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

From Promptings to Purpose: How One Story Led Back to Faith: Jason Jones' Story - Latter-Day Lights

• Scott Brandley and Darla Brandley

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What happens when a creative prompting turns into something that can change one person’s life?

In this week's episode of Latter-Day Lights, Scott and Darla Brandley sit down with author and Praiseworthy Award winner Jason Jones, who shares his 8-year journey behind writing his debut novel, “One Day a Year.” From making simple screenplays with his coworkers to boost company morale, what began as a simple idea for a time-travel story evolved into years of persistence, self-doubt, and growth, packaged into a book on faith and family history. Jason opens up about navigating imposter syndrome, learning the craft of storytelling, and holding onto the quiet spiritual nudges that kept him moving forward—until the “ideal reader” he created in his mind turned out to be the best plot twist he never expected.

Jason admits that the most powerful part of his story came after the book was finished. He reflects on how his work unexpectedly became a catalyst for someone close to him to rediscover faith, illustrating how creative efforts—no matter how small they seem—can carry a much greater purpose. Through themes of familial love, intuitive pulls, and trusting in divine timing, this conversation is a reminder that the things we feel called to create may matter more than we could ever realize.

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

To WATCH this episode on YouTube, visit: https://youtu.be/4u5baAbBclA

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To READ Jason’s book, “One Day a Year,” visit: https://a.co/d/0fxexvgo

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To READ Scott’s new book “Faith to Stay” for free, visit: https://www.faithtostay.com/

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Keep updated with us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/latter.day.lights/
Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/latterdaylights

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.

“Faith to Stay” by Scott Brandley

Scott Brandley

Hey there, as a Latter-Day Lights listener, I want to give you a very special gift today. My brand new book, Faith to Stay. This book is filled with inspiring stories, powerful discoveries, and even fresh insights to help strengthen your faith during the storms of life. So, if you're looking to be inspired, uplifted, and spiritually recharged, just visit FaithToStay.com. Now, let's get back to the show. Hey everyone, I'm Scott Brandley.

Darla Brandley

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

Welcoming Jason Jones to the show

Scott Brandley

On today's episode, we're going to hear how one man had the faith to write a book and the impact that it had on a very special reader. Welcome to Latter-day Lights. Hey everyone, welcome to another episode of Latter-day Lights. We're so glad you're here with us today.

Jason Jones

Hello. Thanks. Thanks for having me.

How Jason and Scott met

Scott Brandley

Yeah, you bet. So Jason is one of the praiseworthy award winners for LDSP and Mini. And we wanted to invite him to the show to talk a little bit about his book and the story behind the book, and maybe have him give us some pointers on how to create. So why don't we jump right in, Jason? And um we kind of have a fun little story that is unique. So why don't you why don't you tell us what you told me when we got on?

Jason Jones

Yeah, so um uh Scott and I actually met at uh at the LDS PMA conference back in 2022, I believe. Uh we sat next to each other at one of the uh one of the the classes and when as we were chatting, he mentioned he was writing a book and I was writing a book, and we seem to be at a similar uh a similar stage in the writing. And uh he also mentioned he was doing podcasting. So yeah, it's it's good to see you again. And glad we got this podcast up and running. That's wonderful.

Scott Brandley

I know, crazy. So so the crazy thing about that is I started this podcast after we met, right after we met, and now it's going on to its fourth year, which is four years, mind-blowing.

Jason Jones

Your consistency is very, very admirable, yeah.

Scott Brandley

Yeah, actually, maybe it's might be fifth year because we're getting 200 episodes, so yeah, that's so it's going on to its fifth year. Yeah, that's so crazy. Well, it's yeah, full circle right there. Yeah, why don't you uh tell us a little bit about yourself, Jason?

Jason in a nutshell

Jason Jones

Uh sure. So uh my name's Jason Jones, um and I uh grew up in Oram, Utah. So I went to to Windsor Elementary School, uh, and then uh Oram High School. And then after I went after uh high school, I went to UVCC, which uh which was uh what UVU was back in the day. Then I went on a mission to South Korea, came back, and UVCC had changed to UVSC, and uh after a year, uh one more year there, I transferred to BYU and I graduated uh from BYU with a computer science degree. So I've been doing computer programming and software since then. Uh married, three kids, uh currently live in Lee Lehigh. So that's a little bit about me.

Scott Brandley

Nice. Well, so you kind of stuck close to home there. Yeah.

Jason Jones

But it's a great area. We like Utah, we like Utah Valley, so my family is pretty much here still.

Scott Brandley

So nice. Well, why don't we turn the time over to you and tell us where your story begins, my friend?

How Jason got the idea for his time travel movie

Jason’s biggest plotholes in his movie

Jason Jones

Okay. Uh yeah, that's a good question. You know, when you start writing, it's always uh it's always difficult to find the right place to begin your story. So um I'll just I'll I'll just jump in where um we were just talking about my work. I I I worked up in Salt Lake. Uh our office was up there by the by the airport, and uh on on Fridays uh for lunch to to you know give us a little break, we'd we'd go into downtown Salt Lake City for lunch. And uh after we eat, we'd we'd like to walk around the town. And of course, there's you know Temple Square and different uh uh historical places you can visit. And as I just kind of got really interested in in what I was seeing there, you know, the the different monuments and plaques, and I started reading up on the history. And then a few a few weeks later, as we were driving in, uh, you know, when you come off the freeway, uh you can kind of get a good view of of Salt Lake City. And uh I just looked at that and I was like, that's nice, but what did the city look like back in uh you know, like the right after the pioneers arrived? What did it look like then? And I started thinking, you know, wouldn't it be cool if we had like a time, a time travel story where um we could have a character go back in time to this this time period where the city was you know just brand new and getting started. So um that kind of kicked off my idea. And um and then I uh so so where I'd worked, I'd previously done a couple of uh movies for the for the company. These were just like uh uh movies. They were kind of funny. We just had employees uh you know be in the movies and we kind of uh just do some fun stuff to liven up our um our all-employee meetings that we met together in. Uh my my favorite one was the first one we did called Bob's Cubicle. I thought that one was really good. But so so I'd had some experience doing some of these these lower uh you know, just fun movies. And when I had this idea for this time travel story, I thought, yeah, I need to, I need, I need to make that movie, is what I was thinking. And so um that that's that's where the the idea started, and I I thought, okay, I need to make a movie. How do I make a movie of this, you know, of this caliber? And I thought, okay, I need to get uh a script prepared. And so I thought, okay, I don't know how to do that. I'm gonna go find a way to write a uh a screenplay. And so I got a book, you know, I think it was called The Idiot's Guide to Screenplay Writing or something like that. Uh but but I I went through that and I started writing the script. And um when when I was trying to flush out the story, you know, you got to get a character and all these things, a good guy, a bad guy, the love interest, and all that stuff. And so I I was working through all that, and then the thing that I was really having trouble with was how was I gonna get him to time travel? Uh was kind of the big question that I was struggling with. It's like it'd be nice if I could have a DeLorean, you know, with the it goes back in the past and the the the tire tracks go, you know, light up on fire. That was always pretty cool.

Scott Brandley

I'm getting deja vu here, Jason.

How the main character goes back in time throughout the story

Jason submits his screenplay and gets rejected

Jason decides to turn his movie into a book

Jason Jones

And so uh so I was just thinking, you know, how how how can we make this interesting? And so I I finally figured out a way to get him back in time. And then the other twist is um he can only go back in time one day a year, and he can only stay for for one day at a time. So it's he's throughout the story, he's growing up, and he's he's really only spending uh one day in the past each year. Um, so that's kind of the premise for the story. Um and then uh and he's going back in time to the 1850s, and so if you're going to Salt Lake City in the 1850s, you gotta bump into Brigham Young, right? So so he does uh you know, he does meet Brigham Young and some of the the church leaders that there at that time, so that's kind of fun. Um and um so that's kind of where it started. Um I kind of jumped ahead to to the completed thing, but so when I when I had the screenplay idea, I I kept working on it, and you know, I I didn't really know what I was doing at the beginning. But I kept having this this feeling that you know this was the this was a good story, and that there'd be somebody that could um benefit from from me telling this story. Um but but the screenplay didn't work out. You know, I thought I thought as soon as I had the screenplay done and I uh submitted it to some people in uh in the business, I was sure that there was going to be you know Hollywood producers knocking on my door with bags of cash in their hands wanting to make this movie. Uh that didn't happen. Uh but uh so I kept working on the screenplay because I just I just wanted to make I just wanted to see this made into a movie. And this this went on for like uh several years where I, you know, I I thought I had it done, and then I'd, you know, I sent it off to a contest and get some feedback on it, sent it off to, you know, somebody else to look at. And they did give me some uh notes and things to work on, and and uh it got to a point where I was just kind of uh after a couple of years, I was just kind of struggling with it, and I just kind of set it aside. Um and uh I went to uh a meeting with uh a church meeting and and was talking to this this lady and I was telling her about my my idea for this screenplay, and she said something to me that kind of stuck with me. She said, Why don't you write a book? And I looked at her and thought, well, I've just always kind of imagined and saw this story playing out as a as a movie, and and I kind of told her that. And then I went home and started thinking about it and thinking about it, and I thought, yeah, why don't I write a book? So uh a few hours or a few a few years into the the process there, I decided to change um what I was doing, and I I decided to write it as a novel, you know. Naively, I thought, how it can't be that hard to write a novel.

Scott Brandley

How hard can it be?

Impostor syndrome + creating the “ideal reader”

Jason Jones

How hard can it be? Um and so I I I thought, well, I've got all the story all you know outlined and ready to go. So let's just uh so actually I was able to just kind of take what I had and put it into novel form in a in a couple months, which I was pretty proud of. But I I knew what I'd done uh you know, the first draft, I knew it wasn't it wasn't good. Uh it needed a lot of work. Um and so I tried to reach out to some people, some editors to help me um get things going, improve it, and it went through several several more drafts there. And one of the things that helped me out was when I went to uh LDS PMA, uh where I met G Scott and got some advice on uh the writing, and I was also able to get into some some in contact with some more people that would help me uh you know improve the writing process and make things better. So um that's kind of how it started, and this was yeah, 2022 was a while ago. So my book came out in 2024, so it still took you know several years to get it all done. But one of the things that really kept me um that was a roadblock for me was just the you know, the imposter syndrome that you you you bump into every time you try and do something, there's that voice inside your head saying, you know, you you don't know what you're doing.

Darla Brandley

You can't do this.

Jason finally publishes his book + celebrates

Jason’s sister gets converted to LDS

Jason Jones

Yeah, who are you? You you think you can write a book and and you know, you're no expert on this stuff. And and so um, you know, that that that was always an issue. But one of the things that I did, um as I was learning about the process, uh I read someplace that what you need to do is you need to create an ideal reader, kind of a fictitious i ideal reader that's that you can uh that you can write your book to and you can kind of speak to. And so I I decided to do that. And since my my book's uh kind of a oh a young adult novel, and and there's some romance in there, I thought, okay, I'm gonna that sounds like uh a novel that um a young teenage girl would enjoy. So I my my ideal reader I I created as um a 16-year-old, a 16-year-old girl that lived in Payson, Utah. And I don't know why I chose Pays in Utah, but I I just did. Um and and so you know, every time that I ran into these these roadblocks, and I I'd always just kind of remind myself, hey Jason, there's this, there's the 16-year-old girl down in Payson, and uh she's waiting on your book. So that kept me to that kind of kept me going forward even when I uh you know would hit the the spots where I didn't really want to keep going. Um and so yeah, I mean at that point uh in 2002 I I had to I hired a editor to help look at the story. She she went through it, gave me some pointers, and then I sat on that for like six months, finally, you know, made some improvements to it. And uh this was it like in at the end of 2023, I just I just said, okay, uh, you know, I I just kept kept getting this feeling that you need to get it done, and there's there's somebody out there that that could use this story and use this the message that you're trying to tell. So the the main theme of my book, uh there's a lot of history for from our family. And so there's some family history, but there's also an underlying theme of the temple marriage. Um and Salt Lake Temple is is one of the things that kind of comes up a lot in the story. Um so so yeah, I I was I was I just kept getting these feelings. So at the end of 2023, I just like, let's just get this done. Uh and so I just I just I just said uh let's just just make sure it gets published. I'm gonna hire every every everybody that I can to get all the stuff that I want to I don't want to do done. So so I hired somebody to do, you know, the the cover and all the types and just uh all the stuff that I didn't really feel comfortable doing. And um that that was good. Uh I actually worked with a company called Eschler Editing, and they they were good to work with. And they helped me get everything ready to go. And so we were able to finally release the book in uh the summer of 2024. Um, so about a year and a half ago. And so when you release a book, you it's been a long, hard journey. So I wanted to have a party when we finally got the the uh the book finished. So we had a release party in June and uh invited all my friends and family uh to the party. And we had it at my sister's. Um she has a book bindery in in Provo. Uh and so we all met together at her her store or her store, her office there, and we we had this party. And one of the people, you know, we had a lot of friends, family, and my my younger sister um showed up with her husband, and you know, she she was excited to to read the book too. And I I I was happy to share it with her, but but I wasn't sure how she would how she was going to uh receive the book. So so this particular sister had had um been away from the church for for over 20 years, and um, you know, I I didn't I wasn't sure how she was gonna you know um receive some of the messages that were that were in the book. And so um, but but we had a great time at the at the launch party. And then a couple weeks later, um I got a we we have a uh family group text. I'm sure those are pretty popular these days. And this this this younger sister, uh her name's Julie, she's she sent a text and she said, Hey, uh I'm like halfway through Jason's book and I'm I'm really enjoying it. I'm I'm enjoying, you know, the some of the characters, they remind me a lot of our family. So um the book was written with a lot of uh based on a lot of my family. Um so the main character is kind of based on my son, his name's Benny. Um and the other the grandfather, so Benny's grandfather's kind of based on my dad, which was obviously my my sister's dad also, and my mother's uh got a picture in the book. Excuse me, let me find that real quick. Um so hey, I turned right to it. That's my mother. Uh, when she was young, we kind of dressed her up to to be in like 1950s outfit. But and and you I don't know if you notice, but she's standing by the tabernacle there on Temple Square. Um, and so, anyways, my sister was started reading this book, and and uh I was very happy about that. And then a couple weeks later she said, uh, hey, uh I I finished the book, and you know, I really enjoyed uh our you know the story about some of our ancestors and some of the church leaders and um you know mom and dad. And she said, I'm I'm starting to have some feelings that I that I might want to you know make some changes to my life and come back to church. And um, you know, that was you know it had been 20 plus years, and so we we were all kind of surprised, uh but but very happy and willing to help her out wherever we could. So um so after that, like like a couple uh a week or two later, she's she reached out and said, Hey, I really need some help. Um she was going through some difficulties with cleaning up some of the word of wisdom issues that she was having, and she she needed some help. And so she she reached out and she said, uh, can you come give me a priesthood blessing? And of course we were we were very helpful, very grateful for that opportunity. So we uh we went over, you know, to her home, were able to administer to her and and you know support her in any way that we could. And I'm I'm very proud of my my sister. She's she she can be very determined when she when she sets her mind something too, and she she basically just stopped right one day and she would just worked her way through all of these issues and and that was just a special experience. And then it didn't stop there. Um you know, a couple weeks later we got we got the message that hey, I've uh I I made it to church with with my husband, and and then uh a couple weeks later, hey, I sing in the choir today. Wow Yeah, yeah, and this was over, you know, many months. And then um and then we got the message that hey uh my husband's taking the taking the discussions.

Scott Brandley

So he wasn't a member?

Jason’s ideal reader became his sister

Jason Jones

And he wasn't a member, no. Wow. And um yeah, so all of this kind of came about. And then um, so it was last year on in March, actually it was March 1st, um, that was the the anniversary of my mom passing um four four years ago. Uh the chart of my my my sister's husband, he was able to be baptized. And um, so we we always Enjoyed a nice evening there or a nice day there and enjoyed his baptism. And um, you know, um it's a beautiful story. Um uh I just talked to my sister the today. I called her and she she didn't pick up and she she called back and she's like, oh sorry. Uh we were in our temple preparation class. This is the last one. And so uh so her and her husband are getting ready to go to the temple uh here coming up in in March, which is which is just a beautiful thing to say. Um, you know, and I I don't think that was I mean, sure, my my book might have um uh might have had a spark that that kind of got this um sometimes we call it the spirit of Elijah. But the the spirit of our ancestors and our our relatives helping us from beyond the valley, I believe that's what kind of helped my my sister in this case is like I said, the book was was based on our family. And and if you if you know what you're looking for, you can you can see um you know my dad in the story, and and uh there's also uh one of the one of the years that Benny goes back in time, he uh bumps into his great great great grandfather back in uh uh Salt Lake City at that time. So there's some fun things uh that happened for that. But but but um yeah, I I mean it was really just an opportunity to to to allow the spirit to come into to her life, I believe. So so I I guess the the kind of the the funny thing was I was I was writing this book, in my mind I was writing this book for the 16-year-old girl in in pay center.

Scott Brandley

But it ended up being my sister which was better than anything I could have asked for, right? Wow.

Darla Brandley

I love that I had I have family who they came back after 30 years and I love them to pieces, and when I could stand in the temple with them, that was like the most touching experience to know how much they struggled and how hard it was for them and to be there and be so happy, you know.

Scott Brandley

Thank you.

Darla Brandley

When you get to stand with your sister in the temple, it'll be awesome.

Jason Jones

Yeah. Yeah, uh when I was talking to her today, she said, yeah, she said, I was away from the church for for 25 years, but I still remember all the primary songs.

Darla Brandley

Isn't that amazing? That was so true.

Jason Jones

Those primary song leaders are are doing doing doing good work, you know.

Darla Brandley

Yes. And if you think of the lyrics, they are very, very precise doctrine in there. That's yeah.

On planting seeds + the promptings to create

Scott Brandley

I mean, one of the first songs we ever learned is I'm a child of God, but the the lessons in that song are profound, and I'm sure that's that was in her mind even all these 25 years, right? And it's the thing I love about your story is you know, your book was one of the because we always talk about, oh, I think I planted a seed, right? I'm you hear that, you know, when you're a missionary or you know, like throughout your life, you're like, you do something good, you're like, Well, I think I planted a seed. You never know when those seeds are going to actually sprout and do some good, but in your case, that one little seed was a part of that catalyst that helped to make something sprout and grow, which is that's that's that's amazing. And the fact that it was your sister is makes it even more special, right?

Jason Jones

Yeah. Yeah, I mean the book hasn't been real real successful as far as you know selling millions of copies or anything, but but it it's it's it's been it's definitely been fulfilling in in uh just what it what it's been able to do. And um, I I just wanted to mention, you know, we talked about LDS PMA a little bit, but uh if there's you know if you might if you have uh an inspiration or a feeling to go out and uh you know write a book, uh produce some creativity works, you know, art work or whatever, you know, I you never know how the Lord can use what you're producing to benefit his his purposes. So I think kind of the main takeaway for me is if if you if you're feeling prompted or have a feeling that you should be doing something, yeah, please follow those promptings and and let the Lord you know kind of take care of things.

Scott Brandley

Yeah. Well, and I don't think anybody in the LDS market is very few are gonna make enough money to actually, you know, like support their family or whatever, right? The market's just not big enough, right? But and there but there are some, there are some that do. Odds are you you're probably not gonna make it to that level, but um I like it took it took you eight years to to write, you know, from the beginning to the end, right? Yeah, it took me nine. Um and you know, if in your case.

Darla Brandley

There it is. What you got your book right there, Ben. Oh, awesome, man. That's so cool.

Jason Jones

Yeah, let's talk about your book.

Scott Brandley

It's kind of fun that we were sitting there.

Jason Jones

It's kind of fun that we were at that conference, and you know, I was like three or four years away from publishing my book, and kind of it's cool, cool to see that you got yours out there too. That's that's so cool.

Scott Brandley

You bought my book.

Jason Jones

Yeah, I bought your book. Uh so I actually um I went to your webpage where you can uh get the audio, and I started to listen to the audio, and you did the auto audio, right? You did you read the audiobook, yeah, and it was great. I don't know how I could ever do an audio book, but you did a great job.

Darla Brandley

He's done a few because he's written several business books as well, and he reads them too.

Jason Jones

Okay. Yeah, and so I I was listening to the audio book, and about you know, uh halfway through you started talking about maps and stuff, and I was like, I need to get the the the pictures, right? I need to see what these maps really are. I enjoy maps, so so I I I noticed there was a way to get the the ebook on your on your website too. So I was able to get that and look at the pictures uh of the maps and the different uh pictures and follow along with that as I finished up the book, which was good. And and then after I I finished it, I I enjoyed it so much I thought I I need to get a cop copy of that so I can reference it and uh you know flip through the pages and see some of the re revisit some of those things that you said because I really enjoyed it. It was it was work very well done.

Scott Brandley

Wow. You just totally made my day. I I I had no idea that you did that. I was just like, wow, that's like the coolest compliment. Thank you so much. Yeah, that's it's very well done. Thank you.

Darla Brandley

Well, I definitely want to read your book. So five five.

Scott Brandley

Yeah, thanks. But yeah, your your book sounds amazing too.

Darla Brandley

Um I'm excited.

How to find Jason’s book, “One Day a Year”

Jason Jones

Oh, did did did we mention the name, the book of the name? It's called One Day a Year. Um and I did write it under Jay Lamont Jones, um, just because there's a lot of Jason Joneses out there online and thought it might be easier to find you if you if I use my middle name, which is Lamont.

Scott Brandley

So we'll definitely put that in the show notes so that anyone can that wants it can easily click on it and go get it. So is it available on Amazon or it's on Amazon, yeah.

Jason Jones

Okay, Amazon and the audiobooks also available um wherever you can get your audiobooks. Um awesome.

Scott’s tips on creating an audiobook

The goal is to touch one person

Scott Brandley

Awesome. You know, it's funny. I have two things I want I want to say, but the uh you know, a lot of people think the audiobooks are hard. Going back to your audiobook comment, but it's actually pretty easy to do. Um you just get a mic and you just start reading your script. And with Audacity, it's a free product, free program. You just record on on a you know a decent mic. I think my mic was like 50 bucks, but you just record it chapter by chapter, and then you can you um it's got a filter inside Audacity that checks to make sure that it's the the right quality for Amazon. And then once you pass that filter, you just save it and upload it, and you're done. So yeah, yeah, it's actually pretty easy to do. But my my second thought was that and I was I'm gonna go back a little bit to what we were talking about, but um, as writers or creators, a lot of times, you know, like I said, we we probably aren't gonna get rich doing it, but we that's not like the cool part is is that's not necessarily the motivation that we that we do it, right? Um there's an idea, there's just a drive to to get that idea or that that spark of light out there, and our hope is that we touch one person at you know and and make a difference. And in your case, you did that and you know exactly who that is, and that's incredibly fulfilling, but I think it also is the person themselves, right? If if our book doesn't or our creation doesn't touch anyone else's lives that we know of directly, I'm sure it will, right? But if it even if it doesn't, it impacts our life. Like I look back on on the time that I spent on writing my book, nine years, and it was off and on, right? But I look back and I think of all the hours and thought and like the walks I went on, trying to put the ideas together and talking with my family and friends and and getting feedback and all of that stuff. I grew more than I could have ever imagined as a person. And I'm sure you can relate to that.

Jason Jones

Oh, absolutely, yeah.

Darla Brandley

Just even maybe researching your family stories to put into the book can build that bond with with that with with your ancestors.

Jason delivers his book to every county in Utah

Scott Brandley

Yeah, definitely. What was your experience with that on the personal growth side?

Jason Jones

So yeah, I mean, it really it really was just you know, getting um confirmation that yeah, I I can do this, you know, each step of the way was some I was I was going into, you know, what for me uncharted territory, and I was just like, uh, can I really do this? You know, am I can I can am I the person that's supposed to be able to, you know, tackle this, this um the next step, if it was, you know, writing the book or or you know, all the other steps that came on there. And of course, there's always the thing that after you get the book out there, it's like, oh, now I have to go and tell everybody about it. And I that's not really my my uh I'm I'm not really that person to go out and shout about it, but I've tried to, you know, increase my social media presence a little bit and give some uh updates there here and there. So one one fun thing that I did last summer, so the the the book has kind of a pioneer uh a pioneer day theme to it. So last year um I decided to deliver some of the books to the you've probably seen those little libraries that uh people have in front of their homes. You can hold you know 20 books or so. But I I decided I'm gonna buy a bunch of my books and then I'm gonna deliver uh deliver them to every county in Utah was my goal. So I I took I I drove around Utah for a couple weeks. Um, it was a countdown to to July 24th to Pioneer Day, and so I I I did that. That was kind of fun. It was it was probably more fun than me for me than anybody else, but uh I kind of had some fun doing that.

Darla Brandley

But I love that idea. That's awesome.

Scott Brandley

Yeah, well, and as a creator, you sometimes you have to get creative. That's you know, right? That's a really good idea.

Jason Jones

Yeah, and it was kind of so I was kind of filming myself putting these books in the the little libraries, and I was like, it was like a 50-day countdown. And uh, you know, at about book 40, I know I realized, hey, this is I gotta switch this up a little bit. Can't can't be the same thing every time. So I tried to, you know, do different things. Sometimes I'd like throw the books in, sometimes I'd try and do some trick, uh, some some tricks with the camera to make it more interesting. It's just yeah, just tried to keep it interesting that way.

Jason’s next book

Scott Brandley

So that's super fun. So um, do you have any plans to write other any other books? Does this spark the creative juices inside of you to do more, or what's your plan?

Jason Jones

Yeah, yeah, no, it's it's definitely done that. Um, I've uh a lot of people have asked about a sequel, which um I actually tried to write the sequel and I just I couldn't get very far on the book. Um so so I kind of uh pivoted and did a couple other things. But one of the things that that maybe I'll I'll talk about, uh this is where I bring in the props. So you ready? This is this is this is on the next book. So when I was a boy, can you see this? This is uh a dinosaur book. Yeah. So when I when I was a kid, I really liked dinosaurs. And so I thought, you know, if we I I wanted to write a kid's book about the Salt Lake Temple and you know, and the construction of the Salt Lake Temple. So I thought, you know, if we could just get the dinosaurs to come in and tell the story.

Scott Brandley

That would be so cute.

Jason Jones

I love that. I figured I'd have a a winner if I could do that, if I could somehow integrate dinosaurs and the building of the Salt Lake Temple together. Yeah, it was a good idea, but I I couldn't figure it out. So um so what I did instead is I noticed there was a lot of more props. I noticed there's all this construction equipment, you know, doing work on the temple site. And I thought, hey, well, kids don't just like dinosaurs, some of them like uh, you know, big trucks and um and excavators and stuff. And so I thought, okay, let's write a story about that. And so that's where the idea for my my picture book that's coming out in um this summer, it's called Daniel and the House of the Lord, and it's about a screwdriver. Okay. So the main character is uh a screwdriver that's um very excited to help with the renovation of the temple. And so he's he's going around to all these uh this the equipment. So he goes to the dump truck and says, Hey, do you have a job for me? I I really want to help. And the dump truck says, Hey, uh, you're a little too small to help. Uh, you know, maybe you can find something else. And so he goes to like the excavator and these different big, huge uh uh construction equipment, and they they turn them down. And uh, but at the at the very end of the movie, he does find a way that he can help, and uh there's a job for him to do at the temple. So that's kind of how uh that's how the story ends. So I'm looking forward to that one. That one's should be available this summer in in July. So that one's gonna be published with yeah, that won't be published with Cedar Fort, so I'm excited about that. Awesome. Yeah. Do I have any more props? I think that's it. I I got the books, right?

Darla Brandley

Yeah, we got the books, yeah. Both of them would be awesome.

Scott Brandley

That's so cool that we sat by each other and then we both have books. Yeah. So we we actually did it, man. We actually did the thing.

Jason Jones

Look at these maps.

Scott Brandley

Yeah. That is so cool, dude. You really like it makes me so happy. Hopefully we keep things interesting. Yeah, now maybe if you maybe maybe my wife will read my book now that we heard how good it is.

Darla Brandley

I've heard parts of it. But I hear all about it, and I I know everything that he has in there. It's just, you know, because I hear about it. I just have to have it.

Jason Jones

Yeah, I think my my wife was kind of the same way. She'd heard enough about it that's like, uh, I I know what's I know what's happening. You've you've run the everything by me, and you've kind of told me all about it. So yeah.

Scott Brandley

Yeah, for nine years. I guess I'll give her a time. But I still like to give her a hard time.

Jason Jones

Nice.

Scott Brandley

Well, awesome. Jason, this has been a treat. Uh, thank you so much for sharing your story with us. And um, we usually like to end things with any final thoughts that you might have that you'd like to share.

Jason’s biggest piece of advice for creatives

Jason Jones

Uh, sure. I can give a few thoughts. I don't know if they'll be good thoughts, but um, I I think for me, just the big uh the takeaway that I've learned is if you're prompted or you know, feel have a feeling that there's something out there that the Lord wants you to do, go ahead and and take him up on that and he'll help you through the process and and then um also he'll be able to uh you know use what you've produced uh in a way that it that he needs to. So that that's kind of my last uh thoughts on that. But it's been it's been really fun to be here with you guys. It's been fun.

Outro

Scott Brandley

Yeah. Nice. That's been super fun. So thanks, Jason, for coming on. We really appreciate it, and we appreciate everyone for tuning in to hear Jason. So if you could do us a big, huge favor, go hit that share button, do your five-second missionary work, and let's get Jason's story out there so that we can share some more light and help others. And um, if you have a story that you'd like to share, go to latterdaylights.com or email us at latterdaylights at gmail.com. And once again, Jason, thanks for hanging out with us. It's been awesome. And thanks everyone for tuning in. And we'll talk to you next week with another episode of Latterday Lights. Till then, take care. Bye bye.

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Scott Brandley

Host
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Alisha Coakley

Co-host