Why does the Church of Jesus Christ spend so much on temples when the money could feed the poor? Tammy Uzelac Hall answers that question from the book of Exodus. She reads it in the original Hebrew.

Tammy and Will follow the gold and silver Israel carried out of Egypt into the building of the tabernacle. They look at what the name "I AM" means in Hebrew and how it ties to the answers we give in temple recommend interviews. Then they turn to the women of the Old Testament who changed the story: Shiphrah and Puah, the daughters of Zelophehad, and the Shunammite woman, whose answer "It is well" comes from the Hebrew word shalom.

The episode closes with a clip from Sister Sharon Eubank on why temples matter more to lasting change than money alone.

What you'll learn:

• Why the Lord told the Israelites to ask the Egyptians for jewels of gold, silver, and fine clothing before the Exodus
• What the name "I AM" means in Hebrew and how D&C 68:6 explains it
• Why the tabernacle was built from offerings brought by "whosoever is of a willing heart"
• How the women of Israel spun the linen and colored fabrics for the tabernacle
• Why the Garden of Eden is considered the first temple and what "Eden" means in Hebrew
• How answering "I am" in a temple recommend interview is answering in the Lord's name
• Why God measures the sacrifice, not the size of the offering
• The meaning of shalom and the story behind the hymn "It Is Well with My Soul"
• Sister Sharon Eubank's answer to why the Church builds temples instead of putting everything into humanitarian aid

Scriptures discussed: Exodus 1, 3, 11, 12, 35; D&C 68:6; Mosiah 18; Numbers 27; 2 Kings 4; 1 Nephi 16

Find Tammy: Sunday on Monday podcast at ldsliving.com/podcasts

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Many people are taught that grace is a gift with no strings attached. Accept Christ and it's done. Cooper Johnson spent 15 years studying what the word grace meant to the people who first heard it, and he found that in the ancient world, grace was the start of a relationship that asks something of you in return.

In this episode of Temple Bound, host Will Humphreys and Cooper talk about his return to the Church after 10 years away, the questions that pushed him to study the Atonement, and how the original Greek and Hebrew words for grace, faith, belief, and knowing changed the way he reads scripture. Cooper now teaches temple prep in a young single adult ward. He shares how he frames worthiness, symbolism, and covenants for people preparing to enter the temple for the first time.

What you'll learn:

• What the Greek word charis meant to Paul's first century audience, and why grace was always relational
• How pistis, the word translated as faith, carries the meaning of loyalty and faithfulness
• Why "believe" in John 3:16 means to trust and rely on Christ, not just agree that He exists
• What ginosko teaches about knowing God through experience in John 17:3
• How hesed describes God's covenant love
• Why covenants are connections, not contracts
• How to see worthiness as readiness instead of perfection
• Why God teaches through symbolism, and why symbols lose meaning when they're overexplained
• What "endowed" means: to be clothed with power
• Why staying with a scripture, talk, or temple experience until it opens up to you matters

Resources mentioned:

• Elder David A. Bednar, "In the Strength of the Lord" (2001)
• John Barclay's work on grace and Paul
• Brent Schmidt, Relational Grace and Relational Faith
• Jennifer Lane's book on the temple
• Melinda Brown's teaching on law as love

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Shayden Bertagnolli has sat across from more grieving families than he ever expected when he became a therapist. That's what pushed him into men's mental health, and it's what shaped the idea at the center of this episode. Pornography addiction was never really about pornography. It's about pain nobody ever taught these men to name.

In this conversation, Shayden and Will Humphreys break down why men suppress pain instead of naming it, why so many chase approval and call it love, and what the temple initiatory ordinance actually represents (a wound being washed, anointed, and covered). If you've ever felt stuck, or you love someone who is, this episode gives you a new way to see it.

What you'll learn:

• Why pornography is a solution to pain, not the problem itself, and why treating the symptom keeps men stuck
• What "attunement" means and why so many boys stop being truly seen around age six or seven
• Why men chase approval through achievement when they've internalized the false idea that love has to be earned
• How the temple initiatory ordinance mirrors what every parent does for a child's wound: wash it, anoint it, cover it
• Why asking God to "help me overcome this" keeps men in a cycle of shame, and what changes when they ask to be healed instead
• Three practical questions parents can ask their kids to open up conversations that usually stay hidden
• Why the average age of first exposure to pornography is now 10 to 11 years old, and what to do about it

Guest: Shayden Bertagnolli, licensed therapist and founder of Motyv, creator of the Liberate program for men working through pornography addiction and pain. Learn more at motyv.com.

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