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Yahosh Bonner often quotes the saying, we are our ancestors, wildest dreams. This is the reason the Bonner family takes nothing they've experienced over the last decade for granted. At the end of their new book, I Want Jesus to walk with me. They write, beginning with our ancestors, through our parents, through us to our children and children's children.

The legacy continues perhaps even greater than we left it. Ultimately, the faith in the Lord that defines and refines us flows through each of us uniquely forming the firm facets of our family, inextricably linked together for all eternity. End quote, no long Bonner Bullock is the eldest child of Harry and Deborah Bonner.

She is the proud mother of four children with all of her children now experiencing the joys of adulting. No long has a little time to herself. And currently works at a national bank and is finishing her MBA at Emory University while traveling the world with her husband, Sean Yoho Bonner received his master's degree in professional communication from Southern Utah University.

He is a TV co-host, motivational speaker, mc, actor, recording artist and athletic director. He starred in the award-winning movie. His name is Green Flake, and he and his wife Vanessa, have three sons and one daughter.

This is all in an LDS Living podcast where we ask the question, what does it really mean to be all in the gospel of Jesus Christ? I'm Morgan Pearson, and I am. So honored to have you Hoch Bonner, and no long, no long. What is your married last name? Bullock. Bullock, okay. Mm-hmm. I was like, I don't, oh my gosh.

I don't know it. Yeah, it is. It is such an honor to have both of you with me, and you told me before we got started that I have the two loudest bonners on this call. No. No. Oh goodness. It was voted that way. We're we're not the two loudest. OSH is the loudest and I'm just honor. No, no, no. Long. Come on now, sister.

You win. You're number one, sister. You got it. Whatever, isn't it? Isn't it so funny though, how you have. These like titles within your family? My family calls me Fearless Leader and it's totally sarcastic because, oh, I'm always like overconfident about like where we are going and what we're doing, so you, you just can't win in a family.

You know, it's funny, I love that fearless leader. I'm gonna give that to somebody I, I already know. I already know who I would give that to. Speaking of family dynamics, I wanna start out the book, which is so good. I really enjoyed reading it. But the book says that there were some difficult conversations as you all got on it was Zoom calls, right?

Um, to talk about this book and I can only imagine 'cause I feel like you have a bunch of siblings trying to remember like what happened and recall things and everybody remembers things differently. But I wonder, do you guys remember what any of the difficult conversations were as you joined together in collaboration to try to write this book?

Well, it's funny because you, you, you say it was trying to recall like, no, we all can recall and we're all very assertive in what we believed happened and how it happened. And so it's just so funny to say, wait, that's, that's what your experience was. That's how you felt. You know? So it was, it was fun, it was hard.

Um, it was Zoom calls, FaceTime calls, uh, Marco Polo. You know, we, we talk every day, but for us to all, to be focused in on this one conversation about the book and our lives and our experiences, we realized really quickly that, um, Harry and Bonner, Harry Bonner and Deborah Bonner are Harry Bonner and Deborah Bonner, and they are our parents, but all of us grew up with different parents.

Yeah. Had different experiences. And so it was, it was a lot of fun and it, it, I think it even helped us become even closer writing the book. I think, I think a lot of it could have been just re remembering some of the things, and in the moment, I think because we were all connected and had each other, it, it was kind of okay.

But I think looking back on it, it's like, oh, that, that's, that feels like trauma has this, has this been a counseling session? I'm not sure this one. Oh man. No. I'm like, is that for some of us, felt for me, some of us didn't go deep into it. Some of us are like, look, I'm, I did, I did my interview and I'm not going back to read the book because it's, it's just script and it really just, you know, you, you, you lived it once and some of the things.

You don't wanna live twice. You just kind of wanna look into the future and, and the future has been wonderful. So I think it was just remembering some things that were harder than others. Yeah, absolutely. Well, and I think that's true of any family. I actually thought it was so smart in the book how you all broke it out and you could see who was talking and how.

Said like one person's experience may not be the same, and it may, we may have different opinions on things, but we're still one family and I, I admire that for sure. You all have had some pretty incredible experiences. I've, I've interviewed you before, but since we last spoke, you've had some, some pretty like bucket list type experiences.

So I wondered what has been your favorite, like musical Bonner family? Oh, thing I am in Kansas City Chiefs was amazing because that was, that was the one I was the most, I was like, I'm very jealous. That was amazing. Um, only because like, it was, it. Uh, only half of us watch football and you can guess what half that is.

And so to see our brothers so excited to be out there, we were like, wow. Because, you know. I don't know. They do so much for us. W we don't get to see in my, from, from my vantage point, I don't get to see what makes them happy, what makes them jolly. 'cause they're always kind of serving us as, as women.

That's how I feel. And so to see them so, so excited and to be out there with them. And we're just having a great time and we just had such a good time. And then to, you know, just to meet the people that we met. I think, you know, Patrick Mahomes was really close to us at one point, like in, in proximity, you know, it was just, it was phenomenal.

It was so much fun. We had such a, we got to try out, we got to wear some of the championship rings. They gave us our own jerseys with our last name on the back, like mm-hmm. Like most of the brothers in our family, we wanted to become professional athletes and like we finally made it. Yeah. In a different way.

In a different way. That's great. But I don't know. Nolan, does that Trump All Star weekend, the NBA All Star weekend. Did we, did we talk to her before that? No. And we, we talked before that. Oh, then that, that's like, that's, that's that rivals the first. Okay. So as far as like emotions and the feeling of things, the, the NBA All Star Rican.

That for me, that was awesome because we got to sing the national anthem together as a family, and then we gotta sing the Black national anthem together as a family. And that just awesome voice. Every voice. Yeah. Yeah. And that just, that just meant so much because Jesse Jackson was there. Yeah, Lisa Oad.

Yeah. That's great. It was awesome. So I just threw that out there. But. My favorite was when we went to Africa, we went and visited the Saints in Africa. That was the, that was the top, that's number one for me. That's number one. Ghana, west Africa was number one. Yeah. Yeah. Ghana, west Africa, man. Oh, I mean, and, and not just like.

Just not in Accra. We were in Kumasi. We were in Ade Ade. Yeah. We were, we, man, we went to Cape Coast. Yeah. We traveled all over the country. Yeah. And the Saints just poured their love on us. When we arrived there, they said, welcome home, Bonner family. Yeah. It was great. They, they really cheered on our brother, our youngest brother who's, whose full name is Yaba, which is a Ghanaian name, you know, and so.

That was fantastic. After that trip, I had my last son and I, I named him an African name. I was like, oh, that's why our parents named us African names. Like we, this is, this is part of our story. This is our people. So it was so, so special. And it was special too, to go to the, to Cape Coast and the slavery castles and, uh, it was just a, a reverence, uh, that I had never felt before and, and a connection to Africa and, and specifically West Africa that I never had.

So. That's Michael. There are many that's, that's so cool. But I feel like that's good 'cause it gives people a taste of just how many experiences you've had. I wanted to talk about the, the African heritage that your family has really quickly, no longer I. I had forgotten until I read this book that you were born in Liberia.

Mm-hmm. Um, and you talk a little bit about, in speaking of African names, you talk a little bit about the impact that being born in Liberia, coming to the United States, having an African name has had on your life. Can you talk to me a little bit about that and how that has shaped your experience, not only just in the United States, but.

As a member of the church, I think it immediately connects me to my heritage. I think as black Americans, it's easy to, it could be easy to forget the, our, uh, the origin of where our people come from because we're Americans, right? And we've lived as Americans for centuries. But before then, we, our ancestors were African and so to have been born there, there's an automatic connection for, for me, for sure.

And I always just wanted to be closer to it. So, you know, I, I, I raised my children knowing who they were and who they are and, and their names, and so. That that had a lot to do with how I raised my children. And then the things that are important to me even now as far as visiting the continent as far as even learning new languages, when the church expanded their membership into Africa, that meant so much to me having been born there, so that when I meet members of the church who are West African, I immediately identify with them even though I'm an American.

Right? Born in West Africa, I, I'm just so honored that I. Was born there and I could connect with them on that level. I think that's awesome. I think it's really important no matter where you're from. My, my husband's family is Norwegian and they take like a ton of pride in that, and I didn't really grow up in a, in a family that.

Really took a ton of pride in heritage, you know? And so it's been neat to to experience that with the opportunities that we talked about. I would imagine, and you can tell me if I'm wrong, but I feel like sometimes that could be kind of weighty, especially when it's like, oh, you're the Bonner family. You do a lot associated with the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

Does that ever feel weighty? To be a member, to be, to be kind of like put on, I don't wanna say a pedestal, because we're all like important as members of the church, but you've been in many ways, like a face for the church in, in having these different opportunities. I think it's definitely an honor, but there's so many other black families that, that we know that are just phenomenal.

Just, just great. And so more the weight that I feel. It is not, it's not a weight. I, I feel honor representing my faith, representing my heritage as a member of the church, Jesus Christ, Latterday Saints. But I feel like Bonner, a weight of, okay, what I do is gonna be connected to my sister and to my brother, you know, and to, I'm representing my family.

And so that, that, that means a lot to me because my faith is. I mean, there's so many people that represent our faith, uh, in the right way. And, and I believe in that quote, no one hauled hand can stop the work from progressing. And so I'm just honored to be a part of the work progressing and if not me, God's gonna use somebody else.

Absolutely. You know? So it's more of an honor for me. I don't feel the weight, uh, so much. Yeah. And I, and I, I forget who we are. I, I just have a good time. Anytime I get to be in my family, I'm like, Hey, you know, and I forget I, that we're supposed to be a certain way. I don't even know what way we're supposed to be.

So whatever you see is what you get and it's what is all the time. So I just, I, I, I forget about it. I think that's awesome. Coming back, uh, you host to what you said about if not me, somebody else. I always think about, a friend of mine had this experience where she kept feeling prompted to take something to a neighbor and she just kept putting off the prompting.

And then another neighbor was like, Hey, I had this like experience. I had kept having this feeling to take. Thing. Anyway, this other friend in the neighborhood had had the experience that she was gonna have, and she was like, I, I myself was the one that missed out by not participating. But like, like you said, the Lord is gonna do his work and he has plenty of people to do it.

Um, but what an honor to get to be those people that are getting those really neat opportunities. You both write. And I, I, as an oldest sibling. Always think family like birth order and all of that is really interesting. And you write about some interesting sibling dynamics no long. You talk about your relationship with your sister, younger and Yoho.

You write about your experiences with your brother Maui. I wondered how has that particular sibling, um, blessed your life within your family unit? Oh wow. Do you wanna go for a second? Can go first, Sam. Uh, you can go, I can go first. Okay. I'll go first. You can go first. Okay. I'll first, so for a while, I, junior was like, we would, we would, we would talk, me and my brother, junior, we would talk and have conversations, and then all the blue, he'd be like.

Dude, I'm sorry. And I'm like, what? He's like, man, I should have been nicer to you. And I was like, what Whatcha talking about? You're the best big brother, man. You're awesome. You know? 'cause he would take me to go play basketball with his friends and we would hang out and we'd be together all the time. And yeah, he was rough sometimes.

He was tough on me. He, he, we, we were best of friends and, and, and worst of enemies. But it's funny because I feel like in our adult lives, and maybe it's just my perspective, knowing, you can tell me if. If, if I'm wrong, I just feel like he's extra nice to me. Like he's, he's nice. He's so nice to you. I, I think, I feel like I get special treatment by my people.

Special treatment. Nobody can say anything against what Craig thinks or says otherwise. Craig's coming for us and junior's coming from. He does give him a special treatment. He's just been such a great support with, for me and athletics, when I graduated college and got done playing college basketball, I had some overseas basketball tryout opportunities, but I didn't have the money.

He came up with the money, he set me up. He, he, he, he made sure that I got to those, those tryouts. And then, you know, with my music, he was helping me with my music and writing me songs, giving me songs that he had. So, and he's just. He's been such a, a great big brother growing up and even better in, in adulthood.

And so, and I think it is, it's correlated with the closeness that we had growing up and also him looking back and being like, man, I wish, uh, you know, I would've done this differently, or, or, or better, but he's, he's just great. That's awesome. Okay. No long mine's slightly different. My sister and I, I feel like we fought all the time growing up and so that the, the one story where she took my chair, that was like the beginning of Ooh.

And so I think our entire. Childhood. We were the oldest two, so we were yin and yang. So she did one set of, of, of responsibilities for children. And I did the other set. So we worked well together. Okay. But as far as our relationship together, it was just, we were just so opposite oil and water. And it wasn't until we grew up.

And I think that's the story about many families, you grow up and there's, there's not a day that I don't talk to her. She's, I, I, I don't know what I would do without my sister. Like, and, and I'm, I'm, and she know, she's known me the longest, aside from my mother. My dad, she's, she knows the insides of me and so, and she's known as me, as the environment has shaped me into who I am.

So I'm, I believe that these relationships that we make as children, they help set a foundation for. What it will be later. So even if it's not positive in the beginning, which it wasn't, right. That's a foundation of closeness and so that that relationship you can choose to take into your adulthood. And I don't know what I would do without it.

I'm so grateful for it. So many moms of like teenage daughters are listening to this and you're giving them so much hope. Oh yeah. No, I don't, I don't know what I would do with, without, with my sister. She's amazing. That's so cool. But we're still opposite. Yeah. Yeah. She's amazing. I, uh, once threw a shoe at my sister's head on a family road trip, and I don't think I'll ever live that one down.

My mom brought it up just the other day. Which one of you threw a shoe at each other's head? I was like, oh, yeah. It was me. Okay. No long. Another thing I wanted to touch on is you share this experience about how attending a non-denominational Christian Church strengthened your testimony of our church.

And I, I love this. Because I grew up in the south, and I think sometimes there's a tendency to be like, oh, well we don't want you to go to this other church. We only want you to go to our church. And I think it was cool that your parents were like, yeah, you can go to that church with your friend. You also need to go to our church.

So tell me a little bit about that experience and how it continues. I love later in the book you kind of circle back around to that experience. Tell me how that continues to impact your life. I think when we're young, for me, the church does a great job at telling, setting you up for what, what goes next, what you're supposed to do in this situation, do this and then do that, and then you do this, and then you got it right.

And so we, we, we followed the blueprint, but for me, what I was missing is I didn't know that I was missing. A relationship with the savior. I didn't know that that was a part of it. Even though we sing about Jesus all the time, they're just, they're in my, when I was in primary, they were kind of just really fun songs.

And then you go to Young Women's and there are things that make you be a, a wonderful wife or a young, wonderful young woman. So when I went to this other church, of course they have this, a similar, the similar standards, the structure's a little bit different, but their focus. Was the relationship with the savior.

And so where I already had a good structural base to add a relationship with the savior, I just felt like I. Helped me so, so much helped me get through the, some of the hardest times in life because I was able to, I knew how to connect with my father in heaven, so I will always be grateful for that experience.

I think it was maybe a summer that I went, I went every Wednesday with their youth group and every Sunday with mine. And because I was able to hear the Savior's voice, it was that voice that told me this is where I needed to be. And without it, I wouldn't know. If I was doing the right thing. So for those that are listening, they're like, well, what was it that they did?

They, they had you take 15 minutes, is that right? To, yeah. What they would do, it was like, it was like more like 30. So for the first, it was like an hour long youth group. It was like 30 to 45 minutes. Everybody would find a corner in this, in this little barn of a church, we'd find a corner and he, the, the youth group pastor would say, and you just talk.

Just talk to your savior. Just talk to him like he's right there. No one can hear you in a corner. Just talk to him. And so we were there and I'm thinking, that's a long time to be in a corner. But after about three or four times, I would, it would be awkward at first that I'm talking to nothing, is what I thought it felt like.

Um, but then I looked around and everybody else was talking. And feeling and crying and I thought they're connecting with something. Maybe if I just talk, maybe something will connect and it and it, and it undoubtedly did so. Yeah, they gave us like 30 minutes to talk to our father and heaven. It was amazing.

That's so cool. And so now I talk to him all the time when I'm by myself, like I'm in the car and I look like I'm talking to somebody and there's nobody there. I love that. Okay. Another thing that I wanted to, I wanted to ask you all about, you write that you all endured family home evening, but that you loved family council.

So what was a family council like in the Bonner Home, and why were they so important? I loved Family Home evening. So that was, that's, that's one of those parts in the books where it's like, you know, some voices. You know, I, I actually enjoyed Family Home Evening and Family Council was great entertainment.

It was great entertainment and a time where we could say things without. Any repercussions. And you know what, dad, you did this. I didn't like this. Or, mom, could you do this differently? And it was free. You have no repercussions at all. So it was a time where we could really just let loose and share how we felt in the moment and, uh, not get in trouble for it.

A family home meeting was tough for me because it was just a lot of scripture reading, and then we would sing a song and it would just, it felt so restricting at the time. Right. So. Mm-hmm. But Family Council gave us the opportunity to kind of speak our minds and I wish I, I maybe there, but I think. When we were young, I think the first presidency encouraged family council and family home meetings.

So they were two separate things. I'm thinking, gosh, could you, could we put one in combined with the other? And I don't know, because I don't know that I, I I don't, I liked it separate. 'cause you knew what you were gonna get in one space. One space. You knew you were gonna learn about the scriptures, you're gonna do the things that you were, you're supposed to do.

So you can have somewhat of a structure. And in the other place you get to talk about what was on your heart. My parents would teach us how to interact with each other. Show us what love looks like if one is one of us is angry. Re I think one, one of the biggest things that I remember is your anger is a choice.

You, your, your, your frustration and you're being offended. That's, you are choosing to be offended, especially, and then, and then requiring the other person to apologize or do you see how your sister feels? How, what do you, how are you gonna, how are you gonna resolve that? Do you want her to feel that way?

So it was just a lot of learning that took place. In family council after we were able to talk about what was on our hearts. So I, I felt valued as a young, as a young person in my parents' home 'cause they always wanted to hear what I had to say. And equally they wanted to hear what the 4-year-old had to say.

So it was nice. Yeah. I also think, I remember when I was young, it was family council and family meeting were two separate things. Yeah. Um, and I, I agree. I think both are important. They both have a place. Um, OSH, one of my favorite parts of the book is when you share your parents kind of deliberate efforts to give you multiple.

Fresh starts. Can you talk a little bit about that and how that experience has been impactful to you, not only in your own life, but now you have kids of your own, so, so what did that teach you now as a dad? It's important that my kids know that they matter. As many as children, as I have only have four, which I feel is a lot.

I can't imagine having eight. Being the fifth of eight. I felt a lot of times like I kind of do what I want. Nobody really notices or cares what's happening with me. In those moments, in those decisions, I knew, whoa, my parents, they're aware of me and they care how I'm developing and, and who I'm becoming.

And so I appreciated that. I was blessed to have already been prepared for moving as that's what we did growing up and we, we moved a lot and as a father. I'm tuned in, I'm tuned in, like, oh, who are your friends? Okay, great. What, what are you guys talking about? You know, and, and I, I think just, um, well, just a couple weeks ago I was sitting with my brother, my son, he's 15 years old, he's a teenager.

That's, that, that was one of the big turning points in my life. And I'm like, oh my gosh, okay, what's going on in his life? What's going on? And I was like, Hey, Malachi, do any of your, your friends drink or, or smoke? And he's like, no. And I was like, do you guys talk about it? And he's like. No. It's like, do you have any desire to.

Do any of that. And he's like, no. And I was just like, whoa, I'm winning right now. Like what? Uh, I'm just, I'm, I'm blessed to have had the experiences that I had and for my parents to have been so intentional about placing me in places where I could be successful. I told 'em my goals and they put me in, in positions to be able to achieve those goals, and I'm so grateful for that.

Um, they really put us first. 'cause my dad is super talented, my mom's super talented, but all of their aspirations and dreams, they, they poured them into us. And, and I'm grateful and I, and I, I need to do a better job of that. But. I know I'm on the right track by hearing my son's responses. I was just so blown away.

'cause I just don't think that's normal. And for my son to be where he's at and with the friendships that he has, I'm proud of the young man he's growing up to be. I, I think that that. My, my parents also, like, they had a point with one of their kids where it was like, we need to make a change, and they moved.

And I, that's a big sacrifice to make, you know, you're uprooting your family and, and so I love that example from your parents of being like, this is not a good situation. Like, let's find a way to get. Host somewhere else. And, um, being that dialed in as a parent, and like you said, they had aspirations, they have talents, but their priority once they became parents was you guys.

I love a line in the book that says, family collaboration can magnify talents and create blessings far greater than what we could accomplish alone. Just as the Lord magnifies our righteous efforts, when we unite our hearts, I wondered why. Is unity. Why would you guys say unity is so important, especially within a family?

And I feel like this is a really good question for you guys 'cause you sing in like the most beautiful harmony. So talk to me a little bit about unity. For us, we really feel like, like many times we're all we got. It's us. You know, we are each other's best friends. We will tell each other the truth. We'll cheer each other on.

My success is your success and your siblings. I, I mean, my siblings, I can't speak, I don't, I don't have any other siblings. The siblings that God's given me can see great things in me that I couldn't have seen. They, they, they knew I had a capacity to do things that I would've never even touched or tried.

When we first started trying to like, singing me together, like, and they actually acknowledged me as one of the singers. I was, I was, I was so great. And then my sister was like, Yoho, you should introduce these songs. And I was like, you want me to speak on the mic to people? Like, what? I don't do that?

They're like, no, Yoho, you're so good at connecting with people. You'll be great. And they believed in me. And just that belief and trust in me, like it just leveled me up and it gave me opportunity that I never would've gotten. And I created a career because of the, the faith and the support that my siblings had for me.

And, and so, uh, in addition to, obviously my wife thinks I can do everything. She's, she's fantastic, but. I think that unity and, and hearing that love and support and trust for my siblings makes me better. So that, that's one thing. And then with us as a family, there's so many things that need to be done in entertainment and in our business.

And who do we trust? Who do we know Well, we trust each other. We know each other. I've never done this before. But I'll learn and I'll see if I can do it. And we say, go and we do that. And if we make a mistake, dang it, guess what? You can forgive a sibling a lot easier than you can forgive someone you don't know.

And so the expectation is high, but the forgiveness and the love is high as well. And so that unity and that trust that we have, uh, with, with one another makes us better. It gives us opportunity to success. Seed an opportunity to fail and we need the failure to succeed. Uh, and so we get limitless opportunities within our family because of the unity that we've built over the years.

I actually have a follow up that I had not thought about until I was listening to you talk, but I feel like one thing that a lot of people struggle with in families is like a feeling of competition, being in competition with one another. Is that something that you all have dealt with in your family? Or do you feel like you've just, I feel like you guys are really good at being, like, like you said, hey, you host, you're really good at MCing.

Like that's your gift and, and dividing up the TA talents, but is competition ever an issue? I feel like we love competition. Yeah. We compete out it, it's the game. It's the best game in our family. Yeah. And I think, I wonder if, because of that, we do it so much when it's time to, when it's game time, we put our best person in because we, we, we, because we compete so much, we know who the winners are, right?

They've been voted on, they've been vetted, like we already know. So this sibling, you're in the, you're in the middle, you've always won. And they're like, cool. And everybody's like, cool. That's the per, that's the best person. So it's kind of like. Unanimous vote with all of us and when it, when it's, when it's game time, we wanna put our best foot forward for the song that we're doing, for the venue that we're performing at, for the message we're trying to send for the person who's deliver delivering the message.

So I think it's, it's that, it's more that because we, and then even when we compete amongst each other, I can't think of a time. Yeah, I'm sure it's disappointing when you lose. Isn't it cranky? No, I'm just kidding.

No. Long's like I've never lost. All I do is win. Oh, you know what? I don't compete. How about that? You compet in

so good. I, I think that's, I think that's profound. Okay. Another thing I wanted to touch on in the book says, we also observed that our mother had a deep and unique appreciation for the power of the priesthood, and she also honored the divine gifts manifest in her as a woman, especially for those of us who have been single moms ourselves, we have recognized that like our mom, we have innate qualities that permit us.

To be in tune with God supporting his children entrusted to us on this mortal journey. Our mom's example reminds us that each of us men and women alike has divine gifts that can bless others and bring them closer to Christ when we magnify them with love and faith. No longer you were a single mom for a time.

Can you tell me how your mom's example affected your perspective and your approach through that season of life? Yes. I think growing up I, we, I, I'll say I, 'cause I, I am thinking it's we, but it might, might not be. I didn't understand the difference between the priesthood that my dad held and my mom. To me, it was always the same to me.

They always did it together. I mean, of course, of course she didn't lay hands together, but she was very much involved. The priesthood power always felt like combination of my god's power, my father and my mother. So when I was on my own, I was single for 10 years, and I have two sons. When I was on my own, I was a little confused because my dad is one that gave us blessings all the time before each year, and my mother initiated it, right?

So. When it came time for me to raise my, my children, especially the boys, I'm thinking in my head, I have the same power given by God, but there is, there's a, there, there's a, there's a protocol, there's a, there's a, there's a ritualistic way of doing things, so I'll definitely follow what that is. But I never felt like I was lacking, like I didn't have the priesthood in my home.

I always felt protected. And it's kind of strange because in the eighties. You know, it's, it's not like it was, it is now in 2026, in the eighties, it was definitely. A role that women play. And in 2026 you have a lot, the roles are, are often interchangeable. And so I'm, I'm grateful for the early understanding that the priesthood is given to, to, to men and women by God as they are obedient.

And so even though I didn't lay hands, I knew how to direct my children. I knew who to call in if they needed a hands-on priesthood blessing. And so it was, it was never, I never felt like I was lacking. And I, and I, I, I, I owe that to my parents for sure. He answers all of our chil, all of his children.

Right. And, and with extra, extra stuff like fasting, going to the temple, like that's like, that's like extra ush that you get for your prayers and so, um, I love it. Yeah. Okay. Another thing I wanted to make sure that we talk about is you do not shy away. You in particular no longer of sharing your experience with the priesthood band and how that has affected your experience within our faith.

I wondered what would be your message to. Someone who might be struggling with that aspect of our church's history. I validate that it is so hard to, to come to grips with a church that is so wonderful and fills all of my buckets and does all the things that I know my father in heaven would do with me if he were physically here on this earth.

It's hard to reconcile that with a history that has. Excluded my father who has spoken ill on, on a whole race of people who, who have not allowed us to be sealed for family and time and all eternity. That is so hard, and I validate that. But what I learned in my relationship with my savior is that. He's, he's the end all, be all.

He makes all the decisions, everything makes sense through him. So as I am close to him, the things that are not right, the things that are not of God. Our father in heaven allows bad things to happen, to teach us lessons, to teach us endurance, to, to, to teach us humility and to te and to give us strength.

So as, um, tragic as that truth is, my father in heaven has given me strength on, on so many levels so that when I deal with, um, unfortunate events anywhere in the church or outside the church. He's right next to me because I, I understand how the gospel work and I understand what endurance means and what strength is.

And so I would just say stay close to your savior because he will, he will guide you and lead you wherever you need to be and where, where one needs to be. Maybe one doesn't need to be. I know that I know where my journey leads me, and if someone else's journey leads them somewhere else, that is indeed their journey with their father in heaven.

And so have faith in your father in heaven and follow him wherever he leads you. Thank you Nolan. Uh, you host. Do you have any thoughts to add to that? It's definitely something that we look at and it's, man that's hard to see because of what black people have been through, not just in this country but worldwide, you know?

But what I do know, uh, is that my parents have taught us the importance of building that relationship with the savior, being able to talk to your father in heaven. And as no has stated before, like doing what God tells you to do, that you know, that's what, what he makes right, what he makes known to us where we should be.

That's where we should go. And I'm so grateful to have built a relationship with the Savior and with my father in heaven and being able to follow the Holy Spirit and, and knowing that men make. Atrocious. Bad mistakes throughout history and bad mistakes throughout history, but God's gonna be God and he's gonna love me, and he's gonna see me and my family through it as we dedicate our lives to him.

And so. With the priesthood, that that is something that's sad. 'cause I know it's been something that's blessed our family. It's changed us. We're not who we are without the priesthood in our family. And I'm just looking forward to helping share the message of the restored gospel and of the priesthood and how that could bless families throughout the world.

And I just hope that we can get that word out as fast as it can. 'cause I know the gospel's gonna penetrate every continent. He's gonna reach everyone. I just, I'm grateful to be a part of that and I hope that we can continue to hasten this work. Yeah. Awesome. Thank you. Mm-hmm. The, the book ends with, uh, your daughter no long.

You have the opportunity now in the Bonner family to sing with your daughter, and she has such an incredible voice. What is it like to be able to, to share this experience now with another generation and specifically with your own, your own daughter? Oh, so I'm her mother, right? So she's phenomenal to me.

So it's so hard to be on stage with her and she starts singing and I just wanna look at her. I'm, I love her so much and I'm so thrilled with the gifts that. The Lord has given her, and I just wanna watch her as an audience member, but I, I have to constantly check myself and be like, oh, I'm, I'm on stage.

I can't just look at my daughter and be like, you know, but I think I'm so impressed by her, and she grows every, every day into someone new and exciting. And so it's such a blessing. It's such an honor to, and she's so gracious, like, mommy, you can do this part. And I'm like, no, Billy, this is your part. You are the one say, you sure mommy, we can do it together.

No, this is yours. She has the most beautiful, angelic voice and her brain is amazing. She knows everybody's part. Yeah, and, and she will be fine with not having a solo through a whole concert, even though she has. The best voice in the family. Yeah, those are fighting words right there. Those are fighting words.

We might need to cut that. We might, I dunno. We might need to cut that. Do we want anybody else to hear this? That's amazing. Well, my last question for you is, what does it mean to you to be all in the gospel of Jesus Christ? I mean, he's all in for us. He gave it all. I mean, throughout our, our whole history, family history, we, we are here because of the faith of our ancestors, their belief in Christ, their belief in knowing, Hey, you know what?

I'm gonna keep my faith and I'm going to survive now because later I know that my descendants will be free. My descendants will have opportunities that I did not have. And so. I'm going to remain faithful and, and really I feel like as I do build my family and we are centered on the savior, I feel like they are cheering me on on the other side of the veil.

Like that's my great, great grandson right there doing his thing, keeping his faith, building his family a dream that we only wish that we could have had, you know, and so again, it goes back to I'm so honored to be in the gospel. I'm so honored to teach my children. About a God who has a love that is inescapable.

There's nothing that they've done, nothing that they will do that can separate them from the love of their father in heaven, which is manifest in the Savior. So being all in is a privilege. Being all in is is a non-negotiable for for me because every major blessing that I've received is because of my faith.

Thank you. Yo long. I think different aspects of the gospel are super important depending on the phase that you're in in life. I think. So for me, being all in is remembering why Jesus died for us, for our sins and for us to be forgiving and for us to be gr. To have to show grace. And to have grace. And so there are things that we do like let us all press on and onward Christian soldiers and things that you do and called to serve and these things that we do as Christians and as members of the church, but there's a soft side to the gospel.

That underlies all those things and those things for me right now is the foundation. So I have to remember to live the gospel on the inside, to give, to have mercy, to give grace, to be forgiving, to show compassion, to show love, to show to, to be honest. All those things, those, those, those soft skills, those soft but foundational aspects of the gospel are, is what it means to be all in.

And then that helps me with my service. I was just released as primary president and. I'm like, oh, that was sure was a lot. I don't remember it feeling so, so much in the moment, but afterwards I just have, I just have so much respect and so much love for all, all those who, who serve, who are called to serve and press on.

But we have to have, I have to have those, um, those, those foundational pieces of the gospel ingrained in me. So that's what it means for me. I don't know that I've ever thought of it quite like that, of like that balance, but I think that that's, that's beautiful the way that you put that. Yeah. Thank you both so much.

You're both a delight. Yeah, and it's always a thank for having us to get to talk to you. I just know whatever combination of Bon you would have. It's going to be different. We are, we all came from the same family. We all love God. We all love the savior, but we're at different points in our faith journey.

We're in, we, we, we see things differently and that's what makes being a part of this family so fun and gives us so many opportunities to grow, is because we think differently and we talk about things differently. And this conversation might sound different a year from now, or it would sound really different if you had.

A different combination of siblings, but, um, it, it's a blessing to be able to, to go on this journey in life with my sisters. I love you so much. I love you. I love you. I so much. And you win. You number one. Huh? No. You never one. You one. No. You, I can't wait to see you. I love you so much. Thank you guys so much.

We are so grateful to no long Bonner Bullock and Yahosh Bonner for joining us On today's episode, you can find the Bonner's new book available for pre-order now on Deseret Book. I want Jesus to walk with me and the book will be on sale on May 26th. Thank you so much for listening. Big thanks to Derek Campbell of Mix at six Studios for his help with this episode, and we will look forward to being with you again next week.