yeah, exactly. Right? Laban's house. That is crazy. So even Joseph would have done that. I'm going, he's, he went to Laban's house or he went to go get the, the brass plates. Here's a couple of other ones. The rod of iron, we would say, the iron rod.

In fact, we have a song. Hold to the rod. Can you imagine if it was hold to the rod? The rod of iron. It doesn't even flow. We say the iron rod, um, land of promise, tables of stone, or the spirit of God. These are all Hebraisms. And so mark those and know that because throughout this year, we're going to just mark some really cool things that show we have this idea of Hebrew.

And then lastly, turn with me to Mormon. So in the book of Mormon, go to the book of Mormon. And we're going to read this last verse about the importance of Hebrew in the Book of Mormon. So go to Mormon.

our plates had been sufficiently large, we should have written in Hebrew, but the Hebrew hath been altered by us also. And if we could have written in Hebrew, behold, ye would have had no imperfection in our record.

[01:09:59] Tammy Uzelac Hall: How cool is that? So they didn't write totally in Hebrew, but there's Hebraisms. There are literary styles that they were familiar with that you're going to see in the Book of Mormon.

So we're going to do that all year this year. And that is a fun one. So thank you for indulging me. I think that's cool. I love it. So fun. Okay. So that's the journey. Then they go back. Finally, they get to see their parents. They're super duper excited. And so we have just got done this whole episode talking about who is in the family, the family dynamics, the story of being in the wilderness, living in a tent.

And so in the last segment, we're then going to answer what we started out with in the very beginning is What role did God play in all of this for this family? So we'll do that next.

Segment 6

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[01:10:49] Tammy Uzelac Hall: So before we met, I talked to Alexis and Shantae, and I asked them, as they were reading 1st Nephi chapters 1 through 5, to just look for examples of the role that God played in the lives of this family, and to come prepared just to share verses of scripture. What did you guys find?

[01:11:06] ChantÃ© Stutznegger: So for me, the theme that I kind of marked as I was reading was this, It's connection and conversation with God that it always goes back to prayer.

And it seems like such this, this open, beautiful channel of communication where God wasn't just their guide, Lehi and Nephi were allowing God to guide them. And so, I, I love, you know, reading just at the beginning, wherefore it came to pass that my father Lehi, as he went forth and prayed unto the Lord, yea, even with all his heart.

And, and he's praying on behalf of his people, but as we continue, like, Nephi is found. Crying unto God and praying, and it's this continual seeking of direction, and you see that God is always present throughout this whole journey, even though they don't always get it on the first try, they didn't get the plates on the first try, but you know that God is guiding them, and you see these details happening one thing after another that you know He's allowing his Children to learn.

He's allowing his Children to make choices, but he has never left, and he is always there, willing to guide their their footsteps as they As they go through their wilderness.

[01:12:31] Alexis Bradley: And I love that ChantÃ© . And I feel like that is similar to what I felt also, but I think that what really hit me and you touched on this is that they allowed God into their life enough to guide them at this level.

And. In chapter two, verse one, it says for behold, it came to pass that the Lord spake unto my father, yea, even in a dream, and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Lehi, because of the things which thou hast done, and because thou hast been faithful, and declared unto this people, Um, The things which I commanded thee, behold, they seek to take away thy life.

Like that is big that he even was told that. And I feel like the faith and the relationship of trust and that warning, I mean, that literally that warning alone protected generations to come protected. Even this important story that we have now, that he listened, and he fled, and he did what he needed to do.

And I just feel like, when you see God's hand in this family, We're reading it and we're looking at it from a little bit farther away than maybe how we look at our own family or the families that we interact with every day. But I truly believe that God wants to be involved and guide us through our wilderness just like he did Nephi's family.

And that we get to practice these things and we get to see them in such this beautiful human real way of success and failure and trying again. Amen. and even having to go through really difficult trials of faith to be able to have more humility and to be able to rely on him even more. It's really interesting to see.

that and know that that exists for us, but we don't always see it that same way.

[01:14:40] Tammy Uzelac Hall: Yeah, absolutely. Okay. Do me a favor. So both of you just sit back right now, sit back, get comfy. Okay. I'm going to ask you a question. Think through your whole life. And I want to know if you would be willing to share a story when God met you in your wilderness.

Do you have a specific experience you could share with us?

[01:15:02] Alexis Bradley: I do hit it. Okay. So this is, um, my husband and I are in the middle of a big transition with his job. So we have three little kids. Um, my youngest isn't even a year old yet. And we move from Utah to North Dakota. We don't know very many people. We know maybe one person there. And during that time leading up to the move.

I start experiencing a lot of health problems. Um, doctors think it's allergic reactions. We don't really know what I'm allergic to. I'm experiencing, you know, breathing issues, tightening of throat. And we get there and that same day that we arrived in this new town, in this new city where we don't know people, um, I needed to use an EpiPen and ended up in the hospital.

And I remember being so scared because we didn't even have people that we could leave our kids with. And we, um, my husband, pretty much I was admitted. He was with the kids. ChantÃ© is back here at home knowing what's going on. She's trying to figure out a way to get my mom out to us because she knows that we need help.

And. Anyway, I just remember feeling so scared and so alone. My baby had never been away from me before. I was his source of nutrition. And it was just so scary. I didn't know anyone there and it was just such a lonely terrifying experience and knowing that this thing kept happening to me and the doctors couldn't figure out why.

Um, so anyway, it was, I was in the hospital and by this time my family back home had gotten in touch with the ward that we were supposed to be in and we hadn't met anyone in the ward. And I remember. Being so scared and feeling so alone and Sister Tonini shows up one night at the hospital and I'd never met her before ever ever ever and she and her husband came And they sat with me for hours and talked to me and we got to know each other Um, and I just remember seeing these little tender mercies and these little blessings.

My mom came quickly and she was able to be with my kids and my husband had to start this new job. Anyway, I was released eventually from the hospital, but with a lot of questions, we didn't know what was going on and it would happen periodically. My throat would tighten off. I couldn't breathe. We didn't know what I was reacting to and I just kept praying and wanting answers.

It was so scary. I wasn't. I didn't know if it was something I was eating, if it was something that was in the house that we were living in, even though it had happened prior before even getting there. Everything's felt scary. And, um, I remember that my husband gave me this blessing in the hospital before I was released, and it was our new bishop that we had just met helped.

And I remember listening to the blessing and being so disappointed. Because it didn't say that all was going to be well immediately. And in the blessing, it said it was going to be a trial of my faith. And I remember even the new bishop saying, Oh, he was so touched by the blessing. And I thought that is not what I wanted to hear at all.

So for a couple of weeks, I went to doctor's appointments. I went on this extreme elimination diet and we just could not figure things out. And I remember one night just feeling so discouraged and praying my heart out. saying, I will do everything that you want me to do and I will not do anything that could harm me, but you just have to tell me.

And I just prayed. I couldn't live like that. I couldn't take care of my children and my mom couldn't stay for very long. Um, and that next morning I woke up and I went and I got the medication that the doctors had given me. And I just felt this pause before I took it, just this absolute pause. And I felt this strong prompting to not take the medication.

And I remember based on my logic, it didn't make sense because they had been increasing me taking all of these like antihistamines and allergy medications because my body was having such a severe allergic reaction and you were seeing it in my blood work. And I thought this doesn't make sense, but I just prayed I will literally do.

whatever you tell me to do. And, um, anyway, I stopped taking it and every day I started feeling a little bit better. And then I started doing some research on my own and it's really rare, but I was having an allergic reaction to Zyrtec and they kept giving me more And that was causing even the reactions to be more severe.

So it literally was extreme, extreme seasonal allergies that I'm sure were exacerbated by so much stress from the moon that my body was reacting. So intensely and then they started giving me more and more of this medication and the more these episodes were happening They were increasing the dose and that was causing my throat to close off And anyway, it was the weirdest thing even the doctors it was so simple But I had to rely and pray do I eat this?

Do I drink this? Do I do this? Do I go here? And after weeks of time of feeling so discouraged and like I was wandering in the wilderness, having that clarity, it literally was a trial of faith. And until I was ready to fully say I will do whatever and I will pray every minute of the day. That I finally got an answer.

[01:20:52] Tammy Uzelac Hall: Alexis, that's a fabulous story. A perfect example of everything we've talked about today, and the wilderness and trusting in God. Thank you. Thanks for being inspired to share that story. You're welcome. So good. What about you, ChantÃ© ?

[01:21:07] ChantÃ© Stutznegger: You know, as I was thinking, I thought, most of the time when I'm in my wilderness and things are just heavy and hard, it's usually, I think, the people that God puts in my life.

That are sort of what lifts me up when I was a newlywed. My husband and I were just a day away from our one year anniversary. Our, our oldest son passed away, um, shortly after birth. And I remember in the hospital just holding him in my arms and just weeping. And I kept looking at my husband and saying, I can't do this.

I can't do this. And I had this feeling come to me that you don't have to. You don't have to by yourself. And I just, as I look back at that horrible and heavy and dark time in my life, it was really the people that Heavenly Father sent to me that carried me through. And I think that, you know, as we look at this family in their wilderness.

It really is. I love this. Just speaking of the family dynamics, because we do carry each other from time to time. And, and we find that we lean into each other's faith. And when things get hard, sometimes someone's stronger than the other person. And I think that Heavenly Father specifically places people in our life.

[01:22:35] Tammy Uzelac Hall: Thank you, I did not know that story about you. I appreciate you sharing that. Both of you for being so vulnerable to share. And as you were sharing, I just kept thinking about how good God is and as our head kinsman. How wonderful he is to just, I'll take care of you. I got your back in all facets. Both of your stories are beautiful witness of that.

So thank you ladies. Thank you for joining me for this discussion. This was so cool today. I knew I wanted you on this podcast for a reason and today as a witness of that. So well,

[01:23:05] Alexis Bradley: thank you. I appreciate you and your invitation and so fun. It was wonderful. I'm like, can we hang out and do this every week?

[01:23:13] Tammy Uzelac Hall: This is what it's like. This is our podcast. I want you to teach me all this stuff. It's so good. Okay. So do this. We always ask our guests at the end to just gather your thoughts. And what was your takeaway? Is there anything that's just going to stick with you or that you're going to remember or want to tell other people about?

So just. And when you got it, just hit it and it's just like a quick sentence and that's it.

[01:23:34] Alexis Bradley: Okay. I think, I think my big takeaway that I think I personally needed to be reminded of is that we are not alone in our wilderness. And even though it might feel like it at times, we are not alone in our wilderness.

[01:23:50] Tammy Uzelac Hall: That tent is huge. There's so many of us living in it together. Yes. Good one.

[01:23:55] ChantÃ© Stutznegger: That's so good. I love that. And just, just to add on to what Alexis said, I think for me the visual of the tent and me having the opportunity in my wilderness to expand my tent is so profound for me that our call and our charge to love God's children and to take care of each other is is so profound.

And I really learned that from going through this story.

[01:24:19] Tammy Uzelac Hall: Oh, awesome. I learned from both of you. I really love this idea where you talked about how we need each other. We need family, we need God. And then that word home base, like what is my home base? And I was reminded of that. So thank you both of you for sharing, for just being sisters, for loving each other enough to be on the podcast, but you can just feel that love.

And I feel like that's what I want. I want a tent that has this much love where we have each other's backs. Our kids love each other. And, um, I think that's what God really intended for every one of us when we left our Egypt, knowing where we're going to end up someday. And they knew the benefit of the wilderness.

And so I want women like you in my tent. That's what I, that's my takeaway. So I love you both.

[01:25:01] Alexis Bradley: Thank you.

[01:25:03] Tammy Uzelac Hall: Oh, gosh. Okay. What was your takeaway? I want to know. So go and join our group on Facebook or follow us on Instagram to share what you have learned. And you can even ask questions, which I try to answer throughout the week.

And then at the end of the week on a Saturday, we will post a question from this whole episode. So go and comment on the post that relates to this lesson and share your thoughts. You can get to both our Facebook and Instagram by going to the show notes for this episode on ldsliving. com slash Sunday on Monday.

And if you go there, it's going to be great because we're going to have all of the references as well as a transcript of this entire discussion. So go check it out. The Sunday on Monday study group is a desert bookshelf plus original brought to you by LDS living. It's written and hosted by me, Tammy Uzelac Hall.

And today are Just so incredible study group participants was Alexis Bradley and ChantÃ© Stutznegger. And you can find more information about my friends at LDSliving. com slash Sunday on Monday. Our podcast is produced by Cole Wissinger and me. It is edited and mixed by Cole Wissinger and our executive producer is Erin Hallstrom.

Thanks for being here. We'll see you next week. And oh my goodness, please remember that he is your divine kinsman and you are his favorite.

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SOM Transcript - S5E2 (2024)

References