Episodios

  • Come, Follow Me with FAIR – Genesis 3–4; Moses 4–5 – Jennifer Roach Lees

    Come, Follow Me with FAIR – Genesis 3–4; Moses 4–5 – Jennifer Roach Lees
    Jan 21 2026

    Jennifer Roach Lees holds a Master in Divinity as well as a Masters in Counseling Psychology. She is a licensed mental health therapist and lives in Utah.

    The post Come, Follow Me with FAIR – Genesis 3–4; Moses 4–5 – Jennifer Roach Lees appeared first on FAIR.
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    17 m
  • Come, Follow Me with FAIR – Genesis 3–4; Moses 4–5 – Part 1 – Autumn Dickson

    Come, Follow Me with FAIR – Genesis 3–4; Moses 4–5 – Part 1 – Autumn Dickson
    Jan 20 2026
    From Sin to Stepping Stone by Autumn Dickson This week we get to read about how Adam and Eve made their way out of the garden and into the world that we know today. There are principles here that can change how you see your own efforts to follow Christ. Some of the principles we read about this week have the power to bring you out of perfectionism and into true salvation because they are not the same thing. Background on the verse we’re about to read: Moses is learning about Satan because Satan had recently come to him to tempt him. The Lord starts to teach Moses about the man who was trying to get Moses to worship him, specifically about Satan’s role in the beginning of the Plan of Salvation. Moses 4:6 And Satan put it into the heart of the serpent, (for he had drawn away many after him,) and he sought also to beguile Eve, for he knew not the mind of God, wherefore he sought to destroy the world. Satan wanted to tempt Eve in order to destroy the world. He wanted to destroy the plan of God because he was mad. Despite his original pleadings to come down and save everyone and bring them all home, now Satan threw away his supposed love for us and merely sought to destroy what God was planning. He was a fraud; he never loved us. He just wanted glory and honor. There is beautiful irony here. Satan would have destroyed God’s plan if he had left Adam and Eve alone, but he knew not the mind of God. He didn’t know that tempting Eve and convincing her to sin was part of the plan. One more time. He didn’t know that tempting Eve and convincing her to sin was part of the plan. I want to switch up the verse just a little bit. I’m going to put in my name. You put in your’s. Moses 4:6 And Satan put it into the heart of the serpent, (for he had drawn away many after him,) and he sought also to beguile Autumn, for he knew not the mind of God, wherefore he sought to destroy the world. Satan tempts me because even though he already lost his chance to destroy the plan with Adam and Eve and then again with Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane, he wants to destroy the effects of the plan in my life. There is beautiful irony here. Sin was part of the plan, and not just as some unfortunate byproduct of a fallen world. It was one of the most powerful tools utilized to save Adam and Eve. Let me explain myself. Let’s pretend for a moment that Satan predicted the mind of God and left Adam and Eve alone. We would have remained in the exact state where we were. Adam and Eve would have remained innocent in the garden, and we would have stayed in our heavenly home with God. God’s plan would have been thwarted. No sin would have occurred, but no true happiness would have occurred either. Sin was part of the plan, and not just as some byproduct of a fallen world. Sinning teaches us powerful lessons. Now we have to be careful with this principle and have the right attitude towards it. I don’t teach this principle so that someone feels like they can go try cocaine in order to learn that it’s bad. That’s ridiculous. I’m not even teaching that it’s okay to lie or cheat so that you can learn your lessons. I’m not teaching that it’s okay to go sin as long as your purpose is an education. I am trying to break apart the ridiculous arguments of perfectionism. We came here to grow and become. Our purpose in life should not be to stand frozen and still so that we don’t do anything wrong. Our methods should not include berating ourselves into perfection. We were meant to come down here and return to live with God, prepared to live His life and participate in His work. How do we get from Point A to Point B? There are a lot of ways we acquire that growth. One of those ways is sinning. I have learned so much from reflecting on the times that I screwed up. This doesn’t give us license to go out and sin on purpose for the supposed goal of learning because that doesn’t get you to Point B. If you’re using “learning” as an excuse to sin, you’re not returning to God, prepared to live His life and participate in His work. Rather, this gives you license to look at your sins the way Adam and Eve came to look at their sins. Here is another verse from this week. Adam and Eve sinned. They disobeyed God and were driven out of the garden. They toiled, suffered, had children, and offered sacrifices to God. One day, an angel came to them and taught them about Christ. The angel told them that they could be redeemed after they sinned and return to live with God again. Moses 5:10-11 10 And in that day Adam blessed God and was filled, and began to prophesy concerning all the families of the earth, saying: Blessed be the name of God, for because of my transgression my eyes are opened, and in this life I shall have joy, and again in the flesh I shall see God. 11 And Eve, his wife, heard all these things and was glad, saying: Were it not for our transgression we never should have had seed, and never should have known good and ...
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    8 m
  • Come, Follow Me with FAIR – Genesis 1–2; Moses 2–3; Abraham 4–5 – Jennifer Roach Lees

    Come, Follow Me with FAIR – Genesis 1–2; Moses 2–3; Abraham 4–5 – Jennifer Roach Lees
    Jan 16 2026

    Jennifer is joined in this episode by Ben Spackman to talk about Genesis chapters 1 and 2.

    Ben Spackman is a historian and scholar whose work spans Semitic languages, biblical studies, the history of science, and the history of Christianity—particularly the Reformation and modern American religion. He completed doctoral coursework in Comparative Semitics at the University of Chicago before earning his Ph.D. in American Religious History from Claremont Graduate University.

    Jennifer Roach Lees holds a Master in Divinity as well as a Masters in Counseling Psychology. She is a licensed mental health therapist and lives in Utah.

    The post Come, Follow Me with FAIR – Genesis 1–2; Moses 2–3; Abraham 4–5 – Jennifer Roach Lees appeared first on FAIR.
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    1 h y 9 m
  • Come, Follow Me with FAIR – Genesis 1–2; Moses 2–3; Abraham 4–5 – Part 2 – Autumn Dickson

    Come, Follow Me with FAIR – Genesis 1–2; Moses 2–3; Abraham 4–5 – Part 2 – Autumn Dickson
    Jan 16 2026
    Not Meant to Be Alone by Autumn Dickson The world is so confused. The more I learn about the gospel and the more I observe the world, the more I’m amazed at how lost the world is. The world is constantly seeking happiness, but it still seems so elusive. I testify that there is joy to be found, and it is found in following the patterns of the Lord. Moses 3:18 And I, the Lord God, said unto mine Only Begotten, that it was not good that the man should be alone; wherefore, I will make an help meet for him. And the Lord created Eve for Adam. They were married for eternity. They went through the “dating” stage where everything was perfect, and they also crossed over into the mortal, fallen world where they had a lot to learn and figure out. They had to toil and sacrifice together. They worshipped together. This is one of the ultimate patterns of the Lord. The ideal is marriage. It is not good for man or woman to be alone. That is the truth. God declared it Himself in the beginning. We were not meant to be alone. Let’s talk about a couple of ways that our world is fallen and tries to take this away from us. We live in a fallen world, full of hurt and selfishness and abuse and apathy and neglect. Somewhere inside, we know that we were meant to have true joy and so in a confused attempt to achieve this joy, we walk away from difficult and painful things. We shy away and assert that we’re happier on our own. And honestly, that is probably true in specific circumstances. Perhaps a person who has been abused for years in a scary marriage has finally found peace in the quiet that has been left behind after that marriage has fallen apart. Perhaps this person has found themselves again and likes who they are. Of course they are happier than they were in a toxic relationship. But ultimate joy is found in following the pattern of the Lord and no matter what you’ve been through, the Lord stands ready to walk that hard path back towards healing and peace so that you’re prepared to find joy on the other end. We live in a fallen world where many find themselves without a partner through no fault of their own. We live in a fallen world where many long for this pattern but it hasn’t come to them yet. Just because the Lord has an ideal and you haven’t received that blessing yet does not immediately equate with being unloved or being unworthy. It does not mean that your life has to be void of joy or meaning. When I say that marriage is the ideal, I’m not simultaneously testifying that being alone means worthless. It’s not worthless. The Lord can take any journey on any path and turn it into powerful, meaningful, joy-filled growth opportunities. We teach that marriage is ideal, not because we want to rub salt in the wounds of those who find that truth painful but because we want to testify of what the Lord wants them to have. He wants you to find what Adam and Eve found. He wants you to find what it means to labor alongside an eternal partner. He wants you to find what He has found with your Heavenly Mother. That blessing is there. He can see it. We live in a fallen world where the ideal is far away from many. Even if you’re not abused, there are many who worship without a spouse who has stepped away. There are many who long for an eternal sealing, a full bench during sacrament meeting, someone to engage in the deepest parts of life with. There are many who have been victims of infidelity, and there are many who are the ones who engaged in the infidelity and also feel far away from the ideal. I testify that the truth is this: It is not good for man or woman to be alone. I also testify of another truth. Christ can take you exactly where you’re at, no matter how far away you feel from the ideal. I testify that Christ knows how you feel. I testify that He stands ready to walk the path before you with you. In The Book of Mormon, we learn about the strait and narrow path to walk towards the love of God. It is not “straight.” It is “strait,” meaning “narrow.” I understand that this partially refers to the covenant path, but I also believe there is another layer of meaning. When we picture the traditional life in church, we see finishing high school, going to college, serving a mission, coming home, getting married, finishing college, and having kids (sometimes with varying order). That’s the path. It’s straight. We can see it. We know how it’s supposedly meant to happen. But God set us up for a fallen world, and that means that there isn’t a “straight” path. There are only “strait” paths. There is a path for you to walk, and along that path, there are pieces of salvation that you will be picking up. A spouse, selflessness, compassion, knowledge. God can see your strait path, and Christ stands ready to walk it with you. The ideal is available to you even if it’s not the path you would have chosen for yourself. Trust me; the path that God chooses is so much better even if ...
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    9 m
  • Come, Follow Me with FAIR – Genesis 1–2; Moses 2–3; Abraham 4–5 – Part 1 – Autumn Dickson

    Come, Follow Me with FAIR – Genesis 1–2; Moses 2–3; Abraham 4–5 – Part 1 – Autumn Dickson
    Jan 12 2026
    Creation: What I Learned Watching My Husband Build a House by Autumn Dickson This week, we read about the Creation story. I don’t have a specific verse to share, but I have an overarching idea that I want you to contemplate while reading the Creation story. There are many principles that we can talk about; we could talk about the power of God or His creative abilities. However, there is one principle I want to focus on because I feel like I’m watching a mini-version of it right before my eyes. These scriptures are rather poignant for me right now. My husband, Conner, is currently working alongside others to build a house for our family. He has worked so hard on it; he has been actively involved in every step of the process including the construction itself, and he has the chemical burns from the wet concrete to prove it. It has been an exhausting process for him; there have been extra challenges to face that I won’t go into detail over, but I wish I could describe the depth for which he fought for us to have this. There have been many times that I have watched his tenacity with fascination and curiosity because it’s so different from my eager willingness to walk away and give up. I legitimately don’t understand how he can be so obstinate and relentless to have made this come together for our family. There have been endless nights of research, gray hairs, even legitimate nightmares over the challenges that we (but mostly, he) faced in trying to make it all come together. There were a lot of times when I felt like, “Enough is enough. Let’s cut our losses. We’re happy enough where we are.” But not Conner. He wouldn’t let it go. Conner had more than one motivating factor that kept him going when I’m convinced that 99% of people would have given up. When he was a young boy, his family moved to Sharon, Vermont. It’s a tiny town where Joseph Smith Sr. met Lucy Mack. We went back to visit this town a couple of years ago, and they were still using the same General Store that had been used in Joseph Smith’s time. You could see through the floorboards. Conner’s family lived on an obscure piece of land, and it was heaven for Conner. He spent all day every day outside, playing in the stream and running through the woods even when the snow was as tall as him. He loved it. He was so proud to take me back and show me. Conner is building us a house on a bit of land where our kids can experience the happiness that he experienced. I’m convinced that’s his motivating factor. That was what caused him to continue on despite obstacles that would have chased away anyone else. I have watched my husband labor (and honest, labor seems like a euphemism for what he’s done) on behalf of my family. I have watched him go through the wringer because he wants his kids to have what he had. And yes, one of the parallels of THE Creation story and our mini-creation story is the fact that there was sacrifice involved. However, I want to draw your attention to another detail. You are so loved. Christ worked so hard to make this come together for us, and He gave an unfathomable sacrifice all because He. Loved. You. I look forward to the day that my kids can walk into what my husband built. I look forward to sitting on our porch and watching them play, get dirty, wash off, and do chores alongside us in order to grow. I hope that one day, I can convey the price their father paid for them to have what they have. I don’t want them to become depressed over the price or feel like they can’t go out and learn for fear of ruining everything. I don’t want them to sit and mope and lament that they didn’t deserve all the work their father put into it. Of course they don’t deserve it! Of course they didn’t earn it! It wasn’t meant to be earned. It was a gift. I hope they are filled with tremendous gratitude that only sweetens the gift that we want them to enjoy. I hope they take advantage of the gift. I hope they run their little hearts out, following our rules for safety. I hope the gift helps them grow so that they can be as good as their father. I currently try to teach my children about the gifts that their Savior gave them. I don’t want them to become depressed over the price that He willingly paid. I don’t want them to be terrified of going out to learn for fear of making mistakes. I don’t want them to sit and mope and lament that they didn’t deserve it. Of course we don’t deserve it. Of course we didn’t earn it. It wasn’t meant to be earned. It was a gift. I hope we are filled with tremendous gratitude that sweetens the gift that our Savior wants us to enjoy. I hope we take advantage of the gift. I hope we wear ourselves out utilizing His gift, following His rules for safety and also trying to grow to become as good as Him. I hope my kids look at their father one day and realize what it cost him to build this. I KNOW that my husband will look back at them and feel like he got a gift ...
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    9 m
  • Come, Follow Me with FAIR – Moses 1; Abraham 3 – Jennifer Roach Lees

    Come, Follow Me with FAIR – Moses 1; Abraham 3 – Jennifer Roach Lees
    Jan 11 2026

    Jennifer and guest Sarah Allen discuss the books of Moses and Abraham.

    Sarah Allen is a Senior Researcher with FAIR, a former member of Scripture Central’s research team, and the 2022 recipient of the John Taylor: Defender of the Faith Award. An avid reader, she loves studying the Gospel and the history of the restored Church. After watching some of her friends lose their testimonies, she became interested in helping others through their faith crises. That’s when she began sharing what she’d learned through her studies. She is a co-moderator the LDS subreddit on Reddit and the author of a multi-part series rebutting the CES Letter. She is also the co-host of FAIR’s “Me, My Shelf, & I” podcast. She’s grateful to those at FAIR who have given her the opportunity to share her testimony with a wider audience.

    Jennifer Roach Lees holds a Master in Divinity as well as a Masters in Counseling Psychology. She is a licensed mental health therapist and lives in Utah.

    The post Come, Follow Me with FAIR – Moses 1; Abraham 3 – Jennifer Roach Lees appeared first on FAIR.
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    21 m
  • Come, Follow Me with FAIR – Moses 1; Abraham 3 – Part 2 – Autumn Dickson

    Come, Follow Me with FAIR – Moses 1; Abraham 3 – Part 2 – Autumn Dickson
    Jan 8 2026
    God Will Pause to Save You by Autumn Dickson I got a little lost as I was reading in Abraham at 6:00 am after staying up too late reading a book. Abraham had received a vision that showed him the workmanship of the Lord’s hands. He discerned a whole lot, and then the Lord started explaining some deeper things to him. I was pretty tired, and my mind drifted until I came across this verse. Abraham 3:20 The Lord thy God sent his angel to deliver thee from the hands of the priest of Elkenah. Everything was feeling a tad confusing to my tired mind until I read that verse. Interestingly enough, as I backed up and read previous verses and when I continued reading forward, verse 20 felt like an interruption. The Lord is speaking of intelligences, including His own. He is speaking of how He dwelt in the midst of them and so on and so forth. The chapter is showing His absolute majesty. But He pauses and recalls how He saved Abraham’s mortal life from a priest who was trying to sacrifice him. It felt like one of the most relevant interruptions I had ever read. It felt perfectly inserted into a sermon of how Christ rules over all of His creations. Christ is powerful and wise and loving. He is the Creator and King. He has many important works that He is juggling, but He pauses long enough to save you. Saving you from a mere mortal trial is nothing and everything to Him. It is nothing in relation to His power, and it is everything in relation to His love. I want to share a story about how the Lord saved my family. Honestly, I’m not even sure the extent to which it has saved my family yet, but I feel strongly that one day I will understand just what the Lord did for us in moving us across the country. Despite all the other works that the Lord was juggling, I watched Him masterfully manipulate detail after detail after detail to put Conner on track for his life’s work. I will share some details, but I don’t even think I’m fully aware of all the details and timelines that the Lord set in motion to take care of us. I probably don’t remember all of the details, but I will tell you of a few. Conner had told me for years that we would never leave Utah, but there had always been a nagging feeling in my heart that we would leave. I had prayed about it, and the Lord kept telling me not to worry about it. The time would come when it came, so I left it alone. Though it was likely one of the more traumatic eras of my husband’s life, I felt the Lord’s hand hovering over us the entire time. Moving to Virginia the first time around was wild. My husband’s job had been taken away from him through a series of lies told by another person. Looking back, I am 99% certain my husband would have never left. It had to be taken away from him in order to propel him in the correct direction for his life. I praise the Lord for taking it away. That’s detail number one. Conner was meant to end up out in Virginia, and so the Lord sent a friend to ask for his help. That was detail number two. The only reason I was able to get Conner out of our house and into the car was because it was a friend who had asked him to come. We lived in a hotel for three months with three kids before moving to an apartment of a friend who had moved out west. We stayed in that apartment for two months before we received a big enough miracle that even my husband couldn’t ignore (he still wanted to go back to Utah). We were staying in that apartment and the contract was running out soon. We could renew it, but the price would go up to more than we could really afford (especially since the job we had moved out for wasn’t working out as we hoped). I was at church one day when that lady I ministered to asked me if we had found a place to stay yet. I answered no. Now let me tell you this portion of the timeline backwards. Monday, the very next day, was when we really decided that this job was not working out with our friend. I know Conner, and I know that the moment we realized it wasn’t working out, we were headed back to Utah. It was much cheaper to go back, and we had just spent inordinate amounts of money to go and stay in Virginia and it just wasn’t doable anymore especially since we were leaving the job. I wouldn’t have been surprised at all if we had packed up that day and drove back immediately. However, the night before this final decision about the job was made, we received a message from a lady who had been sitting next to my ministering assignment when my ministering assignment had asked me if we had somewhere to live. This lady was a stranger at the time, and I’m going to name her Jill so that we can follow the story more easily. It turns out that Jill and her family had just bought a house even though they were headed overseas for ten months. She had a friend who was supposed to live in her house while they were gone, but that fell through. So Jill looked me up since they needed someone to come and stay in their house. As it ...
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    15 m
  • Me, My Shelf, & I – How to read the Bible and love it

    Me, My Shelf, & I – How to read the Bible and love it
    Jan 6 2026

    Jennifer Roach and Sarah Allen host this discussion. Guests are Allen Hansen, Ben Spackman, and David Harper.

    Note: After this was recorded, the Church gave new guidance on additional Bible translations besides the KJV, which allows their use in Church settings and personal study.

    The post Me, My Shelf, & I – How to read the Bible and love it appeared first on FAIR.
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    2 h