ALSSI Newsletter
August 2024
What … already?!
Hard to believe the month is wrapping itself up so quickly and the turn from summer fun to fall schedules is well underway. Everyone seems busy with the transition, so for this month’s newsletter we just want to send you some quick reminders about things we hope will make it into your calendar as we bustle toward the busy months ahead.
But first, Season 8 is in the books!
We released our final episode for the season earlier this week, and while we’re catching our breath, the next few months can give you a chance to catch yours too. Thank you to everyone who’s been along for the ride—feels like we hardly scratched the surface of women’s spirituality! We know you’re busy, and it’s meaningful to us every time you take time to listen, hit like, send a review, participate in a chat, leave a voicemail, or post a comment. When new episodes are dropping weekly it can be hard to squeeze in a listen, so now we hope you’ll go back and pick up conversations you skipped. We’ll miss the mics during our break, but we’re also already looking ahead to Season 9, jotting notes and pocketing ideas wherever we find them.
Pssssst! We’ve zeroed in on a theme for next season—you may have picked up some hints in our last episode about what that will be. Stay tuned!
Our Fall Gathering is fast approaching!
This year’s At Last She Said It Fall Gathering is going virtual, and we’re excited! In the morning, you’ll hear from Aubrey Chaves (Ep. 151) and Mer Monson (Ep. 157)—if you don’t recognize their names (or even if you do!) revisit our podcast conversations with them and you’ll see how lucky we are to have booked these amazing women to speak. You’ll be able to participate in a live Q&A with each.
About Aubrey:
Aubrey received her BA in Elementary Education from Utah State University and taught fourth grade in Springville, UT. She married her high school sweetheart and they now have four children ages sixteen to seven. She and Tim serve on the executive board of the Faith Matter Foundation and host the weekly podcast together where they seek to create a space for expansive, thoughtful conversations within the restored gospel.
About Mer:
Mer is a published author and poet who plays with clients all over the world as a Master Transformative Coach from her home in Cedar Hills, Utah. She loves intimate conversation, living among a pile of books, any flavor of flying or swinging, and doing life with her hubby and three grown sons.
A note from Mer:
Here’s my internal bio :) … I am a 51-year-old recovering spiritual bypasser who is in the down-and-dirty work of uncovering my raw, human self as beloved. I am currently in a wilderness of sorts, but settling into a home inside my own skin where I know that just because a woman is wandering it does not mean she is lost. With as much honesty and tenderness as I can muster, I look forward to sharing with all of you (in Sarah Bessey’s words) my “notes from the wilderness.”
Cynthia and Susan will speak in the afternoon.
Registration will enable you to participate in the event on Saturday, and will also give you access to the recording which you can watch anytime it’s convenient. If you can’t join us October 12, we hope you’ll still register! We don’t want anyone to miss out on the kinship, validation, and support we feel whenever women of the ALSSI community come together.
Email us with any questions, including if you’d like to attend but can’t find room in the budget right now, and we’ll do our best to help. If you want to join us, we definitely want you there!
Register by clicking here!
In case you haven’t heard—
We’re thrilled to announce ALSSI has been invited to collaborate with Exponent II for their upcoming winter contest issue!
The prompt:
What would you say if you could “say the quiet thing aloud?” Inspired by the At Last She Said It podcast (where Cynthia and Susan discuss the complicated parts of being women of faith), we want to hear what you would say if given the chance. Is there anything that has been sitting with you for a long time? A big topic that you have a personal experience with? Something that won’t quite let go of you? Make us laugh, cry, or question. Whether it is a lighthearted confessional, a satirical short story, a powerful art piece, a witty poem, a rigorous theological stance, or a poignant personal essay, we welcome it all.
If it’s honest and real, complicated and nuanced—and most importantly, something you’ve experienced and can tell a specific story about—we want to see it.
The details:
To submit your work to this magazine contest, please familiarize yourself with the At Last She Said It podcast as well as the Exponent II magazine. Then, follow the guidelines and writing tips at exponentii.org/submissions. Submit your work by October 15, 2024.
The first-place poetry and prose winners will each receive $100. The first-place artist will receive a four-page feature in an upcoming issue. Cynthia and Susan—the hosts of At Last She Said It—will be the judges for this contest.
Also for your calendar:
It’s not too soon —
…to start talking about our next ALSSI Book Club meeting! This is a genuinely helpful book. Chris has a unique perspective informed by his lifetime of membership and leadership opportunities, but he knew there were some church experiences he couldn’t effectively address, so he invited others to contribute their perspectives on topics like being a woman in the church, being a single member, being an LGBTQ member, and many others. If you’re looking for practical strategies for engaging when the organization is no longer an easy fit, this book is a good place to start.
Thursday, November 21
7:00 pm Mtn
Registration details will be available in November
Cynthia blurbed this book:
“Chris has managed to write a great primer for Latter-day Saints who desperately need a new way to navigate their changing relationship with the Church. I could have been spared a lot of heartache, had I had this book ten years ago when church started getting really complicated for me. Full of practical advice, it’s sure to become a handbook for individuals who struggle with what’s in a different Handbook."
—Cynthia Winward, Co-host, At Last She Said It
And Susan wrote a chapter for it! (You can check out our discussion in ALSSI Ep. 152, Spelling It Out)
If it’s August …
…Cynthia’s undoubtedly whipping up something delicious with peaches! Most recently, it’s this:
Easy Buttermilk Peach Cobbler
2 pounds fresh peeled and sliced peaches
1/2 cup/110 grams packed dark brown sugar
2 to 3 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
½ cup/113 grams unsalted butter (one stick)
1½ cups/187 grams all-purpose flour
1 cup/200 grams granulated sugar, more for sprinkling
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1½ cups/355 milliliters buttermilk (or thinned plain yogurt)
1 egg, whisked
1 tsp vanilla
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large (10- to 12-inch) well-seasoned cast-iron skillet, melt the butter. Remove pan from heat and add the peaches, brown sugar, and lemon juice.
In a mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, granulated sugar, baking powder and salt. Pour in buttermilk, egg, and vanilla, and mix just until combined. Pour over the peach-butter mixture. Spread evenly around the pan. Sprinkle with extra sugar for crunch. I like to use turbinado sugar, but regular white sugar is fine too. Bake anywhere from 45-60 minutes, until cake is golden brown. (The pan size will make a difference in time.) Cool slightly, then eat warm!
That’s it!
Short and sweet, so you can get back to whatever has you racing toward fall, and we can get back to our keyboards and that unfinished manuscript. Thanks for your ongoing support—yes, of our project, of course, but even more importantly of each other. We hope you can feel a little of the magical forward energy being generated by the ALSSI community. Onward!
With love,
Susan, Cynthia,
and the ALSSI Team
Unpopular opinion….but so excited the October gathering is online. I wouldn’t have been able to attend as I live in GA and really love being able to connect with you all and excited to hear these amazing women speak! 🩷
I love all the exciting things coming up. And I also love that the last two books for book club have been books I’m already reading! Thank you!! And I hope someday there will be an in person event where we get to sample all the recipes together.