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Hey friends! Welcome to I’ll Walk with You, this is Rhonda Monson, one of your hosts.
To introduce you to our next guest I want to tell you about an experience I had.
I had heard from several different people about a restaurant here in Spokane
Washington called Feast World Kitchen, a restaurant that helps local refugees and
immigrants which definitely speaks to my heart. So, my husband and I, and a dear
friend decided to go have lunch there.
The food was great and the service was fantastic, but little did I know how much this lunch date would touch my heart. I loved seeing the diversity and hearing about the good that this restaurant does to help others. And we had the opportunity of meeting our guest for this episode of I’ll Walk with You, Ross Carper, one of the Co-Founders of Feast World Kitchen. When I asked Ross if he would be willing to be a guest on our podcast, he graciously accepted my invitation.
In this episode you will hear about all the good work that Ross and others are doing to bless the lives of others here in Spokane. We also talk about scriptures that teach us to love one another and much more.
Feast World Kitchen is a non-profit organization and restaurant that empowers refugee and immigrant community members through a variety of programs. Ross currently serves as Feast’s Director of Development and Community Care. Ross is a social entrepreneur who is always involved in a variety of community building initiatives in Spokane’s lower south hill neighborhood. Ross and his wife Autumn are also busy raising their three beautiful daughters: Caroline, Iris, and Mira.
It was an absolute joy talking with Ross and getting to hear more of his story and the work he is doing to bless the lives of others. Thank you again Ross for being our guest and thank you listeners for joining us. We think you are going to love this episode.

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Hello, this is Dakota from I’ll Walk With You. It is my honor to introduce to you our guests for this episode, Colleen and Gregory Butler. We have known the Butlers for over 15 years now, and we have always been impressed by them and their beautiful family.

Colleen and Greg are an interracial couple, married for 46 years, parents to 4 beautiful children, and grandparents to 11 grandchildren with one on the way and 3 great grand also with one on the way.

Retired social workers, both Colleen and Greg have a vibrant passion for helping others, and making a change wherever they find themselves. They both have incredible stories about the impact that their work has had on their own lives as well as the lives of others.

Their story together is one of great love, mutual respect, compassion, and incredible resilience. It is beautiful to hear their perspective on what is truly important in life, and to see their view and love of people, and how they have learned to accept others and to not live in fear, but in love.

I found their story inspiring in many ways, but one of the greatest impressions left on me was how they have faced some great trials, yet when asked about them, they are talked about nearly as non-issues, a clear indicator to me that they have individually and as companions chosen to rise above those challenges and to not dwell upon them.

Colleen and Greg are beautiful people, and I am so incredibly pleased to have had them on the podcast as guests, and I am even more delighted to have them as members of my community. Speaking with them has strengthened my hope for a better future , and has displayed a wonderful example of how we can be more unified in a world where division happens so easily.

I know that you will love them as much as we do. Thank you so much for joining us today.

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Hello listeners! Welcome back to I’ll Walk with You. This is Rhonda Monson and I have the privilege of introducing our guest for this episode, someone I have admired and looked up to my entire life, my oldest brother, Mike Merchant.

Mike has done and continues to do so many incredible things, he is the Senior Vice
President for The Arbinger Institute (Arbinger.com). The Board Chair for Anasazi
Foundation (Anasazi.org), a non-profit and nationally accredited behavioral health care provider for youth, young adults and their families.

Since 1993, Mike has consulted and facilitated internationally with senior leaders of corporations, nonprofits, and government agencies on the topics of leadership
development and influence, change management, conflict resolution, and improving personal and organization performance. He has chaired numerous councils and committees on best practices for the treatment of adolescents in the care of behavioral healthcare providers. Mike is an expert in strategic communications, and in 2004 developed the communication component at the heart of the Emmy-nominated “Take Time to Talk” substance abuse awareness and prevention campaign currently used by the Partnership for Drug Free America. He is the founder of the Outdoor Behavioral Healthcare Council, the past president of the National Association of Therapeutic Schools and Programs (natsap.org), and recipient of the 2017 NATSAP Leadership Award. Mike coaches NGO leaders worldwide on measuring, improving, and reporting social impact and facilitated the Forever Young Foundation Nonprofit Institute (foreveryoung.org).

He is also a former bishop for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Mike is a graduate of Brigham Young University’s Marriott School of Management where he was named the 2016 Outstanding Professional. He and his wife Gaylene are the
proud parents of seven red headed amazingly talented children and 16 beautiful
grandchildren. As I said before I have admired Mike all my life. He is 8 years older than me and moved out to go to school and serve a mission for our church when I was just 8 years old. I have always wished that we were closer as he is so busy doing all he can to make a difference in this world.

I greatly enjoyed having this conversation with him.

My greatest take away from this conversation was the question, “What would love have me do?” A great question to ask ourselves when faced with possibly difficult situations.

Thank you for listening to this episode of I’ll Walk with You with our guest, my big
brother, Mike Merchant.