From Lost in a Mine to Stake President | An Interview with Joshua Dennis
Leading Saints Podcast
Leading Saints
4.8 • 1.2K Ratings
🗓️ 6 September 2024
⏱️ 59 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Joshua Dennis works as a designer for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on the For the Strength of Youth Magazine and the Gospel Living App. He graduated from the University of Utah with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Painting and Drawing. He has served as a bishop and currently as a stake president. Josh lives in Salt Lake City, Utah with his wife Johana and their four children.

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Highlights
Joshua Dennis shares his remarkable story of being lost in an abandoned mine as a young boy and miraculously found. Joshua, now serving as a stake president, reflects on the experience and the impact it has had on his life. The conversation also touches on the upcoming movie “Faith of Angels,” which portrays Joshua’s story and the miraculous events surrounding his rescue. Joshua emphasizes the importance of focusing on Jesus Christ, being the person you want others to become, and maintaining a loving and kind demeanor in leadership roles. He shares insights on the challenges and blessings of serving as a stake president, drawing on personal experiences and lessons learned from his journey.
00:06:15 – Joshua Dennis recounts being separated in the mine
00:13:20 – Reflections on his experience and the role of angels
00:19:10 – Experience of the story resurfacing
00:21:05 – How the story became a movie
00:23:40 – Where the movie title came from
00:27:05 – Sealing of the mine after his rescue
00:28:00 – Serving a mission in Honduras when his story was told in a conference talk
00:30:46 – Sharing experiences with others
00:34:30 – Service as a stake president
00:36:30 – Service in a Spanish-speaking ward in Utah
00:40:00 – Focus on Jesus Christ in leadership
00:42:10 – Be the person you want others to become
00:44:20 – When you don’t know what to do, be loving and kind
00:46:10 – Reflections on the first year as a stake president
00:51:00 – Perspective on tragedy and the absence of miracles
The 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, Reyna and Elena Aburto, Liz Wiseman, Stephen M. R. Covey, Julie Beck, Brad Wilcox, Jody Moore, Tony Overbay, John H. Groberg, Elaine Dalton, Tad R. Callister, Lynn G. Robbins, J. Devn Cornish, Bonnie Oscarson, Dennis B. Neuenschwander, Anthony Sweat, John Hilton III, Barbara Morgan Gardner, Blair Hodges, Whitney Johnson, Ryan Gottfredson, Greg McKeown, Ganel-Lyn Condie, Michael Goodman, Wendy Ulrich, Richard Ostler, Kirby Heyborne, Taysom Hill and many more in over 700 episodes.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Have you ever had a loved one leave the church and your relationship becomes awkward? |
| 0:09.2 | This is so common and so sad. |
| 0:12.0 | I got the chance to interview the Packard family who have been down this |
| 0:15.2 | road. Cindy and Blair Packard are Orthodox believing parents and Josh their |
| 0:19.8 | son and his wife have left the church. We came together to discuss their journey and it was |
| 0:25.9 | amazing what they taught. They talked about the communications they regretted and |
| 0:30.2 | how other siblings responded in positive and negative ways. |
| 0:34.0 | They learned how to pick up the pieces again, express love, carry on, and build a beautiful |
| 0:39.1 | relationship. |
| 0:40.6 | This has become a favorite in the questioning Saints virtual library. |
| 0:44.0 | You can actually gain access to this interview at leading Saints.org |
| 0:48.0 | slash 14. |
| 0:49.0 | This will give you 14 days to watch the Packard's interview |
| 0:52.0 | and many others related to helping individuals who |
| 0:55.2 | begin to question their faith. |
| 0:57.2 | Go to leading Saints.org slash 14 and get access now. Oh, So my name is Kurt Frankum and I am the founder and executive director of |
| 1:30.0 | Leading Saints and obviously the host of the leading Saints |
| 1:33.2 | podcast now I started leading Saints back in 2010 it was just a hobby blog and |
| 1:38.8 | it grew from there by the time 2014 came around we started the podcast and that's really |
| 1:44.8 | when it got some attraction and took off 2016 we became a 501c3 nonprofit |
| 1:51.1 | organization and we've been growing ever since and now I get the opportunity |
| 1:55.1 | of interviewing and talking with remarkable people all over the world. |
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