Today we are so excited to share a session from this year’s Restore Gathering with Mallory Everton.
Mallory is best known for her work on the sketch comedy show Studio C, and in this session, she asks a question she says she’s been asking her whole life—do Latter-day Saints have a problem with laughter? She explores how in the context of spirituality, humor sometimes gets sidelined—dismissed as loud, irreverent, or frivolous.
But she really pushes back on that assumption, flipping the idea on its head. Laughter, she argues, isn’t a distraction from spiritual life—it’s a spiritual practice in its own right. One that roots us in the present, binds us to each other, and softens us toward the divine.
She walks us through what actually makes us laugh—and invites us to consider that when Jesus said to become like little children, he may have been pointing us toward a life that’s playful, open, and easily delighted. And yes, she tells some unforgettable stories that had the whole room in tears of laughter.
If you attended Restore in person, check your email for a link to rewatch all the sessions for free. Recordings are available for purchase now.
And if you’d like to hear more from Mallory, she also co-hosts another Faith Matters podcast called The Soloists—we think you’ll love it.
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THIS WEEK IN WAYFARE
STUDY “COME FOLLOW ME” WITH FAITH MATTERS
What is the legacy of Joseph Smith?
What does it mean to consecrate my life? What is Joseph Smith's legacy? How can I participate in the ongoing Restoration? What does Christ offer me when I struggle?
How expansive is heaven?
What does it mean that "all of God's children will have the opportunity to choose eternal life"? How can scripture become a catalyst for ongoing revelation, rather than a catalog of past revelation? What is the purpose of temple work for the dead?
To receive Come Follow Me resource roundups from Faith Matters in your inbox, first be sure you are subscribed to the Faith Matters Substack, then go to manage your subscription and turn on notifications for “Come Follow Me”.
Making Peace With Your Temple Journey
In this episode, Sarah shares her surprise in being invited onto the show due to not having a particularly strong relationship with the temple—yet this was precisely why I wanted to have a conversation with her. As someone who has had my own challenges in my temple journey, and who sees and feels the struggles many around me share, it felt important to have a conversation about the reality that our temple experience doesn’t always fit our ideals.
Together we discuss the journey of making peace with your experience, how to create space for the diversity of experiences within a community, and the spiritual practice of embracing the unknown. Sarah shares about her work with Mormon Women for Ethical Government and what she has learned about peacemaking, the importance of drawing out differences, and allowing things to be unresolved.
Sarah has also written beautifully about covenants. Together we explore the “impossible task” of making promises to give your absolute all to God, and the possibility that maybe the point of making covenants isn’t to perfectly keep them, but to deepen our relationship with Christ.
Read Sarah’s essay “Covenants by Immersion” on WayfareMagazine.org.
Preorder her new book, The Bible Storybook: The Old Testament, at forlittlesaints.com
Listen to Sarah read her scripture retellings for children in Scripture Stories for Little Saints, a new podcast from Faith Matters.
