LDS Podcast "Latter-Day Lights" - Inspirational LDS Stories

From Faith Crisis to "Faith to Stay" - The Origin of Latter-Day Lights: Scott Brandley's Story

• Scott Brandley and Alisha Coakley

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When pillars of certainty crumble, is it possible to rebuild something even stronger in their place?

When two trusted ward members announced they were leaving the Church, newly called bishop Scott Brandley was rocked to the core. Overnight, the man called to strengthen spirituality in others found himself wrestling with his own doubts, spiralling into a crisis of faith, and stripping his testimony down to five essential questions around God, Joseph Smith, and The Book of Mormon.

In this special milestone episode of Latter-day Lights, the tables turn as beloved host Scott steps into the guest chair. With candor and humility, he shares the origins of how prayer-filled walks, sleepless study sessions, and Heaven-sent impressions rebuilt his faith while igniting two unexpected missions along the way: launching this very podcast, "Latter-Day Lights," and penning his new upcoming book, “Faith to Stay.”

From shepherding a ward through turbulent times, to teaming up with co-host and good friend Alisha Coakley to invite growth, instill faith, and inspire others, Scott’s journey is proof that God can use cracked foundations to plant pillars of testimony. It reminds us all that even in our most fragile moments, He is plotting our legacy behind the scenes.

*** Please SHARE Scott's story and help us spread hope and light to others. ***

To WATCH this episode, visit: https://youtu.be/wJUm-dyO7tk

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To WATCH our Marcovia Project episode, visit: https://youtu.be/E1zdsd9vLhM

To DONATE to The Marcovia Project, visit: https://themarcoviaproject.org/

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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.

Alisha Coakley:

Hi everyone, I'm Alisha Coakley.

Scott Brandley:

And I'm Scott Brandley. Every member of the church has a story to share, one that can instill faith, invite growth and inspire others.

Alisha Coakley:

On today's episode we're going to hear how deep-seated doubts, tough goodbyes and a personal crisis of faith led one bishop to bring light to the world. Welcome to Latter-day Lights. Hey everyone, welcome to Latter-day Lights. If you are a regular listener, I'm sure you are probably a little confused by our intros today. They are not what they normally are and you might be thinking we're missing a guest, but in fact we're not. I am very excited because we have turned the tables and Scott Branley is going to be our official guest today. Scott, welcome to the show.

Scott Brandley:

Well, thanks, Alisha, it's great to be here.

Alisha Coakley:

So, guys, we're really excited. Scott and I have been talking about doing this episode for a little while and we've been just really looking forward to being able to share with you, kind of, some of the things that happened that brought Latter-day Lights to fruition, what's happened since then, and what is coming up very, very soon. So, scott, I'm going to go ahead and just kind of let you start. Why don't you tell everyone you know, let's go all the way back to the very, very beginning.

Scott Brandley:

Okay, so my name is Scott Branley. I'm one of the hosts of Latter-day Lights, the podcast you're watching right now. Latter-day Lights, the podcast you're watching right now. I have four kids and ranging from ages 24 to 15. And I'm Canadian by birth, but I became an American citizen several years ago and I live in Utah, in Ogden. I run a software company called shopperapprovedcom. We do online ratings and reviews for e-commerce websites. Most people don't know what I do for a living, but I don't think I've ever actually said that on the podcast.

Alisha Coakley:

I don't think you have. Yeah, I think it was the first time.

Scott Brandley:

Yeah, so I've been an entrepreneur my whole life. Yeah, so I've been an entrepreneur my whole life and ever since I was a little kid I used to. My first business was a lawn mowing business and I was so little I couldn't reach the top rung on the lawnmower. So I pushed it on the middle rung and back then. They didn't have safety things like they have on lawnmowers, right. They didn't have that rubber thing on the back to protect you. They didn't have auto shut off Like once you turned it on you were just going for it.

Scott Brandley:

So, anyway, that was my first business and I've just. I've had businesses my whole life. I've it's been. It's been a fun ride, lots of ups and downs, but it's been a good time.

Alisha Coakley:

So, yeah, that's about me. I love it. Well, one of the things that you didn't mention, though, in your intro, scott, was the fact that you were also an author. You have some business books out there. We are going to be talking about your new book coming out today on this podcast. It's not coming out today, but we're talking about the new book. So, yeah, tell us a little bit about writing and what that's been like for you.

Scott Brandley:

Sure, so I've written or co-written several books. Now my latest business book if anyone even cares, but it's called Reputation King and it's about how to get a better online reputation right, because I'm in the rating and review space but I started writing a church book well, a book about faith. In 2016 is when I actually started writing it, and it's done, finally, in 2025. So it only took me nine years, no biggie not big deal at all.

Alisha Coakley:

I'm realizing that I'm on six years for my book, so that makes me feel better knowing that I have three more years.

Scott Brandley:

I can procrastinate though yeah, you got lots of time, don't worry about it but now.

Alisha Coakley:

but it doesn't always take you that long, apparently, right, right.

Scott Brandley:

No, you were a lot faster with it, so actually, just before I got on this podcast, I finished the semi-final draft of my next book, which is called cashflow Kings. Um, and it's a business book, but that one only took me about a month and a half to write because I used AI to help me it's pretty cool what you can do with AI nowadays.

Alisha Coakley:

I agree, especially if you're going to do a business book. I feel like you don't really need to have the clout of being an amazing writer. You just need to get the information out there the right way that can help people. So go do it.

Scott Brandley:

Yeah, I used it kind of like an assistant, so I would feed it things and then I'd ask it to give me things back and I'd tell it what I wanted it's been, it's been really helpful. I mean, it cut it down from that book should have taken me at least six to eight months wow it cut down the time significantly and you it it reads really well.

Scott Brandley:

You can't tell that I didn't just write the whole thing. I did write a lot of it and I edited a lot of it, but it definitely helps to cut the learning curve.

Alisha Coakley:

That's cool. Well, I might have to take that under advisement. So yeah, All right. Well, Mr Brantley, let's, let's take it away. Where does your story begin?

Scott Brandley:

let's let's take it away. Where does your story begin? So it starts in 2014. I talked a little bit about this back when I did that first interview with you three or four or something it's pretty early on.

Alisha Coakley:

so anyone who's newer just don't even watch that one, just watch this one.

Scott Brandley:

Yeah, so I was a new bishop. I got put in in 2014. And I was 39 at the time and you know, things were going really well and I felt confident in my calling. I was excited, my faith was strong, or so I thought. And one day, about maybe a couple months after I got put in, I had a couple come in and they told me that they were going to leave the church and it it floored me because this couple was, I mean, they'd gone on missions, they had served in, you know, calling she. She had been a Relief Society president.

Scott Brandley:

Um yeah, it was. It was a shocker. And when they told me why, um it had to do, they said it had to do with um the essays that the church had published back then, where the church was trying to clear the air and, and you know, try to, um, just get everything out in the public so that there was no nothing that anybody could could use against them.

Scott Brandley:

Really, you know right so I thought it was actually a really good thing that they did that, but I had never heard of it at the time and so then that night I was already like super stressed because they had just told me that and I told them well, I was that I would go and see if I could help them find answers. And so I went home that night and I read every single one of those essays back to back and that was a lot to take in in one shot and it really threw me. It was like a double whammy because they had just told me that and then I just read all this stuff and I knew I mean growing up in the church kind of had heard like bits and pieces of it but just never heard it all in one shot like that. And honestly it kind of threw me into my own faith crisis as I was trying to help them with their faith crisis, and I started to really panic at that point because I realized my whole life is built around my faith.

Alisha Coakley:

Yeah.

Scott Brandley:

And I was the bishop at the time, so people were counting on me.

Scott Brandley:

They were leaning on me for their faith, kind of you know, as the leader, the leader and my family, my friends, every I mean every decision you make if you're an active member of the church, you really don't think about just how many things that you do impact your life that are based on the church right, Like on your faith.

Scott Brandley:

It's just crazy, but I started to realize just all of the repercussions that would happen if, if I didn't figure this out. And so I went on several walks, I said a lot of prayers, and it was over the course of about a week, and I got this impression one day too, that I needed to break my faith down into its most basic elements and then put it back together piece by piece. And if all the pieces made sense, then you know that would help me get my testimony back. And so I did that. And the very first question that I had to answer was was is god real? Like I went to that point, right from being the bishop of the ward to asking if god was real sorry, did you like talk to darla, like your wife, about any of this?

Alisha Coakley:

you just kept it like you like, compartmentalized, and just kept it to yourself. Oh my gosh, that'd be so hard.

Scott Brandley:

Yeah, it was a rough week for sure. And so I'm like, okay, well, I know I know a lot about God, right, growing up in the church, and so like, well, if I'm really gonna, if I'm really gonna take this seriously, I gotta, I gotta see if there's anything valid in evolution, because I've in my mind that was the only other option, and so I just did a deep dive into evolution and for hours I would just look in, just like read whatever I could find, watch videos, um, and just kind of research and see if there's any smoking gun, anything that I could find that would convince me that evolution had legs.

Scott Brandley:

I guess you could say and at the end of it I just couldn't find anything. In fact I found through all of that, I found three things, three reasons that really gave me cause for concern. And anyway I wrote. I write that all about those things in my book, but at the time I hadn't came up with the idea of writing the book, so it just happened Right, but anyway. So I went through that and like, okay, I know, evolution isn't a thing for sure.

Scott Brandley:

Now and so I can add that back into my testimony bucket, I guess you could call it, and I did that. I had five questions that I basically asked myself and one of them was, you know, real? The next one was is jesus christ real? Is he the savior of the world? Um is. And then the next one was is joseph smith a prophet? Is the church true? And then, is the book of mormon true? Those are kind of my five big rocks that I had to put back in my bucket and I, you know, as I prayed and I thought and I read and I watched, like I just was able to put those rocks back in my bucket and at the end of that I, my faith, was back and so I was good right, but it was pretty stressful there for a while yeah and then, um, a little while later, I had another couple come to my office and say they wanted to leave the church.

Scott Brandley:

So then I'm like what, the what?

Alisha Coakley:

the heck's going on right.

Scott Brandley:

Like way to start out as a bishop yeah, and these guys same thing like super active. You know um was it the same?

Scott Brandley:

reasons like no something else okay no, this was. This is different. So this time, um, they had moved out of state for a while and um, the, the, the lady, the sister, she, for whatever reason, um didn't like going to her ward, and so she would. Instead of going to church she would have home church, I guess you could call, where she would just kind of look up things online and kind of study her scriptures and things that way. But over time she started to go to different websites and different things to find information and it just let her down some paths that eventually helped, you know, cause her to lose her testimony, I guess you could say. And then she brought in her husband and they kind of commiserated and and eventually they both lost their testimonies and then left the church, so it was rough, but I tried my best to try to get both those couples to stay and they ended up leaving.

Scott Brandley:

They ended up taking their kids with them.

Alisha Coakley:

It was really hard.

Scott Brandley:

So that's kind of the beginning of my book. The way the book came about is one day I went on a walk, and this is after both. This is two years later, so this is in 2016. I went on a walk one day because I go on a lot of walks just to think, and as I'm walking, completely out of the blue, I get this impression that I'm supposed to write this book. And right after I got that impression, all the chapters of the book just flooded into my brain within and.

Scott Brandley:

I knew exactly what I was supposed to write the book about and I knew all of the chapters in the book and so I got. So I got home and I wrote it. I wrote it down, you outlined it. Chapter outlines. And then at that point I just started writing. So it's been nine years since I started that process, but it's finally done and I think it's pretty cool that you know how it's all come together.

Alisha Coakley:

So yeah, and it's really good, like I. So Scott has been so kind to let me read his book and I'm just like, oh my gosh, like it's just brought things to light. That one, either I think I might've known or felt on a subconscious level, but I just didn't like have it ever at the forefront of my mind. So it was cool to break it and like, oh yeah, okay, that makes sense. And then other things are just completely like, oh my gosh, that's amazing. I never thought of that and you know, like it. It's, especially when you like talk about like different, like scripture things and stuff like that.

Alisha Coakley:

I don't want to spoil too much, but, um, it's uh, just, I mean it's, it's really easy to read. I love that. It's just so like quick with like here's your facts. Like you don't you don't draw it out in forever, cause you're just like no, like people are reading this. They just want to like get the information. Let's go, let's get it. And and it just really makes you like sit back and be like, wow, the gospel is so common sense, like the, the teachings of the church are so common sense, and like any other religion that's out there or whatever else, like like God's working with super imperfect people, and so there are going to be like messy things maybe that have happened and stuff, but like the core of the gospel, a hundred percent, true, like a hundred percent. Like you can't, I don't know. You just set up such a great case for it, right? So I I've loved it.

Alisha Coakley:

Yeah, so well. And so in writing a book, I mean in that nine year period, you, you had to do something with it and you were thinking I'm going to publish this book right. Or I need to meet with people, I need to do something. So take us to you know, like what happens next? Like you're in the process, I don't think you were completely done. You were mostly like getting it along and stuff, because that's what it is.

Scott Brandley:

I had come up with what I thought was the final version, and I was getting close to the final version, and that's when, I think Clarissa came home from her mission right.

Alisha Coakley:

Yes, yeah, yeah.

Scott Brandley:

Yeah, and you had moved to Elko and you were Clarissa's young women's leader, right? Yes, you were Clarissa's young women's leader, right? Yes? So my daughter went on her mission to. Sacramento, and so we went to pick her up and on the way back we stopped to say hi to Alisha and John and we started talking about books and how I was writing this book. And she's like well, hey, I'm writing a book too, and there's this LDS conference for people that write books.

Alisha Coakley:

Yeah, the LDS PMA.

Scott Brandley:

Yeah, the LDS PMA, and I'm like, oh, that sounds cool. So I bought a ticket and then we were going to go and then Alisha called me up and she sounded like she was going to die.

Alisha Coakley:

I felt like it too. It was pretty bad.

Scott Brandley:

So she couldn't go to the conference, but she still wanted to try, and I'm like don't do it.

Alisha Coakley:

I had COVID and it was like right at the tail end, when everyone was like not freaking out quite as much, but they were still like you know, everyone was still kind of crazy one way or another.

Scott Brandley:

So, yeah, I was like I could try to go, but I don't think I'll be blessed for that, right yeah. So I went by myself and it's actually really cool. I mean, if you're a little plug for them, if you're writing a book, I would highly recommend going to it. Is it just once a year?

Alisha Coakley:

Yeah, so usually like around October-ish is when they have it. But yeah, it's anything. So it's LDS Publishing, media and Arts Is it Arts yeah and Arts. Yeah, so it could be. I mean just anything with that, right? So if you're podcasting, if you're making movies, you're doing music, you're doing, you know, like actual art, artwork, stuff like that, yeah, they've got lots of resources and people that have classes and networking and it's just, it's awesome it's just, it's awesome.

Scott Brandley:

So, yeah, yeah, and it was really good. Um, I learned a lot and one of the cool things that they do there for publishers is they do these little mini pitches with the publishing companies and that was really fun to to pitch my book. I had a lot of a lot of interest in it, but I was, I was all by myself, so I was having a little bit of a pity party.

Scott Brandley:

And the second day I went, that's when the pity party really kicked in and I went to lunch by myself and I sat at a table by myself and then this girl came over and sat by me and she had written a book called early homecoming and I you know we're talking about her book. She had published it, um, and I asked her well, how do you get, how do you get your book out? And she's like well, I started a podcast for people that come home from their missions early and that's how I, how I get it out there, and I've created kind of this community to help people that you know, help missionaries that come home early, give them a soft landing. And so then after the lunch, I just I decided to leave early and I drove home and as I'm driving home, I just had this idea you know, somebody really needs to make a place where people can tell their stories of faith and inspiration, even like their struggles, because most members of the church, they have amazing stories, but they have nowhere to share them.

Scott Brandley:

They can tell their families, they can write them in their journals and they can give them in a talk, but that's pretty much it. Like you, don't? You only get to share your stories of faith and inspiration or tragedy or whatever comedy. Whatever your stories are, you don't get to share them outside of those limited spaces. And as I'm thinking about this, I'm like I think Heavenly Father wants me to do this. It's just so random, like I never ever thought about doing a podcast.

Alisha Coakley:

You're going to be somebody.

Scott Brandley:

Yeah, and so then I'm like, okay, well, I'm really boring. I don't think anyone would just want to listen to me every time, so I need somebody that's fun and spunky and got a little bit of an attitude, and I immediately thought of Alisha. So I got home, I called you and asked you if you wanted to be part of it, and you're like, yeah, I'm in, let's do it. And so we decided to give it a shot. So then we started.

Alisha Coakley:

Yeah.

Scott Brandley:

Which was kind of a fun experience in itself. I mean, you could probably kind of tell that part.

Alisha Coakley:

Yeah, it was really fun and I was super excited because I just loved the concept, Like I'm such a storyteller and a story listener, Like. So when you, when you brought that up, I was like that is genius, you know, and I know, especially cause, like you were saying, like even in church you don't actually get to share your whole story. It really has to be a fireside or like a big event where you can have the full, you know, 45 minutes to an hour or longer to share your whole story, to really get it across to people. And so, even if people share, share little blips in their testimony, it just wasn't the same and I loved that you had this idea. I was like this is amazing, Like I a hundred percent on board with it. I think it's so needed in the world and I know at the time too, Mormon Stories is that the podcast? It's like anti-Mormon or anti-LDS. I know they were getting some traction. People knew about that and so you're hearing the flip side. Right, you had people going on sharing their stories about leaving the church and about any negative feelings or thoughts or experiences that they had had as members, and so for about you know any, any negative feelings or thoughts or experiences that they had had as members and and and so for me, I thought this is a great way to like build up the arsenal for good, right, Like to like add to spreading light. And and I think it was funny because, you know, we didn't have the name for the podcast originally, like you had the idea, we didn't have the name for the podcast originally, like you had the idea. And so we just, uh, we went out to dinner with our spouses and we sat down and we were just kind of collaborating, like, like what can we do? What you know, what we name it, how you know how's it going to look, whatever else.

Alisha Coakley:

And I remember, uh, so John had said so, my husband had said, um, he's like, have you ever seen like one of those candle lighting ceremonies? So he grew up in a different faith, like as a Baptist, and they have these sometimes, these ceremonies where everyone gets a candle Right, and then, like, their pastor will be on stage and they'll shut the lights off inside, like a big auditorium, Right, so when the candle, only the pastor has his candle lit, and so they turn off all the lights and they take the one candle from the pastor and he lights a candle and then everybody who lights a candle lights other people's candles and it's like in just a matter of seconds it just lights the whole room. It's like you know, like you have no idea how quickly just one flame can like spread light. And so we were like, oh my gosh, Latter-day Lights, that would be so cool. And we I mean it just kind of all clicked, Like you were saying, like it's just like everything sort of came together, Like the music we picked for the intro, our little logo with our little flame.

Alisha Coakley:

You know the colors, even that we talked about doing it. Just it just all felt very led. You know, um, the colors, even that we talked about doing it, just it just all felt very led. You know, almost like we were discovering what heavenly father wanted to do. It's not like we were trying to create it and like get his approval, you know it was so. It was just kind of cool and um, and so it took us, uh, you know, from we started in October on like working all of the things and putting it together. We started like finding guests and recording a podcast so that we can have something in the bucket to launch, so that we could build up more guests later on. And, um, I have to say it is. I remember those first few episodes were like we have like 200 views. We were so excited and then we get. You know, we get halfway a year and a half in, or so.

Alisha Coakley:

We had Vinnie Tolman come on and next thing, you know it's like 50,000 views, and it was just crazy to see how, like this little idea, this little inspiration, had just grown like exponentially. You know, and I mean we haven't even hit like the super popular status like with some of the other, like the comeback podcast or something like that, you know, like some of the really, really well-known ones, like we still have room to grow for sure, but the growth that's happened has been fantastic and, um, oh my gosh, the guests that we've had on, I know, you and I both, we have made new friends, we have networked, we have, I mean, our testimonies themselves have gotten so solid. I think for me too, my, my compassion and my understanding of other people has grown. Like I feel like I can genuinely look at people in in so much more of a Christlike manner than I used to be able to, and I thought I was doing a good job back then.

Scott Brandley:

Right, and now it's like.

Alisha Coakley:

No, like, I just it's. It's really neat to see how, how many things have trickled down from such such a tough. I mean, because it really started from people leaving the church. You know, like, and it's. We were talking about this when we were prepping for this podcast. We said it's amazing how even something like that, heavenly Father, can work to our good. You know so, if it like it was their decision.

Alisha Coakley:

I don't think Heavenly Father wanted them to our good. You know so, if it like it was their decision, I don't think heavenly father wanted them to leave the church per se or anything. And who knows where they're at now, like, maybe they've come back, we don't know. But just that decision was such an impactful moment for you, heavenly father's, like, let's use this, let's, let's. You know, okay, that that family left, you know, needs two families left which, if they decide to stay gone, could affect generations. All right, we're gonna, we're gonna offset, right, like all that right now. We gotta now, we gotta tip the scales back over to good and I'll tell, tell everyone, because I just feel so proud about this, tell them how we gauge our analytics and where we're at now.

Scott Brandley:

No, I don't know why, but when we were first starting out, we hit 20,000 people that had watched our podcast. And for some reason I looked up how many people does the conference center hold? And it holds about 20,000 people. Some reason I looked up how many people does the conference center hold, you know, and I'm like, and it holds about 20 000 people. I'm like, okay, we filled the conference center. That's pretty cool.

Scott Brandley:

And so ever since then we've been measuring our growth in conference centers we essentially can put on what nine now we've had I, so it's actually been 21 oh, 21, that's, right, yes, yeah, we filled up the conference center 21 times. That's pretty cool that's like phenomenal feeling like filling up the conference center with with stories of hope and inspiration. You know like it's just, it's just so cool to be able to give that back to Heavenly Father and be like hey, here's all this light that all these people have been able to experience in their life. We love you, you know we love you, Heavenly Father. Here's this gift.

Scott Brandley:

Like it's just this is cool, you know.

Alisha Coakley:

It's really cool and it's neat because, like I like one, I love that that you're officially, officially done with your book now. Um, because it's right on the cusp of our third year anniversary. So is it the 15th? I believe is when we had our first launch, may 15th, I think I think so yeah, it was um, but, but either way, definitely in may.

Alisha Coakley:

It maybe it's the fifth, but but it's definitely in may was our, was our first episode. That was that came out, and now here we are again and it's three years into it to know that in three years we were able to fill the conference center 21 times at 20 000 people apiece, and just being able to get other people's stories out, cause it's not even about us, right, like? Not about, like. Obviously this story is your story, you know right now. But but, it's about.

Alisha Coakley:

all the other stories are out there and it's great because they're still being watched. They're still being seen. Like there's people that are finding the podcast and then they're loving this story, so they go all the way back to the beginning. They start watching all these guests.

Alisha Coakley:

It's like the gift that keeps giving almost you know and it's it's so cool to know that, like that, that heavenly father, like let us be a little tool in in that process and um, and I've loved that from the very beginning, like we definitely we agreed like this is a missionary thing, Like this isn't a, this isn't a an income earning thing for us, Right, so we don't get paid for the podcast, you know, we're not going to capitalize on it or anything like that and and it's just been something that that we can just like do with love and get to meet these people and hear their stories and spread light, and it's just been so. It's been so amazing. So I love that. I want to, I want to let you talk to our guests a little bit about this. Speaking of gifts, this gift that you are wanting to give, this next gift how many do you have?

Scott Brandley:

yeah, well, I first before I get to that. I do agree like this has been a definitely been a labor of love. It's been a ton of work, countless hours of work to put this on and we, we don't pay. We actually pay to do it, we pay to make this happen, but it's a small price for the, for the blessings that it brings to the, hopefully to people that watch it Right.

Alisha Coakley:

Yeah, absolutely.

Scott Brandley:

And when I got the impression to write my book it's called Faith to Stay and when I got the impression to write it I also felt like that's that I shouldn't make money with it. I got that same feeling, like this was a way to do missionary work, to give back to God. And so I'm actually going to give my book away both the digital version and the audio version and then I will put it on Amazon. But if I make any, any revenue or any profit from it, I'm donating 100% of that to the Markovia project, which they don't know that yet.

Alisha Coakley:

Oh, so excited.

Scott Brandley:

And for anyone of you that have watched our podcast, um, we've we've kind of taken them under our wings and, uh, we've grown with them. They they're a nonprofit in Markovia, honduras, that have helped I think it's like over 100 kids now be able to go to school, and then they've helped many families with microloans to start businesses and it's just been really fun to watch them grow. Any profits I make from the book will go to help their cause, so they're going to love that.

Alisha Coakley:

That's amazing, yeah. And guys, like I said it's it's just so good, it's just so good and so easy to read, and and I feel like it's one of those ones where, like you really can just like stop in the middle, put it down for a second and like think, you know, like you don't really lose your spot or anything, but you're just kind of like huh, and I had to do that through so many parts, so I was like wait a minute, you know.

Scott Brandley:

Did you try the? Did you try the experiment when Christ comes into the room?

Alisha Coakley:

I have not done that one yet.

Scott Brandley:

Cause when I read it.

Alisha Coakley:

I wasn't like in a place where I could do it, but that's on my to-do list. Thank you for reminding me, actually, because I kind of forgot about it.

Scott Brandley:

Yeah, it's pretty cool. Yeah, there's a lot of really fun things, things that you normally wouldn't think about or read, but they're very thought provoking, very faith building.

Alisha Coakley:

Yeah, yeah, for sure. Oh, I just I like to that. I feel like it helped me, like I didn't have to go do all the nine years of research and all the putting it together and like making it coherent. So for me I feel like now I have I use the word arsenal again but I feel like I kind of have my own little arsenal that's built up even more so. So when I meet these people who have these problems, I can say, hey, have you ever considered this? And then go get this book. It's free, you know.

Alisha Coakley:

So it's it's kind of nice that I can learn myself and I can have those conversations now and I can feel more confident in the conversations. But then I also have this resource, which you're being so generous and giving out, that I can just like direct other people too. So I love that.

Scott Brandley:

Yeah, yeah it's. It's exciting to finally be at the end when this so this podcast is going to going to go out this Sunday and this will be, our 148th podcast.

Alisha Coakley:

Yep.

Scott Brandley:

So when this goes out the book won't be officially live because I still have to finish the website and I have to and I have to publish it on Amazon. But after this episode the plan is to have three or four special episodes where we invite previous guests back on the show and we talk about some of the topics in the book and just kind of see where that goes, have some discussions about different aspects of faith and really just kind of get the topic out there and people thinking about it, and then I'm going to release it on the podcast and people can go and download it and listen to it. It's going to be fun.

Alisha Coakley:

Yeah, it's going to be really fun. Well, I know this is a little shorter than our regular episodes and stuff like that, but I love that it's a little bit different because it still just shows you just how the Heavenly Father is in so many of the details. You know, like he wasn't worried at all when that those families left the church.

Alisha Coakley:

He knew that there was a plan in place. He knew that it was going to bring about good in some way, shape or form. And he still has them, like. He still loves them, he sees them, he knows them and who knows I mean it would. We may never know in this life, but I'm really excited to find out the next life, like what happened down the road, and how did he, you know, still show them his love?

Alisha Coakley:

And I don't know just like what came of all of that, um, I think that one I feel so blessed to have you as a friend. You know, um, the. You have amazing talents and you're so giving in in just like sharing those with other people. In everything right, like not just the podcast and the book, but in so many other ways you've just constantly showed people Christlike love, no matter the circumstance you know, wherever you're at, and so I love that I get to like be your co-host and I thank you so much for letting me be on this journey with you, and I'm really excited to see what this book can do for others. I'm excited for them to be able to build their own testimony, strengthen and fortify them, and then to be able to go out and like help do the same thing for others, because I mean.

Alisha Coakley:

I always talk about the apocalypse and whatever, but like the second coming is really coming, like it's really happening. There really is going to be a time when Christ returns and when you know there's going to be spiritual battles and big, huge, you know, physical battles and stuff. And I think that, um, just like president Nelson said, like now's the time to prepare for all of that, you know, and then it's like at our doorstep, like it is so close, um, and so I just I love that. This is just like one more resource and and thank you for putting in the work, you know, like not being a lazy bum and just being like somebody else should, should do that. 10 years later, somebody else should still do that. You know, I think that that's awesome.

Scott Brandley:

Yeah, I've been feeling some promptings like hey, you got to get that done already. But I appreciate that. Those, those, those that's very kind of you and and I think of you as a, you know, a really good friend too. Like we're just like two peas in a pod yeah, and it's been a fun adventure to to do this. I can't believe it's been three years already.

Alisha Coakley:

That's crazy it is crazy, like I feel like we're definitely both a little grayer. We got a little more gray. Our hair isning Our face is starting to dream now I'm just joking, but it's been a fun ride. I can't wait to see what the next three years bring and just to hear more stories and to be able to see, like, how we can spread light to the world. I'm really excited to see what happens with our testimonies and what happens with, um, just that whole conversion process, cause I think we're always constantly in a state of conversion, right, like we're, you can't, you can't stay stagnant. You're either regressing or you're, you're moving closer and closer and closer to that, like pure knowledge, that like surefire, no doubt you know, nothing can shake you, type of thing. And um't know, I just I think it's gonna be a, it's gonna be a fun ride.

Scott Brandley:

So yeah, well, hopefully you know like the purpose of my book is to help people to stay because, there are a lot of people that they're losing their testimonies, they're having those crises of faith but they're not being able to reconcile. And, you know, hopefully through the podcast and through like things like the book and even just sharing our testimony with people, we can bring some of that faith back.

Alisha Coakley:

Yeah, absolutely.

Alisha Coakley:

And you know, I don't know why. I just thought about this now, but it's funny because one of the I don't even know if there was like any particular thing. Maybe it was just like a spiritual like inspiration on my part that was given to me personally, I don't know, but I just felt like as I was going through and as I was reading your book and as I was like really like just kind of like checking my own testimony and where I was at in those things, like just kind of like checking my own testimony and where I was at in those things, I had this. I had this feeling, this thought that came over me. That was like you know, a lot of people think that and nothing against the all in like. I remember the story all in right that came out in the conference and there's like an all in podcast where it's like we're hardcore, we're all in, we're everything, and I loved that when it came out.

Alisha Coakley:

And and then recently I've like been meeting and talking with some people who you know they, um, they have, they have their doubts right. Like there are things that either they don't agree with politically, with the church. There's maybe leaders that they don't like. They've had experiences that were really rough, you know where, maybe, like men abused their priesthood, or women were really catty or sticky or you know whatever. It is Right, like, like legitimate, valid things, that that makes it really hard for them to want to be a member of the church because they're so focused on that thing.

Alisha Coakley:

Right, like the thing that's not fitting and and I was thinking about it I was like I love that you broke it down to the foundation, right To just the core principles and even in in in the gospel we have our articles of faith. Right Like that's like the very foundation. Um, that's a, that's the basics, that's the things that we've. We've got to get right and we've got to remember right, if you're not perfectly all in, we still want you, you still have value, the Lord still loves you just as much as those people who are 110% go-getters in the faith.

Alisha Coakley:

Right, Like no matter where you're at in the journey, we still want you and even if you aren't, like like a full fledged member of the church or something like that, right Like maybe there's something that's keeping you from being able to be baptized right now, or whatever it is, and you're just not there, it's okay, because you can still look at the five questions in your book and you can be building your testimony right now without even changing your life right, without even changing your habits, without even doing anything. You can like start so small, but it will have such big effects in the future for you and for me. At the end of at the end of all of it, I just felt so much more confident in myself as a person. You know like, not even as a church member per se, but just like. You know, like not even as a church member per se, but just like, wow, like I really can love myself in and where I'm at.

Alisha Coakley:

I don't have to be perfect to know that God's real. You know like I can be a horrible person when I read scripture, like I can. You know what I mean Like be horrible at reading scriptures, or I could lie to someone, or not. I'm not encouraging it. I'm just saying like, these are things that I struggle with sometimes and so I just think, like I can struggle with my struggles you know I can doubt my you know doubt, with all those doubts and stuff, and I can have a solid testimony that God is real, that Jesus Christ is the savior of the world, that Joseph Smith was a prophet, that the church is the savior of the world, that Joseph Smith was a prophet, that the church is the kingdom of God here on earth and that the book of Mormon is true. I can have all those things.

Alisha Coakley:

Even if I'm not perfect in my habits and my actions and my thoughts and my speaking and whatever it is like, even as I fall short, I can still have those five things and that is what's going to give me the strength to keep going through and to hopefully eventually get to the point where I'm not making as many mistakes and I'm not hurting as many people and all of that stuff. So I just I don't know, that was just like my overwhelming feeling at the end of it was like just I just felt love. You know, I felt love and I felt this confidence and I was like this is what the child of a king should be feeling like. This is, this is what you know. I think all of Heavenly Father's children should feel A sense of confidence and love and hope, right While still being able to like, know that you don't have to, you don't have to be perfect to stay it's okay.

Alisha Coakley:

You know, so I just love that.

Scott Brandley:

That's so awesome. Thanks, Alisha, really appreciate it.

Alisha Coakley:

Well, any last thoughts. I mean I know I know everyone's like where's the book? Right? So we will, a hundred percent guys. We will have as soon as it's published and it's ready to go, we'll have the links everywhere for you guys to grab it. But make sure that you guys stay tuned in and yeah. So any anything else, scott, any.

Scott Brandley:

I think I just want to just say this is you never know where God's going to take you. You know those times when those families left and when I had my own faith crisis. Those were pretty low times and you just never know that God's going to help you write a book about this and it's going to help people increase their faith. And you're going to start a podcast someday and it's going to help people increase their faith. And you're going to start a podcast someday and you're going to help people tell their stories. Like you just never know what's going to happen, but you just have to keep taking the steps forward with hope and faith, and that's that's really what it all comes down to amen, I love it all right, well, awesome, well, amen, I love it All right, well, awesome, well.

Alisha Coakley:

Thank you, scott, for being our official guest today. Um, I, I always I just love hearing the story and even though I experienced it in real life, you know part of it with you. I just, I love your story and I love where it's, where it's come so far, you know, and where else it's going, and so thank you for being our guest today and thank you to all of our listeners who have tuned in All 21 conference center foals of you guys.

Alisha Coakley:

You guys are amazing and we just I mean, we love the comments, we love when you guys reach out. You know, especially like you guys have a story to share that you feel could spread light Like please, please, please, reach out to us, let us know. You can email us at latterdaylights at gmailcom, or you can head to our website at latterdaylightscom, but we would love to hear from you guys.

Scott Brandley:

Yeah, and go do your five second missionary work. Hit that share button.

Alisha Coakley:

Yep, let's make me famous. I love it.

Scott Brandley:

But do hit the button. Hit the button.

Alisha Coakley:

Yeah Well, that's all that we have for today, guys. We hope that you've enjoyed this episode of Latter-day Lights and that you'll tune in again next week for another episode. Until then, we hope you guys have a great week and we'll see you soon. Bye-bye, talk to you later.

People on this episode

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Scott Brandley

Host
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Alisha Coakley

Co-host