followHIM - 2nd Anniversary Special Episode - The Sorensen Family

Episode Date: January 28, 2023

Steve and Shannon Sorensen created the followHIM podcast to help their children and grandchildren understand and live the gospel more fully. With Steve’s unexpected passing two weeks after our first podcast, Shannon has taken over the reins and she and her children share their journey these past two years. Please rate and review the podcast!Show Notes (English, French, Spanish, Portuguese): https://followhim.coApple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/follow-him-a-come-follow-me-podcast/id1545433056Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/followhimpodcastInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/followhimpodcastSpotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/15G9TTz8yLp0dQyEcBQ8BYThanks to the follow HIM team:Shannon Sorensen: Cofounder, Executive Producer, SponsorDavid & Verla Sorensen: SponsorsDr. Hank Smith: Co-hostJohn Bytheway: Co-hostDavid Perry: ProducerKyle Nelson: Marketing, SponsorLisa Spice: Client Relations, Editor, Show NotesJamie Neilson: Social Media, Graphic DesignWill Stoughton: Video EditorKrystal Roberts: Translation Team, English & French Transcripts, WebsiteAriel Cuadra: Spanish TranscriptsIgor Willians: Portuguese Transcripts"Let Zion in Her Beauty Rise" by Marshall McDonaldhttps://www.marshallmcdonaldmusic.com

Hello, my friends. Welcome to a special episode of Follow Him. My name is Hank Smith. I'm your host. I'm here with my wonderful co-host, John, by the way. Welcome, John. Thank you, my friend, Hank. We have a special guest today, probably the most special guest we've ever had on Follow Him. Her name is Shannon Sorenson. It's a name that if you follow our podcast, it's a name you know, because at the end of every podcast, we say something to the effect of, we'd like to thank our executive producers, Steve and Shannon Sorenson. Well, Shannon Sorenson is joining us here today. John, this is an exciting day.

So nice for them to see the person that they need to say thank you to, to have Shannon here. Shannon, can you just tell us about you and Steve and kind of your story? Sure, I would like to. Steve and I met at BYU. We were both really young and we got married and we had our hearts full of dreams. Steve was an entrepreneur and started immediately trying to figure out how to achieve all the goals that he had. I was obsessed with the idea of being a mother. We never set out to have eight children, but every time we had one, we wanted another one. I have been a

stay-at-home mother and raised the children with Steve. About two years ago, Steve passed away unexpectedly. And that was a really hard time and a really interesting time for me to try and figure out what I was going to do. I think a lot of people had questions of what was going to happen next. And it was my pleasure and my inspiration that I got to continue with this podcast. And it has been a blessing to me and a blessing to my family. And I have loved working with the team and I've loved the comments that we get. And I loved seeing all the people who are learning and growing their testimonies from listening to this podcast. And of course, I'm very, very thankful for all of the wonderful

scholars who have studied their whole lives. That was one of Steve's very important ideas to bring the scholarship of the church to the people who are home raising the kids and trying to do Come Follow Me as a family or individually. I remember those initial conversations with you and me and Steve, Shannon, you and I were both thinking, well, I don't know how great of idea this is. What do we really want to try to do something this big? And Steve was so gung ho for it. And then to have him unexpectedly pass away. And we were just a month into our recording. And I thought, well, we might be all done.

And it was a conversation I got to have with you just a couple of days after he passed away saying, what do you want us to do? And you said, let's keep going. And you've been our captain ever since. And we love you for it. Well, Thank you. It has been a really therapeutic job for me to do as I've tried to step in and take over some of the things that Steve had started. He left us quite a project. Yeah, he did. This wasn't something small. He had big plans for it. And we hopefully have fulfilled, at least in part, some of that vision. Shannon, I think people would be interested in,

just like with the scholars we bring on, kind of their personal journey with the scriptures. What's been the Sorensen personal journey with the scriptures? Well, that's a great question, Hank. Steve and I had a very busy household with all of the kids, but every Sunday afternoon, I have one example of how it went at our house. This particular Sunday, I went upstairs and I was taking a rest. And Steve gathered the children together and was teaching them a scripture. And they couldn't go play until they repeated the scripture to me. So my son, Benjamin Benjamin did not want to come upstairs and give me the scripture. So he was downstairs on the lower level and hollering up the stairs to me so I could

hear it while I was resting. And he yells, behold, I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, the son of God. I have been called of him to declare his word among his people that they might have everlasting life. For me as a mother to be resting and hear my son shouting up the stairs his testimony and discipleship was something I will never forget. That's wonderful to get that insight into. You are having some form of come follow me at home already in the form of yelling scriptures up the stairs. We got to try that at our place. How has this podcast influenced now you and your family? The podcast has just preserved that tradition of studying the scriptures. Steve's mother, Verla, she is a big scriptorian and she

taught that to all her kids. And Steve was very strong about that. And now Verla is 89 years old and is helping us to make this podcast come about. And we couldn't really do it without her. We love Verla so much and for all the things that she stands for. And one thing for sure is the support she has given in this podcast. Thank you, Verla. Love you. In fact, Shannon, we were able to interview Verla just a little while ago about her scripture study. We learned a lot about how to study the scriptures that day. I read the Old Testament first and then the New Testament. Every year?

Every year. They're really exciting. I love the Testaments. Remember, I don't like surprises. I want to know exactly what the Lord wanted me to know. This is where we all need to get to. Can you blaze a path for it? How would you start if I'm just 15? You start on page one. But I just keep reading. I did not do it to be complimented. I did it

because I love the Scriptures. And I love the Godhead. And I really like the plan of salvation. I am the resurrection and the life. He that believeth in me, though he was dead, yet shall he live. And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this? Yea, Lord, we believe. Now I feel like it's my opportunity to preserve the heritage and the tradition of scripture study for our posterity. And this podcast has gotten everyone to study and listen. And one of the things I love the most about this Come Follow Me program is that it gets everybody talking about this week's Come Follow Me. Everywhere I go, we're talking about the Old Testament this year, and that is a new phenomenon.

If we all had to choose, we would probably say that's been our hardest one to understand and wrap our heads around. It's very old literature and some of it we don't get, but it has been wonderful for my family too this year. In weekly conversations, you're talking about it and looking forward to things that are coming up. That was such an inspired program to have us all on the same book of scriptures and for us all to be studying it.

I feel like the podcast is a great supplement to our personal study and help us understand. And I appreciate all the scholars who are willing to study their whole life and then share with us their insights. I just love to sit here and listen and go, wow, and take notes on all these things they've spent, like you said, Shannon, a lifetime learning and then coming and sharing. And I'm glad Steve had that vision of let's let people hear even more in our little manuals that we have, which are beautiful and awesome. They're designed for a class that's less than an hour. And sometimes we take a couple of hours and it's so fun to hear. Some of these scholars could go on for many hours about individual books or even individual

verses. And it's so fun to know that there's always more that we can learn and be blessed by. Exactly. I love how we have these little earbuds in our ears because it just reminds me every single week of the standard of truth, which is something that Steve always talked about. And we all memorized it.

And he had all his classes memorize it. The standard of truth has been erected. No unhallowed hand can stop the work progressing. Persecutions may rage. Bombs may combine. Armies may assemble. Calumny may defame. But the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime,

swept every country, sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished, and the great Jehovah shall say, the work is done, baby. I love it when it said sounded in every ear. And I just don't think we knew how that was going to happen. But every time I see you guys recording and see us talking and see my friends walking with their headphones in and they say, I'm listening to the podcast. And it's just a miracle that the gospel is definitely going in everyone's ears.

So good job. Shannon, any highlights stand out? Anything from this Old Testament year that struck you? I'm coming from a place of growth and learning in my new role without my husband and leading my family. So I was really touched when we talked about Joshua. It was Dr. George Pierce who was talking about Joshua. And he says, Have not I commanded thee, be strong and of good courage, be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed, for the Lord thy God is with thee, whether so ever thou goest. That was something that I really needed and has really given me a lot of strength. I just remember y'all talking about in Joshua chapter 3, when the children of Israel are waiting to cross the Jordan.

And the Lord says, It shall come to pass as soon as the soles of the feet of the priests that bear the ark of the Lord of all the earth shall rest in the waters of Jordan, that the waters of Jordan shall be cut off from the waters that come down from above, and they shall stand upon a heap. I loved that. And you guys talked about how important it was for us to try and move forward, even when sometimes we felt like there were barriers in front of us. And that's something that I really needed that second

year. January was a hard month for me because I feel like I had made a year, and now I needed to figure out how I was going to move forward. The idea that I needed to keep walking and keep stepping and choose every day to continue to walk and that the Lord would be with me, and He promised me that in Joshua. That's beautiful. I think that's one of the wonderful things about scripture is that we can come across verses that we've read many times before, but then suddenly they apply to our lives in a way that they haven't before and they can have an added spirit to them. So that's really beautiful to think they moved forward until there was water on the soles of their feet, and then the waters moved. This podcast has been part of my journey to have a weekly opportunity to supplement

our scripture study and understand deeper what we've been reading all our lives, but maybe didn't understand. How have you seen the podcast impact the family in their new normal? It's a different life. It's never going to be the same as it once was. Do you feel like the podcast has enabled your children and grandchildren? Well, I hope that my grandchildren will listen. Yeah. They had the foundation of great love and understanding of the scriptures. But I felt like all of us are clinging to the scriptures for strength. And I can see that in my children.

This has been a very healing experience for all of my kids to listen to the podcast and learn. We actually have recorded their testimonies, and we wanted to share that in this episode so that you could see how the podcast has helped us personally. We hope it helps the whole youngest of Stephen Shannon's eight kids, so I'm number eight. I'm the baby of the family, and I'm super excited to talk about why I love the podcast and how much it's meant to me, because it really has meant so much. For the past year and a half, I've been serving my mission. I was in the Kirtland Historic Sites and then Chicago, Illinois. When I was at the Historic Sites, the podcast was amazing because it was all about the Doctrine and Covenants. While I was there, in the places where these sections were revealed, I was listening to all these scholars about why and who and what and the context. And I was able to share that with people as they came through the site.

And it was just incredible that I had that resource as I was there teaching about it. And it impacted me so much. Later in my mission, when I was proselyting, I definitely felt really alone. I'm sure many of you have served missions. It's hard to be away from family. It's hard to be out there working hard 24-7. There's a lot of rules. There's a lot of expectations to live up to. But in those moments when I felt most alone, I knew I could always listen to the podcast because Hank, he's become a really good friend to me. And to know that I always could fall back to hearing him and hearing his jokes and just hearing his voice, it was a way for me to connect with

home and to not feel so alone. I mean, always the message that the podcast shared was about Jesus Christ and about our Savior and how much He loves us. In a moment of my life when I'm being really, really hard on myself and feeling like I'm failing to hear that message over and over again just brought me so much hope and it brought me so much peace and direction and comfort. Not only was it a connection to home, it was a connection to my heavenly home. It helped me stay right where I needed to be, and it helped me be happy there. And I'm just so thankful for the things that I've learned about my Savior, and I'm just so thankful for my family, for Hank and John and everything

that they do to create this podcast, because it has changed my life. Hello, I'm Annabelle Swanson. I'm number seven of the eight children of Stephen Shannon Swanson. I'm excited to be here today and talk a little bit about how the podcast has helped me since my dad passed away. And it's cool to hear how the podcast helps everybody else's lives, especially for me as number seven of the eight kids. I hear my older siblings talk about it, my little sister talk about it, and it's really beautiful to hear how it resonates with everybody differently and how the Spirit speaks to everyone differently, and it brings all of us closer to Christ in the way that we need. My dad, obviously, we didn't know he was going to pass away. He didn't know he was going to pass away when he had this idea for the podcast, and it was just about a month before he passed away

that he came up with it and put it all into action. One thing we did know though, was that we loved my dad and that we all admired him and we wanted to become more like him, especially towards the end of his life. The fruits of his work were very evident. So I was always trying to ask questions to him and ask what he was thinking. I'm a life coach, so I help people change their lives by the way that they're thinking. And so for me, I was like, man, I need to get dad's thoughts down. What is he thinking that's creating all this emotional wealth and love and in turn creating

external greatness as well that helps bless other people. After he passed away, we have this podcast and I'm like every week I'm getting these one-liners of thoughts that are just like, it takes one line to change your life, right? Like God loves you even though you're going through something hard or this is the plan for you to turn to God even though it is hard or with God anything's possible. I'm getting to know my dad and his faith as well as my father in heaven through this podcast. I'm getting to know my dad and his faith as well as my father in heaven through this podcast. I'm learning their thoughts. And Hank and John and the scholars they bring on so beautifully embody Christ-like attributes

and Christ-like character while they're speaking. Of course, they're human too, but they're offering these thoughts that are Christ-like. For me, that's landed so beautifully to be able to get to know my dad and get to know my father in heaven as well simultaneously and embody that in my own life. And then in turn, help the people that I help too. I just want to bear my testimony to you all that I know that God loves you. And if there's one thought that has changed my life, it's that his promises are sure. And that no matter what happens, nothing will be kept from you that He's promised you. And I know that to be true.

And of course, we want to thank you all for listening and for supporting and being a part of this production, as well as, of course, Hank and John and the scholars. It's so wonderful to see everybody working together to build the kingdom of heaven. My name is Benji Sorensen. I'm the sixth child. It's a real pleasure to be able to chime in here with a couple of thoughts about what the podcast has done for me in my life and for kind of for our family. Within a year of before he passed, he literally sat me down and he made a point and he looked me straight in the eye and said, do you want to know the secret to my success in life, in business, what have you?

And I said, sure, you know, I would love to. Thinking, this is it, here we go. And he said, the secret to my success has been my faith in Jesus Christ. I think the podcast ties in because that was his message. He believed that so strongly and he had such great faith in Jesus Christ. And in turn, because he had faith in Jesus Christ, he had faith in himself. Because he knew he had the spirit with him to guide him and lead him. And he had such a firm sense of purpose that he was able to speak things into existence and use that faith to bolster his everyday life like his everyday decisions his everyday actions for me that was huge and the

podcast is just a reminder of that he just wanted everyone to also experience that same spirit of faith and that same superpower that he had by living the gospel of Jesus Christ and being intentional about it. It's not easy to do. It's something that I'm still trying to do. But the podcast has definitely been a huge helper and a huge reminder of, hey, this is something that can really change your life if you believe. If you build your faith. And if you allow Jesus Christ to transform you and encourage you all to take that to heart and be intentional about your faith and and grow for the benefit of yourself but also

for the benefit of everyone around you your family and all those who come in contact with you so back to you Hank I'm Peter Sorensen, fifth child of Stephen Shannon. This podcast has been a huge help to me. Growing up and being raised by my dad, he really demonstrated and made it a point to bring the scriptures to life, make the scriptures really interesting to other people, not just us kids. I mean, he taught Sunday school for the 11, 12-year-olds,

and I remember him getting like a carrier for it, and he would bring a big TV into the 11, 12-year-olds, and I remember him getting like a carrier for it, and he would bring a big TV into the classroom, and he always had props with, whether it was ropes or cups or, you know, he always had an object lesson and made the scriptures so interesting for these younger kids. And that's how it was for us growing up. You know, FHE, Family Home Evening, was always something interesting, something special, and allowed us kids to have something to lean on in terms of making the Scriptures interesting and making us want to learn more. He was such a believer himself. He loved the book Drawing on the Powers of Heaven and I think just the title of that book demonstrates what his belief was. He

really believed he could draw on the powers of heaven. I worked a lot with him on the ranch and that was a great way to see his faith come to life. An example of that would be we would always pray for rain in the dry, hot Utah desert. Every time we'd saddle up our horses and get ready for the day, no matter how hot it was, if there wasn't a cloud in the sky, he'd always make sure we had our raincoats tied to our saddles. And we'd question that and say, why do we have raincoats? It's a hot day. And he'd say, you know, we prayed for rain. We've got to be ready for it. He was a big believer in the scriptures. He brought it to life for others. And he really loved and appreciated the work that was being done at BYU by these scholars,

devoting their time to learning more and bringing those insights to others. And so now that he's gone, it's just an amazing blessing to have this resource, this podcast that brings to life the scriptures, brings insights, brings stories, and helps us have a resource to lean on in our faith and our religious pursuit of the gospel. Hi, my name is Angela Sorenson-Dorman. My husband and I have five children, and we just had our fifth baby a couple weeks ago. We named him David Sorenson-Dorman after my dad, David Stephen Sorensen, and my grandfather, David Eugene Sorensen. One of the things I admire about my dad when I was growing up is he made scripture studies such an important

and huge priority. I'd walk into his office and have a question with homework and he'd be at his couch studying the scriptures in his office. And I remember just like that example meant so much more to me than him explain how the scriptures are important. He showed me with his actions, how important the scriptures were and how important it was to him and guiding his life and leaning upon the Lord. I would text my dad all the time about gospel questions and things like that. And he was such a wealth of knowledge because he did put in that time over the many years studying the scriptures. So he had so much wisdom and he'd always have answers to my questions. As I've listened to the podcast, questions will be answered or additional layers of knowledge will come.

And it's been such a blessing to have that wisdom and wealth of knowledge still available. I'm super grateful for the wonderful insights and additional help that it's given me. One thing my dad used to always say is that when you make a deal with God, you never get a bad deal. You only get a great deal. So work hard and work overtime because it will always work out for your good. The more we invest and the more we put our heart and soul into the gospel, the more we will find true joy and true happiness. The podcast has been a great way to invest in the gospel. I'll put the podcast on when I'm driving in the car or when I'm cleaning or things like that. And it really does uplift those moments and make the gospel more a part of my day

to day life. That has been such a blessing. Thank you so much to all those who have worked on the podcast and all the beautiful minds that have contributed to making this possible and adding their beautiful thoughts and words to uplifting so many lives. Hello, I am Jacob Sorensen. Awesome to be here. Awesome to remember and think about the podcast. The greatest part about the podcast for me is having it remind me of my father, Steve, and the way that he so beautifully and eloquently parented me. Growing up, I wasn't the best child. I

think a lot of us struggle in our younger years. He was so great at coming to me through the Scriptures and giving me examples of people, prophets even, that struggled. And so he would compare those people to me a little bit and say, hey, these guys were really good men and they struggled. And these are the things that their fathers told them. So he'd kind of give it to me hard, give it to me strong, and then, of course, come after it with an increase of love to kind of help me and move me forward. And so that's what's so great about the podcast to me, is I feel like it's an extension of my father speaking to me, as it were, from heaven,

helping me, guiding me, helping me to kind of get through each thing as it comes. So thank you, guys. The podcast has been great. We love you. We're proud of you. Hi, I'm Charlotte Archibald, and I am the second daughter of Steve and Shannon Sorenson. I have to start with a story about General Conference. When it was my first time going to conference, I was so excited. And I remember my dad taking me to the old tabernacle. As the prophet walked in, we all stood up. My dad reached down, grabbed my hand, and whispered to me, can you feel that? You are in the room with the prophet of God. How powerful that moment was for me and how much I loved him bringing the spirit into my life.

My dad was someone who always wanted me to feel the spirit and to feel light in my life. With the unexpected passing of my father, my world of light seemed to turn to darkness. The thought of facing the world alone without him felt impossible. The last gift that he gave his kids for Christmas was this podcast. He was so excited about it and had so much enthusiasm and vision for bringing the scholars of the church to every member of the church who wanted to learn and who wanted to grow in the gospel and make sure that the purposes of God could be accomplished. The scholars of the scriptures could be sounded in every ear. The podcast has truly broken the veil between heaven and earth for me. One week in particular this year, I remember facing a very difficult decision and turning to my husband in tears,

saying, I wish I could just ask my dad. He would know what to do. Later on that week, as I was listening to the podcast, that question was answered for me. And this is just one of the many times that I've felt him speaking directly to me through the podcast. Each week as the scholars bring the prophets of the Old Testament to life, I feel my dad reaching down and holding my hand and whispering to me, Can you feel that? These are prophets of a living God. I'm so grateful to know each week I can learn more about who I am and where I come from and where I'm going. One of my favorite scriptures from this

year's study of the Old Testament was in Isaiah. It was a scripture that after my dad's passing, I found on his desk. And it's in Isaiah 41.10. And it says, Fear thou not, for I am with thee. Be not dismayed, for I am thy God. I will strengthen thee, I will help thee, yea, I will uphold thee with Be not dismayed, for I am thy God. I will strengthen thee. I will help thee. Yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. And that is what this podcast has done for me. It has strengthened me. It has upheld me. And it has made me know that no matter what, I know in whom I have trusted. And with God, all things are possible. And I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ.

Amen. Hi, I'm Jennifer Anderson and I'm the oldest of the eight kids. The podcast has been a huge blessing to my life and to my family. There is no doubt in my mind that it is a gift from God to our family, to the world through my dad. And I'm so grateful for it. There's been a few times specifically where I have felt like it has really helped me as a person grow and strengthen my testimony. My dad passed away about a month after he died. I got called to be a gospel doctrine

teacher in my ward. And that was a really overwhelming calling for me. And I was, you know, struggling through this loss. I was able to tune into this podcast and really feel my dad speaking to me every week and learn things that I just didn't know I could possibly learn and have these amazing scholars teaching me. And I was able to go back and share that in my class. And I felt like that was a direct answer to prayer and a direct gift to be able to do that. Specifically, one time when I had felt the podcast speaking directly to me was after I had my baby who had passed away. I had my mother-in-law, her episode came onto the podcast. Her name's Lily Anderson and I love her. We're really close. And she had no idea what was going on with the baby when

she recorded the episode. Yet right after I had her and she didn't survive, this episode came out with my mother-in-law speaking about Joseph, why bad things happen to good people and how trials shape us and strengthen us and help us to become who we're supposed to become. And she specifically said, Joseph had to go through these trials in order to become who he needed to be, who God needed him to be to fulfill his personal mission, which was to save his family and save Egypt. I felt so strongly that that was such a tender mercy, such a gift to me from God, from my dad, just talking to me and through Lily, telling me I can get through this. And that not only can I get through it, but if I choose to, it can be something that shapes me into who God needs me to be and prepare me for my personal mission.

And that was really just a strong witness to me that God loves us and he knows us and he knows me and that was instrumental in my healing Lily's amazing I took her class at BYU and it changed my life literally I had never heard the gospel applied in that way now she's able to get on the podcast and reach millions of people and I feel like that's such a testimony to me of the gospel being spread throughout the world and the gathering of Israel. We're watching it happen. And it's been amazing to see these principles applied and change the lives of my family and my friends and my children and the people I love. And I'm so grateful for it. And I know that God lives and that he loves us.

We're a part of something great and we're building the kingdom and I'm grateful to be a part of it. It's been such a blessing for our family personally. If anyone else, one other person, anybody else can have that experience, then it's all worth it. I hope that it continues to bless people as we look forward to next year with the New Testament and then the Book of Mormon. Just such a privilege to be a part of it and a privilege to hear the comments and see people growing and learning. And it means a lot to all of us and it helps us to remember our testimonies and our discipleship. And I just wanted to say here at the end, I know that my Redeemer lives. And I just wanted to read a couple of my favorite lines in that hymn.

He lives to silence all my fears. He lives to wipe away my tears. He lives to calm my troubled heart. He lives to calm my troubled heart. He lives all blessing to impart. He lives and grants me daily breath. He lives and I shall conquer death. He lives my mansion to prepare. He lives to bring me safely there.

And I just feel like the church gives me so much comfort and strength and understanding as I've had to go through this unexpected trial and it's been really hard. But I feel like this study of the scriptures and this understanding of the plan of salvation, the hope that we have in Jesus, that I've been able to do it. I've been able to withstand and feel comfort and be carried by the people around me and my family and, of course, my study and my testimony of Jesus Christ. Beautiful. I'm excited that we had the opportunity to share you with our listeners, that now they'll be able to go,

I know her when we thank you at the end of every episode. Thank you for joining us today. I really wanted everyone to know that this has been a personal assignment and a personal project, and I'm happy to share it with everybody. Well, we want to thank our guest today, the Shannon Sorenson. It's been a treat. I think our listeners are going to be grateful now that they can put a face and a voice and a story and a spirit to the name they hear every week. And you may have noticed if you've been listening the beginning of this year that we've changed our outro just a little bit to more reflect our current situation with Shannon being our sole executive producer. Now, with that, we want to thank our executive producer, Shannon Sorenson, our sponsors, David and Verla Sorenson, and of course, in memory of the late Steve Sorenson,

our beloved founder. We hope you'll join us all next week on another episode of Follow Him. Thank you.