In this video, we interview Laurie Lee Hall, a former bishop, stake president, and temple designer for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, who later came out as transgender while serving as a Stake President. Laurie shares her journey of growing up with a gender identity that didn’t match how she felt, her experiences on a church mission, and attending Affirmation for LGBTQ+ Latter-day Saints. She also discusses her work designing temples, her struggles with the 2015 Exclusion Policy for children of gay couples, her excommunication, and the church’s evolving policies on transgender individuals. Show Notes: https://www.mormonstories.org/lgbtq-social-issues/stake-president-and-temple-architect-finds-her-true-self/ 00:00:00 Intro 00:00:50 770-773 Laurie’s original Mormon story 00:10:27 The idea of contagion 00:20:25 Why Lauri wanted to write this memoir 00:25:15 Serving a Mormon Mission 00:45:15 Repressing it for thirty years, stake president, dream job designing temples, etc. 00:48:30 Accepting that she was trangender 00:54:50 God calling her as a bishop and stake president 01:58:05 Laurie’s career and how it involved the Church 01:08:10 Working with the prophet and apostles 01:17:45 Are the top Mormon leaders believers? 01:20:35 The exclusion policy of Nov 2015 01:35:11 Coming out to herself in 2011 01:53:35 Reading from her memoir, answering the interview questions 02:03:25 She knew she was going to be excommunicated 02:17:00 Finding Love 02:22:25 Her faith evolution 02:26:00 Moving from certainty to hopefulness 02:30:20 How the church is treating its transgender members today 02:41:00 Why did the church make these changes? 02:50:50 What happens if we become more affirming of transgender individuals? 02:58:48 Transgender surgery on children is fear mongering 03:07:00 Closing remarks 03:10:45 Is there enough active membership to even staff these new temples? ___________________ At Mormon Stories we explore, celebrate, and challenge Mormon culture through in-depth stories told by members and former members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as well as scholars, authors, LDS apologists, and other professionals. Our overall mission is to: 1. Facilitate informed consent amongst LDS Church members, investigators, and non-members regarding Mormon history, doctrine, and theology 2. Support Mormons (and members of other high-demand religions) who are experiencing a religious faith crisis 3. Promote healing, growth and community for those who choose to leave the LDS Church or other high demand religions 🤝Help us continue to deliver quality content by becoming a donor today One-time or recurring donations: https://donorbox.org/mormon-stories?default_interval=m Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/mormonstories Venmo: https://account.venmo.com/u/mormonstories Paypal: https://paypal.me/mormonstories Join this channel to get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCx6OgmoqJbOVRq-Lv1P7SzA/join Our Platforms: 🌐Mormon Stories Blog: https://www.mormonstories.org/episodes 🎙️Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/mormonstories ✳️Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4sDzk7dRjODTSEqzZKZJzk?si=148b0efc1ccc4404&nd=1 🍎Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mormon-stories-lds/id312094772 🖼️Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mormstories 📱TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mormonstoriespodcast 🎮Discord: https://discord.com/invite/kuX5p6yyjF Contact us: 📧 MormonStories@gmail.com 📬PO Box 171085, Salt Lake City, UT 84117