scriptures study – LatterDaily™

February 3, 2024February 3, 2024

12 Scriptures for a Healthy Relationship by Hank Smith

Marriage. Parenting. Neighbors. Friends. Employers. Classmates. Colleagues. Customers.

Everywhere we go, we form a bond with someone somehow. Some connections are quickly created in passing, while others, like marriage, are made to linger longer. Regardless of the status, all relationships are opportunities to grow and develop as our souls become more like our Heavenly Father.

Scriptures for a Healthy Relationship

In his latest Hank Helps miniseries, inspirational podcaster Hank Smith addresses Scriptures for a Healthy Relationship. In this twelve-part series, Hank discusses select verses from the Bible, the Book of Mormon, and the Doctrine and Covenants that he has found useful in strengthening his own relationships. And, while a lot of the discussion in these episodes revolve around marriage and children, the principles could be applied to any form of relationship in their life that needs a little TLC.

Each episode ranges anywhere from 7-15 minutes long…the PERFECT length for listeners to fit into their already over-scheduled lives.

While these episodes are great to listen to on your own, we highly recommend listening to them with a spouse, parent, adult child, friend, neighbor, or anyone else you might want to improve your relationship with.

These scriptures may look familiar to you; you’ve probably heard most of them before…but you’ll be AMAZED at how Hank Smith takes the familiar verses and sheds so much new insight that can help change your relationships forever!

What Listeners Are Saying

***We created a focus group and let a few people access all of the episodes before they were released. Here are some of their reviews:

Renie: “I thoroughly enjoyed all of these episodes. Hank makes it easy to look inward because of his humility and the examples he shares. He explains why the ideas he puts forth will improve relationships both psychologically, spiritually, physically and emotionally with just the right amount of scientific studies and personal experiences. I appreciate Hank’s vulnerability and the sacred things he shares. I greatly appreciate the opportunity to enjoy this mini series.”
Denise: “I’m so glad that I had the opportunity to listen to this series! So many things sparked thoughts and impressions that I hadn’t had before. I was familiar with all of the scriptures, but several of them had a new light shined on them, and what a great view! I look forward to the improvements that this can make, not only in my relationships, but also in my life on a personal level.”
Holly: “I loved listening to these episodes! I was blown away by how simplistic but profound the thoughts expressed were. I felt extremely uplifted and enjoyed every minute of this series.”
Camie: I wish I could have listened to this 20 years ago when I was a young wife/mother. I would recommend this to everyone I know. I gained a lot of great information to help in all aspects of my life including interacting with family, friends, and co-workers. I have had a few relationships that I have been struggling with the last couple of month and this was very helpful, as it helped me look more inward and see how I can work on myself instead of trying to fix them.

Make listening fun with the “12 Scriptures for a Healthy Relationship” bingo card. (Helps you both keep track of the episodes you’ve listened to.)

Print your card here for free.

Ready to Listen?

Scriptures for a Healthy Relationships are an exclusive miniseries housed on the Our Turtle House App. Listen to the entire series, beginning here.

Don’t have the Our Turtle House App? No Problem! Get your free 7-day trial here.

August 25, 2022September 21, 2024

Digital Firesides: A Sunday Night Tradition

“Fireside” is a term often used by members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints to represent a small, inspirational meeting. Here, friends and families gather to listen to gospel-centered messages by prayerfully-selected speakers, followed by some form of yummy treat.

Friends + Inspiration + Treats!?! It’s no wonder everyone looks forward to firesides!

Our Turtle House Digital Firesides

When the pandemic hit in 2020, gatherings were temporarily suspended and most everything went digital. People who enjoy the social aspect of church functions lost connection with those with whom they felt rooted to. Our Turtle House saw the need for community and gathering and created Sunday evening Digital Firesides.

It’s a fireside…and it’s online digitally…so it’s a Digital Fireside!

A Sunday Evening Tradition

Digital Firesides have become a Sunday night tradition to thousands of families across the globe! We’ve received messages from friends and neighbors who gather together to watch Digital Firesides and many more who share the events on all their social media pages. Many ward and/or youth groups even have Sunday evening “watch parties”.

So gather your group together.

We’ll do ALL of the planning, scheduling, and booking to bring the gospel-centered messages to you. The only thing you need to do is decide whether or not to provide your group’s favorite yummy treat!

Easy. Peesy.

Join our audience as they gather virtually Sunday evenings at 6 p.m. MT on the Our Turtle House App, Facebook page, and YouTube channel to watch some of your favorite inspirational speakers. From Olympians to authors, and Institute teachers to musicians…a wide variety of popular guests join host Mark Williams as they talk about powerful topics that you, our audience, request.

Have a speaker or topic you’d like to suggest? Let us know! Contact us at: turtle.link/share

May 26, 2022June 16, 2022

Why Are We Called “Our Turtle House”?

You know us by our app.

Perhaps you’ve attended one of our live events.

It’s even possible that you’ve heard a bunch of our special guests say the name “Our Turtle House” on their social media platforms.

But, what does that even mean? Better yet, where in the world did that name even come from!?!

The “Back” Story

The story stems back to 2004 when one of our founders, Meg Johnson was hiking in Southern Utah on a red rock trail near what is called Turtle Rock. She began exploring the boulders along the trail, leaping from one to the next to the next.

As she leapt to the last red boulder in her view, she discovered that there actually wasn’t a boulder there to catch her after all! Instead, she had just leapt off a 40-foot cliff.

Meg landed on her hands and knees, the impact of the fall breaking both femurs, both wrists and 3 bones in her neck. She was life-flighted to Salt Lake City where Meg was pronounced a quadriplegic (paralyzed from the chest down without the use of her hands).

The road to recovery was long and difficult; Meg was often plagued with discouragement, but never defeat. Throughout it all, Meg made a conscious effort to focus solely on optimism and gratitude. She wanted to turn what most people would consider a “devastating accident” into a sacred spiritual experience.

The App Is Born

Ten years after the accident, Meg wanted to do something fun and inspirational to celebrate. She had been doing a lot of motivational speaking and thought it would be fun to do something for an audience. She contacted fellow inspirational speakers Hank Smith and John Bytheway and together they presented a “When Life Gets Hard” Conference.

Then they did another.

And another.

Audiences loved the conferences so much that Meg, Hank, and John decided it would be fun to create a way that audiences all over the world could access these talks, so the idea of forming a membership site evolved. The site would need to be:

All-inclusive
Family-friendly
Both fun AND inspirational
Filled with a wide variety of content
Something even the youth would enjoy
And, finally, easily accessible.

Once they had a vision in they built that site, which then turned into an app: Our Turtle House…a family-friendly app filled with gospel-centered fun!

The “House” Tour

Filled with thousands of hours of exclusive podcasts, talks, firesides, and devotionals, The Our Turtle House App is home to unlimited entertainment from Hank, Meg, and John as well as hundreds of popular guest speakers like Al Carraway, John Hilton III, Jody Moore, Anthony Sweat and more.

The Our Turtle House App also has loads of resources for your weekly “Come, Follow Me” gospel studies. Download or print weekly lesson plans and stream podcasts centered around the “Come, Follow Me” curriculum from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

Plus, watch or listen to over a dozen new releases each week.

Here’s what you’ll get with a full Our Turtle House App membership:

TURTLE TALKS: Remember talks on CDs? Yeah they’re like that. We’re home to dozens of hilarious full-length talks filmed in front of a live studio audience.
COME, FOLLOW ME LESSON PLANS: Lessons designed with your family in mind. Conveniently customized for families, teens, and children alike.
BYTHEWAY PODCAST: Join John Bytheway as he gives additional insight into this week’s “Come, Follow Me” curriculum the “Bytheway” way.
DIGITAL FIRESIDES: Weekly firesides from a panel of special guests. Originally airs every Sunday night at 6pm MT.
HANK HELPS PODCAST: A powerful Q&A podcast where Hank Smith gives in-depth answers to questions submitted by listeners.
DOING GOOD PODCAST: Stories of people who change the world every day in their own way. Host Carmen Rasmusen Herbert interviews guests from across the United States that are doing good things with their lives.
MEG’S TRIAL TIPS: Quadriplegic Meg Johnson is no stranger to trying times. Still, she’s discovered hundreds of tips to help her get through life with an optimistic attitude and now she wants to share them with you.
ARMOR UP: DAILY DEVOTIONALS: Start your day the Armor Up way with short morning devotionals geared towards teens and young adults!
MARK MY WORDS: Read or listen to weekly short inspirational stories written and narrated by Mark Williams.
SCRIPTURE POWER: The entire household will love learning scripture stories and learning to implement their modern-day applications.
FOLLOW HIM PODCAST: Quickly becoming one of the most popular LDS-based podcasts, Hank and John host guests who specialize in different aspects of church history and scriptural curriculum.
TEACHING HELPS: A Vlog miniseries by Hank Smith to help the teacher/instructor in all of us with classroom management skills.
HAPPINESS 101 COURSE: Your six-week course to a happier life!
PLUS…members get exclusive ticket discounts to all our live events!
And more coming soon!!!

Don’t have the Our Turtle House App? No Problem! Get your free 7-day trial here.

May 19, 2022September 13, 2024

The “Magical” Answer: Overcoming My Discouragement & Doubt

My name is Audrey. I am a creator, a singer, and a performer. I am the Our Turtle House Sales Manager/blog writer…and I have lived most of my life battling severe anxiety and fear.

This post is written very carefully because the blog is not about me–it’s about Our Turtle House.

Plus, I know that blog writers are typically heard and not seen and I intend to keep it that way.

But sometimes our prayers are answered by other people’s experiences and it’s often through someone else’s vulnerability that we find comfort in our own, so I’d like to tell you a story of how my unspoken prayer of discouragement and doubt was answered…by a magician.

My Story

Throughout my childhood, I experienced some severe trauma that resulted in anxieties and fears that have accompanied me into adulthood. I’ve done a pretty good job managing them, for the most part, but occasionally they rear their heads and I have to really concentrate at keeping them at bay.

For the past four years, I’ve been living at the pinnacle of my own personal “Liberty Jail“, my individual place of extreme pain, loss, heartache, and suffering. This isn’t the platform to share any of the gritty details; the details won’t contribute to this particular blog post at all, so I won’t. What I can tell you, though, is that life has been utter chaos.

For someone whose unwritten (but often spoken) motto is “Messes are stresses”, additional chaos has been a real struggle. Stress levels were astronomical. The harder I tried, the harder things got; and the harder things got, the more my childhood trauma resurfaced. Fear, anxiety, and defeat became my constant companions as I tried to juggle life’s new demands. After a severe case of adrenal fatigue settled it, discouragement suddenly made its way into my circle as well.

Life was out of my control. It was too hard.

I was suddenly hit with an unhealthy dose of low self-esteem and an even lower self-worth. I questioned everything I ever knew to be true about the love of God and the Savior’s power to make all things right. As I began to doubt, I began to fear God; as I began to fear God, I began to fear prayer. I was caught up in a cycle that I didn’t know how to break.

Mesmerized By Deception

One of my favorite parts of my job is to emcee at the Turtle Talk Live Events. I love to be on stage, interacting behind-the-scenes with all of our audience members, and getting to know the motivational speakers who deliver powerful inspirational messages. It’s kind of a dream job, really.

In October 2021, I was at the peak of my chaos. I emcee’d at an event where Brad Barton was one of the keynote speakers. As a magician, he mesmerized the audience with magic tricks that he tied into important gospel principles. As his routine went on, Brad began unveiling the 3 techniques of a magician:

Sleight of hand: Tricks of psychological manipulation, timing, story, and natural choreography.
Misdirection: Tricks with a purpose of getting the audience’s eyes off of looking at the main thing and looking at something else instead.
Mental Conditioning: Tricks that get your mental momentum going in one direction while the magic happens someplace else. These are also known as the most powerful tricks of a magician.

All magic tricks can fit into one technique or a combination of them; and all are designed to mesmerize their audience by deception. To accomplish this, the magician creates a powerfully deceptive illusion to delight and confuse the audience: it looks real, it sounds real, it almost even feels real. Yet, in the end, after you’ve seen a really good magic show, you are left with nothing but questions, confusion, and wonder.

Brad then asked, “Can you see where this is heading? Can you see how this is going to tie into a powerful spiritual fireside?”

As I began to feel the Spirit, that feeling triggered my anxiety, spun me into doubt and fear set in. I emceed my way through yet another anxiety attack.

The Devil’s Techniques

Brad’s Turtle Talk message revolved around unveiling Satan’s most powerful illusions: Discouragement. Doubt. Confusion. Hopelessness. Rage. Anxiety. Fear. His mission statement can actually be found in 2 Nephi 2:18 where it reads:

“and because he had fallen from heaven, and had become miserable forever, he sought also the misery of all mankind.”

He wasn’t satisfied with a few of us. He doesn’t even want most of us. He wants us all and THAT is the devil’s mission statement.

“For behold, at that day shall he rage in the hearts of the children of men, and stir them up to anger against that which is good..and thus the devil cheateth their souls and leadeth them away carefully down to hell.” (2 Nephi 28:20-21)

Satan’s techniques have been carefully honed over thousands of years and have found their way into the hearts of many, using the same techniques as a magician. Here are a few Brad’s talk helped me identify in my own life:

Sleight of hand: Ironically, Satan glides very naturally, often unnoticed, in and out of my life when I am at my lowest. Whispers of doubt, discouragement, and fear often appear during the most pivotal points of my life’s story.
Misdirection: I made a mental list of things in my life that are taking my eyes off the main thing. I could identify ways I was wasting my time, habits I had developed, thought-processes I had allowed to evolve. All had distracted me from focusing on the Savior and on my true purpose here on earth.
Mental conditioning: I was surprised at how many behaviors I could rationalize as being “no big deal”. Little by little, I began to mix up the real with the fake. It all started with a thought and, before long, my anxiety and fear began to take me so far down the “what if” road of the future that I failed to recognize the miracles of today.

These are only just a few examples that appeared in my life. I’m certain that Satan knows us so well that there are numberless, individualized traps that we could all potentially fall into.

And what are you left with in the end? Nada.

(Well, actually you’re left with questions, confusion, and even more wonder, but really those boil down to “nada.”)

The Savior’s Techniques

Now, compare what we just learned about the Devil’s techniques to the ones that our Savior uses.

Because the Godhead is so united, the Savior’s mission statement can easily be summed up by the same that God has proclaimed:

“For behold, this is my work and my glory–to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.” (Moses 1:39)

And what “techniques” does the Savior use to influence us? Certainly not the same as a magician. His techniques all stem from a higher, holier place. In studying Brad’s talk, here are a few that I identified in my own life:

Love: Everything the Savior does has always been centered around His love for me. Everything. “Greater man hath no love than this...” (John 15:13)
Free agency: Because of his belief in free agency, the Savior will never manipulate, deceive, or force me into making any decisions. Instead, He’s there help us as we choose our own path. He even sacrificed His own life hoping that we will ultimately choose to return to live with Him and Our Heavenly Parents again someday. He gave us everything, but still He leaves the choice up to us.
Peace: A lot of the fears and anxieties I struggle with stem from a fear of “the unknown,” both in the past and in the future. Though I may still have unanswered questions, Christ is not going to leave me in a spirit of confusion and wonder. There’s a reason that the Savior is called “The Prince of Peace.” When Christ is present, peace is found.

No. The techniques of the Savior are not magical, manipulative tricks that leave us feeling empty and confused. Instead, the techniques He uses are designed to leave us filled with hope, comfort, and mercy.

The Magical Answer

The Our Turtle House editing team was inspired when they gave Brad’s talk the title, “Don’t Get Tricked: Magic, Lies, & Revealing the Loving Grace of God”.

I’ve pondered this talk several times over the months and I believe I have found my own personal answer to all the prayers I couldn’t/wouldn’t/didn’t pray. For me, the magical answer was to develop a firm and unwavering testimony of the power of Satan in my life. I needed to fully comprehend that he does exist, that he is a powerful being, and that he knows me every bit as much as the Savior does.

In fact, he knows me so well that he custom-designed a strategy of small, subtle tactics just for me; tricks targeted at the weaknesses he knew I had; distractions that he knew would keep me from my main focus in life.

These ploys looked real, sounded real and felt very real, yet, in the end, they left me with nothing more than questions, confusions, and wonder.

In fact, I began to know this so intensely that I even wrote my testimony about it:

Now, please don’t get me wrong.

I am not “magically cured”. I still have fears and anxieties that stem from my own personal experiences.

In fact, I rely heavily on the beauty of modern medicine and professional therapy/counseling to help me navigate the journey of healing, and encourage you to do the same when needed.

I recognize the complications of clinical depression and anxieties and understand that this is not everybody’s story. It is only my own. I don’t claim to even pretend to have all the answers for everyone.

I also understand that we all have our own individual struggles and that my struggles probably aren’t your struggles and vice versa.

However, my understanding of Satan and God and Jesus Christ and their roles has increased substantially because of this talk. I’ve been able to more easily recognize the everyday techniques Satan uses to trick his way into my life. I’ve also discovered ways that I can hold him at bay.

I would encourage you all to take just 47 minutes out of your day to watch Brad’s talk with your entire family. Perhaps you, too, can contrast the techniques that Satan uses in your own life with the techniques the Savior offers to counteract them.

▶ Watch or listen to Brad Barton’s full Turtle Talk here: Don’t Get Tricked: Magic, Lies, & Revealing the Loving Grace of God

Don’t have the Our Turtle House App? No Problem! Get your free 7-day trial here.

May 12, 2022February 3, 2024

12 Scriptures for a Healthy Relationship by Hank Smith

Marriage. Parenting. Neighbors. Friends. Employers. Classmates. Colleagues. Customers.

Scriptures for a Healthy Relationship

Each episode ranges anywhere from 7-15 minutes long…the PERFECT length for listeners to fit into their already over-scheduled lives.

What Listeners Are Saying

***We created a focus group and let a few people access all of the episodes before they were released. Here are some of their reviews:

Renie: “I thoroughly enjoyed all of these episodes. Hank makes it easy to look inward because of his humility and the examples he shares. He explains why the ideas he puts forth will improve relationships both psychologically, spiritually, physically and emotionally with just the right amount of scientific studies and personal experiences. I appreciate Hank’s vulnerability and the sacred things he shares. I greatly appreciate the opportunity to enjoy this mini series.”
Denise: “I’m so glad that I had the opportunity to listen to this series! So many things sparked thoughts and impressions that I hadn’t had before. I was familiar with all of the scriptures, but several of them had a new light shined on them, and what a great view! I look forward to the improvements that this can make, not only in my relationships, but also in my life on a personal level.”
Holly: “I loved listening to these episodes! I was blown away by how simplistic but profound the thoughts expressed were. I felt extremely uplifted and enjoyed every minute of this series.”
Camie: I wish I could have listened to this 20 years ago when I was a young wife/mother. I would recommend this to everyone I know. I gained a lot of great information to help in all aspects of my life including interacting with family, friends, and co-workers. I have had a few relationships that I have been struggling with the last couple of month and this was very helpful, as it helped me look more inward and see how I can work on myself instead of trying to fix them.

Ready to Listen?

Scriptures for a Healthy Relationships are an exclusive miniseries housed on the Our Turtle House App. Listen to the entire series, beginning here.

Don’t have the Our Turtle House App? No Problem! Get your free 7-day trial here.

March 24, 2022September 13, 2024

8 Full-Length Talks for You & Your Teen

Depression. Happiness. Anxiety. Joy. Confidence. Comparison. Guilt. Hope. Distraction. Focus. Trust. Fear. Unity. Division. Danger. Safety.

And all of these every day before 10am.

Most of us wake up every morning and begin our day by diving into the endless world of news and social media. We “connect” with whatever is on our current feed, but doing so forces us to experience a vast roller coaster of emotions within a short amount of time. This process cycles over and over again as we mindlessly scroll through the reports of other people’s lives.

Our adult brains are typically developed enough to be entertained for a bit, filter the junk, and move on.

But what about your teenagers?

Despite what they may think, their brains still have a few years to grow.

They’re probably overwhelmed with the yo-yo affect that the typical, everyday life now brings and just need a noninvasive connection to truth.

The Our Turtle House App can help you with that.

We’ve selected eight fun and inspirational full-length Turtle Talks that will help you help your teens stay rooted in truth.Watch or listen to some of the best motivational speakers in the industry as they address some of the difficult challenges you and your teen are facing.

Your teen will love the humor and you will love the Spirit.

Listen to all of the talks now on the Our Turtle House App. Don’t have the app? No worries! Download a FREE 7-day TRIAL here.

Here they are in no particular order: