Last week, in a unique Latter-day Saint podcast crossover, LDS Living’s All In podcast host Morgan Jones Pearson was interviewed by Sarah Jane Weaver on the Church News podcast. As part of the interview, Pearson shared what she has learned from talking with other Latter-day Saints about their own faith and testimonies on the All In podcast.
“Years ago, I read a book by Patricia Holland, A Quiet Heart. And in it, she talks about how we place these artificial barriers between one another, because we think, dependent on our demographic or marital status, that we can’t relate. And so we think, ‘Oh, well, that person is going through this. They can’t relate to me. I’m going through this.’ And the thing that I’ve learned from interviewing all these people, is that we’re all learning the same lessons, we’re just learning them in different ways. And that the Lord is so aware of us and the things that we’re capable of.”
Pearson and Weaver also discussed how they both have seen the hand of the Lord in their personal and professional lives.
Weaver shared, “Anyone who … has an experience where they are telling the story of the Church of Jesus Christ has times when things start to work out that probably should not have worked out, or where things we were worried about turned out so much better than we ever could have hoped. … But I really feel like the Lord is in the details of both the work that we both do, and in our lives.”
“Absolutely,” Pearson agreed. “There have been stories where I want so badly to get it right that I can’t sleep the night before the story is supposed to come out. And so I think … the more that you care about it, the more that it matters, but also the more that God knows how much it matters to you.”
Through the course of the episode, Pearson also recounts her experiences as a single woman in the Church, her COVID courtship with her husband, and the upcoming pressures of motherhood—Pearson is expecting a baby in May.
The episode concludes with Weaver turning the tables and asking Pearson her own podcast’s hallmark question: “So what does it mean to be all in the gospel of Jesus Christ?”
“I have realized that if there’s one thing that’s consistent, every single time that I think about what it means to be all in, it comes back to covenants and the covenants that we make as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I think covenants have come to mean a lot more to me, because I recognize through all of the interviews that I’ve done ... the power that comes from making and keeping covenants with a God who always keeps His promises.
“And so being all in is keeping our end of that deal—keeping our promises—because we know that we’re making those promises with a God that always keeps His. And there’s power and there’s confidence. We’ve become so caught up in so many things in this life that can distract. I think that’s one of Satan’s biggest tools is distraction and making us feel like other things matter so much. But really, if you can just keep your eye on the prize in terms of, ‘Am I making and keeping covenants? Am I progressing along that covenant path? Am I keeping my end of the deal?’ That is where happiness is found.”
You can listen to the full podcast episode in the player below and read a full transcript of the interview on Church News.
Learn more about the All In podcast and listen to full episodes here.
