Imperfectly Broken The Podcast

40 Episodes
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By: Kyra Nielson

Being human means being imperfect. It means making mistakes — but also loving, laughing, learning, growing, changing, and truly living. Being human means you matter. It means you have infinite value. This podcast is all about embracing the human experience, especially the beauty of imperfection. Our weaknesses give us the chance to grow and turn them into strengths. Being human is a life full of stories, relationships, faith, and growth.Psychology helps us better understand what it means to be human, and I love sharing insights and lessons I learn along the way.I am a member of the Church of Jesu...

198 The Authors of Peace
Last Monday at 10:50 AM

I love the Gospel of Jesus Christ for SO MANY reasons. One of those reasons is because it is a great place to find Christ’s peace and enter into His rest.

I know that Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost—the Godhead—are the true authors of peace. They can help us feel whole even while we wait for healing. They can help us feel strong when we feel weak. They can make us more when we feel less. I am grateful for the rest that Jesus Christ offers—rest He offers today and every day.


197 A Machine of Help & Hope (feat. Nellybutter)
06/23/2025

In this episode, I interview my new friend, Nellybutter (a name she had fun creating!). Due to sharing some vulnerable things, she wanted to stay anonymous, and I totally respect that!

We talk about faith, help, hope, and healing. Nellybutter shares a couple vulnerable things and encourages others to seek support and utilize the resources available to them.

Please note: All of Nellybutter’s opinions and thoughts are her own and do not reflect the official stance of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Here is a link to my table of co...


196 Cemented into My Heart (blog post)
06/17/2025

I’ve posted a lot of vulnerable things on both my blog and on this podcast. I’ve talked about depression, anxiety, unmet expectations, my testimony, personal stories, and so much more.

Well this blog post is a little bit different as it is *extremely* vulnerable and makes me uncomfortable to think about sharing with the world. It’s been on my blog since December of 2022, but it’s pretty hidden. I’ve covered it with lots of other posts and is now not even on the front page (you have to scroll to the bottom and push “next”).


195 The Living Water
06/11/2025

In today’s episode, I share a little fun fact about me and then talk about something silly that happened on Sunday.

I then connect this experience to Jesus Christ and my decision to choose Him again and again. He is the “Living Water” and by drinking from His doctrine, we can have everlasting life and never thirst again. How incredible is that?!

Here is a link to my table of contents: https://docs.google.com/docume...

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194 CLWK: The Search is Over
06/09/2025

College Life With Kyra: The Search is Over

I’m going to be so real with you right now (I always try to be), I think this episode will be a lot more engaging/interesting if you listen to it sped up. When I recorded this, I was kind of lethargic and slow, and as I was listening back to edit the episode, it drove me crazy. So for your sake, play this at a faster speed than 1x. There should be an option on your podcasting app to speed it up, and once again, I recommend you us...


193 Maybe it’s Not Impossible After All (blog post)
06/04/2025

Believe it or not, I posted a blog post today. The last time I posted was November 8, 2024, so this is a pretty momentous occasion.

I decided to record and post it today on my podcast as well, but I’ll be posting another episode with the same title (without “blog post”) soon. That episode will be more in depth about this topic and perhaps a little bit more vulnerable. Stay tuned for that!

Here is the blog post link:
https://imperfectlybroken.com/...

Here is a link to my table of contents: https://docs.google...


192 Destined to Prove a Disturber and an Annoyer (feat. Ellora Nielson)
05/28/2025

Your favorite girl is back! It just worked out for Ellora to record another podcast episode with me, but this time, we got to do it in person!

We talked about her FSY experience last July and all the miracles that occurred for her that week. We talked about being strong in the faith, about how we can have an impact on people and not even know it, about how sometimes those who seem really strong are at times the most attacked, and about bearing our testimony.

I encourage you to be like Ellora; be “destined to...


191 Dwelling in Your Heart & Mind: The Power of the Holy Ghost (feat. Ellora Nielson)
05/21/2025

In today’s episode, my younger sister and I talk about the Holy Ghost and feeling the spirit. We discuss D&C 8:2-3 which talks about how the spirit speaks truth to your heart and mind.

There are lots of ways to feel the spirit: someone may feel an intense pounding of their heart; someone else may feel chills/tingles; someone may get an inspired message in their mind; another may feel at peace; and one individual may feel warmth in their chest … the list goes on. And isn’t it wonderful that the Holy Ghost speaks to us ind...


190 CLWK: The Suitcase
05/14/2025

Okay so you know how sometimes people say (myself included), “you do *not* want to miss this episode!” Ladies and gentlemen … that does not apply today. 🫣

Perhaps you’re wondering, “Kyra, why are you encouraging me to skip this episode?”

To that response, I would say, “Great question! Let me explain!”
1- The audio quality isn’t going to make anyone jealous. I had to use my phone again (which is actually amazing if you think about how far technology has come), but that means there is extra background noise and you can hear my breaths more pronounc...


189 Last-Minute Light: BYU Devo Gems
05/12/2025

Okay so I know I do this a lot (haha sorry), but I waited til last minute … again. This time, the audio quality suffered, and I recorded a brief intro and outro using my phone’s microphone. Forgive me!

Although this episode is last minute, I spent way longer than I wanted preparing and editing it. You’re worth it though. 😉🩵🫶🏻

I shared some quotes from varying BYU devotionals (and a general conference talk), and I hope you enjoy!

First clip: “Flashes of Light” by Steven J. Lund given in September 2022

Second and third clip: D&C 18...


188 The Prodigal Attorney: A Story That’s Inspired Thousands
05/05/2025

I read this article over two weeks ago, and it touched me deeply. I actually felt the spirit 3-4 times while reading it!

Wanting others to hear this miraculous story, I saved the link to later record a podcast episode. I hope you enjoy this story as much as I do and can feel God’s love for us, His children, as you listen.

So many times it is clear that God was in the details and by divine design, the necessary and needed things happened in order for Dusty Smith to find the gospel and la...


187 How to Be an Exceptional FSY Counselor: Expert Tips From Over 35 Counselors-Part Four
05/02/2025

WE MADE IT! Wahoooo! But for real, I would be lying if I said I wasn’t feeling relieved that I’m done with this project. I’ve spent close to 30 hours (or more I don’t even know!) preparing the idea, making the google form, sending the form out to people (and reminding them haha), reading the responses, organizing the responses, putting people’s names by their answer, thinking about what I wanted to contribute, and then recording, editing, and posting these episodes.

My hope and prayer is that these episodes will answer questions that will help future cou...


186 How to Be an Exceptional FSY Counselor: Expert Tips From Over 35 Counselors-Part Three
04/29/2025

Hello hello! Here’s part three of the miniseries about becoming an amazing FSY counselor! To be real with you, I thought part one went well, part two crashed and burned (that was on me, plus the topics weren’t as fun haha), and part three (this one!) went amazing! I’m really happy with how it turned out, and I believe the insight and advice in this episode is super valuable.

Here are the questions I went over in this episode:
1. What did you do as an FSY counselor that you think the youth appreciated?
2. Any ti...


185 How to Be an Exceptional FSY Counselor: Expert Tips From Over 35 Counselors-Part Two
04/23/2025

Well friends, we are on to part two of this miniseries! In case you missed part one, I highly encourage you to start with that one first as it sets the foundation for the questions I will be going through today.

Here are today’s questions:
1. What was hard about being a counselor, and how did you overcome it?
2. What was something hard that you did not expect and would want to warn other potential counselors about?
3. What tips do you have for balancing your personal needs (like rest and meals) with the demands of be...


184 How to Be an Exceptional FSY Counselor: Expert Tips From Over 35 Counselors-Part One
04/21/2025

Back in November, I had a prompting to create a podcast episode with tips, tricks, and advice on how to be a great FSY counselor. Because I have done it the last three years, I feel I have some good advice! Quickly after coming up with this idea (which I believe to be from God), I thought about how it would be an even cooler (and more reputable) resource if I got advice from as many counselors as I could. The next day, I created a google form and sent it out to as many people as I could think...


183 “For The Former Things Are Passed Away”
04/20/2025

Happy happy Easter! Since General Conference, I’ve been wanting to be more intentional about Easter. Jesus Christ’s resurrection was the most significant event in the history of the world, and oftentimes, I let Easter pass by without thinking too much about Christ or its true meaning. Well no more!

I am grateful that because of Jesus Christ, the best is yet to come. One day, the sorrows of the world will be no more and will no longer serve a purpose. Revelation 21:4 speaks of this upcoming time, “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes...


182 CLWK: The Research Conference
04/16/2025

Welcome to my new series of “College Life With Kyra” aka “CLWK!” Now that I’ve gotten into graduate school, I’m officially in college once again. I thought it would be fun to chronicle my experience as a new series and the acronym “CLWK” is kind of fun, haha!

This episode is all about a research conference I went to last week. I also presented, and that was fun! (Really I just wanted to put it on my CV/academic resume.)

Stay tuned for future “College Life With Kyra” episodes. They’ll be more popular once I actually move u...


181 It Would Hurt Too Much
04/14/2025

Hello! I apologize for it being over a week since I last published an episode, but I promise not to disappear on you again … for a little bit at least!

This episode is about a dear friend of mine who came back into my life after a period of time. I cannot express how happy and grateful it made me feel, and I wanted to record an episode to express my gratitude and joy for this wonderful blessing!

Make sure to turn on notifications so you never miss a new episode!

Also, here is a...


180 Mind, Muscle, & Motivation
03/31/2025

Today’s episode is all about my new fitness journey into becoming a better version of myself. I’ve neglected my physical health for a long time … no more!

This episode will probably be boring for you if you’re not interested in what’s going on in my life, so noooo pressure to listen. But I’m posting this anyway, even though it might be boring, to make my commitment public! I will not give up on this! I can do this!

Haha okay that’s enough of that …

Make sure to turn on notifications...


179 You Make it Look Easy!
03/27/2025

Well friends, I did the thing!!! My cousin and I signed up for a triathlon back in August of 2024, and we finally completed it this last weekend.

This episode is a rundown of how it went for me. Want to guess what place I finished in? (Clue: I wasn’t racing anyone, ha!)

One of these next episodes will be about my new fitness journey into becoming a better version of myself, so watch out for that!

Make sure to turn on notifications so you never miss a new episode!


178 In Relentless Pursuit (feat. Aurora Howard)
03/24/2025

In today’s episode, Aurora answers the question, “why do you stay in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints?”

Each person’s conversion story is different, and sometimes people experience a faith crisis, ultimately leading to the choice to leave the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or to stay.

My personal testimony is that the decision to stay, to recommit, to turn towards Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, will lead to the best possible life one can have. From my own life, I have seen how God’s plan for me is much bette...


177 Hope Based (blog post)
03/19/2025

I felt prompted this morning to read this blog post and make sure this podcast episode came out today. So here we are!

I enjoyed reading this post from August of 2023. Although I wrote it over a year and a half ago, it is still applicable to this day. Hope is a vital element of a joyful and purposeful life. Jesus Christ offers hope and rest in His arms, and I hope (pun intended) we take Him up on His offer.

When difficult and challenging things come up in your life, I encourage you to change...


176 More Than a Degree: Lessons From College (feat. Chantel Sanders)
03/17/2025

Chantel is back! The last episode I did with her was over a year ago, and we talked about mourning with those that mourn.

Today’s episode is quite the opposite in its energy as we discuss college and share personal experiences from our time at university. Each person’s college experience is going to be different, but it’s going to be special because it’s YOURS.

I hope you enjoy what we have to say on the subject!

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175 My Testimony
03/10/2025

For today’s episode, I decided to post a short and sweet version of my testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

My sister decided to join; hopefully you find it endearing. 😂

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174 In the Details of Coincidences: Part Two
03/05/2025

Hello! Before you listen to this episode, I encourage you to make sure you’ve listened to part one first! I broke them up, so really this is a continuation of part one.

This episode contains more quotes by Neal A. Maxwell as well as my thoughts to what he says. I hope you consider how to increase your joy and how to forgive the people in your life.

Until next time!

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173 In the Details of Coincidences: Part One
03/03/2025

I’m warning you RIGHT NOW; for some reason I was extremely giggly in this episode. I also rambled for about ten minutes and didn’t get to the meat of the episode until about fifteen minutes in. It’s probably why I had to break it up into two parts, but that’s okay.

In this episode, I talk about how “coincidence” is simply the word we use because we cannot comprehend the majesty and magnitude of divine design. I also play actual tidbits from a devotional by Neal A. Maxwell from January 1996. It’s titled “Brim With Joy” and yo...


172 It’s Just a Matter of When: Part Five
02/26/2025

Surprise! I can’t believe it myself, but I heard back from BOTH graduate programs this week. (Though I didn’t get into both haha!)

I’m happy to announce that this will be the last episode in the series, “It’s Just a Matter of When” because “when” has *finally* arrived! It’s here, baby! Five applications later, over a span of over a year, I finally can say I’m a graduate student.

What a wonderful day!

This episode is all about how I found out and how I feel about it. I hope you enjoy!


171 Here’s My Heart
02/24/2025

Today’s episode is a summary of what I learned and liked from my Stake Conference yesterday. It was a solid meeting, so I have a lot of thoughts!

I also briefly mention my advice on how to get yourself out of a spiritual funk/rut. At times we can feel like we are spiritually plateauing, and I think working on revitalizing our testimony is a great opportunity to rededicate ourselves to Christ and His gospel.

Someone in Stake Conference yesterday said something about how any improvement we make will lead to blessings. It’s true, and...


170 It’s Just a Matter of When: Part Four
02/21/2025

The saga continues! Here is the update to my journey of trying to get into graduate school.

I’m taking predictions: do you think I will get an offer from BYU or UVU? Or do you think I will get an offer to both? I would like to say I think I will get an offer from both, but I’m thinking it might be best to keep my expectations low.

Until part five when I find out (and reveal) where I got an offer from and where I decided to go!

Don’t forget...


169 Why I Stay: Part Two
02/19/2025

I’m not going to lie, I copied the blurb from part one and edited it. Please forgive me. 😂

My friends, what a powerful episode I have in store for you today (part two haha)! I felt like part one turned out so well, so I decided to create another one.

Several weeks ago, after recording and publishing “Even if You Walk Away,” I pondered a lot about *why* life is infinitely better if you choose not to. If rather than walking away, you choose to stay.

Prompted to reach out to more people to get th...


168 A Question I Didn’t Know I Had (blog post)
02/12/2025

I wasn’t planning on posting this episode today; I had a different one planned. Due to covering for someone at work tonight, I forgot to text people to remind them to send me their voice clip for part two of “Why I Stay.” Rather than putting the episode together without the missing people’s answers, I decided to push it back to Monday.

I’m grateful I had a few blog posts that I had not read yet, including this one. The story for this post is in episode 69; you’re welcome to check it out!

Don’t...


167 Tell Them Why (blog post)
02/10/2025

I published this blog post on August 18, 2023 … so it’s been almost a year and a half since I wrote it. I decided it was never too late to record a podcast episode of my reading it, so here it is!

It’s a little outdated since I now have another year of FSY under my belt, but this specific experience will be one I NEVER forget. This tender experience has changed my life forever. I’m not kidding; it truly has changed me.

I hope you enjoy the story and remember that Heavenly Father cares about th...


166 Why I Stay
02/05/2025

My friends, what a powerful episode I have in store for you today … I’ve never done an episode like this one before. It is unprecedented! How exciting!

Last week, after recording and publishing “Even if You Walk Away,” I pondered a lot about *why* life is infinitely better if you choose not to. If rather than walking away, you choose to stay.

Prompted to reach out to others to get their answer, I received twenty unique responses to the question, “Why do you stay in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints?”

I highly enc...


165 The Right Place (blog post)
02/03/2025

In this episode, I read the post from my blog titled, “The Right Place.”

Find it here: ImperfectlyBroken.com/the-right-place/

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164 Even if You Walk Away
01/29/2025

I spoke in Sacrament meeting on Sunday, and you’ll be surprised to hear what I talked about in front of over 50 people … leaving the church and walking away.

I know, I’m crazy!

Explaining more of what I talked about and why, this episode should give you a sense that God will love you, no matter what. God will love you … even if you walk away.

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163 Yesterday, Today, & Forever
01/27/2025

In October of 2024, someone asked me how I felt that my religion and my God are always changing. This caused me to ponder and come to a firm conclusion that they don’t change. That actually, they are the same yesterday, today, and forever.

Although policies change, God’s character, love, mercy, forgiveness, doctrine, and plan are the same and will be the same for the rest of eternity. I find this to be very comforting! I hope you enjoy studying with me as I share verses and quotes that prove that God is an unchangeable being that will...


162 Powerful Stories That Give Me Strength: Part Three
01/22/2025

As many of you know, I am a lover of stories. I think they can be incredible messengers of truth, hope, inspiration, and love. I especially love stories that are testimony builders and invite listeners to feel the spirit.

In this episode, I read 4-5 stories that I recently came across and wanted to share. They are so good! After you listen, please ponder the experiences in your life that can be told as powerful stories to strengthen others. I promise you have at least one!

FYI: Although this is “part three,” it does not have any...


161 You’re Important Too
01/20/2025

This episode features an audio clip from Sister Adelle Hayes. She is a friend I met at FSY this past summer; we were counselors together in Oregon! She is currently on a mission in Canada and is loving it!

I hope you ponder the importance of your soul and the worth that you inherently possess. You are so loved … NEVER forget it!

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160 Mission Stories and Lessons from the Lord (feat. My Dad)
01/15/2025

Although I grew up hearing stories from my dad’s mission, this episode was so fun to record because I learned details I never knew before! It is also a special experience to hear someone you love bear their testimony of something that you know to be true too!

My dad has some funny, miraculous, entertaining, and powerful stories from his mission. I hope you enjoy listening as much as I did!

I love you dad, thank you for recording this episode with me. You did great! 🩵

Make sure to turn on notifications so you n...


159 It’s Just a Matter of When: Part Three
01/13/2025

Well friends, here’s the update on my life. This episode is specifically about my journey with applying to graduate school, finding out I didn’t get into SUU’s PsyD program, and throwing a Hail Mary to see if I can get into a program up north.

There is bound to be a part four with live updates of what ends up happening! Lucky you if it’s already out and you can just find out … for those living in present time with me, we get to wait! Agh!

Part one and two are not necessary...