Beautiful Shifts

Honoring Don Ward: A Life of Teaching, Service, and Compassion

Today, we're honored to share a special re-release of our conversation with the late Don Ward, a beloved teacher and lifelong advocate for Utah's refugee community. Known as "everyone's favorite teacher," Mr. Ward taught for 35 years at Jordan and Alta High Schools in Sandy, Utah, and spent the last 15 years supporting refugees through the Ward Foundation, a nonprofit he established through his efforts and connections with former students to provide aid and support for refugees. 
 
In this episode, Don shares his inspiring story - from his teaching career and cancer diagnosis to his incredible work with refugees - and the profound impact it had on his life and those around him. We're so grateful for the chance to share his legacy of service and compassion for others. 
 
Learn more about the Ward Foundation and how to get involved at donwardfoundation.org and on Instagram @wardfoundation. 

Continuing a Legacy of Compassion: Supporting Those Experiencing Homelessness with Beth Young

In this episode, we meet Beth Young, an inspiring woman who has dedicated her life to compassion and service. Drawing on her family's legacy of helping others, Beth has made it her mission to support those experiencing homelessness. From her socially conscious upbringing to her service in the U.S. Army, Beth shares how these experiences shaped her life leading to a passion for advocacy. Settled in Utah, Beth actively serves those experiencing homelessness while cherishing her role as a wife, mother, and grandmother. Tune in to be inspired by her wisdom and commitment to making a difference.
 
Learn more about ways to get involved in helping those experiencing homelessness below (as suggested by Beth in this episode):
Circles USA - Building Community to End Poverty 
Salt Lake Harm Reduction Project 

Thoughts on Gratitude

This week we continue our tradition of having a gratitude episode Thanksgiving week, sharing a few thoughts on gratitude and revisiting a past episode. We love having a chance to reflect on the impact gratitude can have and how we can incorporate it into our lives. 
 
Speaking of gratitude, we're so grateful for all you! Those who continue listening and supporting the podcast, those that are new here, and especially our amazing guests who so graciously and vulnerably share their stories, making this podcast possible. 
 
We hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving (and Wicked!) weekend! 

LDS Faith Transition from a Therapist's Perspective with Greg Smart

Greg is a husband and father and recently graduated with a Master's in Mental Health Counseling. Today he shares about several life transitions in his life focusing on his LDS faith transition. He gives valuable insight from a therapist's perspective for those going through faith transitions, those actively participating in their belief systems, and those seeking to understand others. He also gives tips for having difficult conversations surrounding this topic, and thoughts on change and growth.
 
Greg is very wise and thoughtful and we're so glad we were able to have this conversation with him to help us wrap up our current faith series. He is a practicing therapist in Arizona and will becoming licensed in Utah in the near future. Thank you, Greg, for joining us and sharing your story! 

Leaving the LDS Church and Facing Trauma, Loss, and Grief Without Religion with Mason Sawyer

Mason Sawyer is a devoted father, public speaker, and host of the 10Ninety podcast. In July 2021 Mason lost his wife, son, daughter, brother, and nephew to a tragic car accident. Mason was on our podcast previously (July 30, 2024) to share about what he has been through and how he began podcasting and sharing his story to help and connect with others. Today Mason joins us as part of our faith series to share about his LDS faith transition, leaving the LDS church, and his thoughts on belief and religion while facing loss and grief. Mason goes in-depth with details of his loss of belief in the LDS church, and shares thoughts on the power of honesty and human connection, and is as vulnerable and honest as he is funny and relatable. 
 
We're so appreciative of Mason for having this conversation with us and have so much admiration for the purpose he has found in all he's doing to help others. 
 
Find Mason on Instagram @masonsayer91 and his podcast @10ninetyrule, which centers around his favorite quote, "Life is ten percent what happens to you and ninety percent what you do about it."

Loosing a Sister, Addiction Recovery, Faith Doubts, and Finding Comfort in the LDS Faith with Katie Cornia

Today Katie shares her story of learning to share emotions after her sister passed away, finding the addiction recovery program, learning to overcome depression and anxiety, navigating faith doubts, and finding comfort staying in the LDS church. Katie is very thoughtful and kind and share her experiences and life lessons in a relatable, genuine way in this touching, uplifting conversation. 
 
Katie is a facilitator for the 12 step program through the LDS church and has spoken at LDS events and firesides. She is a wife and mother of four kids, works as a school crossing guard, and runs a family business called Bluffdale Goldens where they raise mini Goldendoodles as a family. You can find her on Instagram @bluffdalegoldens. 
 
Thanks so much to Katie for joining us and sharing her story and life transitions. 
 

Leaving Orthodox Judaism, a Marriage, and Finding Peace on the Other Side with Tova Mirvis

Tova is the author of the memoir The Book of Separation as well as three novels including a national bestseller. Today Tova joins us to share about her journey questioning and ultimately leaving Orthodox Judaism as well as her marriage, which led to writing The Book of Separation, a memoir about heeding your inner compass, even if it means walking away from the only life you've ever known. She shares what this journey has been like and how she has found peace and beauty on the other side.
 
Tova is extremely thoughtful and wise and we loved this rich conversation with her. We are excited to share her story with you as part of our current faith series and very grateful she took the time to talk with us.
 
Tova's books include her memoir The Book of Separation as well as three novels, Visible City, The Outside World, and The Ladies Auxiliary, which was a national bestseller. Her latest novel We Would Never will be published in February. Her essays have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe Magazine, and Real Simple, and her fiction has been broadcast on NPR. She lives in Newton, MA with her family.
 
Find Tova at www.tovamirvis.com where you can find descriptions and links for her books, and on Instagram @tovamirvis. 
 
Thank you for listening! 

Supporting Children Through Faith Transitions with Brenda Smart

Today's episode is a re-release of an episode from last fall that is one of our highest listened-to episodes. Brenda shares about living around the world including serving as a mission president couple for the LDS church, and how she has learned to support her children in their LDS faith transitions. She shares about the difficulties as well as coming to a place of acceptance and love, benefits this shift has brought to her relationships, and advice for those in similar situations. 
 
We loved talking with Brenda and so glad we could bring this conversation back for the second episode in our current faith series. We know you will love Brenda's fun, genuine personality and learning about her life experiences and valuable perspectives. 
 
You can find Brenda on Instagram @b_smart. 
 
Thank you for listening! 

The Journey of a Progressive Christian Pastor with Stan Mitchell

Stan grew up in a fundamental conservative Pentecostal religious community in Arkansas, was a teen minister, and became a highly influential Lead Pastor by the time he was an adult. Led by a desire to expand and make room for all, Stan went on the journey of becoming a progressive Christian Pastor and shares his fascinating story in this moving and thoughtful conversation today. We're honored Stan made the time to share his thoughts and experiences with us in this inspiring conversation that we will continue to reflect back on, gleaning insight and wisdom from, and are excited to share with our audience. 
 
Stan currently serves as a Teaching Pastor at The Village Church in Atlanta, GA, and Austin New Church (UMC) in Austin, TX. He is the Pastor Emeritus of GracePoint Church in Nashville, TN, where he served as Lead Pastor from 2003 through 2019. In 2015, GracePoint made the move to the full affirmation and celebration of LGBTQ+ people. Stan now spends his vocational time as a speaker, LGBTQ+ advocate, and consultant within the Progressive Christian Movement, including within the LDS Community. 
 
Find and follow Stan on Facebook here and on Instagram @pastorstanmitchell. 
 
Stan will be speaking at the LUV Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah, this Friday, October 18. Find more information at luvwithoutlimits.org. 
 
Faith Series
Stan's episode is the first episode of a Faith Series we will be sharing over the next five weeks where we will have five different guests share their experiences in different religious traditions including faith transitions and expansions of many kinds. We're excited to share these unique stories with you as we learn from each of the guests and their experiences.  
 
Thank you for listening! 

Moving Family of Six to Africa and Gaining New Perspectives of the World with Shaylee & Reggie Wilson

Today Shaylee and Reggie join us to share about how they sold their home and moved their family of six to Tanzania in September 2023, fulfilling a dream many years in the making. This move exposed their children to a new way of life, culture, and people in hopes that they would each walk away with new perspectives, priorities, and a unique understanding of the world. Now back in the United States, Shaylee and Reggie share details on the experience and the valuable lessons they learned as a family.
 
We’re grateful Shaylee and Reggie joined us today and admire their adventurous spirits, and value them sharing this unique experience!