Announcing Our Speakers at Restore!

Join us for a three-day event of inspiring speakers and incredible music, artwork, and community, all centered around restoring faith, belonging, and wholeness.

We are delighted to announce our confirmed speakers for this year’s Restore. Restore is our annual Faith Matters gathering—a three-day event of inspiring speakers and incredible music, artwork, and community, all centered around restoring faith, belonging, and wholeness.

This year, we’ll be gathering on September 25-27 at UVU in Orem, Utah. Programming will begin at 6:30pm on Thursday and run from 9am to 4pm Friday and Saturday.

This event sold out last year, so don’t delay!

“I've gone to Restore since 2022. Every year I have come away feeling a sense of community, belonging, and closeness to the divine. No matter where I am in my faith journey, I am confident I can find peace and joy at Restore. This year was no exception! I found peace, joy, belonging, and community. I had ideas challenged in meaningful ways while also expanding my faith. I also found improved relationships with my parents as I shared the experience with them.” —John A.

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 26

Arthur Brooks is a professor at the Harvard Kennedy School and the Harvard Business School, where he teaches courses on leadership and happiness. He is also a columnist at The Atlantic, where he writes the popular weekly “How to Build a Life” column

Joseph Grenny is a co-founder of Unitus Labs, a non-profit that has helped over 50 million of the world’s poorest to achieve self-reliance. In 2015, Joseph and his wife, Celia, co-founded The Other Side Academy (TOSA) with the goal of helping change the lives of those with long histories of crime, addiction and homelessness. In 2021 Joseph and Celia helped launch The Other Side Village, a beautiful, self-reliant and life-changing community for 500 chronically unsheltered men and women.

Lisa studied painting and received an MA in Art History at Brigham Young University. She completed her doctoral studies at The Prince's School of Traditional Arts in 2007. Her first book Curves: Flowers, Foliates and Flourishes in the Formal Decorative Arts was published in November 2013 and reviewed in the New York Times. In 2016 she presented a TEDx talk on geometry and education at Brigham Young University. She designs and conducts educational workshops internationally in places like Azerbaijan, Abu Dhabi, Pakistan, Malaysia, China, and Pakistan. In her paintings, she investigates the beauty found in the conversation between order and the unexpected, chaos and cosmos.

James Goldberg’s family is Jewish on one side, Sikh on the other, and Mormon in the middle. Existing at that intersection, he’s been drawn to the relationship between religious mythos, identity, and resistance to assimilation. With Nicole Wilkes Goldberg, he is the author of Latter-day Sikh, a forthcoming biography of Gurcharan Singh Gill. Goldberg works for the Church History Department, where he pioneered a new generation of narrative projects, including an ongoing short documentary series, the approach for the Saints project, and Global Histories. He is passionate about creating space for distinctly Mormon literary discourse.

Esther Hi’ilani Candari is primarily a figurative artist who explores concepts such as multiracial identity, gender and the female gaze in the context of religion, and the connections between ecology, culture, and sense of place. Much of her work draws upon her experiences growing up in Hawai’i in an Asian American mixed-race household. She has a BFA from BYU-H, an MFA from Liberty University, and has studied at the New York Academy of Art. In addition to her studio work, she owns and directs The Compass Gallery, serves as the art editor for Wayfare magazine, and serves on the Advisory Board for The Faith Matters Foundation. She lives in Utah County with her husband, two rescue dogs, and an ever-growing collection of houseplants.

Lance Larsen, professor of English, currently serves as department chair. He teaches American literature and creative writing, especially poetry. He is the author of five collections of poems, most recently What the Body Knows (Tampa 2018). He has received a number of awards, including a Pushcart prize and fellowships from Sewanee, Ragdale, and the National Endowment for the Arts. In 2017, he completed a five-year term as poet laureate of Utah.

Steven Sharp Nelson is a Billboard chart topping YouTube total ROCK STAR, but in a cellist sort of way. His content is streamed over 3 million times EVERY DAY. The running total? 3 BILLION. He has influenced multitudes of musicians with his unique style of “cello percussion” and compositional inventions combining classical and pop music. In addition to his world-class skills as a musician, his light hearted, self-depreciative style coupled with his gift for powerful storytelling has made him a stage favorite on every continent. He has sold out every concert hall you’ve heard of and has filmed music videos on the Seven Wonders of the World. He’s a TED speaker and he’s performed on the Today Show, the Tonight Show, Good Morning America, and for the President of the United States. He loves music, but his truest love is his soulmate spouse, Julie. Thanks to her, their four children have a chance in life. Steven’s faith in loving Heavenly Parents and a Savior that is SO FORGIVING have helped him turn his ADHD into a super power, enabled him to stay ahead of his self-criticism and inadequacy, and have turned countless crises into crescendos. His adventures and misadventures as a “Piano Guy” and throughout life have taught him to EXPECT miracles.

Mallory Everton is a filmmaker and comedian from Portland, OR, and is best known in UT circles as one of the original cast members and writers of Studio C, a sketch comedy show on BYUtv. She is also the creator of Freelancers, an online series produced by JK Studios. Over the past year, she co-hosted a series of conversations about the single Mormon experience with Diana Brown on The Soloists podcast. She currently resides in Los Angeles with her four lovely roommates and 2 little frogs, where she spends her days writing things her manager dislikes, portraying feral women in independent projects, and talking about aliens and bigfoot on another podcast called Gods, Ghosts, and UFOs.

Mason Kamana Allred is an associate professor of communication, media, and culture at Brigham Young University–Hawaii. He earned his MA and PhD from the University of California, Berkeley in German history and culture with an emphasis on film and media studies. Prior to joining the faculty of BYU Hawaii, he was a Historian and Editor with the Joseph Smith Papers project. He is the author of “Weimar Cinema, Embodiment, and Historicity”, “Seeing Things: Technologies of Vision and the Making of Mormonism”, and most recently, “Seeing: Themes in the Doctrine and Covenants” for the Maxwell Institute.

Thomas McConkie is the founder of Lower Lights, a Wisdom school dedicated to restoring the contemplative dimension of the gospel in everyday worship. With deep roots in the Latter-day Saint tradition, his faith is also informed by over 25 years of Buddhist meditation and contemplative prayer. He is the author of “At-One-Ment: Embodying the Fullness of Human Divinity” and "Navigating Mormon Faith Crisis: A Simple Developmental Map." He leads an in-depth online course at Faith Matters called "Transformations of Faith." He recently completed a master's thesis on transformative spiritual practice at Harvard University, where he was accompanied by his wife, Gloria, and their two children.

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 27

Ashly grew up in a faithful Latter-Day Saint home. Despite her parents' good example, she got into drugs and alcohol at a young age, which steadily drew her further and further away from the safety of the church. After years of debilitating addiction to various substances, including heroine, she was finally able to get clean with the help of the Book of Mormon and her Savior, Jesus Christ. She has been in recovery for 10 years, and has spent many of those years helping those who are still struggling. That desire to help led her to found the Come Back Podcast, featuring stories of those who have come back to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

Ali has always been interested in nutrition and eating healthy. However, on October 1, 2019, her husband suffered a stroke. His vision was affected for 5 months. He couldn’t drive or work after the stroke and it inspired Ali to turn to holistic approaches to help in his healing. Ali also lost her father unexpectedly to a heart attack when he was just 55 years old, and she was determined to make any changes necessary to prevent another life-altering event. She dived into the research and found many answers to prevention and long-term health through a plant-based approach. Through trial and error she switched her family of 8 (that's right—6 kids, including twin boys) to a plant-based diet and now is determined to inspire and help others do the same, and to help the process run more smoothly. She believes in progress over perfection, and loves living a 90/10 plant-based life. Because, let's be honest—it's a lot easier raising 6 kids on a plant-based diet when there is flexibility!

Jasmin Rappleye is a social media content creator, where she focuses on addressing challenging Latter-day Saint topics. She has a degree from Brigham Young University in Ancient Near Eastern Studies and has a passion for sharing her faith online. You can find her on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and X under the name JasminRappleye. In her former role as Director of Communications with non-profit organization Scripture Central, she oversaw all marketing efforts and grew the ScripturePlus social media brand to increase awareness of scriptural scholarship and Church current events. She now works as the Advocate Relations officer with United Advocates and the Ancient America Foundation.

Sam and Jen Norton have been serving young people in the church for more than twenty years, most recently as FSY Session Directors in London. Sam is also the author of a book called Come as You Are: Creating Space for the Rising Generation to Come Unto Jesus Christ. They are featured in one of our most popular episodes.

Dr. Ben Schilaty is a social work professor at Utah Valley University. He also works part-time as a therapist specializing in working with LGBTQ clients and their families. Ben is the author of the award winning book A Walk In My Shoes: Questions I am Often Asked as a Gay Latter Day Saint and cohosts the podcast "All Out in the Open." He is a cofounder of the Gather Conference which offers Christ-centered support to LGBTQ Latter-day Saints and those who love them.

Steven Kapp Perry is an award-winning songwriter, playwright, and podcast host from Provo, UT. As the host of the “In Good Faith” podcast, produced by BYU Broadcasting, he speaks with believers of all faith traditions about how they see God working in their lives and in the world.

Alisha Anderson is an artist and a writer. With graduate degrees in both science and art, she combines both disciplines and mediums within her work. Her research-based artwork has been shown internationally, and flows from the confluence of identity and earth.

Jennifer Finlayson-Fife is a therapist, educator, and coach with a doctorate in Counseling Psychology. For over two decades, she has helped individuals and couples—particularly within the LDS community—strengthen their relationships and develop a more integrated view of sexuality. Through her online courses, live workshops, and Room for Two podcast, she has supported the emotional and sexual development of thousands. Known for her clarity, compassion, depth, and humor, Dr. Finlayson-Fife is a sought-after voice on the topics of faith, intimate relationships, and personal growth. She is the author of new book from Faith Matters: That We Might Have Joy: Desire, Divinity, and Intimate Love.

Jared Halverson is an associate professor of Ancient Scripture at Brigham Young University, and has taught religion courses at the high school and college level since 1998. He hosts a popular YouTube channel and podcast called "Unshaken,' with much of his personal ministry engaging one-on-one with Latter-day Saints experiencing different forms of faith crisis and spiritual development.

Darlene Young is a poet whose books have won the Association for Mormon Letters Award for poetry. She is the recipient of the Smith-Pettit Foundation Award for Outstanding Contribution to Mormon Letters and teaches writing at Brigham Young University. She has served as poetry editor of Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought and Segullah. Her work has been noted in Best American Essays and nominated for Pushcart Prizes. She lives in South Jordan, Utah.

Terryl Givens is a prolific author, theologian, and scholar of Latter-day Saint history and thought who has spent the last two decades tracing and capturing the expansiveness of Latter-day Saint theology. His most recent publications include "Into the Headwinds: Why Belief Has Always Been Hard—and Still Is," "Stretching the Heavens: The Life of Eugene England and the Crisis of Modern Mormonism," and "All Things New: Rethinking Sin, Salvation, and Everything In Between" which he co-authored with his wife, Fiona.

Sharon McMahon is on a mission to curate facts, fun, and inspiration by educating Americans on democracy, politics, and history. After years of serving as a high school government and law teacher, Sharon took her passion for education to Instagram with a mission to combat political misinformation with non-partisan facts. Sharon has earned a reputation as “America’s Government Teacher'' and quickly amassed over a million social media followers, affectionately known as “Governerds.” Sharon is also the host of the top-rated podcast, Here’s Where It Gets Interesting, where, each week, she provides entertaining yet factual accounts of America’s most fascinating moments and people.

“Restore is the perfect name for the conference—it restored my faith in the church, namely the people in the church and our collective desire for more light and knowledge than we currently have.” —Jenny Z.

STAY TUNED FOR MORE & TELL YOUR FRIENDS

We couldn’t be more excited to have these speakers joining us at Restore this year. We’ll be announcing additional speakers, musical performances, breakout sessions and more through our newsletter, so be sure you’re subscribed and invite your friends to stay in the loop!