Intro: Why We Wanted to Start a Podcast

This podcast is a brief introduction of who we are and why we wanted to start a faith-based podcast as active members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

We are sisters, wives, and mothers, and between us we have faced a variety of challenges. We love the gospel of Jesus Christ and want to connect with other people who share that love. We don't take ourselves too seriously and we are far from perfect, but we love talking about faith, family, and life. Hopefully you join us in these discussions!

                                            Show notes and References

Fair Use & Disclaimer
This podcast episode may contain brief quotes from external sources, used in a positive and respectful manner for discussion, education, and commentary. These references fall under fair use as they are not used for commercial gain, do not replace the original works, and are presented with proper context and attribution.

The views and opinions expressed in this episode are our own and those of our guests. They do not necessarily reflect the official doctrine, beliefs, or positions of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

References

 Nelson, By President Russell M. Peacemakers Needed. 2 Apr. 2023, www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2023/04/47nelson?lang=eng.

Shoutouts

Books mentioned

-         Heart of the Matter by Russell M. Nelson

-         The Other Side of Heaven by John H. Groberg

Podcasts

-         followHIM with John Bytheway and Hank Smith

-         Talking Scripture with Mike Day and Bryce Dunford

-         Church History Matters with Scott and Casey

-         All In- LDS Living

-         Come Back with Ashley Stone

SHOWNOTES AT OUR WEBSITE:

https://www.buzzsprout.com/2465200 

Transcript

Episode 1 - Sisters Podcast Intro - February 13, 2025

 We are sisters and this is the Sisters podcast. It's a podcast where we discuss gospel topics as active members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

 What is this podcast about? It's a podcast about keeping a strong testimony of Jesus Christ as faithful members of the of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We will talk about family, parenting, and what we are doing to strengthen our testimony in our daily lives. We will discuss our challenges, frustrations, and successes. This podcast is a way for us to connect with other like-minded people and hopefully offer something of value. We will be talking openly about our faith and what we do to try to strengthen it or possibly what we have failed at and need to work on.

 Right, what this podcast is not: we will not be diving into any deep doctrine or engaging in any heated debates. There are other podcasts that do a great job of answering those questions. I'm not the person to do it, but we will post in the show notes what those podcasts are so you can check those out if you want to do that. This is a podcast for active members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We're not trying to convince anyone of anything. We're here to support each other and other people. And, basically, it's not a place for angry people because that's just not a productive place to be. I found a quote from the prophet, Russell M. Nelson, it says, quote, Vulgarity, fault-finding, judging, and evil speaking of others are all too common. Too many pundits, politicians, and experts throw insults constantly, often to win comforts to their point of view, and amass a following. How horrifying is it that so many people act as though it is completely acceptable to condemn, malign, and vilify anyone who does not agree with them? Anger never persuades. Hostility builds no one. Prolonged arguments make enemies out of people who otherwise would become friends. Attacks on other people or points of view invite rebuttals and retribution. Contention never leads to inspired solutions. End quote. And I love that because there's just so many angry, loud people on the internet today and I just want to be clear, this is a positive place.

 Yeah, I could not have said that better. It's so true. Positive space. That's what we need right now. We don't need more contention. We just need to bring more love for everyone. that is a great quote. well, we just want to say we are not scholars. I would say we are pretty ordinary people who value the gospel of Jesus Christ. We are not a substitute for scripture reading or personal revelation. You guys can do that on your own. We are here because we want to bring others together. We want to share our triumphs and failures together. We want to work to strengthen our testimonies and hopefully instill strong testimonies in our children. This podcast is just another way that we can all come together to hear him better.

 So, the way that we're structuring it is that we will alternate between just the two of us talking and then every other week we will have a guest as well. We'll be discussing gospel topics based on quotes from the prophet or leaders of the church or Scriptures or conference talks and then we will be discussing them. We'll talk about our challenges and what we're doing to try and strengthen our testimonies. And, to give you a quick intro, I am Candice Buchanan. I have four kids, all girls between the ages of three and thirteen We are currently living in Sandy, Utah. We lived in California and Virginia before coming here. I grew up in Boise, Idaho and some things that I love, I love having dance parties with my girls. It's like just a constant girl party at our house. My poor husband, um. I love hip hop dance. It's my, there's nothing more fun to me than that. That is the most fun I could possibly have. I like art, I like to draw and paint, and my favorite shows are The Great British Baking Show and Ted Lasso.

 Oh, those are the best shows. I totally agree with that. And your girls have some pretty epic dance moves, I will say. I don't know about you, but your girls are great. And just a quick intro about me. I'm Clare Craner. I also grew up in Boise and currently I live here, which I love. I did move around a bit after high school. I've lived in Utah, Arizona, Texas, Nebraska, and California. I've been married for almost twenty years. And I have four kids, two boys, two girls, sixteen, fifteen, eleven, and eight. And some of our favorite activities right now are boating, skiing, snowboarding, hiking, and mountain biking. And, I am probably the worst at all of those, but I am trying to keep up with everyone. And some of my favorite things to do is... Probably sing in my shower when no one is home at the top of my lungs. Cause I don't have the best voice, but I can try. And I love drinking Diet  Mt. Dew And I think some of my favorite TV shows I always have on the background are Friends and The Office. So a little bit about

 With that, with the singing one, I just, isn't it the best when you're like in the car and you don't have kids with you in the car and then you can sing as loud as you want to?

 Yes.

 Because I love that. It's like, I can just sing and then my kids are going to sing. I don't know

 and it shows you like, someone in the shower and they have this incredible voice and then you get out of the shower and the something is different and you're like, oh, I sound terrible. But the shower acoustics are seriously the best.

 makes it sound better. 

Yes.

 I usually just crank up the music in the car because then I can't hear my voice because I don't have a good voice either, but I love it.

 Maybe, that's what I do in the shower. So maybe it has nothing to do with acoustics.

 It just drowns it out.

 Yeah, just drowns out the terrible noises. 

 Yeah, and we just want to be clear. That we are definitely not perfect. We are not coming on here to say that we are. We just want to come together And bring people together. And so don't judge us. We are very well aware of our imperfections, but we just want a way to share and connect with everyone.

 I always think it's, it's a weird thing, but people tend to judge people who are openly Christian or openly religious for being anything other than perfect. And I don't understand that because it's not like anybody who's claiming to be Christian is claiming perfection, but it's like this weird standard that they have. It's like, no, Everybody's imperfect. We're all sinners. We all need church. Just because we're talking about these things doesn't mean we're being hypocritical of anybody else. We're not judging anyone. We just think we should follow Jesus. It's not a bad thing.

 Yeah.

 and I've mentioned this to you before. cause my favorite shows genuinely are the Great British Baking Show and Ted Lasso. And I was like, well, should I say that? Cause that might be offensive to some people. Because it has swearing in it. It's not for everyone. It's like PG-13 has swearing in it. But for me, it has been such an uplifting show because it just shows human relationships. How to not judge people and understand that people come from different backgrounds and have their own things that they're dealing with. It's just been a wonderful show, but I don't want to show up on here, trying to put on a perfect face or trying to be something other than I am. I just want to be myself and, I, I'm not perfect. I could probably work on so many things, but I do sincerely love the gospel of Jesus Christ and anytime I've had difficult times in my life, I've leaned on that to help me through them like I've leaned on scriptures and prayer and all of those things the primary answer things. And I don't know how anybody survives this life without it. I'm passionate about it. And so I want to talk about it and I want to talk to other people about it.

 Yeah, I think I have tried some to live it without going back to that or, you know, going back to him or getting facts from not the right sources and it's true, Okay, life is still hard, but it's easier when you're including Jesus in your life, when you're trying to do The right things and then you're trying to live with purpose and with love. It, it is easier just when you have them with you and you're not trying to do it on your own.

 And also, I think that I feel better, if I am struggling with something and then I hear somebody else mention that they're struggling with something similar, it's not that I want other people to be in pain or to be suffering, but sometimes when you're going, I know when you're going through a trial, it can feel very isolating sometimes though. And you just think, oh, I'm the only person dealing with this. Nobody else has these perfect lives. And so I think it's nice and comforting and reassuring. It's like, we're all in this together. We're going to figure this life out. And so I, I want to talk to other people. I'm excited when we have guests and we talk to them and just talk openly about what their challenges are and what they're struggling with and what we can learn from them. Yeah.

 And what they've done to overcome, yeah.

 There's strength in knowing that okay, we're all part of this human experience.

 Yeah, let's boost each other up.

 Yes,

 Well, I was thinking just so everyone can get to know us a little bit better. I have a couple questions I want to ask. So

 That's great. Good

 The first, question I'm going to ask you is, you know, Swig and Sodalicious. I don't think that's everywhere, but right now in the United States and a couple of states, it's just huge to get fun drinks. So, what is your current favorite drink order that you would get?

 Okay, well, the drink order that I want to get is a large Coke with raspberry puree and coconut cream, but caffeine does not agree with me. I used to have it all the time. We don't have to get into it, but I know it just it affects me strongly. I don't think it affects everybody like it affects me, but it does. So I have to cut back on caffeine and it makes me really sad. And so I've been trying to not do that, but I think I have an addictive personality and I just, I could get addicted to anything, I swear. I've been trying to have Ollipops instead of that, but then it's like a digestive soda, so it's like...

 Yeah.

 I can't have too much of that or it's not good for me either. I'm like, why? Why do I have such issues? So I do, I like bubbly things. I've been doing, Club soda with, almond syrup in it and coconut cream and that's pretty good. It's not the same as a Coke,

 Yeah, definitely not the same.

 Or Fair Life chocolate milk. I love Fair Life chocolate milk. Yeah. What is your drink order? I know what it is, but why don't you tell the people?

 Okay, normally I get thirty-two ounces, but sometimes on a crazy day, it's forty-four ounces. And I

 Let's go

 have to say light ice because if you're going to spend that much money, like get light ice. And it's Diet Mountain Dew with peach puree, strawberry puree, and coconut cream. It is so good. It definitely counteracts the diet soda part, but it's really good. Yes, that is my favorite. Okay, how about right now? What is your favorite church type book that you're reading?

 Okay, let's do both church type book and non-church type book.

 Okay. 

Church type book, just for fun. I have been reading, The Heart of the Matter by Russell M. Nelson. I've been reading it slowly, but the problem is I have the Libby app, which is the library app where I get all my books on and I'll have like three books on it at a time and then I don't finish it and then I have to wait until it's available for checkout again. Anyway, it's been really, really good though. And then the other books that I've been reading, I've been reading Bird by Bird, and it's a book about writing,

 I was like, is it about birds? But okay.

 No, it's about, the writing process.

 Even though I'm not a writer, it's interesting. Okay, what about you?

 right now, Jocelyn, my eleven year old wants to read a book at night. So, we read a chapter. Of John Groberg's Other Side of Heaven. It's definitely an older book because I remember it from growing up, but it's about his mission that he did in the 1960s and he went to Tonga and some other South Pacific islands But it is the coolest book because there's so many good stories and it always has a cool gospel message, but the stories are incredible. there's this one story, which I'm not going to get into it and ruin it for people, but it's about this one time where he didn't sleep with a net over his feet, and it is epic.

 I love it. That's the story that she shared with my girls and then they're like, oh my goodness, mom, this is what happened. This is crazy. It's been a while since I read it, but it does seem like the wild, wild west in the olden days

 Yes.

 of missions when crazy things happened. some of those things

 is that Jocelyn said, mom, a mission sounds cool. I

 I want to do that.

 I know, like after that, okay, but that's awesome. So.

 I want to be in grave danger and in peril a lot of times

 Who doesn't? right

 Colby say he wants to go somewhere horrible or crazy for his mission? he wants to just

 go to the craziest place

 my sixteen-year-old always tells me, he's like, mom, I'm going to say no if I just have some boring mission. And I'm like, you're going to get a boring mission. Yeah. He wants to be held up at gunpoint. I'm like, Colby, this is not, this is not good.

 It's not good. Don't seek out the danger.

 we're gonna have to work on that. So, yeah. And I don't have a favorite. Well, When Breath Becomes Air, I just read that and it's about this doctor's journey and He passes away from cancer, but it was a great book. So I just finished that. And then for,

 I read that

 chick flick books. And I think Lynn Painter is probably one of my favorites right now.

 Love a love story. All right. I'm excited for the podcast. I love talking to you. We will talk again soon.