ToddTalks--Spirit By Design: Your Weekly Survival Guide

Todd Andrewsen
  • 4.8 (10)
  • Christianity
  • Updated Biweekly

ToddTalks--Spirit By Design is for those of you who desire to increase your spiritual wellness, utilize spiritual gifts, and overcome spiritual obstacles. If you struggle to maintain your spirituality, your beliefs, your testimony, in this chaotic world, come listen in and learn some things that can change your life. Maybe you can't make it to church due to your responsibilities whatever they may be. Maybe you struggle with your Testimony or beliefs and are looking for help. Maybe you just need someone to give you ideas on how to build and strengthen your faith. This podcast is to help you design your spiritual life. Spirit by Design means you are in charge of your life. You surrender it to God and allow him to help you design the life you desire. By developing and strengthening your spiritual side, you will find peace, joy and serenity in this chaotic world that is only getting worse.

  1. 3d ago

    How To Love Like Christ Without Being Used

    Send us Fan Mail If you’ve ever felt guilty for saying no, even when you’re exhausted, this conversation is for you. We’re digging into one of the hardest tensions in Christian living: how to show real charity without being taken advantage of, and how to love like Jesus Christ without losing yourself in endless demands.  We start with a simple but freeing idea: charity is not people pleasing. The pure love of Christ doesn’t mean letting others misuse you, ignoring unhealthy patterns, or saying yes out of fear. Jesus loved perfectly, and He also held boundaries. He taught and healed, He corrected when needed, He withdrew to pray, and sometimes He walked away. That example gives us permission to pursue Christlike service that leads to spiritual strength instead of burnout.  We also talk about enabling versus helping, and why “rescuing” can sometimes block growth. God honors agency, allows consequences to teach, and invites us to seek wisdom, not just react to pressure. That’s where boundaries and personal revelation come in. When someone asks for help, we can pray and ask what God wants, then choose a response that blends love with truth, compassion with accountability, and mercy with a sound mind.  If you want practical gospel-centered guidance on boundaries, Christian service, and healthy discipleship, listen now. Subscribe, share this with someone who needs relief, and leave a review telling us: where do you most need wisdom to match your love? Support the show You can reach me anytime at  email: tandrewsen.monat@gmail.com Instagram @toddtalks_ig

    17 min

  2. Jun 26

    Signs Of The Second Coming - Are You Watching or Working on Becoming Holy?

    Send us Fan Mail The world feels like it’s accelerating, and not always in a good way. Wars flare up, families strain, truth gets treated like a preference, and technology races ahead faster than our ability to process it. When you feel that tension, it’s easy to ask, “Are these the signs of the Second Coming?” I take that question head-on, and I frame the signs the way the Savior does: not as a code to crack for a date, but as an invitation to prepare with faith. I walk through several major “signs of the times” with a gospel lens, including the Restoration of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the gathering of Israel through missionary work and the covenant path, increasing wickedness and the rising cost of standing for eternal truth, and “wars and rumors of wars” that show up both in nations and inside our own souls. We also talk about natural disasters, the earth “groaning,” and why crisis can either harden us or turn us toward Christ. And because we live in an age of information overload and AI-generated confusion, I highlight spiritual deception and why personal revelation and discernment aren’t optional anymore. Finally, I share one of the most hopeful signs happening quietly across the world: temples. Temples aren’t just buildings, they’re a call to become a covenant people ready to meet the Lord. If you’ve been watching headlines more than you’ve been watching your heart, this is your reset. Subscribe, share this with a friend who feels anxious about the future, and leave a review with your biggest takeaway: what helps you feel spiritually ready today? Support the show You can reach me anytime at  email: tandrewsen.monat@gmail.com Instagram @toddtalks_ig

    24 min

  3. Jun 19

    How Prosperity Can Slide You Into Spiritual Apathy

    Send us Fan Mail Comfort isn’t always a blessing. Sometimes it’s the quiet condition that puts our spiritual life to sleep while we’re busy feeling “fine.” We dig into a danger that rarely announces itself: spiritual apathy that grows through ease, distraction, and just enough routine to keep us going through the motions without real connection to God. We walk through the Book of Mormon pattern of the pride cycle and why prosperity can create the illusion that we no longer need the Lord. From Nephi’s warning about being “pacified and lulled” into carnal security to David’s choice to stay home when kings go to battle, we look at how small decisions in comfortable moments can weaken vigilance. We also sit with Christ’s sharp words to the lukewarm and talk honestly about what fence-sitting looks like in real life: prayers that turn into checklists, scripture study that becomes skimming, promptings we keep delaying, and service we start treating as optional. Then we get practical. If you can feel yourself drifting, there are ways back that actually work: purposeful fasting, deep study, acting immediately on spiritual promptings, remembering covenants, serving someone else, and praying for spiritual hunger when you don’t feel it. If you want stronger discipleship, clearer personal revelation, and a faith that stays awake in a comfortable world, press play and take one step forward with us. Subscribe, share this with a friend, and leave a five star review so more people can find the show. Support the show You can reach me anytime at  email: tandrewsen.monat@gmail.com Instagram @toddtalks_ig

    17 min

  4. Jun 16

    How To Stay Spiritually Anchored When Culture Tries to Shift Truth

    Send us Fan Mail Truth didn’t get weaker, but the pressure to treat it like a preference has never been louder. We sit with a hard question: why is it so difficult to stand for eternal truth in a culture that keeps insisting truth is negotiable? I walk through why objective truth matters, why “your truth” can quietly become a trap, and why aligning our lives to truth is the opposite of the modern message to adjust truth until it fits.  From there, we talk about the real battle underneath the noise: identity. When you don’t know who you are, you’ll borrow your worth from trends, approval, or fear. I share why the restored gospel answers identity with clarity: you are a child of God with divine potential and eternal worth. We connect that foundation to discipleship in real life, especially when social pressure hits hard at school, online, or at work and you feel tempted to stay quiet just to belong.  We also get practical about spiritual survival in a distracted age. The adversary does not always need to prove truth is false; sometimes he only needs to drown it out. That’s why daily prayer, scripture study, worship, and stillness matter, because the still small voice is easiest to miss when life is always loud. Finally, I lay out four anchors to help you stand firm through modern storms: daily personal revelation, covenants, holy places, and Jesus Christ as the true foundation.  If this helped you, subscribe, share it with a friend who feels stretched by today’s culture, and leave a review so more people can find it. What’s one “anchor” you want to strengthen this week? Support the show You can reach me anytime at  email: tandrewsen.monat@gmail.com Instagram @toddtalks_ig

    22 min

  5. Jun 12

    Righteous People Suffer And God Still Refines Them - Lessons From Job

    Send us Fan Mail The hardest seasons of life can make you wonder if God has gone quiet or if you did something wrong. We go straight at that fear by walking through the Book of Job and the idea of the refiner’s fire: what if your suffering is not proof of abandonment, but a setting where God is shaping something holier in you? Job is called “perfect and upright,” yet he still loses nearly everything. That alone dismantles the myth that righteousness guarantees comfort, and it opens a better question: what kind of person can we become when life is stripped down to the bone? We talk about covenant faithfulness that is not transactional, the kind of trust that says, “Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him.” We explore why God often gives perspective instead of explanations, how discipleship can require trust before understanding, and how trials can remove pride, control, and self-sufficiency so dependence on Jesus Christ can finally take root. Along the way, we connect Job’s journey to modern scripture in the Doctrine and Covenants and to Joseph Smith’s experience in Liberty Jail, where suffering is met with eternal perspective rather than instant relief. We also look at why Job powerfully points to Jesus Christ: innocent suffering, rejection, grief, silence, and endurance. Because Christ descended below all things, He understands every form of pain and can sanctify what we cannot fix today. You’ll leave with five concrete practices for enduring trials without becoming bitter, staying turned toward God, and anchoring your identity in Christ instead of circumstances. Subscribe for more, share this with a friend who needs it, and leave a review with the lesson from Job you’re trying to live right now. Support the show You can reach me anytime at  email: tandrewsen.monat@gmail.com Instagram @toddtalks_ig

    19 min

  6. Jun 9

    Are You Training Yourself To Hear God Or Ignore Him

    Send us Fan Mail A tiny spiritual nudge can feel easy to dismiss, until you realize it might have been the exact help someone needed. I’m Todd, and I’m digging into a principle that has shaped my life: when we act on promptings from the Holy Ghost, we become more able to receive personal revelation. When we postpone, rationalize, or ignore those impressions, we can miss specific blessings and slowly lose spiritual sensitivity, even if we still have full agency to choose. We connect the dots across General Conference teachings from leaders like Elder David A. Bednar, Elder Richard G. Scott, and President Henry B. Eyring, plus scriptures that teach revelation comes line upon line. We talk about why God rarely gives a full map, why confirmation often comes after we start moving, and why writing down impressions can train your mind and heart to recognize God’s hand more consistently. If you’ve ever thought, “Was that really the Spirit or just me?”, you’ll find practical clarity here. I also share a personal story about acting on a prompting to make sure a needed blessing happened, along with a candid look at what it feels like to lose light through small choices and how to return to it step by step. In a world full of noise, opinions, and confusion, learning to recognize and act on spiritual promptings is not just inspiring, it’s essential. Listen, then subscribe, share with a friend, and leave a review with your biggest question about personal revelation. Support the show You can reach me anytime at  email: tandrewsen.monat@gmail.com Instagram @toddtalks_ig

    20 min

  7. May 29

    What Anchors You When Truth Feels Optional - Stand in Holy Places

    Send us Fan Mail When your “instruments” fail in the clouds, your body can swear you’re level while you’re actually turning into danger. I open with a real C-130 cockpit moment where two attitude indicators disagreed and the only way to survive was to trust the right reference. Then I connect that to modern spiritual life: identity confusion, anxiety, outrage culture, distraction, and dopamine addiction can make truth feel optional and emotions feel like facts. The anchor is a warning and a promise from Doctrine and Covenants: you will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but if you are prepared, you will not fear. Preparation looks like standing in holy places and refusing to be moved. We talk about why holy places are more than temples (though temple covenants matter deeply) and how your home can become a holy place through prayer, scripture, Sabbath worship, better media standards, and protecting the Spirit at the center of family life. I also share true examples of people who stood firm under pressure, from the Danish rescue of Jews in World War II to the 2,000 stripling warriors who were spiritually ready before the battle began. You’ll leave with a simple checklist to audit what spirit shapes your mind and your home, plus a direct challenge: remove one spiritually toxic influence, create one new holy habit, and turn your home into a sanctuary of peace. If this helps you, subscribe, share it with a friend, and leave a five-star review. Support the show You can reach me anytime at  email: tandrewsen.monat@gmail.com Instagram @toddtalks_ig

    23 min

  8. May 25

    Memorial Day Calls Us To Live Worthy Of Sacrifice

    Send us Fan Mail Memorial Day can feel like a holiday on the calendar until you’ve watched a grieving unit file onto an aircraft and stand over flag-draped coffins. I’m Todd, and I wanted to slow down and treat this day with the reverence it deserves, drawing from my time flying C-130s and carrying fallen service members on their first leg home. Those memories shaped how I see the American flag, why certain “debates” hit the heart differently, and why remembrance is never abstract when you’ve seen the cost up close. I ask what did their sacrifice protect?  Agency.  Freedom to choose, to worship, to speak, to build families, and to live discipleship on purpose. Freedom isn’t something we simply inherit; it’s something we steward. I close with a simple challenge for Memorial Day: take a quiet moment, say a prayer of gratitude, think of a name, and ask yourself if you’re living in a way that honors what was given for you. If this moved you, subscribe, share it with a friend, and leave a review so more people choose remembrance over noise. Support the show You can reach me anytime at  email: tandrewsen.monat@gmail.com Instagram @toddtalks_ig

    9 min
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4.8
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About

ToddTalks--Spirit By Design is for those of you who desire to increase your spiritual wellness, utilize spiritual gifts, and overcome spiritual obstacles. If you struggle to maintain your spirituality, your beliefs, your testimony, in this chaotic world, come listen in and learn some things that can change your life. Maybe you can't make it to church due to your responsibilities whatever they may be. Maybe you struggle with your Testimony or beliefs and are looking for help. Maybe you just need someone to give you ideas on how to build and strengthen your faith. This podcast is to help you design your spiritual life. Spirit by Design means you are in charge of your life. You surrender it to God and allow him to help you design the life you desire. By developing and strengthening your spiritual side, you will find peace, joy and serenity in this chaotic world that is only getting worse.

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