In this episode, Ken Williams shares his story of how he serves those around him by making chocolate cake, and how it has helped him to come much closer to his friends and neighbors, and closer to God.
Ken's chocolate cake stories will both entertain and inspire you!
*** Please SHARE Ken's story and help us spread hope and light to others. ***
To WATCH this episode on YouTube, visit: https://youtu.be/akP8FjQMqgk
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To READ Ken's book, "The Chocolate Cake Phenomenon: A More Delicious Way to Minister", visit (direct link): https://www.amazon.com/Chocolate-Cake-Phenomenon-Delicious-Minister/dp/1489536728
To LEARN more about the Chocolate Cake Bytes podcast, visit: https://www.facebook.com/ChocolateCakeBytes/
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Also, if you have a faith-promoting or inspiring story, or know someone who does, please let us know by going to https://www.latterdaylights.com and reaching out to us.
In this episode, Ken Williams shares his story of how he serves those around him by making chocolate cake, and how it has helped him to come much closer to his friends and neighbors, and closer to God.
Ken's chocolate cake stories will both entertain and inspire you!
*** Please SHARE Ken's story and help us spread hope and light to others. ***
To WATCH this episode on YouTube, visit: https://youtu.be/akP8FjQMqgk
-----
To READ Ken's book, "The Chocolate Cake Phenomenon: A More Delicious Way to Minister", visit (direct link): https://www.amazon.com/Chocolate-Cake-Phenomenon-Delicious-Minister/dp/1489536728
To LEARN more about the Chocolate Cake Bytes podcast, visit: https://www.facebook.com/ChocolateCakeBytes/
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Also, if you have a faith-promoting or inspiring story, or know someone who does, please let us know by going to https://www.latterdaylights.com and reaching out to us.
Hi everyone, I'm Scott Brandley.
Alisha Coakley:And I'm Alisha Coakley. Every member of the church has a story to share, one that can instill faith, invite growth and inspire others.
Scott Brandley:On today's episode we're going to hear how a recipe for love service and chocolate cake led one man to understand the importance of following promptings. Welcome to Latter-day Lights. Hey everyone, welcome back to another episode of Latter-day Lights. We're so glad you're here with us today and we have a special treat. We have Ken Williams with us, ken, welcome to the show, my friend. Thank you, it's good to be here.
Alisha Coakley:Yeah, we're really excited we were just talking before we started going live here on this or recording this that you came across our show through a couple different connections. Why don't you go ahead and tell the listeners how you found us?
Ken Williams:So the first connection that I had was you were on the Turtle House fireside and I can't remember what the topic was, but you talked about the podcast. My brother is the host of the fire side. I've been on it a couple of times. That's how I found the podcast and I started listening and I think it's a fantastic idea to have an opportunity to dig into stories, People and their stories of faith. And an earlier guest, Stephanie we have two friends.
Ken Williams:Frank, and we have to support them in the world at the same time, and so I still even it's been years but I still have to think about, okay, which one am I talking about? But Frank was on the podcast one of the early episodes, so I've known the Frankims and we were in the same ward out here. He served as mission in Indianapolis and so nice, and I've been listening ever since.
Alisha Coakley:So I love it and I love your brother's podcast too. I'm actually I'm going to be recording this Friday Another one, you know for him, or whatever, but I love, I love that there's so much good out there and it's it's really not hard to find. But I feel like once you start looking for it, it's like almost hard to stop finding. Does that make sense? You know, like like so many things just kind of come up and and lead you to like one thing to another, to another. So I, I love that. I think that's awesome and just makes me happy. I'm going to have to go listen to yours, I'm going to have to research and find when yours, I don't catch all of Mark's, but it's.
Alisha Coakley:They've got really good, really good stories and stuff on there too.
Ken Williams:Yeah, they do.
Alisha Coakley:Yeah.
Ken Williams:So I've got one coming up at the end of the month.
Alisha Coakley:Oh, perfect, yeah, Very nice, all right, well, we'll have to keep our eyes and ears open.
Ken Williams:There's one that that will air on the 22nd, which people may have to go back and, and that's going to be on I don't remember the exact title, but it's when someone you love leaves the church, and that'll be part of my story, so I'll share that a little bit later on, and then I'll be recording one the week after that on leaving your burdens at Christ's feet. Oh, nice this has given me some really interesting things to think about.
Alisha Coakley:That's awesome, the one that I have, the topic I have. I didn't choose it, they just asked. You know, hey, and it's. I'm in conflict, what would Jesus do? And I'm like I, I'm going to be honest with you, I still don't know what I'm talking about yet, so I have a few days to figure it out. We'll see. It'll be a surprise to me just as much as to everyone else, but it's, that's awesome. So so you're a professional podcast guest now.
Ken Williams:I've been on a few podcasts. I've got my own podcast. I actually have three podcasts and oh nice, so nice. Cool.
Alisha Coakley:Now what's your podcast about?
Ken Williams:The first one that I started is called chocolate cake bites, and that is. It started out as a kind of a way for me to talk about my story and what I do. And then I started to the second podcast with my life coaching. It's the bad boss podcast. I work with people that are difficult bosses not that ever happens with anybody. And then my third is the ward podcast. So I've got a podcast for where I sit down with members of my ward and I just get to know them a little bit better. It's a lot of fun, that's so cool.
Alisha Coakley:Oh, I might want to do that. I'll give you credit, it's the best.
Ken Williams:I've had two more on a podcast that have been in the ward for and I've known them for decades and I'm learning about their stories, elements of their stories that I had no idea it's. It's been a lot of fun.
Alisha Coakley:Wow, that is such a great idea. I absolutely love that, scott. We need to get on that. We need to do that. We only have so much time Alisha. We have eternity, scott, come on.
Scott Brandley:You're gonna be working on your art. That is a really cool idea, it is a really cool idea.
Alisha Coakley:I love that. Oh, that just made me feel good, so awesome. Well, what? What else about you? You're obviously a professional podcaster. You make chocolate cake, which we're going to talk about in just a little bit.
Ken Williams:So I am a. I have five kids. They were born in a vetical order, which is super convenient Alison, brennan, chris the Dalton and Edison. When I'm not coaching people, I work at FedEx. I work overnight, so that's a lot of fun and it's a lot of fun. Most of the time it's a lot of fun. I have my own moments that I'm ready to not have all of those moments, but it's I love. I get to my team's load and offload the planes and so I get to be around the planes on the airport. It's just, it's a blast. I love what I do.
Alisha Coakley:That's awesome, very cool, well I. I like when FedEx comes and brings me stuff. So if ever you want to just throw some extra packages in my direction.
Ken Williams:I'll take. Well, I have.
Alisha Coakley:Especially if there's chocolate cake.
Ken Williams:I have been known to send chocolate cake through FedEx before.
Alisha Coakley:Oh, nice, very cool.
Scott Brandley:All right, awesome Ken. Well, why don't you share your story with us today?
Ken Williams:All right, sounds good. And as I thought about my story, I have a hard time figuring out where it really started. And I think it kind of started when I was, when I was a kid and my dad had a story that he told us. It was one of my absolute favorite stories as I was growing up and I just knew it as a Thanksgiving turkey story. And the way he told the story I don't even know if it's true. I don't know how true it is. I'm sure there's some elements to it. True, but he talked about I think it was shortly after his mission he and his cousin went to a fall harvest type dance and they got tickets for a door prize. As they went in they're meeting the girls and get numbers, all the fun things that that young, recently returned missionaries would do, and at the end of the dance they're calling off the prizes for the door prize and and my dad looks at his ticket he's the winner of one of the prizes. It's a Thanksgiving turkey Thanksgiving time. He was super excited about that. So he goes around back, grabs the turkey. It's a live turkey in a crate, not exactly. He did not drop in the country, so he is not quite sure what to do with this. So he and his cousin are trying to collaborate and his uncle was a branch president and said you know, there's a family in the branch that really is struggling right now and they will never ask for help, but if they got a turkey, it would be a game changer for them. And they thought, since they're not going to accept charity, how do we do this? And the idea was my dad said they don't know me, I'm just going to call them, I'll pretend I'm a radio DJ and we'll let them win the turkey Fantastic.
Ken Williams:So one of the greatest disappointments in my life is he could not remember what the questions were that he asked, but they were super simple questions. The one that he does remember is what is the name of the Lone Ranger's horse? And for people who know the Lone Ranger, they know that that is silver. Well, the lady answered every single question wrong. So he'd ask a question. She'd answer it wrong. Well, what do you do? So he was enthusiastic and he said congratulations, you're right. He lied every single time and she told her he won. She said the Lone Ranger's horse is tanto, no. But he said you're right, congratulations, you've won a Thanksgiving turkey and our people will bring it by. She was so thrilled and they did the ding dong ditch. They dropped this crate off in front of the house and they just took off.
Ken Williams:A couple of hours later they drove back by and they saw the husband. He was plucking this turkey and they thought it was hilarious. And it was some time later that my dad's cousin said hey, did I ever tell you what happened? And he hadn't. My dad hadn't heard the story. So his cousin said what happened after was this woman got up and testimony meeting and she said I want you to know. God answers prayers and the kids have been praying. They knew that things were tight and they were gonna have a turkey this year and they've been praying for a turkey. And the mom was just so Concerned that, yes, god answers prayers, but not these prayers and not our prayers this way, and please don't be Disappointed if we don't get a turkey. And then this nice man from the radio station called and I don't know how I did it, but I won the turkey. And I thought, as I heard this story over and over and over again as I was growing up, I thought that's just so amazing how God answer prayers and Sometimes when we're just being goofy, we're just being silly with the experiences that we have. Yeah, so that's kind of the the background. A couple other stories that kind of Build the framework.
Ken Williams:I was on the High Council. I was fairly new on the High Council many years ago and I was Assigned to work with the young men and young women and there's not a better assignment on the High Council than to work with the youth. So I Got to go to girls camp and I was one of the the priesthood holders that got to go and support and I'm moving tents and cutting logs, I'm doing all the fun things and Occasionally we would be asked to to give blessings, and so the other Priesthood holder with me, christian, he and I would alternate. He would be voice, then I would be voice and he would be voice, then I'd be voice. And so this is.
Ken Williams:I think it was Thursday and the. The moment that we were in it was about two in the afternoon and I had been given the assignment to Teach the young woman a mini class on sign language, american sign language. My wife and I both Interpreted church and we were gonna talk about high on a mountaintop and and I was gonna teach them some signs. I was gonna talk about some of this, the symbolism and the temple and all that. And as the class is supposed to start, I get summoned by one of the camp leaders brother Williams, we need, we need you.
Ken Williams:Over here we have a young woman who needs a blessing. Now I'm conflicted on one hand, I have this commitment, but on the other hand, I have this commitment and I Was able to get some things taken care for the mini class that was Off my plate for a few minutes and I got to the, the cabin where this young woman young woman was, and she was a little bit Different. She was not super popular, she was not One of the people who seemed to have a lot of friends and the situation was a little bit odd, a little bit unusual. And I still have in the back of my mind I've got this mini class, I've got to get to that, and I remember reminding myself that she deserves 100% of my attention. And so, as I'm there trying to put myself on the right, the right mindset to give a blessing, I remember thinking that's taking care of, I don't have to worry about that, and as I was just focusing and I don't know, it's got how your experience is or anybody else.
Ken Williams:When they offer blessings, I get the best way I can describe it as I get impressions that I try to put into words and sometimes that's easy, sometimes it's not very easy. So I put my hands on this, this kid's head, this young woman, and I Cannot describe what happened, but I felt, I Felt how deeply this young woman was loved by her father in heaven. I, I experienced that love and I tried to put it into words. And I can't put it into words and I got emotional and she got emotional and Christian got emotional and the young women's leaders in there were getting emotional and the best that I could do was you are a deeply loved daughter of a Heavenly Father and I that was.
Ken Williams:That was a pivotal moment in my life, in my life to recognize how deeply loved this young woman is. It changed. It changed the way that I thought about her specifically, but how I thought about really Everybody. And is these young women and I know the theme has changed, but as the young women's would stand at the time and say we are daughters of a Heavenly Father who loves us and I thought I just want to shake you and say you have no idea. So true. And then at about the same time I think it was probably a little bit after I Was having my own personal struggle I was trying to understand Does he really even know who I am? Does he care about me? And so I remember kneeling down and just asking do you even know who I am? And For me the answer was instant and it was complete and it was clear, and I know how he feels about me and the thing that that really kind of underlies that the Whole experience that I have with chocolate cake is that Heavenly Father knows who I am, he knows who you are and he loves us completely, and so my experience is Just being a conduit for for that love.
Ken Williams:So one last story to kind of set the framework. I've got a son this is number two, this is B who has a few years ago decided that the church was not the direction that that he thought he wanted to go. So he's taken a different path. He's actually left the church and Carissa was on her mission and she was serving at Temple Square. Temple Square missionaries have wonderful rules where, at least at the time, if family were in town, they were encouraged to at least connect, to visit with family. And so here's my son, who at the time was not really even believing, and he wanted to. As he was traveling to California from Indiana to Start a job, he wanted to just show up and see if he could connect with a sister. So the chance, the chance encounter, which I know happens. But that's what he wanted. He wanted to just go surprise her and.
Ken Williams:I Work at the at the Indianapolis temple on Friday nights. And so he called me Friday afternoon, just before I was getting ready for my shift, and he said dad, I'm getting ready to go to see Carissa, I want a surprise her. I told her he could plan this in advance and he decided nope, I want to just show up, I just want a surprise her. So I'm praying please, please, let him have an experience that will.
Ken Williams:Give him a connection with the spirit, and I felt and the best way I can describe it is it was like a Father. It was a very paternal feeling, kind of patting me on the head, and the words that came to my mind was I know where my children are and I thought okay.
Ken Williams:I don't have to worry about it and I can go to the temple, I can do my shift. I don't have to worry about is he gonna have the, the connection or the experience that he wants to have. But as I was walking by my locker at the temple, my smart watch. Smart watch was notifying me that I was getting text messages and missed phone calls and things like that and I thought I told him I can't I get the whole story. I get all the, all the pieces and the flagpole.
Ken Williams:I don't know, with the, the construction, if they even have a flagpole there anymore right right outside the tabernacle Is where the the tours would start and Carissa would be Could be anywhere. She could be welfare square, not even on the property. She could be in the teaching center, but she happened to be at the flagpole. So she's the flagpole. Friend is walking up, and then there's a family that walks up at the same. This is all at the same time. They all convert to the flagpole. The family is my sister and her family from Seattle.
Alisha Coakley:No way, really, and they didn't know.
Ken Williams:They came thinking well, I want to jump into Carissa and Brennan's there. Oh, wow, what are the chances? And the chances are zero, yeah. But as I hear the story, it just was a complete Reinforcement. He knows his children, he knows where they are and and so if I can be a part of helping them Feel the love that their father in heaven has for them, then that is going to bless, certainly it'll bless their life, but absolutely is gonna bless my life.
Ken Williams:So many years ago, after After I or before I was on my counsel, I think, if I can remember my timeline right I was the steak young men's president and I was working with a young man's young men's president, very small unit, it was a ward, but they only had seven boys and he was struggling because the only reason that I'm the young men's president is because nobody else will do it and I don't like these boys, they don't like me and two of them. And so I had this. I did I know it was not mine, but I said I want you to do something for me and he said okay, what is it? I said I want you to pray For your boys, all seven of them by name, every day and just do that for a week for me and let me know what happens. And I don't remember what his experience was, but I know what my experience was and it again changed the way that I approached my callings.
Ken Williams:I Was, shortly after that, released as young men's president, called as a seminary teacher, and this is where the chocolate cake really starts to build. I'm a seminary teacher and I started praying for my students by name. Every day I had night I prayed for them and it was not anything spectacular, it was not anything in depth, it was not anything Really elaborate. It was Heavenly Father, please bless Joey, please bless Neon, oh, please bless. And I just went through by name, bless, by name all.
Ken Williams:And I I could do that because I could remember where each one of them sat and I just went around and you didn't do it in alphabetical order I'm, I'm praying for these, and sometimes, when you do that, it's like hitting a speed bump and I Would think, okay, there's one that I need to pay attention to. And so I would pay attention by either connecting hey, just thinking about you, as we're kind of crossing paths and in seminary, well, around the same time, my wife was who's amazing. She was the compassionate service leader in the ward and I got home from work and she made chocolate chip cookies, which are about the best, and her cookies are so good, and so I reached up for one and she slapped my hand away and she said those are not for you. What? What? If they're not for me, who are they for? And she said they're for family in the ward. And I said, okay, you've done meals, you've arranged babysitting for people, but cookies what's going on with this family that they need cookies? And she said, I don't know, just felt like they needed cookies. And I thought, okay, weirdo, and so I didn't even think about it. I was disappointed that I didn't get any cookies, but it was about three weeks later. We get a phone call, voicemail, from this family. Hey, just wanted to thank you so much for those cookies. That's exactly what we needed and that Stuck in my mind. It didn't do anything for me yet, but it stuck in my mind that that's just so weird. Who needs cookies? And I never learned what was going on.
Ken Williams:Shortly after that, I get home from work one night to state night and and she had my wife had been put together, some canning jars with Little ribbon wrapped around the neck, and black-eyed Susan from the front front garden were in there and I said oh, that's really cool flowers. Who are the flowers for? She said I don't know, there's a sister in. The ward, her mother just passed away, so I think I'll take some to her, but the rest I don't know. Okay, so we're on date night. We go, we drop off the flowers and nobody's home. So we leave on the front porch with a note and she turned to me and she said so now we're two. And a name popped into my mind and I was a big chicken and I don't. I don't remember why, but I said I don't know where we're gonna go next and she said let's go visit this family. It was one of my home teaching families, but it was the same family that it popped in my mind and so I said okay, that sounds good.
Ken Williams:So I go as a beautiful Companion to my wife and she goes up to the wife and she's having a nice chat. She gives her the flowers and the husband it is in the middle of the driveway. There was a, a palette, a skid of Construction debris that was in the middle of the driveway bags of concrete bricks, things like that and I could tell he was angry, he was just Mad, and he's taking stuff off this palette. And I go up and I said, hey, can I help you with that? No, I'll do it myself. And so I'm the home teacher, I'm here, I'm not gonna just watch you work. We have a nice chat, turns out there's a construction Uh, a lot of construction in the neighborhood, but somebody had dropped this palette right in the, the literal middle of their driveway and nobody would take ownership of it, nobody would take responsibility for it, and they couldn't get their car in or out of their garage. And then their home teacher shows up with His wife giving flowers, to hit my wife giving his wife flowers. And then I'm there. It's just an opportunity to serve.
Ken Williams:And so it was just a um, a moment to Be in the right place at the right time, and so all this is building and I remember I was at a fire site or something like that and I'd gotten some, some refreshments afterwards and there were some brownies or cookies or something like that. And as I'm driving home, I'm excited, I'm gonna go home and finish up these cookies, and and I got to an intersection and I turned the wrong way and it was not something that I thought about, it was something that just instantly happened. And I was going towards the house of one of my seminary students and I thought, okay, I'll just. I hadn't seen her for a couple days, so I thought I'll just knock on the door and I thought I'll just give her a plate of brownies and I'll give her some brownies and tell her I'm thinking about you, mr, in Class, and, and so it was a short doorstep hey, got some brownies for you. I was thinking about you, I hope to see you in class tomorrow.
Ken Williams:And a couple days later she came up and she said thanks for the brownies. That was exactly what I needed. So then I have this reconnection with the cookies, and the family needed cookies and I thought there's, there's something Going on and I didn't quite understand what it was yet, but there's something happening that might Make a difference. That might I, it might be big, it might be significant. So my birthday is in November and At the time I would go to Costco and get they have a.
Ken Williams:It's a huge like a four layer dark Heavy chocolate cake and I would buy it and I would I for myself, because nobody else would buy it for me, and I would cut the few pieces that I would end up eating. And so then I've got three quarters of a cake that's sitting on my counter and my wife said I don't want to hear, go ahead, get, get rid of it. Yeah. So there are a few people in the ward I know Like chocolate cake, so I'd cut it up and I'd wrap it up and I'd go on my little Excursions and I'm going to go visit this person or this family and I'm going to just share some chocolate cake. So I'm going to this family in the ward. They've got a dozen kids. It seems like they just Just chaos at their house. So I get to their house and I knock on the door and the spirit says Go visit your own teaching family. Happen to be the same family that I helped with the construction debris. They were in the same neighborhood and I thought, all right, I'll get there, let me share this cake and I'll take care of that. And nobody comes to the door. So I knock harder and the spirit says go visit your own teaching family. Yeah, yeah, I heard you the first time. I'll get. I'll get there, let me just share this cake. And there's no answer. And I know they're home. I can hear movement, I can see shadows and I knock harder. I call, no answer and the spirit again says go visit your own teaching family and I finally figure out oh, you mean now I go, I'll teach you family, and just being Me. When the wife answers the door, I gave her this plate of chocolate cake and I said the spirit said I just Bring you this chocolate cake and she takes it, not even Noticing that it's chocolate cake, it seems. She puts it on the counter. She says thanks so much for coming. Our infant son is sick. Would you help give him a blessing? So I need to come together. That Okay. So I have this prompting and I end up being in the right place. I have this prompting. If I listen, I end up being where I need to be. So I started Doing it on purpose. I started looking to see if, if I can actually have an experience on purpose where I get prompted by the spirit, and so I just there's a. It's almost like a mantra that who do I know who needs chocolate cake. There's one time my wife was at the grocery store and they had some, some flowers On clearance, so a couple dollars. She got some of those and she went to carissa and she said carissa, who do you know who needs flowers? And carissa said you know, there's a girl in my class that needs flowers. And this girl, sometime later, testimony meeting, gets up and says I just want you to know that I know god knows me and loves me because and she tells the story about how she's been struggling with some anxiety and depression and Carissa just shows up with flowers. So almost every sunday, almost every sunday, I make chocolate cake and I just consider I'll ask my kids, who do you know who needs chocolate cake? And my kids know that I do this.
Ken Williams:So brennan left the church. He's going to a different church and his pastor, pastor jody, loves chocolate cake. So brennan will come and he'll say do you have any cakes that I can take. Yeah, I can take, I'm not gonna. I made 16 cakes. I'm not gonna eat 16 cakes, yeah, so take what you need. And so pastor jody loves the cake and so I've had. I've had some amazing experiences. I was sharing this this at girls camp Several years ago and one of the the leaders came up and she said do you remember when you shared Chocolate cake with me?
Ken Williams:And I said, yeah, I remember it was a great, a great visit. They had just moved into our ward, um brennan, and I had helped to move in two days later. I'm asking who do you know who's who needs chocolate cake? And we talked about a few people and their name came to mind, so we stopped by share chocolate cake with them, have a nice, nice chat. And she said that was the worst weekend of my life and I thought I'm so sorry. What did I do? She said no, we had just moved to the area. We didn't know anything about chocolate cake. No, we had just moved to the area, we didn't know anybody and I was going through a horrible medical condition that I didn't feel any support for and you should the cake, wow.
Ken Williams:So the thing that's been amazing for me is when I consider the question who do I know who needs chocolate cake? I always get an answer. I always get an answer sometimes. So I take these, these cakes into work and I saw a Buddy of mine and I walk up and I give. So this is what the cakes look like. Oh, perfect little size. Well, you can really cut it into four, but why would you? And Look me, he said Thanks, that's exactly what I need. Okay. So same question with chocolate chip cookies who needs cake? Nobody needs cake, but everybody needs cake.
Ken Williams:So what I did was um, I, I wrote so my. My sweet wife she's been On my case, her had been for a long time that I needed to write my story and I really struggled with it because I didn't know how, I didn't know how to put it all together and I ended up doing a fire site and I realized I'm just gonna, I'm just gonna write my fire side. So I, so I put it into a book. It's called the chocolate cake phenomenon. It's a more delicious way to minister, and I have the I love it.
Ken Williams:I'm happy to show the recipe because people think that it's a family secret, and it's not. I'm all dressed. But the great thing about it is that Everybody needs chocolate cake and and if you don't make chocolate cake, it works with cinnamon rolls or zucchini bread, or I had somebody tell me that that, uh, after she heard the story, she said I don't do cake but I do dish towels, and so she made. So whatever your gift is, whatever your talent is, share it and and ask the question who do I know who needs whatever it is that you offer, and I have so many experiences that have just been. It's been so much fun To share chocolate cake. Everybody in my stake knows I'm the chocolate cake guy and and for the family that I minister to, it's just so much fun. They had a birthday. One of their kids had a birthday a few weeks ago, so I knock on the door so I can give them this cake and the. The mom says to her kids who's here at seven o'clock on a Sunday night, and her daughter said it's Gavin's birthday, the chocolate cake and so much fun, I've got one that I'll deliver later on tonight, that that his birthday was on Wednesday and and his family. They just, they just know Every one of their kids. They just know brother Williams is going to show up with with chocolate cake.
Ken Williams:So I've had One of my recent experiences. I was we have a our current temple president. The very first words he said to me I had not met him before. I walked past him and he looked at me, shook my hand and said brother Williams, where's my chocolate cake? I think this happened, so I was walking out. This is several months later. I thought I had given him one, but I apparently hadn't. So I walked as I was leaving after my shift. He said brother Williams, I'm still waiting for that cake and I happen. So I said, let me go grab it. He said no, I was just kidding. And no, and Okay, don't you dare tell me not to share a cake with you.
Alisha Coakley:Yeah.
Ken Williams:I go back to my car, I grab it, I take it back in and I gave him a copy of the book as well and which, uh, he was so kind as you would expect a temple president to be.
Ken Williams:He was so kind and and Thanked me for the cake and for the the book. And the next day he sent me an email and he said Thanks for the cake but even more Thanks for the book, because I've been working on a talk and I have been struggling with this element and chapter one, that's the turkey story. He said chapter one answer the question that I had. There's just other talk that I've been, or this, this part of my own personal study that I've been trying to, I've been trying to dig Into and I've been stuck on this one item and chapter three that answered that question, and so a Couple of things that I've learned that and I've. I consider the question when do I stop? And I don't think I can.
Ken Williams:Number one we have gifts. We have gifts and it might be making chocolate cake and it might be making zucchini bread or cinnamon rolls or or dish towels or something else, and when we, I am convinced that when we share our gifts, we are blessing people's lives and it is a bonus. It's a bonus but it's not a requirement. It's a bonus when we learn how we're blessing somebody else's life. It's not gonna happen every time that somebody says oh, by the way, this is an answer to prayer, because but we'll get Enough of that feedback that we know that we're on the, the Lord's errand. And number two, he wants us, he, heavenly Father, wants us to Demonstrate his love. He loves us so much that if I can do something to help you know that you're seeing, that you're loved, that you're appreciated. He's he, he wants me to do that.
Ken Williams:There's a scripture in mosaic that says not mosaic, it's maronite that says any good thing, which includes chocolate cake, good thing comes from God. So I was bold. Being bold is sometimes entertaining to see how the other people decide to handle that. But I was speaking in state conference and I Boldly said chocolate cake is spiritual, because this is my experience with chocolate cake and I cannot accept the fact that it is not I, it's, it is. And so the state president, as he should do, got up after the the block of speakers and he said I endorse everything except I'm not convinced that chocolate. If you give us a chance to counsel together, we might come to us so I think, he just wanted a.
Ken Williams:Have visual aids and state conference, and I had one. I broke some of the rules, maybe, but so I had given him the cake. But I got this, this picture of the stake presidency surrounding this empty cake pan for the Williams. After counseling together, we've come to the conclusion that, yes, chocolate cake.
Ken Williams:That's my, that's my thing. It is One of the one of the great. I think that as we Discover a purpose and it's not necessarily the purpose that we have in our lives, but as we discover a purpose, I think Heavenly Father is going to drop breadcrumbs and let us know we're following a path that's that's leading us and others to him. Well, there's one day, because I have the recipe in the book. There's one day Brendan had asked me if I had a copy the book that he could borrow, and I just assumed that he wanted the recipe so that he could make cake because he wanted to share it with people. He said, no, I'm.
Ken Williams:I'm teaching Sunday school in my church today and I want to talk about ministering with chocolate cake. Okay, do you? Do you want to give the book to somebody in your class? He said, yeah, is that okay? Yes, absolutely, the world needs more chocolate cake, and it doesn't matter if they're members of the Church of Jesus Christ, of Latter-day Saints or Other churches or no church, or if there are people that I work with or people that I are, that I'm neighbors with Mm-hmm. Being able to, to just connect with people and Help them feel whether or not they recognize that's what it is, but help them know they are deeply, deeply loved children of heavenly parents and I'm just here to remind them that they're seen and they're appreciated in their mind. So there you go, and I do ship. I Done mark my brother's gluten-free, so I have done gluten-free cakes and and a lot of free is no good, but the cake is pretty good and I've got a nice who's vegan and gluten-free and I've done vegan gluten-free cakes and it's pretty good.
Ken Williams:Wow not the same but it's pretty good.
Alisha Coakley:I love that you and your wife both got your kids involved, that you're asking them like, who do you think Could use this today? Because I do think that a lot of times Lessons especially his parents, right, like they just in one ear, out the other, right like we keep preaching at our children a lot of the Times, it just kind of is not something that they like to hold on, to listen, to, remember, apply any of that kind of stuff. But when we involve them and when we let them make some decisions, you know, and we just kind of okay, like we're just gonna follow your lead, what do you think? I think that oftentimes it opens a door, right, it opens a door for them to be able to learn lessons and then to get what they need out of it. But also I Love that it's like a spiritual thing too, you know, and in today's world we are so Distracted by all the things that we need to do or all the entertainment that's available at our fingertips or, you know, all of the feelings that we have or the struggles that we're dealing with or whatever else, and so I think it's great just to kind of get out of yourself and to become Like a noticer. Right there's.
Alisha Coakley:I don't know if you guys have heard of Andy Andrews. I love him, he is my favorite author, but he wrote a book called the noticer a Couple books, I think, it's notic or the noticer returns the travelers gift. Just read all of them because they're amazing. So he talks about how important it is to be a noticer, to actually sit and observe the people around you and like the attitudes that they have and and the the way that they're treating themselves and treating others, and and just to kind of like be very, very present and the notice or in the moment, because it's in those moments that you can kind of be led to Knowing how to help or how to like, in your case, how to share love in Some small way that could have such a profound difference. And so I love that.
Alisha Coakley:You know that you guys are getting your kids involved and I think it's awesome, because I was even sitting there thinking like who do I know? Like I'm not gonna make chocolate cake because I just don't. I'm just not a baker, I'm an eater, I'm not a. I'm not a baker, I'm not a cook. I just like to eat things that other people bring me. But I'm a shopper, so I can totally go shop for Costco cake, sure, and cut it into quarters, and that I mean that I can do that. So yeah, I was just sitting there thinking I.
Scott Brandley:Was gonna say I'm not a baker but I'm a buyer. When I was, when I was the bishop, I would buy cookies, these I would. I would go and buy the big things of cookies and then I would make a dozen plates and mix all the cookies together Kind of a similar idea, I think. Cake Especially if you make. If you make something, it's obviously more meaningful. But I felt that that helped me to break down barriers, especially if I went to somebody's house that I didn't, who I didn't know right now.
Alisha Coakley:Yeah.
Scott Brandley:So if you can't bake, you can buy Alisha I.
Alisha Coakley:Really good at buying things. Just ask John.
Ken Williams:That it's really easy to serve. It's really easy. I know this family likes chocolate cake. I can, it doesn't take anything. But then there are the families that I don't know as well and I don't know if they, you know, maybe they're gluten-free or maybe they're they've cut out sweets or maybe that, and I've.
Ken Williams:There have been times that I've I've tried to tuck myself out of it and it's again. It's almost always. I will say 100% of the time. It's a good experience, and Even the times where I'm a little bit cautious, it can be as simple as hey just wanted you know I was thinking about you. Or happy birthday, one of the great things one one of my several colleagues. I have access to the, the birthdays across the stake, and so I can. I have my list whose birthday is what day, and I can and and it's just it's fun To find out. Okay, she's always waiting for this. This is the best part of her birthday. She's waiting for the cake and it's fun to have that kind of a tradition.
Ken Williams:But there are times that if you, if you, if you adopt the, the decision that you're gonna act on promptings, there are gonna be times that you try to talk yourself out of it because I don't know if.
Ken Williams:I don't know if they're gonna accept it, I don't know if they're gonna like it, I don't know if they I don't know the person very well, or whatever. And I Think it was Camilla Kimball who said never suppress a generous thought. And if somebody, you and the way I tuck myself back into it is if somebody were to share something with me that I don't love, like mint, chocolate chip ice cream, I can't imagine why that's even a thing. Again, it's the thought. It's the thought that somebody had, of all of the crazy, all the busy, they thought of you, right and out of you enough to think I, I want to share this part of me. That's important ice cream, and that's just a. That's such a Lovely experience. So I think you know, even if it's somebody who's gluten-free and I have a cake with gluten in it they, they may not eat it, but I Doubt that they'd be offended.
Alisha Coakley:Yeah, yeah. Well in here is that. I mean I've had. I've had people give me stuff before too. Granted, I have kids, so anything with sugar in it is going to get eaten like Moe. I'm pretty sure Scott probably brought me cookies, but I've never seen them because my children probably ate them before I knew about it. So Even when you get something that you don't really need or want or whatever else, I think that's like a perfect opportunity to then think who could use this and then you just kind of, you know, like the what's that paying it forward thing, right, like yeah, it was really big for a while, so you could even incorporate something like that.
Ken Williams:There's a solution for our listeners and the other thing that I've done. There have been times that I'll give some of the cakes, and I'll see this one's for you.
Alisha Coakley:Sure.
Ken Williams:Oh.
Alisha Coakley:I love that.
Ken Williams:I was One of one of the experiences that I had. Where I was, I was redirected by the spirit. There's a family in the ward that I just loved this family and they were going through some tough times and I was on my way to visit them with some some cake and as I was driving I was redirected and I learned my lesson from the other times that I was told go visit one of your deacons. I was new in the young men's presidency and had been redirected to visit one of my deacons and just had An experience and and one of the great things that I have done this with my kids as well is to help them understand the reason I'm here is because of the spirit. I was going someplace else and the spirit said no, I need to come visit you and my wife is very bold.
Ken Williams:There was one time I saw this family at church and I thought I don't know them, but I need to stop by with cake, and so my wife and I were out and I she's used to this now but I said is it okay if we Take a detour? And I want to go give cake to this family? And she said, yeah, did you know it's her birthday today. I said, no, I had no idea. So we're standing on the doorstep and I gave her the cake and and we're talking to the husband and wife and and my wife says, just so you guys know the reason we're here, it's because the spirit let us here and you can do that with your kids and just reinforce that.
Ken Williams:Okay, when I asked who do you know who needs chocolate cake, and you told me this name. Why did? Why was it that name? And it'll always be some variation of, well, they, I just that's who I thought of, or that's what feels right, or whatever. And you can just you can teach them that that's the spirit. This is how this is where it speaks to you and so that when it happens later on, they can recognize it.
Alisha Coakley:Wow, I love that.
Scott Brandley:This is a really cool idea. I just love the concept of basically telling God that you're ready to to do whatever he needs you to do yeah and and cake gives you the Almost, the excuse to go. But but it's actually because you have. You have the faith and you have that willingness to do what God you know be an instrument in his hands. Really right.
Scott Brandley:You're just. I'm here, I'm really ready to go do what you need me to do. I've got cake ready. I just love that concept because, rather than being reactive and and I mean God will still prompt you when you're reactive, right he needs something done. He's going to, he's still gonna use you as long as you're willing, but if you're proactive, I mean that's, that's rare and yeah but I think if more people do it, I mean we can just be that much more of an instrument in God's hand. So I love the concept.
Alisha Coakley:Mm-hmm, I like what you said there, scott, about that, because it makes me think about this. I don't know analogy or story or something that I heard once about this this lady who she just said, I'm just so lucky, I just win so many things. And you know, she's talking to a friend of hers and her friends like, well, I don't win anything at all, you know. And she's like, really, and she's like, how many competitions do you enter? And she's like, well, I don't, I never win, so I never enter him. And she's like, oh, I enter everything.
Alisha Coakley:So it's kind of like one of those like, well, yeah, of course You're gonna win a lot more if you actually enter a whole bunch of stuff. Like, just that, it just happens, right. So it's kind of like, yeah, like Heavenly Father, if I'm like, hey, I'm here, you know, I got some chocolate cake or some dish towels or whatever it is I have, like I'm gonna go somewhere. You want to guide me or you just want me to figure it out of my own. And then I guess it goes back to what you said, ken, like I, I know where my children are, right, yeah, you know, I really do love the cake or something like that is is a little bit out of your comfort zone.
Ken Williams:A question that I've that I found myself asking that just is it's a Fun question to consider is just in a silent prayer. I do this at sacrament sometimes. Who do I need to notice today?
Ken Williams:Hmm and it's the exact same thing. I just don't necessarily have the cake with me, but there may be Somebody there that, okay, there's somebody. I haven't recognized them before, didn't know that they were here. I Need to know, I need to notice them, I need to go up and say hi or introduce myself or whatever it is, and I I'm convinced that if we put ourselves in a position to be open to that kind of prompting, we're gonna get it.
Alisha Coakley:That's very true. Wow, I have a I don't know me. This is like a very weird Top not weird, it's just. It's something random that keeps popping up and I don't really have a good segue, so we're just gonna go random here. I was thinking about Number two for you, brennan.
Alisha Coakley:Brendan, Brendan okay, brendan, yes, and I was thinking about how cool it was that he came to you and asked you about you know a book and about your book, and about chocolate cake and and where he's at, how, even though he left the church, and that kind of hurts, you know, obviously, like it hurts hearts sometimes to be like, oh man, it's kind of cool that he has the teachings that he has and that now he's able to go somewhere where Maybe they're not all there, right, like he will bring those teachings with him even if he's not Currently here and he, it reminds me of I mean, we've had a couple guests, but we had one in particular, dusty Smith, who, dusty, left the church for 26 years, you know, and and Through him coming back and stuff like that, he has such a passion for the gospel now and he learned so much being outside Then.
Alisha Coakley:It just I. It goes back to what you said about you know, heavenly father knows where his children are and I think that even when we, when we have those loved ones who Aren't where we want them to be, right, we can totally trust that Heavenly father, he can move them along wherever he needs them to be, when he needs them to be there. You know, like I said, it has nothing to do with that chocolate cake, but it was just kind of like it just wouldn't leave my mind mind. So Well, I was.
Ken Williams:So I teach elders Quorum, and so our lesson today we were talking about. I made the comment that heavenly father plays the long game.
Ken Williams:And somebody says he plays the right game, and I love that idea that he knows what it's gonna take to get Ken Williams from here to here, he knows what it's gonna take to get Brendan from here to here, and so he plays the right game and so I Can. I can drop the Expectations, yes, about anything about. Well, what if they don't like the chocolate cake? Or what if they aren't? Cuz you know, I've got there's some somebody in my ward who's birthday is today and and I I could easily say why I haven't seen them at church for several months and so maybe I won't go, but it's no if I can make connections and make sure that they know. Hey, there's Somebody who notices you and somebody who Want you to know, and it doesn't have to be churchy, it doesn't have to be preachy. Yeah, I'm here to let you know that You're not forgotten.
Scott Brandley:I love that's another thought I had At one. Another reason I why I love you being proactive and like showing up for God Whatever he needs you is there's no agenda built into it.
Scott Brandley:Right you don't have some secret reason to go see them because you want them to come back to church, right, you want, you just, you're just an instrument in God's hands and you just want, you're gonna tell them whatever you feel impressed to tell them, right, yeah, just that just rings so true to me and and I've mentioned this on other couple other podcasts but I'm the ward mission leader and when they put me in, I Was, I really struggled with that. I, I want to be genuine and I, I was really struggling with how to do that. But I love, I love this approach where you, I'm just gonna show up and tell people I love them, or, you know, go where God wants me to go and and say what he needs me to say and not really have a reason to do it other than I'm prompted by God to do it.
Alisha Coakley:Mm-hmm, and then to know that, even if you mess up, like it's alright because Heavenly Father can fix that, even if people assume that they, that you have an agenda or you know they don't answer the door or whatever, it is like it's alright, heavenly Father's got you. I feel like that takes so much stress off of our shoulders to just to expect that I'm just gonna go do something good and Even if it's, I don't know, I want my. We went to go get pizza the other night and there was a I'm assuming he was maybe homeless or something, you know, just just kind of dirty and scruffy and whatever, and he was hitting outside and we got there about ten minutes before our pizza was ready and we had our windows down because it's nice and and so he kind of came over and he asked if if we had any money. I don't ever carry cash on me and so I was like I'm sorry I don't have any. And he's like, oh, you know, he mentioned had having wanting to to get some food.
Alisha Coakley:So I told myself, well, we're gonna get pizza in like ten minutes. You're welcome to have pizza with us, you know. And my kids kind of like mom, you know, like mom, don't just invite random people to have pizza with us. We just want to go home and I'm like it's fine, and and so then I thought about it like you know, I don't, I don't know why, I don't know why, but I just had this like feeling. You know, I was like I I'm going to invite him into the restaurant instead. I'm going to let him pick whatever he wants, instead of just, you know, because I pineapple on my pizza, that might be as sinful as mint chocolate chip ice cream?
Scott Brandley:I don't know.
Alisha Coakley:And so I just thought, you know, let me just let's just take a minute. And so I saw, I asked him, I said, hey, listen, like, would you like to just get something? You know that you like like, let's get you, you know, some soda and let's get you, you know, calzone or whatever you want. And he's like, oh, you know you, you don't have to do that. I'm like no, they're seriously like I don't have cash on me but I have my card and. And so he was really hesitant to even walk in the store. And I thought about it for a moment and I had this feeling like how many times a day does he get rejected from someone, you know? Like, how many conversations does he really get to have? I'm sure that a lot of people probably try to avoid his gaze or try to, you know like, hurry off, you know, or pretend like they're on their cell phone and they're not, they're not talking to him. And I thought, no, like I feel like more than food, more than money, he just needs a human connection. Like that was just the prompting that I got. And so I it was dark, you know and I asked, I told my son to come in with me because there's, you know, I'm a woman and I just wanted to be safe and whatever.
Alisha Coakley:And and so we went in and we got this guy meal and next thing, I know, there were like a few people waiting around. One person was like, oh, you should get this calzone instead. And the other person, we just started this conversation. And next thing, I know, this guy was able to have a couple different conversations with some of the other guests there in the store and by the time that you know, his food was, by the time our food was ready. His food wasn't quite ready yet, and so we said goodbye and we got in the car and when I pulled out of the parking lot, I saw him and another woman sitting and they were laughing. They were just laughing so hard and I thought it just made me feel so good, like no, it's, it's nothing right, it was pennies on the dollar type of thing.
Alisha Coakley:And and we started to pull away and one of my sons was like, do you think that he was actually hungry? Do you think he really needed, you know, money for food? And I said I think it doesn't matter. I said, you know, did that stop us from being able to receive the blessings of feeling like we did something that was good, you know, like we're not in control of other people and so we don't have to have.
Alisha Coakley:You know, I didn't have the expectation of always telling the truth. Or is he just going to take money and go get drugs with it or get drinks or I don't know, like whatever people think of, and I thought it doesn't matter, because we did something good, we got to do something good, we got to notice somebody and we got to go do something good and it didn't cost us hardly anything at all. And, you know, maybe that's all he needed. I don't know, who knows, but I love the idea of taking the expectation off of people and just doing something good for the sake of doing something good. You know, I think that's awesome.
Ken Williams:And that's the fun thing when I do chocolate cake, a lot of times I'll get sometimes it's a, it's a doorway conversation, hey.
Ken Williams:I get about you, and the shortest one that I had was another one of those reminders that this is making a difference. And so I went with Edison, with my youngest, and we give the cake to the husband and he said thanks so much, this is an answer to prayer, and that was it. That was the, that was the entire conversation. And there have been other times that we're invited in, we sit down, we get to know the family a lot better and the thing that is really a sweet reminder of it's not about the cake and it is certainly not about me. Yeah, there are a lot of times as I talk to people I discover that it's a birthday or it's a. Maybe somebody just lost a job, or maybe some something just I had. There's a sister in a ward who came up to me a few months ago and she said did you make cakes today?
Scott Brandley:And I said, yeah, it's Sunday, do you have?
Ken Williams:one that I can have. I said absolutely, so I give her. She said I know somebody who's going through a really tough time right now and so the message can spread. But it is. It is so regular that I get some kind of feedback that that I was at the right place at the right time. It's just, it's like I said I can't imagine taking that away for myself. It's just, why would I? Why would I do that?
Alisha Coakley:Yeah, wow, I love that. So I love your whole story. I love all the stories, all of the things I'm going to have to get your book. So, so if someone's interested in your book, is that available on?
Ken Williams:Amazon or somewhere.
Alisha Coakley:Yeah, okay, perfect, all right we will make sure to get the link for you for and put it in the description so that anyone who wants it can grab it. Then they can try some of your cake. Now, do you just have the regular recipe or do you have the vegan and the gluten free recipes in?
Ken Williams:there.
Ken Williams:So the vegan, I can put the vegan in there, but you just use gluten free flour, whatever gluten free flour. I found that almond flour doesn't work really well, but if you did a measure for measure crusties has one, king Arthur has one and a measure for measure flour is going to give you a really good result. It'll look a little bit different. It doesn't rise, quite the same. Vegan vegans know what to substitute. You just use a plant based butter and a nut milk and then for eggs you use an egg substitute, like flax, flax seed, which I had a vegan at work who said you know about flax? Yeah, understanding substitutions, that's all it is. It's just substitutions with whatever you would normally substitute.
Alisha Coakley:Okay. Well then, there you go, guys. I expect everybody to be making chocolate cakes, and I expect many of them to be delivered to my door.
Ken Williams:So I will say one quick one. Quick I had when I, when I share the story, I sometimes will slip in If the spirit says Brother Williams needs a cake. He probably needs a cake. There's this young man for my ward that brought me a whole nine by 13, nine by 13 pan. There's a cake, this piece taken out of it, and I was not home when he dropped it off and he had this note Brother Williams, I'm so sorry but my dad said you would probably want to share with him and he took a piece before.
Ken Williams:Again it's not about the cake, it's about the funny and so and of course, I would absolutely share with him.
Alisha Coakley:Yeah, wow, that's so cool. Very cute Well.
Scott Brandley:Ken, do you have any last thoughts you'd like to share?
Ken Williams:My last thought is there's a concept that is, it's the five second rule, and Mel Robbins has a whole book about five second rule and the bottom line is, when you get that prompting, act on it and you have to act on it, you have to do something towards it within five seconds, otherwise you're going to talk yourself out of it because it is so easy to be too tired to go serve or to do something nice. And if you act on it, if you make the plan within five seconds, you will see miracles, and I've seen too many of them. I can't, which is why I cannot let anybody say chocolate cake is not spiritual, because it 100% is.
Alisha Coakley:Oh, love it. Yep, absolutely. My cheeks hurt from smiling so much today. I just want you to know I'm going to have to go like rub them out, yeah, basically.
Scott Brandley:Oh yeah, it's very inspirational. I really appreciate you coming on and sharing this with us.
Alisha Coakley:Yeah, yeah, definitely.
Scott Brandley:And.
Alisha Coakley:I think it's like the perfect time of year, you know what I mean Like we're getting into all of the holidays and and just we're like people really do want to start thinking outside of themselves, and so I think that this is a great way to maybe start your own family traditions right. Start your own little Sunday you know, service day and see how you're going to reach out, notice somebody else and bring a little bit of a little bit of extra light into their life. So yeah, ken, thank you so much for reaching out to us and for sharing your story, sharing your light. We really really have enjoyed having you as a guest on the show. We're going to invite you back anytime.
Alisha Coakley:Any any other time that you have. You know. The only requirement is you are going to have to ship us some of your I'll make it hurts before we record. So. So then we can actually be eating it as we're listening to your story. I'm open to that.
Scott Brandley:Great, awesome. Well, thanks again for being on the show and thank you for all the listeners to tuning in to hear Ken's story. We really appreciate you guys being here. If you have a story that you'd like to share that you think could inspire others, go to LatterdayLightscom and let us know so we can have you on the show.
Alisha Coakley:Absolutely, and be sure to check out Ken's book. We will share that link in the description so you guys can pick up your own copy, maybe pick up two copies and share the book with somebody else. That could be a little start to your tradition. I think that that would be awesome. But, and speaking of sharing, guys, make sure that you do your five second missionary what do we call it? Five second missionary, missionary work.
Scott Brandley:Yes, your word.
Alisha Coakley:I know words are very hard and click that share button. Let us know what your favorite part of the show was, what you guys do to spread light. We would love to hear from, from all of you guys and until next week, I hope you guys have a great time spreading the gospel and sharing love and and light and truth and all of those good things. Making cake, eating cake, all of the things. All right, everybody, we will talk to you next week. Have a great one.
Scott Brandley:Take care, guys, we'll see you.
Alisha Coakley:Bye.