Golden Fractures is a podcast that was created to remind you that you are loved. You are loved and you can feel joy. True joy comes from knowing who you really are. We get to know ourselves better by getting to know our Savior, Jesus Christ, better. Christ can make beauty out of our imperfections. We can use our shortcomings to show love to others in our lives--including ourselves. We each have our strengths, but are sometimes blinded by our insecurities. Together, let's discover how we can make beauty from the cracks in our lives through our Savior.
STUDY WITH ME: What Happens When You Trust God Without Understanding - Jesus the Christ, Chapter 7
This episode is a little different—and honestly, a little bittersweet.
I’m sharing a decision I didn’t expect to make: I feel like it’s time for me to step away from Golden Fractures, at least for now.
I’m not done studying, though. I still plan to keep working my way through Jesus the Christ, sharing what I’m learning on social media, and creating the study guides I’ve loved putting together. I’m just changing what that looks like.
And it felt fitting that this episode brought me back to one of the things I’ve loved most about this podcast—opening the scriptures and noticing things I hadn’t noticed before.
This week, I’m studying Luke 1 and the story of Mary.
I kept coming back to one question: Why Mary?
What was it about this young woman that made God trust her with such an enormous responsibility?
We talk about Mary’s incredible response to Gabriel—“Be it unto me according to thy word”—and how much faith must have been behind those words. I also share some things I noticed about Elizabeth’s role in Mary’s story, Joseph’s quiet response to something he couldn’t possibly understand, and the ways God seems to place people around us when He asks us to do hard things.
More than anything, Mary’s story has made me think about what it means to simply be available to God.
So my invitation this week is to pray and ask Heavenly Father to help you recognize one invitation He is extending to you right now. And when you recognize it, try to respond with faith instead of fear—even if you don’t understand exactly where it will lead.
Maybe that’s one of the things I’m learning in this season of my own life too.
Sometimes following God means saying yes to something new. And sometimes it means being willing to let go.
Study with me: https://instagram.com/_nicolenicholls
Free study guides: https://goldenfractures.blogspot.com
17 Sept 2026
STUDY WITH ME: Why Did Jesus Come When He Did? - Jesus the Christ, Chapter 6
What if the things in your life that feel delayed or completely random are actually part of a much bigger picture?
That’s something I kept thinking about as I studied the first few chapters of Jesus the Christ by James E. Talmage. Jesus didn’t just happen to be born in Bethlehem at a random point in history. So many things had been prepared beforehand—and He came at exactly the right time.
In this episode, I’m looking at the circumstances surrounding Christ’s birth, from the prophecy in Micah about Bethlehem to the political and spiritual climate of the Roman Empire. And the more I studied it, the more I started thinking about how often God works this way in our own lives.
Sometimes we’re waiting for something to happen and wondering why it hasn’t happened yet. Sometimes what looks like a setback or a completely random turn in the road ends up being part of something we couldn’t see coming.
I also share a really personal story from my own life involving an unexpected internship, a painful breakup, and a series of decisions that seemed pretty insignificant at the time—but eventually led me to Jeremy.
A few things I’m thinking about in this episode:
Why Bethlehem mattered long before Jesus was born• How the world Jesus was born into was being prepared for His ministry• Why humility and uncomfortable seasons might be part of our preparation• What the Star of Bethlehem can teach us about God’s timing• And what my own story taught me about trusting God when I couldn’t see what He was doing
I don’t think waiting is easy. I definitely haven’t always been good at it. But studying the Savior’s birth reminded me that just because I can’t see what God is doing doesn’t mean nothing is happening.
So if you’re in a season where you’re asking, “Why isn’t this happening yet?” or “Why did my life have to take this weird detour?”—this one is for you.
Maybe God sees the whole picture when all we can see is the next step.
Study Guide: https://goldenfractures.blogspot.com/2026/08/season-3-episode-6-why-did-jesus-come.html?m=1
10 Sept 2026
STUDY WITH ME: Understanding God's Timing - Jesus the Christ, Chapter 5 with Shalyn Back
God’s timing is never random, even when it feels like we’ve been waiting forever. In this episode, I’m talking about prophecy, preparation, faith, and what it means to trust God when His promises don’t happen on our timeline.
I’m continuing our study of Jesus the Christ by James E. Talmage with chapter 5, which focuses on the prophecies surrounding Christ’s birth. One of the things I love about studying these prophecies is seeing how much they teach us about who God is. He is intentional. He is patient. And He keeps His promises — even when the waiting is longer than we expected.
We also talk about how the Nephites experienced that waiting for Christ’s birth and how much their experience can actually mirror our own. We may not be waiting for the Savior’s first coming, but we are waiting for His Second Coming, and I think there is a lot we can learn from the way they prepared.
In this episode, we talk about:
• Why the prophecies of Christ’s birth still matter to us, even though they’ve already been fulfilled • How the Nephites’ experience of waiting for Christ can mirror our own spiritual waiting • What it actually looks like to prepare for the Second Coming without becoming overwhelmed • Why “filling your lamp” is about spiritual readiness, not checking every box perfectly • How God can stretch our faith while we’re waiting for a promise to be fulfilled • Why studying both a prophecy and its fulfillment can strengthen our confidence in God
I also share some personal experiences about how God has softened my heart through unexpected callings and how different seasons of life have changed the way I study and see His hand in my life. Trusting God’s timing is something I feel like I keep coming back to again and again.
More than anything, this chapter reminded me that God sees the whole picture when I can only see the part I’m currently living. His promises don’t fail just because they take longer than I hoped they would.
If you’ve ever found yourself waiting on God, wondering what you’re supposed to be doing in the meantime, or thinking about how to prepare for the Savior’s return without getting overwhelmed, I think you’ll really enjoy this conversation.
And if you want to take the study a little further, the study guide invites us to choose one prophecy about Jesus Christ and study both the prophecy and its fulfillment. I love this idea because the more we see how faithfully God has kept His promises in the past, the more confidence we can have that He will keep the ones we’re still waiting on.
You can find the study guide here: https://goldenfractures.blogspot.com
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