Mormon Stories Podcast

Welcome to LDS Discussions Part 79, where we continue our deep dive into the Book of Abraham, examining one of the most popular apologetic arguments: the claim that Joseph Smith drew on ancient traditions about Abraham rather than translating the surviving papyri.

We begin by exploring the history of the Joseph Smith Papyri and the various theroies proposed to explain the Book of Abraham, including why so many copeting models exist. From there, we focus on the “ancient traditions” theory, looking at stories about Abraham preserved in later Jewish, Christian, and Islamic writings and askign whether they actually support Joseph Smith’s text.

Along the way, we compare the timelines of the Book of Mormon and Book of Abraham translations, disucss the implications of the Church’s Gospel Topics Essay, and examine whether Joseph Smith had access to contemporary biblical commentaries such as Adam Clarke’s. We then compare the Book of Abraham’s narrative --including Abraham’s calls, the famine in Chaldea, Terah, Haran, Abraham’s age, the attempted sacrifice of Abraham, Egyptian idolatry, human sacrifice in ancient Egypt, and Abraham’s knowledge or astronomy --with the historical sources often cited by apologists.

This episode evaluates whether these ancient parallels strengthen the Book of Abraham’s authenticity --or instead demonstrate that Joseph Smith was drawing from ideas available in his own time.

As always, we examine the historical evidence, compare the primary sources, and let the documents speak for themselves.

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Show Notes
YouTube

At Mormon Stories we explore, celebrate, and challenge Mormon culture through in-depth stories told by members and former members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as well as scholars, authors, LDS apologists, and other professionals.  

Our overall mission is to: 
1. Facilitate informed consent amongst LDS Church members, investigators, and non-members regarding Mormon history, doctrine, and theology
2. Support Mormons (and members of other high-demand religions) who are experiencing a religious faith crisis
3. Promote healing, growth and community for those who choose to leave the LDS Church or other high demand religions

🤝Help us continue to deliver quality content by becoming a donor today
⁠One-time or recurring donations⁠
⁠Patreon⁠
⁠Venmo ⁠
⁠PayPal ⁠

Our Platforms:
🌐⁠Mormon Stories Blog ⁠
🎙️⁠Patreon ⁠
✳️⁠Spotify⁠
🍎⁠Apple Podcasts⁠
🖼️⁠Instagram ⁠
📱⁠TikTok ⁠
🎮⁠Discord ⁠

Contact us:
📧 [email protected]
📬PO Box 171085, Salt Lake City, UT 84117

Thomas Westbrook, creator and host of Holy Koolaid, joins Mormon Stories to share his remarkable journey from growing up in an intensely fundamental Christian environment to becoming one of YouTube’s leading voices for skepticism, science, and critical thinking.

Raised by missionary parents and immersed in evangelical culture from childhood, Thomas recounts life overseas, homeschooling, Youth With A Mission (YWAM), purity culture, sexual shame, biblical literalism, and the constant pressure to evangelize. He explains how years of indoctrination shaped his worldview –and how education, science and asking difficult questions gradually unraveled it.

Thomas discusses the pivotal experiences that led him to leave Christianity, including confronting Young Earth Creationism, discovering contradictions he had never been allowed to examine, and realizing that curiosity was viewed as a threat rather than a virtue. He also reflects on the personal cost of deconstruction, including strained family relationships, fear of hell, and learning to rebuild his identity outside of religion. 

This conversation also explores: growing up as a missionary kid and “third-culture kid”, sleep paralysis and supernatural beliefs, the role of science, evolution, and critical thinking in deconstruction, why Thomas started Holy Koolaid, exposing pseudoscience, misinformation, and religious grifters, Christian nationalism and religion’s role in modern politics, building secular community through the Faithless Forum, and what curiosity, uncertainty, and intellectual honest look like after faith.

Whether you’re questioning your beliefs, interested in religious deconstruction, or simply fascinated by how people change their minds, this episode offers an honest and thoughtful look at one man’s journey from certainly to curiosity. 

If you enjoy this conversation, please LIKE, SUBSCRIBE, and SHARE to help support more long-form conversations about faith, doubt, and the pursuit of truth.

___________________

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Show Notes

At Mormon Stories we explore, celebrate, and challenge Mormon culture through in-depth stories told by members and former members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as well as scholars, authors, LDS apologists, and other professionals.  

Our overall mission is to: 
1. Facilitate informed consent amongst LDS Church members, investigators, and non-members regarding Mormon history, doctrine, and theology
2. Support Mormons (and members of other high-demand religions) who are experiencing a religious faith crisis
3. Promote healing, growth and community for those who choose to leave the LDS Church or other high demand religions

🤝Help us continue to deliver quality content by becoming a donor today
⁠One-time or recurring donations⁠
⁠Patreon⁠
⁠Venmo ⁠
⁠PayPal ⁠

Our Platforms:
🌐⁠Mormon Stories Blog ⁠
🎙️⁠Patreon ⁠
✳️⁠Spotify⁠
🍎⁠Apple Podcasts⁠
🖼️⁠Instagram ⁠
📱⁠TikTok ⁠
🎮⁠Discord ⁠

Contact us:
📧 [email protected]
📬PO Box 171085, Salt Lake City, UT 84117

On today's episode of Mormon News, Nemo the Mormon and Meggan Hayes break down another busy week of headlines involving The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

We begin with the Church's announcement that more than 88,500 missionaries are now serving worldwide, which leaders say is an all-time record. We'll examine whether today's LDS missionary statistics are truly comparable to previous Church records.

Links:
Deseret News: https://www.deseret.com/faith/2026/07/14/new-record-88500-missionaries-latter-day-saints-why/
2014 Statistical Report: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2015/04/statistical-report-2014
Additional Missionary Statistics: https://news-pacific.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/church-provides-additional-missionary-statistics

We'll also discuss new research on how lowering the missionary age has affected sister missionaries and their educational outcomes.

Link:
https://www.abc4.com/news/religion/sister-missionary-age-change-womens-college-success-research/

Next, we'll cover new developments involving former LDS bishop Leo Lopshire and former Cache County teacher Patrick Alan Green, including investigators' requests for additional victims to come forward.

Links:
https://floodlit.org/a/b755/
https://www.yahoo.com/news/us/articles/deputies-seek-additional-victims-spartanburg-204433996.html
https://www.hjnews.com/news/local/former-elementary-teacher-arrested-in-cache-county-for-child-sex-crimes/article_5bfc4b0e-d6e5-43e1-9f95-88b7880ed3cc.html
https://www.linkedin.com/in/brian-duncan-a404b3b0/

We'll examine BYU's connection to Monster Energy and how attitudes toward energy drinks have changed within Latter-day Saint culture.

Show notes can be found on the Mormon Stories blog here: https://www.mormonstories.org/lds-church-claims-record-88500-missionaries/

___________________

⁠⁠⁠Show Notes⁠⁠⁠
⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠

At Mormon Stories we explore, celebrate, and challenge Mormon culture through in-depth stories told by members and former members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as well as scholars, authors, LDS apologists, and other professionals.  

Our overall mission is to: 
1. Facilitate informed consent amongst LDS Church members, investigators, and non-members regarding Mormon history, doctrine, and theology
2. Support Mormons (and members of other high-demand religions) who are experiencing a religious faith crisis
3. Promote healing, growth and community for those who choose to leave the LDS Church or other high demand religions

🤝Help us continue to deliver quality content by becoming a donor today
⁠⁠⁠⁠One-time or recurring donations⁠⁠⁠⁠
⁠⁠⁠⁠Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠
⁠⁠⁠⁠Venmo ⁠⁠⁠⁠
⁠⁠⁠⁠PayPal ⁠⁠⁠⁠

Our Platforms:
🌐⁠⁠⁠⁠Mormon Stories Blog ⁠⁠⁠⁠
🎙️⁠⁠⁠⁠Patreon ⁠⁠⁠⁠
✳️⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠
🍎⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠⁠⁠
🖼️⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram ⁠⁠⁠⁠
📱⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok ⁠⁠⁠⁠
🎮⁠⁠⁠⁠Discord ⁠⁠⁠⁠

Contact us:
📧 [email protected]
📬PO Box 171085, Salt Lake City, UT 84117

After years away from the microphone, John Larsen returns to Mormon Stories Podcast for a wide-ranging conversation. 

A legend in the Mormon and ex-Mormon podcasting world, John Larsen helped shape an entire generation of critical Mormon thought through Mormon Expression. Now, he sits down with John Dehlin to reflect on the journey that brought him here –from his Mormon upbringing and faith crisis to build one of the most influential podcasts in the space, and ultimately stepping away to build a very different kind of life.

In this candid interview, John shares what life looks like today: living sustainably, growing much of his own food, working in local government, and creating intentional community. He also opens up about his mission, the questions that led him out of the church, why apologetics never worked for him, his fascination with primary historical sources, and how Mormon Expression came to be. 

The conversation also explores the rise of Mormon Studies, the challenge of creating content for years on end, community dynamics within the ex-Mormon movement, current events, AI, politics, the future of society, and what it really means to move on after leaving Mormonism. 

Whether you’ve followed John Larsen for years or are meeting him for the first time, this episode offers a rare glimpse into one of the most respected voices in the Mormon studies and post-Mormon communities. 

If you enjoy thoughtful conversations about Mormon history, faith transitions, and building a meaningful life after religion, be sure to like, subscribe, and share this episode. 
___________________

YouTube

At Mormon Stories we explore, celebrate, and challenge Mormon culture through in-depth stories told by members and former members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as well as scholars, authors, LDS apologists, and other professionals.  

Our overall mission is to: 
1. Facilitate informed consent amongst LDS Church members, investigators, and non-members regarding Mormon history, doctrine, and theology
2. Support Mormons (and members of other high-demand religions) who are experiencing a religious faith crisis
3. Promote healing, growth and community for those who choose to leave the LDS Church or other high demand religions

🤝Help us continue to deliver quality content by becoming a donor today
⁠One-time or recurring donations⁠
⁠Patreon⁠
⁠Venmo ⁠
⁠PayPal ⁠

Our Platforms:
🌐⁠Mormon Stories Blog ⁠
🎙️⁠Patreon ⁠
✳️⁠Spotify⁠
🍎⁠Apple Podcasts⁠
🖼️⁠Instagram ⁠
📱⁠TikTok ⁠
🎮⁠Discord ⁠

Contact us:
📧 [email protected]
📬PO Box 171085, Salt Lake City, UT 84117

On today's episode of Mormon News, John Dehlin and Meggan Hayes break down another busy week of headlines involving The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

We begin with breaking news involving the family of Apostle D. Todd Christofferson. His brother, Wade Christofferson, has pleaded guilty in federal court to sexually abusing minors and sending sexually explicit letters to a young Utah girl. He now faces a potential life sentence in prison. We'll break down the case, the charges, and why this story is making headlines.

Next, we take a closer look at Domo founder Josh James, one of Utah's most influential tech CEOs and a featured voice in the documentary An Inconvenient Faith. We'll examine newly released bodycam footage from his DUI arrest and revisit his public defense of Mormonism.

We'll also discuss the heartbreaking case of Mitchell and Carrie Murray, an LDS couple who pleaded guilty to child abuse homicide following the death of their toddler. We'll examine the disturbing details released by prosecutors and why this case has shocked so many people across Utah.

We'll examine Mitt Romney's comments that people in their 80s should not be running the country or the world, and ask whether that conversation also applies to leadership within high-demand religions like the LDS Church.

We'll cover the case of Adam Clark, a former LDS youth Sunday School teacher accused of stealing thousands of dollars from an Eagle Mountain youth sports organization. We'll discuss why trust, reputation, and religious identity can sometimes influence how people evaluate character.

We'll also discuss Utah County's new Zoom wedding service, which allows couples to get married online from anywhere in the world. Is Utah becoming the new Las Vegas?

Finally, we'll examine growing concerns over Flock license plate cameras near BYU. We'll discuss the university's use of automated surveillance technology, why some students and former members are raising privacy concerns, and what this debate reveals about safety, trust, and institutional oversight.

Join us live as we provide context behind the headlines, separate fact from speculation, and discuss what these stories reveal about Mormonism today.
___________________

Show Notes
YouTube

At Mormon Stories we explore, celebrate, and challenge Mormon culture through in-depth stories told by members and former members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as well as scholars, authors, LDS apologists, and other professionals.  

Our overall mission is to: 
1. Facilitate informed consent amongst LDS Church members, investigators, and non-members regarding Mormon history, doctrine, and theology
2. Support Mormons (and members of other high-demand religions) who are experiencing a religious faith crisis
3. Promote healing, growth and community for those who choose to leave the LDS Church or other high demand religions

🤝Help us continue to deliver quality content by becoming a donor today
⁠One-time or recurring donations⁠
⁠Patreon⁠
⁠Venmo ⁠
⁠PayPal ⁠

Our Platforms:
🌐⁠Mormon Stories Blog ⁠
🎙️⁠Patreon ⁠
✳️⁠Spotify⁠
🍎⁠Apple Podcasts⁠
🖼️⁠Instagram ⁠
📱⁠TikTok ⁠
🎮⁠Discord ⁠

Contact us:
📧 [email protected]
📬PO Box 171085, Salt Lake City, UT 84117