Bringing the Hard Questions to Relief Society | A How I Lead Interview with Kristy Wheelwright Taylor

Leading Saints Podcast

Leading Saints

Religion & Spirituality, Christianity

4.9 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 23 April 2025

⏱️ 47 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Kristy Wheelwright Taylor serves as the board secretary for the Wilford Woodruff Papers Foundation and helps with transcription and writing on the Wilford Woodruff Papers Project. Her book, Prepare Me for Thy Use: Lessons from Wilford Woodruff's Mission Years, will be published on May 12 by Deseret Book and BYU's Religious Studies Center. Kristy has a masters degree in Humanities from Brigham Young University and has worked as an English Instructor at Purdue University, a copy editor, technical writer, travel writer, and historical researcher and writer. She has enjoyed serving in a variety of callings in Primary, Young Women, Relief Society, family history, and the stake communications council; she currently serves as the stake Relief Society president in Trophy Club, Texas.

Links

Prepare Me for Thy Use: Lessons from Wilford Woodruff's Mission Years
Developing Wilford Woodruff as a Leader | An Interview with Steven Wheelwright
Share your thoughts in the Leading Saints community
Transcript coming soon
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Highlights
This discussion highlights the Wilford Woodruff Papers project, which aims to compile and make accessible all writings related to Woodruff. Kristy shares her family's connection to this project and her experiences as a stake Relief Society president in Texas.

Kristy emphasizes the importance of unity among Church leaders and fostering doctrinal confidence among women. She encourages open discussions about challenging topics, such as garments and temple recommends, to help leaders feel prepared. By sharing personal stories and insights from Wilford Woodruff, Kristy illustrates how sincere testimonies can strengthen relationships within the Church. She highlights the beauty of the plan of salvation and the joy it brings to those who follow Jesus Christ.

05:03 - Connection to Wilford Woodruff
06:56 - The Wilford Woodruff Papers Project
09:08 - Overview of Kristy's Book
10:00 - Kristy's Role as Stake Relief Society President
11:07 - Support from Stake Leadership
11:47 - Changes in Stake Leadership Sundays
12:47 - Demographics of the Stake
12:49 - Engaging with the Wards
14:31 - Building Relationships with Ward Leaders
15:38 - Common Challenges in Relief Society
19:29 - Unity in Leadership
20:36 - Importance of Sincere Testimonies
22:42 - Fostering Doctrinal Confidence
27:26 - Encouraging Open Discussions
29:49 - Addressing Hard Questions
32:24 - Collaborating with Other Leaders
36:21 - Normalizing Difficult Conversations
40:36 - The Role of Problem Solving in Leadership

The award-winning Leading Saints Podcast is one of the top independent Latter-day Saints podcasts as part of nonprofit Leading Saints' mission to help Latter-day Saints be better prepared to lead. Learn more and listen to any of the past episodes for free at LeadingSaints.org.
Past guests include Emily Belle Freeman, David Butler, Hank Smith, John Bytheway,

Transcript

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0:00.0	Have you ever had a loved one leave the church and your relationship becomes awkward?
0:11.0	This is so common and so sad.
0:14.0	I got the chance to interview the Packard family who have been down this road.
0:18.0	Cindy and Blair Packard are Orthodox-believing parents and Josh, their son,
0:22.4	and his wife, have left the church. We came together to discuss their journey, and it was amazing
0:28.3	what they taught. They talked about the communications they regretted and how other siblings
0:33.1	responded in positive and negative ways. They learned how to pick up the pieces again, express love, carry on, and build a beautiful relationship.
0:42.3	This has become a favorite in the Questioning Saints Virtual Library.
0:46.3	You can actually gain access to this interview at LeadingSaints.org slash 14.
0:50.3	This will give you 14 days to watch the Packard's interview and many others related to helping individuals who begin to question their faith.
0:59.2	Go to leadingsaints.org slash 14 and get access now. So my name is Kurt Frankum, and I am the founder and executive director of Leading Saints
1:30.5	and obviously the host of the Leading Saints podcast.
1:33.6	Now, I started Leading Saints back in 2010.
1:37.3	It was just a hobby blog, and it grew from there by the time 2014 came around.
1:42.9	We started the podcast, and that's really when it got some
1:45.4	traction and took off 2016. We became a 501C3 nonprofit organization, and we've been growing
1:52.7	ever since. And now I get the opportunity of interviewing and talking with remarkable people
1:57.6	all over the world. Now, this is a segment we do on the Leading Saints podcast
2:01.8	called How I Lead. And we reach out to everyday leaders. They're not experts, gurus, authors,
2:08.1	PhDs. They're just everyday leaders who've been asked to serve in a specific leadership calling.
2:13.2	And we simply ask them, how is it that you lead? And they go through some remarkable principles that should be in a book that should be behind a PhD.
2:20.7	They're usually that good.
	...

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