5 Comments

Comments

• Mark Perryman

  Dec 17, 2015 3:29 pm

  Chris, I just became a member of this podcast. I have also just listened to this first cast. I really enjoyed it. Thank you for doing this. I agree that we don’t always look at the other side of the coin. Some, including me at one point in my life, felt that religion was stifling and restrictive--that God was preventing us from having fun, having a life, etc. I have come to know over the past few years that that is not true. I saw a Church special on TV many years ago. The special was called “On The Way Home." In it the daughter who converts to the Church, and gets her family to take the missionary discussions, says to her friend that she used to look at her friend and the rules (commandments) she had in her life as a hindrance. However since joining the Church, she now saw that those commandments were actually liberating, freeing. There was never a question anymore about how far she would go with her boyfriend. That is how I have come to look at the commandments. They are a protection and a guiding force for me. If I follow such commandment I will be better off. Not that I won’t have trials, but I will be better off for having somewhere to go to get help. I love the Lord and our Father in Heaven and hope one day to hear those words of welcome from Him.

• Chris Helgeson

  Jan 7, 2016 12:17 am

  Dear Chris, I don’t know if you remember me or not. We met this past October in Rexburg, ID. You were a guest speaker at the public library and I was the tall blonde guy who got a picture with you and ordered some of your books on CD.

  Anyways, I just sat down with my wife to listen to this first podcast. PLEASE continue to do what you do!!! It’s nice to sit down and watch/listen to something and NOT have to be worried about anything inappropriate coming our way. It’s a relief.

  I introduced my wife awhile back to your Tennis Shoes series (I grew up listening to the cassette tapes). She was really hesitant to listen to “Mormon Fiction,” but now she’s hooked and wanting to share your stories with her parents. For her, the BEST part of your stories is the doctrine and strong testimony within. And while my kids are still too young to enjoy them, we are counting down the days until they get to experience them as well.

  For me, growing up, listening to your voice (because my brother and I ONLY got the tapes!) and now listening to these podcasts, it brings back some wonderful memories that I get to update with my wife. It’s wonderful!

  I did like what you said in this podcast about how the series was suppose to bring people back into the scriptures. I can’t tell you how many times, when I was a bit older and reading the Book of Mormon for the first time, that I came upon a chapter and realized that I already knew something of a character that I was about to read about. “Wow, Ammon really did chop off all those arms like Jim said.” And later, “He was an amazing missionary like Garth claimed!”

  For me, you did make the scriptures come alive. It made the reading enjoyable for a young kid who was just discovering the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

  Thank you, and again: keep up the good work!

• Abby Ward

  Mar 7, 2016 1:43 pm

  I love this podcast!! Like the other comments have mentioned, it’s so nice to be able to listen something intellectually stimulating that is for, rather than against, religion.

  I loved reading the Tennis Shoes books while growing up (and still do--I just re-read a couple of my favorites). The Tennis Shoes books helped me get through Alma (which was always the hardest for me) when I was younger and made Sunday School a lot more fun because I knew all the stories!

  It’s so nice now that I’m older as I listen to this podcast. It’s reassuring to me that other people enjoy discussing these topics and aren’t afraid to recognize God’s plan in and for the world. These podcasts helped me to not feel quite so alone this year in my new, very secular classes.

  This comment is proof I’m not a writer. We need people like you who can write to keep doing it! Thank you so much for sharing your testimony in so many different mediums!

• Vicki Huddleston

  Feb 14, 2018 6:14 pm

  This is the first podcast I have ever listen to in my life. I’ve heard a lot of hype about it and you are one of my best authors and it’s good to hear that you are writing more. It’s about time, LOL not that you have a million other things in your life to do. This needless to say I don’t know how to rewind or go back to listen to some of the words that I didn’t catch. Also is there a video side to this? I’m on my smartphone so I’m still trying to figure it out since you are my first. Keep up the good work. I love that your voice hasn’t changed all these years. My girls (adopted granddaughters) loved your movie . Please make more! Any help is appreciated. Thanks

• Makayla Fife

  Feb 27, 2019 3:37 pm

  Thank you so much for your books and podcast!