ALSSI News
February 2026
Hello!
Here at ALSSI we’re happy to kick February to the curb, and get on with the green growy months! Thanks for sticking with us for Season 11. We hope you’re enjoying our conversations so far.
Our appreciation to all of you who’ve recorded What Do You Say segments with us! Batch recording for these episodes has been really fun—we’ve loved hearing so many perspectives, and can’t wait to start releasing the episodes. One of the things we text each other most often is, “We have the best listeners!”
Thanks for all the ways you keep proving it.
“Where we are right now can tell us who we are, even as where we are being drawn to can tell us who we are becoming.”
—Belden Lane
March Calendar
3/03 Ep. 253: Purity Culture | with C.A. Larson
3/05 Say More 1 | Blakelee Ellis
3/06 Friday Live Chat | with C.A. Larson
3/10 Ep. 254: What Do You Say | Listener Edition
3/12 Worthy Stuff | Cynthia Edition
3/17 Ep. 255: Big Ideas | Piety
3/19 Say More 2
3/20 Friday Live Chat
3/24 Ep. 256: Shadow Work | with Jana Spangler
3/26 ALSSI Newsletter
3/31 Ep. 257: Big Ideas | The Beatitudes
March looks jam-packed! Make note of anything you don’t want to miss, and remember that we have 2 Friday Live Chats on Zoom per month. Each meeting is at 10:00 am Mtn, and the link will drop in the regular Substack chat the morning of the event. We’ll post the recording in the chat after the meeting ends so you can enjoy it at your convenience. No need to register—just click and join!
ALSRI Book Club is coming right up—
Our next book club meeting is in April:
April 16, 2026
7:00 pm Mountain
Register to receive Zoom link by clicking here
We both loved this book, and we hope you will too. Get started reading now, and plan to join the discussion! If you don’t get to the book by meeting time, that’s okay—Lindsie and Shaless do a great job of asking questions to drive a meaningful conversation that you don’t need to have read the book to enjoy. If you attend, you’ll also get to vote for our next book club selection. Hope to see you there!
“I use the word ‘sacred’ to describe something that grounds me in this world and opens me up to another world all at the same time. Oceans usually do it, especially in the middle of summer storms. The kindness of strangers does it. Getting sick does it, especially if I am so sick that I cannot do anything for myself. Being present at the birth of a new human being does it, and so does being between the sheets with someone I love. I could go on.
“I use the words ‘holy’ and ‘divine’ to describe the same phenomena. They almost involve the sense that there is a Witness to my life, a Consciousness that is for me in the best situations but also in the worst, where this Sacredness is working around the clock to make life out of death for me and every other living thing.
“Sometimes I think that believing this is what makes it so. The more I look for it, the more I see it.”
—Barbara Brown Taylor, Defining Your Own Sacredness
We’re planning another episode …
and we want to get your ideas (and your voices!) as we consider this topic:
Maybe you’ve heard us talk about the Church Imagination Committee—for this episode, you’re all invited to join! We each have things we value about the church, and things we wish were different. What’s one thing you think the organization is getting right (on a ward level or church-wide), and one thing you’d like to see change? You can leave us a voicemail here (or click voicemail in our website menu) to be included in this upcoming episode.
And remember, we always welcome your voicemails about any ideas or experiences you want to share with this community. You have 90 seconds of recording time, so organize your thoughts in advance, then listen for your message on an upcoming podcast episode!
“The prophetic call is a collective one, and we are not required to carry the pain of the world all by ourselves. We cannot. That same prophesy also tells us that we must let go of the familiar shore we’ve been clinging to and push off into the middle of a rushing river. Yet within that flow we are meant to look around and see who is in there with us and celebrate our companionship. The ones who remain on the banks of that river desperately grasping for the familiar landscape of a shifting reality will suffer. It is only when we surrender that we can rise to the call that resounds through the universe in the depths of our own hearts.”
—Mirabai Starr, We Are All Reluctant Prophets
Okay, bring on March!
Thanks for being the best listeners.
~ Cynthia and Susan
and the ALSSI Team