Preserving Families Podcast

Mark talks about clinical and practical ways to overcome bouts of anxiety and stress.

Mark and Janie discuss how marriage goes through many seasons and changes, and how we can stay in love and prioritize our marriage through those seasons.

Mark sits down with Kevin A. Hinckley LPC-NCC, to discuss how understanding the true nature of God can help us with our mental health.

Mark sits down with author Randall Wright to discuss the power of being an early riser.

Mark and special guest and author, Matthew Cook, discuss themes from their book, “Christ’s Miracles: Yesterday and Today”. Mark and Matt present stories and lessons from the bible and present day to show how Christ’s miracles never cease, and how we can better have a miracle mindset. They even dive into what we can do when miracles don’t come.

Mark and Janie use teachings on leadership from Mark’s new book, “The Leadership Legacy of Lavell Edwards” to learn how we can be better parents. Lavell lived his life built around relationships, and building others up. By learning about the life and teachings of Lavell, we can better improve our parenting and leadership skills.
Find Marks new book, written with Dave Mccan, on Amazon. Out Now!

Mark reviews several general conference talks to discuss how we can make our homes a refuge for our families, and how doing so will strengthen and protect our families.

Mark and Janie tackle a tough topic, discussing how we can stop the cancel culture we have created in families. Many family members have felt the need to cut their family members out of their lives because of small and reconcilable issues or differences. There are instances where cut off from family members may be appropriate, but Mark and Janie discuss how we can better practice forgiveness and seeing the best in well meaning family members.

Mark sits down with Kevin Hinckley to discuss new excerpts from his book, “The God Who Wants You Home”. Mark and Kevin dive into great doctrine of the church, and review how culture has impacted our views of who God is, that may not be correct. Joseph Smith said, "If men do not comprehend the character of God, they do not comprehend themselves.” When it comes to judging ourselves, or understanding our relationship with God, we must understand His true nature.

Mark uses a talk from Elder Uctdorf to frame his discussion on the 3 biggest regrets people have before leaving this life. Mark dives into how we can avoid these 3 regrets and live our lives to the fullest.

Dr. Dave Schramm sits down with Mark to discuss how we can all attain greater happiness as the world seems to get darker. Dave is a professor, author, marriage expert, and hosts his own podcast called, “Stronger Marriage Connection”. Dr. Dave shares great insights on things we can do to find the peace and happiness in our lives

Mark and Janie talk about the parable of grass licking and how to set the best example we can for our children.

Mark and Janie talk about the importance of having dreams and goals as couple. They go over studies and statistics, and discuss how happier couples, are the ones that are working together to reach goals to create the life they want.

Mark and Janie review great stories and experiences of the Smith Family and individual members of the family that demonstrate the character and values they carried. Joseph was well prepared and trained in his home to seek God, revelation, and to do what was right. As we look to the Smith family, we can find examples of faith, strength, and diligence in family life.

Mark discusses why boys need real heroes. In a recent study polling young boys, when asked the question, “who is your hero?”, the most common response was “no one”. Mark shares lots from his book, The Making of a Man: A Guide to Raising Strong, Resilient Sons, to express the importance of having heroes, not just famous kind, but the ones in our communities and at home.

Mark discusses how we can help our children start preparing now, while they are in the home, prepare to be adults. Many children, as soon as they leave the house, struggle to live away from home, or have life skills that can prepare them to live on their own. Mark gives great ideas and examples of things we can teach our kids now to help them become capable adults.

Mark discusses how we can help our adult children prepare to make the marriage decision, and how to teach them to look for traits in a partner that are critical to a healthy marriage. We can also teach our children to develop traits that they would want in a marriage partner.

Mark sits down with Dan & Andrea Hill to discuss how we can better teach our youth, and help them desire to draw closer to Christ. Dan and Andrea are incredible parents, and share what has worked and hasn’t worked for them as they have done their best to help their kids navigate this life. They use a great analogy of teaching teens how to drive to teach better parenting practices.

Mark sits down with business owner, attorney, and philanthropist, Matthew Cook, to discuss the multitude of dangers that face kids who use social media. They also talk about measures he and his wife have taken in their home and community to help teens combat the issues that come along with social media usage.

Mark sits down with renowned church historian Gerrit Dirkmaat to discuss powerful experiences they have had visiting church history sites, and that others have had in the groups they have lead through these places. Mark and Gerrit explain why visiting these sites can have such a deep effect on our faith, testimonies, and sense of belonging to the church.

Mark sits down with the VP of product at Gabb, Colin Cole, to discuss the dangers of cell phones with our youth. They dive into issues that some parents may not even be aware are happening via different phone apps. Colin and Mark also discuss how dopamine may be effecting the mental and physical wellness of our youth.

Mark uses personal stories, research, and data to explain the importance of teaching our children to have grit. He also talks about how using personal stories, and examples of grit in our family histories can help our children understand why grit is important, and want to carry that trait themselves.

Mark and Janie discuss the phenomenon of parents who prevent the marriage of their children, when all the factors of the relationship, and each individual are in good order. There seems to be an upward trend of parents interfering or prohibiting their child from making the marriage decision. This episode is not about parents interfering in relationships with big red flags, rather, when there seems to be no real red flags.

One of Marks main focuses of his research at BYU and his personal studies, concerns the modern prophets and their abilities and characteristics as fathers. This episode, Mark reviews characteristics our latter-day prophets exemplify, and how they can inspire us to be better parents.

One of Marks main focuses of his research at BYU and his personal studies, concerns the modern prophets and their abilities and characteristics as fathers. This episode, Mark reviews characteristics our latter-day prophets exemplify, and how they can inspire us to be better parents.

Mark dives into the 5 love languages, and how he believes there are many more ways to show and receive love. He also describes how we can show love to others in the way they want to receive it.

Mark and Janie discuss how we can still be intentional and make an effort to be involved grandparents, even when distance gets in the way.

Mark teams up again with his daughter Cassidy Lee, a licensed marriage and family therapist, to discuss the hows and whys of giving meaningful and specific compliments, and how it can enhance our relationships.

Mark follows up on last weeks episode about pinpointing what is stressing you out, and ways to combat stress. This week Mark discusses practical interventions for dealing with stress, and uses gospel and scientific backed examples to back his teachings.

Mark sits down with his daughter Cassidy Lee, a licensed marriage and family therapist, to discuss the toll that modern day stressors can take on our marriages and family relationships.
In the episode they discuss a stress inventory test you can take with your spouse to be able to recognize what stressors are really affecting your life, find that test HERE .

Mark uses talks and lessons given by Elder Jeffery R. Holland to express how we can best speak with the tongue of angels in our homes, and be angels to those around us.

Mark and Janie discuss how satan is increasing his attacks on individuals and the family. The prophesy of Ezra Taft Benson is being fulfilled that, “The time will come when only those who believe deeply and actively in the family, will be able to preserve their families, in the midst of the gathering evil around us.”

Mark reviews interesting facts about the “winter blahs”, and gives great ways to overcome seasonal depression that many of us feel during the dark winter.

Mark sits down with author, and father of 8, Ken Craig to discuss President Oaks last talk in General Conference. They review points from his message that have helped shape their families, and that have had a major impact on society today. Find Ken’s latest Book Here.

Mark an Janie talk about the impact the life and teachings from Elder Holland on parenting had on them. Elder Holland lived such an impactful life, and was an incredible leader and father. His teachings on parenthood are ones that he truly lived by, and inspired others to live by.

Mark talks about the impact the life and teachings from Elder Holland on parenting had on him. Elder Holland lived such an impactful life, and was an incredible leader and father. His teachings on parenthood are ones that he truly lived by.

Mark describes the 3 levels of communication and how they affect us in every relationship we have.

Mark discusses the power of having one on one interviews with our children, and how this simple practice can create incredible outcomes

Mark and Janie take the angle of what they are seeing and experiencing as grandparents that can ruin the relationship they have with their children, in-laws, and grandchildren. This episode is not only for grandparents, but for adult children as well. We hope this episode will be healing, validating, and correctional for grandparents and adult children alike.

Mark explores research studies and stories to examine how having gratitude can positively impact our lives.