Chris Thomas: The Faith to Find Elizabeth Smart
All In
DB Podcasts
4.8 • 6.3K Ratings
🗓️ 1 March 2023
⏱️ 44 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
On March 12, 2003, 15-year-old Elizabeth Smart was found safe nine months after being abducted from her family's home in Salt Lake City, Utah. This month marks the 20th anniversary of Elizabeth's return home and on this week's episode of All In, we speak with Chris Thomas who acted as spokesperson for the Smart Family throughout their entire experience in searching for Elizabeth.
Show Notes
2:44- Meeting the Smarts
4:12- High Stakes
5:25- Looking Back 20 Years Later
7:22- A unique Approach
10:06- Discussing Latter-day Saint Doctrine and Culture
13:34- Viewing Media as Children of God
16:42- Acknowledging Mistakes
19:45- The Faith of Two Parents
23:44- Elizabeth's Reaction to the Manuscript
26:03- A Miracle That Mattered to Millions
31:18- A Responsibility to Set the Record Straight
36:08- The Power of Unity and the Power of Family
41:42- What Does It Mean To Be All In the Gospel of Jesus Christ?
"I think when we serve somebody—even somebody that we disagree with—that we learn to understand and respect and appreciate them and have a new love for them that tears down fences and builds bridges and brings us closer to our Heavenly Father." —Chris Thomas
Links
Chris Thomas's Unexpected book trailer
Video: Chris and Elizabeth's recent appearance on Nightline
Video: Chris and Elizabeth's recent appearance on Good Morning America
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | A quick note before we get into this week's episode that some topics discussed may not be |
| 0:06.3 | appropriate for little years. |
| 0:09.6 | On June 5, 2002, 14-year-old Elizabeth Smart was taken from her bedroom in Salt Lake |
| 0:15.9 | City, Utah. |
| 0:17.4 | For nine months, she was held captive by a man named Brian David Mitchell and his wife, |
| 0:22.7 | Wanda Barzi. |
| 0:24.3 | During those nine months, Elizabeth's family and friends joined with strangers all over |
| 0:29.1 | the world to pray and search for Elizabeth. |
| 0:32.6 | Although a stranger to the Smart family in the beginning, Chris Thomas became the smart |
| 0:37.9 | right-hand man serving as a publicist for the family and building more than 10,000 calls |
| 0:44.0 | from journalists, John Walsh of America's most wanted said that Chris Thomas deserves |
| 0:49.7 | most of the credit for keeping the public and family focused on finding Elizabeth. |
| 0:56.0 | On March 12, 2003, 20 years ago, this month, Elizabeth was found. |
| 1:03.0 | In addition to the Elizabeth Smart case, Chris Thomas is a writer, speaker, and communication |
| 1:08.8 | professional who has managed more than 300 crises for companies, nonprofits, government |
| 1:15.0 | organizations, and families. |
| 1:17.4 | His new book, Unexpected Shares His Experience, as he helped the Smart family search for |
| 1:23.0 | Elizabeth. |
| 1:28.2 | This is All-In, an LDS living podcast where we ask the question, what does it really mean |
| 1:33.0 | to be All-In, the gospel of Jesus Christ? |
| 1:35.7 | I'm Morgan Pearson, and I am so excited to have Chris Thomas on the line with me today, |
| 1:40.7 | Chris Welcome. |
... |
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