Episodios

  • Come, Follow Me with FAIR – Genesis 18–23 – Jennifer Roach Lees

    Come, Follow Me with FAIR – Genesis 18–23 – Jennifer Roach Lees
    Feb 24 2026

    Jennifer and guest Sarah Allen discuss the topic of polygamy.

    Sarah Allen was 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 loved 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 was a co-moderator of the LDS subreddit on Reddit and the author of a multi-part series rebutting the CES Letter. She was also a co-host of FAIR’s “Me, My Shelf, & I” podcast.

    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 18–23 – Jennifer Roach Lees appeared first on FAIR.
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    22 m
  • Come, Follow Me with FAIR – Genesis 18–23 – Part 1 – Autumn Dickson

    Come, Follow Me with FAIR – Genesis 18–23 – Part 1 – Autumn Dickson
    Feb 23 2026
    On Behalf of Ten by Autumn Dickson The Old Testament is chock full of stories. One of the stories this week is about Sodom and Gomorrah. They were an incredibly wicked city, and the Lord destroyed them. Before the Lord does so, He talks to Abraham about it. Abraham has a whole conversation with the Lord where he asks the Lord not to destroy the city if he can find righteous people within it. First, Abraham asks the Lord to spare it if he can find 50 righteous people. Then he keeps decreasing that number until we reach this point: Genesis 18:32 And he said, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak yet but this once: Peradventure ten shall be found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for ten’s sake. The Lord agrees to not destroy it for the sake of ten righteous people. This is an oft-repeating principle throughout scriptures. The Lord preserves nations because of a few righteous within it. The first example that comes to mind is Ammonihah. When Ammonihah killed and exiled all of the believers, it was ripe for destruction, and that was precisely what happened. The entire city was demolished by the Lamanites. The second one that comes to mind is in Isaiah 65 where the Lord talks about preserving the vine on behalf of a small cluster of good grapes. It repeats far more than that, but those are just a couple of examples. And of course, there is a type in this. Let’s talk about it. Sometimes it’s not about preserving a nation but a person. Abraham loved people enough that He pleaded with the Lord to save the city if he could find even a little bit of righteousness within it. Abraham is a type of Christ, and Christ pleads on our behalf even when there is only a little bit of righteousness within us. He loves us and wants us to have time to figure it out. It is important to understand what that means and why He does it. When the Lord preserves a nation on behalf of the righteous who are dwelling there, He isn’t declaring the entire nation righteous. He isn’t turning a blind eye to the wickedness found there. He doesn’t plan on interceding on behalf of those who are unrepentant. For them, it will be as if no atonement had been made. Can you imagine how Lot’s daughters might have felt if Heavenly Father ignored what they had tried to do? Can you imagine how minimalized and cast aside and unsafe they would feel? Mercy and intercession are not about ignoring wickedness. Rather, it is because He is providing the righteous with an opportunity to grow if possible. In Alma 13, we read more about the king of Salem, Melchizedek. Melchizedek is a person from the Old Testament who blessed Abraham at one point. He was also king over a city that had waxed strong in abomination. They had “all” gone astray and were “full” of wickedness, except for Melchizedek. It was just Melchizedek. And yet, through the preaching of Melchizedek, the people repented and were saved. When it comes to our own hearts, the Lord is willing to intercede if we repent. If there is a shred of goodness in us that holds sway, there is a chance to be saved. On the flip side, we read about Ammonihah that I mentioned previously. Alma went there, was rejected, and left. He was commanded by an angel to return again, and in doing so, he came to Amulek. Amulek’s home welcomed him in and blessed him. After Alma and Amulek were preaching, some were converted but the leaders of Ammonihah killed them by fire. Alma and Amulek escape, and Ammonihah is destroyed. If we willfully kill those good seeds within us and reject Christ that thoroughly, He will not plead on our behalf. He does not save us in our sins. He saves us from our sins when we’re trying to escape them. He saves us long enough to let our choices play out in either direction, to the ultimate rejection of Him or to our repentance. I want to expand the example of Ammonihah just a bit. There are times when the Lord chooses to rain down His justice on purpose. There are times when He actively brings down trials and tragedy upon His people. When the wickedness is so bad that a softer answer won’t hit the mark, the Lord is not afraid of using a hard answer. There are times that He directly brings about difficulty in an attempt to reach us. I wonder if it’s just a tad different with the city of Ammonihah. I wonder if the Lord didn’t have a hand in bringing the Lamanites to their doorstep to destroy them. I wonder if the Lord simply didn’t protect them any longer. There is a type in this. Sometimes the Lord purposefully rains down difficulty to try and shake us awake to our awful condition. But when it comes to a “final” judgment, He simply steps aside and doesn’t plead on our behalf. It is as if there is no atonement of Jesus Christ. Ammonihah wasn’t a final, final judgment, but it was a type of final judgment. It was meant to teach us something about the nature of eternity. The Lord wasn’t trying to reach them anymore; they had already shown that ...
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    8 m
  • Come, Follow Me with FAIR – Genesis 12–17; Abraham 1–2 – Part 2 – Autumn Dickson

    Come, Follow Me with FAIR – Genesis 12–17; Abraham 1–2 – Part 2 – Autumn Dickson
    Feb 20 2026
    Do You See the Angels? by Autumn Dickson The beginning of Abraham’s story is a well-known one in our church. He was almost sacrificed on an altar because he believed in the one true God. The priests “laid violence” upon him, and then this happened. Abraham 1:15 And as they lifted up their hands upon me, that they might offer me up and take away my life, behold, I lifted up my voice unto the Lord my God, and the Lord hearkened and heard, and he filled me with the vision of the Almighty, and the angel of his presence stood by me, and immediately unloosed my bands; Abraham calls out to God, and he receives a vision of the Almighty. An angel stood by him and loosed his bands. Here’s my question. How did this event play out for the priest? Did he see the angel or did he turn around and Abraham was free and running? The scriptures later note that the priest was smitten, but that could mean anything. Did the angel smite him right there? Did he die later for something that seemed natural? The rest of the land was smitten by famine; this comes from the Lord, and yet, how many of the people saw the Lord’s hand in it? And then, of course, this also happened. Abraham 1:11 Now, this priest had offered upon this altar three virgins at one time, who were the daughters of Onitah, one of the royal descent directly from the loins of Ham. These virgins were offered up because of their virtue; they would not bow down to worship gods of wood or of stone, therefore they were killed upon this altar, and it was done after the manner of the Egyptians. What did the priest see when he sacrificed these three women? I’m almost positive that he wouldn’t answer, “Divine intervention.” What did the virgins see? Maybe nothing at first. Maybe there was no vision or angel to comfort them as they passed through to the other side, but they saw enough that they refused to bow down to idols. And then, after passing through to the other side, I’m sure they saw something wonderful. When you look at your own life, what do you see? Do you see the angel? Do you see the loosed bands or are you still laying on the altar, convinced that you’re still tied down? Do you see the intervention of God? Do you see the Lord standing ready to welcome you to where you’re going? Do you see the end from the beginning? Maybe not exactly, but do you see it? I type my prayers. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it a million more times. Writing down my prayers has changed my life. In this specific context, I have realized that writing my prayers helps me see. There have been times where I have seen the Lord’s hand as I’ve looked back. There have been times when I’ve written and asked for something very specific in my prayers only to find them answered with exactly what I asked. There have been times when I was subconsciously led to write something down, and I found the Lord intervening on my behalf according to what I wrote down. But it goes beyond that. Writing my prayers has helped me see, to an extent, what the Lord has coming for me. One of my favorite games to play is, “How do I want this to turn out?” Whenever I’m facing hard decisions or moving parts or uncertain details, I pray for the end that I want. I pray for my most important things, sometimes I add in a couple of extras that I would like, and then I end it with asking for His will. It is so soothing. Our world is often plagued with anxiety. People find themselves overwhelmingly frightened by what the coming days could bring. Writing my prayers often placates that anxiety, not because Heavenly Father is going to give me whatever I want, but because praying reminds me that He’s going to give me what’s best for me. There are times when I’m praying, and I feel guided. He starts to guide my words in a different direction. Sometimes I pray for a different solution that addresses things I didn’t anticipate. Sometimes I pray for deliverance, and He guides me to pray for growth and spiritual gifts to rise to the occasion. Even if I’m not delivered, I often feel empowered. There are times when I’m praying, and I don’t necessarily feel guided. I simply feel much better after visualizing some of the best ways my scenario could play out. Honestly, it increases my faith. Even if my idea of a best-case-scenario doesn’t play out, I am reminded that the Lord is writing the best-case-scenario. I get to look at what I believe is a neat and tidy “happy ending” and remember that the Lord is writing my story. I’m not sure Abraham or the virgins would have written their stories in the same way that the Lord wrote them, but I’m pretty positive that after seeing their “endings,” they applauded the Lord for His wisdom, mercy, justice, and foresight. The Lord is on our team, and He truly does have the ultimate foresight. We can lean on Him for all of it. We don’t have to see the end from the beginning in vivid detail. The only end we truly need to ...
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    13 m
  • Come, Follow Me with FAIR – Genesis 12–17; Abraham 1–2 – Jennifer Roach Lees

    Come, Follow Me with FAIR – Genesis 12–17; Abraham 1–2 – Jennifer Roach Lees
    Feb 17 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 12–17; Abraham 1–2 – Jennifer Roach Lees appeared first on FAIR.
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    19 m
  • Come, Follow Me with FAIR – Genesis 12–17; Abraham 1–2 – Part 1 – Autumn Dickson

    Come, Follow Me with FAIR – Genesis 12–17; Abraham 1–2 – Part 1 – Autumn Dickson
    Feb 17 2026
    What True Worship Looks Like by Autumn Dickson I have been thinking a lot about what it means to worship God lately. It keeps popping up through random little avenues in my life. We’ve had the opportunity to have the missionaries in our home who taught about the ten commandments and only worshipping the one and true God. I’ve engaged in a couple of conversations about our beliefs of exaltation and what it means to become like our Heavenly Parents. I also recently saw a post about how celebrating Halloween is worshipping the occult, and so I asked myself, is that the truth? I love Halloween, and so I wanted to speak with the Lord and make sure I wasn’t doing anything He didn’t want me to do. What does it mean to avoid idolatry and only worship Heavenly Father? Let’s read a couple of verses in Abraham to give us some principles to live by. Abraham 1:6 For their hearts were set to do evil, and were wholly turned to the god of Elkenah, and the god of Libnah, and the god of Mahmackrah, and the god of Korash, and the god of Pharaoh, king of Egypt; “…their hearts were wholly turned to the god of…” Your heart is representative of what you truly love. You can go to church and still have your heart oriented somewhere else. You can profess belief in our Heavenly Father and still not worship Him. You can watch Come Follow Me videos all you want, but if your heart is not engaged, it won’t save you. And I believe that’s the key here. Only the Lord can save us. There are many ways that He saves us, one of which being an entrance into the kingdom of God, but there are many ways that He holds us and cares for us here on earth. He saves us by bringing true joy and peace. That’s what it boils down to. He doesn’t save us for the sake of saving us, and though that may seem like a silly nuance, it’s really important. He saves us because He wants us to be happy. Part of worshipping the only true God is understanding that. Only the Lord can save us. Only the Lord can bring us true joy and peace. We often ask: Is your heart centered on Jesus Christ? Do you only worship the true and living God? Perhaps a fantastic follow-up litmus test is this: Is your search for joy and peace centered on Jesus Christ? The key word here is “centered.” That doesn’t mean you can’t have other things that make you happy and bring you joy. I believe that the Lord did what He did in order to give us an opportunity to enjoy other things in the context of eternity. There is a reason we keep hearing about the mansions in heaven. We can enjoy incredible things, but what matters in relation to the word “worship” is where our enjoyment is centered. Let’s make it come full circle. Why is it important to center our worship, joy, and peace on the Savior? Because everything else will leave us ultimately empty. Nothing else can save you. Nothing else can truly bring joy and peace. There are many wonderful, incredible things out there that bring deep and lasting joy, but all of it will come to naught unless you have something more solid and capable: namely, Jesus Christ. So I go and have fun and enjoy Halloween, all while keeping an eye on the fact that it doesn’t matter without Christ. My joy and peace are anchored in Him. Here is another verse to give us a second litmus test of worship. Abraham 1:8 Now, at this time it was the custom of the priest of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, to offer up upon the altar which was built in the land of Chaldea, for the offering unto these strange gods, men, women, and children. Before, we covered, “What is bringing you happiness? Is your peace and joy centered on Christ?” My next question is this: what are you willing to sacrifice for these other things that you love? What are you paying for it? There are more questions we can ask that relate directly back to the experience of Abraham. Namely, are you sacrificing others? Are you sacrificing precious relationships with your family members? Are you sacrificing the needs and wants of others who are depending on you? Look at how you spend time throughout the day. Look at the things that bring you a lot of happiness. What do those things cost in time, energy, and resources? What are you dedicating to it? Are sports taking up so much time that you fail to spend quality time with family? Are you so obsessed with to-do lists that your kids are viewed as obstacles rather than purpose? Are you so caught up in social media that your kids miss you? Are you so caught up in anything else on earth that you’re sacrificing true joy? Which leads to another follow-up question. Are you willing to hand what you love over to the Lord should He ask? I think of my love of Halloween. If the prophet came out tomorrow and said that we weren’t going to celebrate Halloween anymore, would I listen? It’s okay to mourn things you love, but are you willing to hand it over as a sacrifice if the Lord asks? He should stand above all other things in ...
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    11 m
  • Come, Follow Me with FAIR – Genesis 6–11; Moses 8 – Part 2 – Autumn Dickson

    Come, Follow Me with FAIR – Genesis 6–11; Moses 8 – Part 2 – Autumn Dickson
    Feb 13 2026
    Was the Flood an Act of Mercy? by Autumn Dickson Noah’s ark is one of the most classic bible stories. Even when you’re not Christian, many people are aware of the story and what it means. I read these verses in the last post for this week, and I’m going to read them again with a new angle. Genesis 7:19-20, 23 19 And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the high hills, that were under the whole heaven, were covered. 20 Fifteen cubits upward did the waters prevail; and the mountains were covered. 23 And every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and the creeping things, and the fowl of the heaven; and they were destroyed from the earth: and Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark. The Lord destroyed everything. Oftentimes, this is rightfully seen as an act of justice. According to the Come Follow Me manual, the flood was also an act of mercy. I love that justice and mercy often come together, and I want to expand upon that. Here is a quote from the Come Follow Me manual. Elder Neal A. Maxwell taught, “corruption had reached an agency-destroying point that spirits could not, in justice, be sent here.” During Noah’s time, the world had become so dark and devastating that bringing new children into the world would have been wrong. When you study child abuse and neglect, this makes complete sense. There comes a point when you are so traumatized that trauma is all you can offer others. And if there are no healthy adults to save the children, then society will just get darker and darker until it destroys itself anyway. Perhaps God destroyed the evil, but they would have destroyed themselves anyway. Because of His decisions, He was also able to save many of the spirits that would have gone down and been destroyed alongside the rest. Now this was an extremely large scale event, but that’s what makes it such an easy example to observe. Here is another scriptural example on a slightly smaller scale. In The Book of Mormon, Nephi is teaching his brothers and trying to get them to repent, but they hate the things of God. Here is a verse that shows some of Nephi’s pleadings. 1 Nephi 17:45 Ye are swift to do iniquity but slow to remember the Lord your God. Ye have seen an angel, and he spake unto you; yea, ye have heard his voice from time to time; and he hath spoken unto you in a still small voice, but ye were past feeling, that ye could not feel his words; wherefore, he has spoken unto you like unto the voice of thunder, which did cause the earth to shake as if it were to divide asunder. The Lord had to be severe to reach them. We see this over and over and over again throughout scripture. Paul the apostle, Alma the Younger, the Israelites all throughout the Old Testament. You will see this theme all throughout Come Follow Me this year. The Lord is willing to do what’s necessary in order to reach us, but there is an important, adjacent understanding that goes hand in hand with this. Jeffrey R. Holland taught, “Justice is not the work of an offended tyrant. It is the loving labor of a Father who is trying to get His children safely home.” I LOVE this quote. He is not an offended tyrant. God is a loving Father, and He is wise enough to know how to reach His children. He’s not trying to punish us into submission. He’s trying to get through to us. In 1 Peter, we learn that Christ went and preached to those in prison, specifically to the disobedient from the times of Noah. I wonder if they were finally ready to listen. I wonder if the flood and spirit prison reached them so that they were ready to live their life in a manner that brought happiness. I wonder if they are friends with Noah now. If they have repented, then I know this. They are grateful for the Lord and His wisdom in raining down justice and reaching them. All of God’s decisions are based on love for His children, the seemingly severe and the softly spoken answer. He chooses the option that will most powerfully reach us. We’ve seen this on a large scale like with Noah and the flood, we’ve seen it on a smaller scale with Laman and Lemual. What does it mean for your own life? We have to be careful not to take this principle beyond its proper bounds. The principle is this: God will use tragedy to reach us if it’s necessary because He loves us. The principle is not this: If you’re experiencing something tragic, it is because God is using tragedy to punish you or because you really need to repent. Tragedy does not equate to wickedness, but it can be a tool that God uses sometimes. It just depends. I testify that all of God’s decisions are based on love. I testify that suffering in mortal life is not the worst thing that can happen to a person. I testify that death is not the worst thing that can happen to a person. I testify that God is wise enough to do what it takes to reach us, and I testify that He sent His Son to...
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    8 m
  • Come, Follow Me with FAIR – Genesis 6–11; Moses 8 – Jennifer Roach Lees

    Come, Follow Me with FAIR – Genesis 6–11; Moses 8 – Jennifer Roach Lees
    Feb 10 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 6–11; Moses 8 – Jennifer Roach Lees appeared first on FAIR.
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    21 m
  • Come, Follow Me with FAIR – Genesis 6–11; Moses 8 – Part 1 – Autumn Dickson

    Come, Follow Me with FAIR – Genesis 6–11; Moses 8 – Part 1 – Autumn Dickson
    Feb 10 2026
    A Flood and a Fresh Start by Autumn Dickson This week we read about a couple of classic Bible stories, one of which is Noah and the ark. Let’s read a couple of verses. Noah was led to build and ark, and then he went into the ark with his sons. God shut them up in the ark, and then this happened. Genesis 7:19-20, 23 19 And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the high hills, that were under the whole heaven, were covered. 20 Fifteen cubits upward did the waters prevail; and the mountains were covered. 23 And every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and the creeping things, and the fowl of the heaven; and they were destroyed from the earth: and Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark. The earth was completely covered with water, and everything was destroyed except for Noah, his family, and the animals who went with them. The Guide to the Scriptures teaches us that, “During Noah’s time the earth was completely covered with water. This was the baptism of the earth and symbolized a cleansing.” There is so much symbolism here, but I want to talk about one of the most important aspects of this symbolism. When we are baptized or take the sacrament, our sins are washed away and we start over. The earth was filled with violence and corruption. Every imagination and thought of the people was evil continually. That is a lot of cleansing. I have a feeling that you have not yet reached this point in your life. I have a feeling that if you’re reading Come Follow Me posts, your imaginations and thoughts aren’t evil continually. Maybe you’ve got some flaws that you can’t kick, but I’m guessing that if you’re inviting good into your life, you can’t possibly be thinking about evil continually. And if God can wash away all of that evil at the time of Noah, He can wash away your sins too. He can make the baptism as “big” as it needs to be. He can “flood the earth” so to speak if that’s what it takes to wash away the sins that you do have. And that little tiny piece of you that is trying to do well and good will be preserved and provided with an opportunity to start over. Every Sunday when you take up that little piece of bread and that little cup of water, you are remembering how the Lord paid for your sins. There was a tremendous amount of suffering, both in the flood and in the Garden of Gethsemane. Honestly, it’s crazy to think that there was more pain in that one night in the Garden of Gethsemane than there was during the flood. But it is done. The suffering already happened. The price was already paid. It was a gift. The gift offered is not automatic salvation. When Noah and his family were preserved, it wasn’t automatic salvation. They weren’t going to immediately experience joy just because all of that evil was all swept away. They still needed to build something after the water was gone. What would they build in the blank slate that the Lord gave them? The gift is that the Lord is going to provide you an opportunity to build your life again without being weighed down by past sins. And you get to use that gift all the time, every time you repent. We go to church on Sunday, we take the sacrament, we wash away all of the evil, and the Lord leaves the good. He doesn’t wipe away all of our flaws. Noah and his family weren’t perfect. He just wipes away all of the residue of sin, and from there, we begin to build again. What are we going to bring into our new world? What will we bring into our new selves? As you look at the landscape of your life, it has been washed clean again. What will you create? What will you turn your life into? Because it is about building. This is a story of grace, and it is a story of what we create with what we were given. Hopefully, we take the blank slate and choose to build up incredible things that bless us and bless those around us. We are given frameworks and blueprints that we can use to build our lives. It is not enough to want something beautiful built; the Lord gives us the beautiful opportunity to do the work alongside Him. And as time moves on, hopefully we don’t need an entire flood every time we choose to take the sacrament. Hopefully the cleansings get smaller and smaller as we become more and more Christlike. You may still grieve. I don’t think Noah and his family walked away from this experience lightly. I think they walked away with a lot of sorrow for what happened alongside the gratitude for being saved. Like Noah, washing away your sins won’t erase the memory of it. Even though it may bring grief, it’s a gift. It’s a gift because it can prevent you from walking down the path towards an earthwide flood again. It will bring depth to your gratitude. We don’t want to forget what happened, not really, despite the pain it may bring. I testify that the Lord can wash away what you have. I testify that there are so many ...
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    8 m