Hi, everyone.
I'm Sasha.
And I'm Aaron.
Welcome to our live Face to Face event with the cast
members of Studio C.
We are coming to you live from the BYU Broadcasting
Center in Provo, Utah.
Guys, we're so happy to be here with you and with thousands
of other youth from around the world for this event.
And to our guests from Studio C. Thanks for joining us.
Guys, we're so excited that you're here with us.
We're excited to hear your experiences, your testimonies.
We're going to have such a great time doing this.
This event is really about all of you
getting to know the answers to some of your questions
you might have.
So if you guys have any for the cast,
send them our way by using the hashtag #LDSFace2Face,
or go to facetoface.LDS.org.
You can also post your favorite quotes, thoughts,
and pictures that show us how you are participating
in this event.
You can also go and check out the LDS Youth Facebook
page and Instagram.
There you'll get to see some behind-the-scenes footage
of how this event was put together.
We would like to begin with an opening
prayer from Jael Chamberlain.
Dear, kind Heavenly Father, we thank
Thee for this wonderful day, and we
ask Thee to please bless us that we
will be able to have your Spirit here
and that we can be able to ask questions to Studio C
and to just have fun tonight.
And we thank Thee for all that Thou hast done for us,
and we ask Thee to please bless the missionaries
throughout the world that they will be able to find people
to teach and they can soften their hearts
and spread the gospel.
And we thank Thee for all of our many blessings
that Thou hast given us, and we ask Thee for opportunities
to serve.
And we say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Amen.
Now, some of you might know who Studio C is.
But if any of you don't, we've prepared a short video
explaining what these guys do.
Welcome.
Welcome to Studio C.
We're a sketch comedy show like you've never seen before.
We do parodies.
I'll save you, Katniss.
I'm the doctor.
We sing songs.
We do live broadcasts.
We look for pineapples under the sea.
We wear a lot of black.
We give you diet tips.
We believe in hygiene.
We dance.
And, you know, other things too, also, as well.
And we make it so the whole family can watch.
We're happy that you're joining us today on Face to Face,
and we hope that you guys enjoy yourselves.
Peace.
Namaste.
That was awesome.
I would say that.
Before we get into our questions,
we want to give our guests a chance to introduce themselves.
And to do that, we have done some digging
and found pictures of these guys when they were younger.
So Adam, let's start with you.
Hi.
I'm Adam Berg.
That's me three days ago.
And I'm from Highland, Utah.
I'm Jeremy Warner, and I'm from Blackfoot, Idaho.
And that picture is from simpler times.
I'm Natalie Madsen.
I'm from Rochester, Minnesota, and I apparently
hated picture day.
I'm James Perry, and I'm from Sacramento, California.
And I say we bring back the chain necklace.
I'm Jason Gray from Boise, Idaho.
And I wish I looked as cool as James in high school.
I'm Stephen Meek from--why?
No!
From Keller, Texas, and that was an Eagle Scout project there.
I'm Whitney Call from Portland, Oregon.
I could fly away on those bangs.
I'm Matt Meese.
I'm from Phoenix, Arizona.
Those teeth did grow back.
My name is Stacey Harkey.
I'm from Dallas, Texas, and I was terrified.
I'm Mallory Everton.
I am not a natural blonde.
Thanks, guys.
Let's dive into our first question.
Let's do it.
So we've gotten thousands of questions
from youth all over the world in the past couple of days.
And a lot of people know you, but they
don't know how you got started.
So Elaina in Virginia asked, "What inspired you
guys to start Studio C?"
That's a good question.
We all went to BYU together.
We were contemporaries.
And actually, none of us really studied anything--
Acting.
We didn't study at all.
Natalie studied theater education,
and Jeremy and I studied film.
But that's the closest that it comes
to actually majoring in this.
Dentistry.
We all had a very--dentistry, psychology,
engineering--we're all across the board.
So we just did sketch comedy on the side for fun
in a group called Divine Comedy, and it ended up
taking up a lot of our time.
And we really loved it, and we used
to say, "Oh, man, wouldn't it be great if this
could be a job someday?"
And we were like, "Ha, ha, never."
But eventually Matt approached BYU-TV,
and he said, "Would you be interested in some kind
of sketch comedy show?"
And they kind of just lifted our cast and put us right on TV.
So a lot of us were still in college
when we were doing the first couple seasons,
and we slowly graduated as we went through.
So it's just been fun.
We're also getting a lot of questions and statements
that your comedy is clean.
Mariah in Michigan asked, "How do you guys keep your humor
clean and family-friendly?
Can you guys share your thoughts on that
and why is it so important to you to have clean comedy?"
That's a good question.
Yeah.
The funny thing is, we just, like what Mal said,
we got together, and we just wanted to make stuff
that we thought was funny.
And we just have the beliefs and the values that we have,
and because of that, what we think is funny
is also going to be clean.
We're not going to go to the more crass jokes and all
that stuff.
And the reason why we think it's worth building careers on
is because there's a lot of talent out in the world
and a lot of talent in the industry.
But very few of them provide comedy
that is available to adults and kids at the same time
that's funny to all of us but that people can watch together.
So we thought there's a need for it,
and we hope to continue doing it for a long time.
Anyone else want to add to that?
That was pretty good.
I will say that like James said, it's just a testament
that you can be who you are and not have
to sacrifice your standards.
You can be passionate about something
and still be successful at it without having
to sacrifice in some places.
That's a great point.
Our next question has to do with sadness.
And there's a lot of sadness in the world today,
and that's unfortunate.
But your sketches seem to bring a lot of happiness
to people's days, and they brighten up their lives,
and it's really great.
So Spencer from the Philippines wants
to know how you find lasting happiness.
And Nathaniel from Facebook says, "You guys are
cheerful whenever I see you.
Thank you for your positive attitude.
Any ideas for staying cheerful in today's world?"
I'd say that's another good one.
Well, I think it's important to specify we're not always happy.
We often are, and that's what we're hoping for,
but not always, right?
Yeah.
Nobody is.
Right.
So when you see us, we've been dressed nicely and made up,
and we probably aren't happy right now.
And I think the big thing to remember is that like in life,
there are going to be highs and lows, always.
So whenever you're at the high, whenever you're at the bottom,
you just know it's not going to last all that long.
And so this was something I was taught, actually,
right before I went on my mission,
that you're going to have days where it's like--you're just
all over the place.
But the trick would be to ride kind
of like a line that goes kind of steadily upward,
and you're just always kind of feeling good and knowing
that the bad things are going to pass
and the good things are going to continue into eternity.
So just knowing that nothing's going
to be the end of the world.
I have something to add about that.
I think that it's been really interesting with everyone
having social media now.
And really, I feel like the way we might appear
is really similar to what you might
see scanning through your Instagram feed or your Twitter
or your Snapchat.
You're going to see the best snippets of people's days,
and it's going to seem like you're totally alone when
you're unhappy.
But everyone experiences loneliness
and hardship and depression or anxiety sometime
in their lives.
And I think that Matt's right.
That stuff doesn't last forever, and being
able to maintain a hope that these things pass,
that there are ways and things that you can lean on
that will help you get through them, and that ultimately,
even when you're really sad, you can always find peace.
Always.
And that's, I think, one reason why I love the gospel, just
because it gives me a center, so that even when I am really
sad or really depressed--
And I'll be honest.
I've had a lot of struggles in my life with that kind of thing
since I was a little kid.
And I make jokes and I have a good time too,
but it's a high and low situation.
That it's just important to remember that there's always
peace every day.
Even on the sad days, you can find peace, specifically,
I think, through finding--through living
your life in a positive way and interacting in positive ways
with people around you.
I think to that point, the whole idea
of trying to find, "How do I find happiness?"
I think if we take the "I" out of us a little bit more
often--"How do I do something?
How do I become better?"
And if we start focusing on others,
I think it can really lead to a lot of happiness when
you're "How do I make other people happy?"
Thank you, guys.
We have a question from Tarin in Texas.
She asks, "So I'm pretty sure that what you do
requires a lot of self-confidence.
What are your suggestions for someone
who struggles with that?"
That's, like, pretend.
I can't speak for everyone, but I am not that
confident--really, really not.
We get so nervous before our performances.
We even rehearse and work and work,
and it's still--it's something I need to work on constantly,
I know.
I don't want to speak for everyone.
How do you overcome that?
Good question.
I'm sorry to be talking for you.
I have full-on stage fright.
Do you guys know the Dungeons and Dragons sketch?
Have you guys seen that sketch?
I was in tears right up until I walked out on stage.
So I was, like, "Hi, boys," as soon as I got out,
because I get really stressed and really anxious.
I've always been kind of like a little bit
of a neurotic, stressed kind of person.
And over this process, I've felt very blessed
because I've been forced to deal with stage fright.
And I feel like it applies to all types of fear.
Fear is very paralyzing, and it doesn't ever make me better
at what I do--particularly when what I do is,
I'm supposed to look like I'm having fun with everybody.
So I've been able to learn a lot of lessons
about, "You know what?
I'm feeling scared right now, and what can I
do to just remind myself that everything's going to be OK?"
And I just feel like that applies to life, that fear
will never, ever be positive.
So whatever I can do or you can do
to find hope in your daily life, I think is the only way.
Any time you're functioning with some kind of self-doubt
or something like that, thoughts like that
won't make you funnier.
They won't make you more talented.
They won't make you smarter.
But thoughts like, "You know what?
It might be OK, and I'm going to do my best."
Or "You know what?
Failure is not the end of the world.
I have failed so much on this stage, and I'm still here.
People don't hate me, and I'm not dead.
So it will be OK."
And just casting out that fear--it's not worth it.
It won't help you.
And just to add to that, I would totally agree with Mal
and say that for me, keeping a prayer in my heart
while we perform helps me a ton.
And just working on praying and having
a really good relationship with Heavenly Father
helps me know my divine nature.
He loves me so much, and if He loves me so much,
I should love myself.
And that's helped me a lot, just being able to pray and really
connect with Heavenly Father.
I've learned that a ton on the show.
I'm always praying.
Something that's helped me a lot is this
group--we're so supportive of each other.
And I am not a natural.
I was the shyest kid in all my classes growing up.
My teachers that I Facebook now are
shocked that I'm doing this for a living.
But this group is so good.
There's some sketches--like, I remember when I did the Gollum
sketch, and I had to do, like, five different impersonations
and stuff.
But people were so positive with their feedback to me,
and when you have good friends supporting you and giving you
those positive vibes, you really feel like you can do anything.
So I'm grateful for these people.
I'm grateful for the friends I had growing up too that
helped me with [INAUDIBLE].
This next question is a real toughie, you guys,
so just prepare yourselves.
Amanda from Alabama is in a tough spot.
And she says, "I just turned 14, and I
am attending my first regional dance at the end of this month.
What advice do you guys have for me?"
I have lots of bad advice.
Don't go.
Go to the dance.
I could take a stab at this, and I got two words for you.
It's called the stink face.
Let me demonstrate this, all right?
This is a science.
I've put a lot of research into this.
Amanda, I assure you that you're not
the worst dancer in the world.
But if you take the worst dance and put the stink face with it,
it all of a sudden becomes amazing.
Do you want see what I'm talking about?
This is kind of real.
I'm not even kidding.
So everyone's stink face is different.
It's the face you make when you open--like you heard a scurry
in a box three years ago, and then you finally open it
and find it's a rotted raccoon or something.
Like when the smell hits your face?
That's the stink face.
It's different for everyone.
This is mine.
So basically what you do is, you put that with any dance,
and it increases the dance by, like, sevenfold.
I'm going to give you an example.
Can we have some music?
Can we play something I can move to?
OK, this is what it's going to be.
Give me an example of a really weird dance.
It's not what you want to do at a dance, Amanda.
Don't do this.
OK.
But watch when you put the stink face in it.
Can you see that?
This is real life.
I'm not dabbling in the dark arts and doing magic.
This is science.
Do you guys want to see someone else try it?
I need a volunteer.
You.
Come here.
What's your name, buddy?
Liam.
OK, to help me out, Liam and Matt.
First things first.
Let's see your stink face.
You're smelling that rotted raccoon carcass.
Yeah, feel it, Liam.
How bad does it smell, Liam?
Here we go.
Matt, that's nasty.
All right, now I need you guys to do an awkward dance,
something really repetitive.
I'll give my normal dance.
No, you're doing it.
Come on, Liam.
Look at this.
You can do this, Matt.
Easy face.
I wish I had Liam's dance now.
Give us this awkward.
Awkward.
I am being awkward.
Oh, good.
All right, Matt.
Put the stink face in there.
OK.
Let's hear it.
Thanks, Matt.
Amanda, you are now prepared.
And everyone around the world, y'all better see children
at stake dances doing the stink face.
That was awesome, guys.
Our next question is about surviving high school.
And Bethany from Utah wants to know, 'How do you
keep strong to the gospel through your high school
years?"
This is really--I have something to say.
Sorry I'm talking.
When I was in high school, I was one
of the only members of the Church in my high school.
And it was really hard.
I remember--just a memory of a story when I was a freshman.
So I was auditioning for my first high school play,
and I had done some community theater.
I was so nervous.
And I auditioned for this play I wasn't super-familiar with,
and I got the part.
I got one of the leads.
I was so excited.
And I read through the script.
And there's just this one area, this one
scene that I had one little joke, and it was inappropriate.
And I knew I couldn't say it.
And my heart just immediately dropped, and I kind of
thought, "Oh, that's another thing
I can't do as a member of the Church in high school."
And I was really disappointed, and I was just
completely anticipating having to not do the play at all.
And I went home to talk to my mom about it,
and I showed her the part.
And she said, "Well, let's just come up with a better--with
a joke you can say, something that would work.
This isn't going to make or break the plot or anything.
Let's just try to have a solution."
And we did.
I sat with my mom, and I wrote probably one
of my first--officially writing a joke,
which I'd never thought of writing comedy before.
But thanks to my mom and her openness, just to, like,
"Let's just make the standards work"--it doesn't have to be,
"I can't, I can't, I can't."
The standards can open up opportunities
and can make you realize what you can do.
So we rewrote the joke.
I brought it to my first rehearsal,
and I just said, "Hey, I was thinking instead of this,
I could say this."
And everyone laughed a lot, and it made me feel great.
And we used it, and we did the play, and we moved on.
It wasn't a huge deal.
And I remember at the time thinking,
I was so nervous about feeling like I'm too self-righteous
to say--you don't want to seem like you're better than other
people.
But you also really want to live these standards that you really
believe.
And it was a great moment for me to learn that.
It can just be a part of who you are,
and it doesn't have to limit you.
In fact, it's there to help you grow and to be better
and to have better opportunities.
So I'm grateful for that moment.
Always listen to your mom.
I'm been going off of that too, just what
Natalie is saying about how it doesn't have to be a big thing.
I remember in high school just always thinking about,
"How am I looking at other people?
How are other people seeing me when I make this choice?
Does it seem this way to people?"
And the real truth is, everyone is just trying
to make it through high school.
Everyone's just trying to survive
and trying to keep their head above water.
So I just feel like the gospel for me really
was just like a life preserver, because it's
something you can hold on to, and to know
that you have a worth that is eternal,
to know that you have a Heavenly Father who
is omniscient, who knows everything in the universe.
And He is confident in you.
And He believes in you, and He is rooting for you.
I just would think about that all the time
whenever I was like, "How is So-and-so from math class
thinking about me?"
So then you just think, like, we have this gospel.
We have this truth.
And it doesn't have to be something
that you're afraid of what people will think of you.
It can be something that empowers you and makes you
the best version of yourself.
So if you think about it in that way
and how it really is your support and your lifeline,
then maybe hopefully you can be someone else's help
and support when they're just trying
to keep their head above water.
So I think when we all can actually
see outside of ourselves during high school,
those are the people you remember
from high school, the people that had it together and were
helping everyone else out.
Thank you.
Our next question is kind of along those lines.
It's actually about the biggest topic
that we've received questions about.
It's about living in the world but not being of the world.
Sabrina in Illinois shared, "I live in an area
where LDS people are the minority.
Do you have any advice on how I can stand firmly
for my beliefs, even if it means taking
the risk of being ridiculed?"
That's a good question.
We'll take a survey on that question.
I was in the same situation.
I lived in an area where I wasn't
the only member of the Church.
I definitely had some great friends in the Church,
but I had a lot of friends outside of the Church.
And when they knew about my beliefs
and that I was confident in it, they respected it.
And I feel like maybe it's hard if you
don't know how to approach your friends or whatever about it
or how to stand up for what you believe.
And my approach just became, "Oh, I want to do this.
This is important to me."
And when that was clear to them, they were like, "OK, cool.
Let's go have a sleepover," or whatever.
Just one example is when I came to my friend's house,
and there was a few friends meeting there.
And they were watching something--I think it was rated
R or something.
And once I got there, they were like, "Guys, turn it off.
James is here."
And there's two sides of that.
One is, I felt good that my friends respected me.
But the other thing that I felt was, "Oh,
am I being left out of stuff because of it?"
And that--that was one of the things that I thought was
the sacrifice, of "What am I really being left out of?"
And in the end what I realized is,
if I'm left out of anything, it's
something that I've decided that I don't need to be a part of,
and that these friends really did love and respect me
and wanted to encourage me to live my life, for whatever
reason.
So I think you'll find that if you just
stop worrying about what other people will think about it
and say, "This is important to me,"
that people will respect it.
And if they don't, then you don't
need to hang out those people.
Thank you.
Our next big question is about missionary work.
And if you served, could you just say where you served
and what language you spoke?
Taiwan, Taichung, and I spoke Mandarin Chinese.
I went to Tulsa, Oklahoma, and I spoke English.
I went to Milan, Italy.
I spoke Italian.
I went to Argentina and spoke Spanish.
Seoul, South Korea.
I spoke Korean.
Chicago.
English.
Rio de Janeiro.
Portuguese.
Could a few of you share a quick life lesson that you learned
or something that, like, really changed
your life on your mission?
Yeah, I have a story that always comes to mind.
And missions are so great.
The mission was two whole years of--there's tons
of experiences, so picking one is difficult.
And just know that when you go on your mission,
you're going to experience so many things,
so many hard things too.
And there was a point on my mission
where I just turned senior companion.
I was having a really hard time adjusting to taking
on that extra responsibility.
There was this one day where I was
feeling really frustrated and very angry
at what was going on.
And I wasn't quite sure how to handle that.
And I could tell that it was really affecting
the way that I was working.
I was really having a hard time just getting through the day,
just feeling so angry.
And my junior companion, Mark Holmes--I love you.
We just stopped proselyting for a second.
And he's like, "When I feel really angry, I just
stop and try to think of everything I'm grateful for."
And just talking about gratitude and all the good things
in your life will just change your heart and your mind,
just everything going on inside you.
So we stopped, and I was like, "I've
been talking about all these things that are going wrong,
and I hate them."
But once I started saying, "I'm grateful for all
these many, many things," I found
that that list was so much longer,
and I could appreciate what good there
was in my life at that time.
And it's really affected how I approach challenging situations
ever since then.
It's just like, this is really hard,
but there are good things.
And if you focus on that, it really makes a difference.
Awesome.
Can we get one more?
Yeah, if I could add--I loved my mission experience very much.
And I agree there were things that challenged me,
and that's good.
And when I came out into the mission field,
I thought I could speak well; I could communicate clearly.
And I was speaking English, so I have a big advantage.
"I'm going to hit the ground running," I thought.
But it turns out people don't join the Church--they
don't become converted to the gospel because you're good
at talking.
That doesn't happen ever.
What happens is, the Holy Ghost moves upon them,
and they feel it.
And they have a testimony of the truthfulness of the things
you're saying.
Whether you're saying them well or poorly,
you are just being used in that moment,
and the Holy Ghost is the thing that converts people.
So for me, it took a while--I think, honestly,
four to six months, maybe, before I realized I needed
to get out of the way of this message and just share it
sincerely and share my faith and my testimony and know that
the Holy Ghost is going to touch those people's hearts.
I don't know if anyone is thinking along those lines.
If you're about to serve a mission
and you think you're talented, that's great that you are.
It doesn't matter.
That's great, guys.
A follow-up question.
Not everyone has the opportunity to go
and serve a full-time two-year mission out abroad.
So this question is about everyday missionaries.
And Hannah from Japan asks, "Have you
had any missionary experiences through Studio C?"
And Janae on Instagram asked if you
have had any experiences where you've shared
your testimony through work.
I know one of the main things that we
wanted to do when we started, when we started
making the show, was one, we really
wanted people to be able to watch with their families.
But another thing we really wanted was to just let people
know that Mormons are normal--that we laugh,
we have a good time.
And you can still do sketch comedy if you're Mormon,
and you can still be in the arts and the film industry and stuff
like that.
And I've definitely had some experiences, even just
reading comments, being able to see
that we at least are having some impact in that way.
People are approaching the show not knowing we're members,
and then finding out and realizing, "Oh, man, I
pictured you way differently, like 'wearing a pioneer dress'
differently."
I'm just a firm believer that when
you live your life in a way that's congruent
or in line with your standards, you
won't be able to stop people from knowing who you are.
So that's super-important to me, be it on Instagram or whatever.
I have spiritual moments that I'm like,
"Oh, this is really cool.
I just want to share it."
And I'm not, like, "Don't drink coffee, world."
I'm just [INAUDIBLE] the things that are important to me
and inspiring.
And more often than not, they line up with the gospel.
I feel like I informally share my testimony
by living what I believe.
Just to kind of piggyback on that
and what was asked earlier about living your standards too.
I just think that there is honestly, just in my experience
making friends in and out of the Church,
there's just nothing cooler than somebody
who knows who they are.
So you really can be confident in the gospel.
If you know who you are and you stand for it,
people will legitimately think that's pretty cool.
And if they don't, you don't need them.
That's true.
They've got enough problems--
Especially right now.
You're going to remember, like, two people from high
school--that's it.
Cool.
You're all going to get amnesia.
I remember three people.
Well, in high school, we have to get along with our parents,
right?
Derek in Utah asks, "How do you guys
keep a good relationship with your parents
through high school?"
How did you guys do that?
Through high school?
When I was in high school, I wasn't very popular.
So I stayed home all the time.
And guess who's at home?
Your parents.
But my parents are always very open
and talk to me about things, and just
having that line of communication,
I think, just being able to confide in your parents
and talk to them and listening to them.
Generally your parents want what's best for you.
You might not think that.
But I am a parent now, and I can tell you that--I'm putting
on my parent hat--that your parents just want the best
for you.
And just show them respect, and hopefully they'll respect you.
The question was "How do you have a good relationship
with your parents?"
Right?
Somewhere in there is the answer.
Can I just add to that?
When I was growing up, there was always the attitude of--I
always knew my parents loved me, no questions asked.
But trust is something you have to earn from your parents.
And I think that's true of any relationships, even as adults.
There's people in my life--I love them, no matter what.
But trust is something that is earned, that you
have to be very aware of.
It's a two-way street.
So if you want your parents to trust you,
you have to trust them.
You have to prove to them that you're worth trusting.
And that's something I wish I knew
when I was a teenager, because I was like, "Why don't you
just trust me?"
I remember saying that all the time.
Maybe I didn't deserve it.
I knew that they loved me, but I remember that frustration.
So just like Jeremy said, your parents
want what's best for you.
And everyone wants the same goal,
to just be a family forever.
When you get to the common denominator,
you can find some common ground.
The next question has to do with parenthood as well.
We've had a lot of questions about Studio C cast members
who are parents.
How many of you have kids?
I do.
Five of us?
What's it like being a parent?
And do you guys have any counsel for us on being a parent
and how we can become better parents when we're older?
The question was how--
Any counsel for us as we are going
to grow up and become parents?
I think, just know that whatever it is that you accomplish
with your life, nothing is--
I almost fell over.
Adam is so on the edge of his seat for the future.
You should be too.
No, whatever it is you accomplish with your life,
nothing is going to compare to being a parent.
So being on the show--that's my family right there.
Those are my children and my wife, and that's a dog.
But ultimately, nothing compares to being a parent.
And it's a sacred responsibility, and it's great.
I agree.
I have two kids, and I had my first right
when Studio C started.
So Studio C and motherhood have been the same thing for me,
and it's been really interesting.
It was never in the plan, and that was never
something I thought of.
But motherhood--yeah, that's my family.
So I've learned a lot about myself
and about what it is to be parents,
and it's not what you expect.
And it's wonderful.
So I think just learning that Heavenly Father has
a plan for you, and He's going to mold and shape your life
the way that it needs to be.
And the way that you know that you're doing the right thing
is with you and your spouse being prayerful,
making small decisions along the way
to make sure you're always feeling
right about what's happening.
I am choosing to have a career.
My husband also works.
And we're a partnership.
We work it out, and it's because we
know that we have this gospel to thread our family together,
to keep it together.
And I would say the gospel, the whole plan of salvation,
is all about your family.
Everything that we've been given is to enable happy families.
And when you think about that, your family
has to be your number-one priority.
And it's really wonderful.
It's brought me a lot of eternal joy.
That's wonderful.
I think Whitney has something to add.
I was just going to add that now having a child,
it's made me realize a little bit more,
like a tiny scintilla of how Heavenly Father feels about us.
I have the cutest baby.
I was just thinking--this thought that was brought up
to me by a friend about how Heavenly Father loves us
so much.
And he said, "When you first held your boy in your arms,
you loved him so much.
But it wasn't because he did anything.
He was a newborn.
He couldn't do anything."
In fact, he pooped on me right away.
"You said you loved your little boy
so much because he was yours."
I'm sorry, I'm getting emotional.
And it's just made me realize even more my relationship
with my Heavenly Father.
He loves you so much because you're His,
not because you did anything, not because you achieved
some status in this life.
He loves you because you're His children.
So knowing that that's the relationship He has with us,
that's the relationship I'm striving for with my son.
It really does just open your heart.
It expands your soul when you're able to feel
that for more people on this earth,
and it just makes me want to start
feeling that for more and more people,
because it's such an enlargening?
Enlarging feeling?
It makes you feel whole.
It makes you just feel as big as the universe.
So that's how God feels about us.
And that's an empowering feeling.
Awesome.
This question actually just came in from Angel on YouTube.
They ask, "For the Studio C cast members who are single,
what are the most important qualities
that you look for in an eternal companion?"
This is a little bit of a weird question.
I think "single."
Matt always talks about how he needs someone who's kind,
and I think that's an important quality that people should know
they need to develop in themselves, just being kind,
because I don't think it gets any easier as life goes on.
It's something you have to work at,
and if you can be the kind of person that you want,
then you'll probably find someone that's compatible.
I'm single, though, so I say "probably."
I just want to add, I think it's important to find someone
of course, who you're attracted to--but also this list
of things that are important to you, like being kind.
But what's more important in this time, what
you have more control over, is who you are as a person.
And I think this is very integral to that.
This should be your time to be working on yourself and being
the kind of person that you would like to be with.
So yeah, it's important to look, and it's
fun to go on dates and stuff, but it's
more important to work on yourself.
Thank you.
Our next question has to do with breaking character
on your skits.
And Jonathan from the United Kingdom--
Is this specific to someone?
We'll find out.
Jonathan from the United Kingdom wants
to know, "When doing your sketches,
how do you stop yourself from laughing out loud?"
Some of us don't.
Some of us are having such a good time, we can't help it.
There's a correlation, though, between when I break character
and Jason's proximity to me.
So it's a two-way street.
I'm not completely guilty.
He knows that I'm weak, though, and he preys upon me.
I can sense that he starts to--his mouth has this little
twitch, and I'm, like, "Oh, it's coming," and then I just,
like--
Jason looks like a vulture.
Well, why don't we watch a video?
That's what I want.
That's a great idea.
This is my watch.
Dude, there's no way.
"To my grandson Jeremy."
OK, this is probably just a misunderstanding.
Maybe you left it at his house.
Did you leave this at his house?
Hey!
I swear I saw him smirk from the grave.
Bro, this is my little pony!
Come on, tell us what you did today, sweetheart.
I made the track team.
What was that?
I made the track team.
That is wonderful.
Yeah, way to go, son.
Congratulations, brother.
You must be proud.
And then my father bent down and whispered into my tiny ear,
"You can cry now.
And open up your lungs."
Oh, look at me.
I get my armor from Forever 21.
Oh.
Say that again?
I'm seeing bats!
Yeah.
We were dying so much during the Batman sketch.
And what you don't know is that Natalie
just hulked out and legitimately slammed
Jason's head into that thing.
It cracked the table.
So hard that Jason forgot his lines.
I thought I had a better grip, but--
You had a great grip.
The grip wasn't the problem.
Well, you guys obviously have a great time together.
Maybe harming each other, but that's OK.
On a more spiritual note, Danielle on Facebook
asked, "Is Studio C a place where
you guys can feel the Spirit?
How important is it to you for your work environment
to be a place where the Spirit can dwell?"
Oh, that's a good question.
That's really good.
Jason touched on this, that we have
a really supportive community here
and that we're really good to each other.
We've known each other for a long time.
We're like family.
So I feel like I wouldn't really be
able to do my job without the Spirit,
because it's basically happiness, peace, and joy,
and I just equate all of that with the Spirit.
And any time, like I was saying before, I'm
feeling other things, like fear or doubt or anger
or frustration, that stuff gets crowded out,
and I feel like I can't be creative.
So I actually feel like it's pretty necessary
that we were able to maintain a happiness and a peace
with each other, and a safe space,
because we take a lot of risks and we try a lot of dumb stuff.
So it's really nice to feel safe and calm with each other.
Do you guys have any tips for us on how
we can incorporate the Spirit into our lives more
and how we can feel it more in our lives?
I think asking for it is obviously the first step,
but it's often one that I think we might forget.
I ask for help when I write a sketch.
And because I need it, one, and two,
I feel like there's an infinite number of ideas in the world,
and by offering a prayer and asking for some inspiration,
why wouldn't I receive some inspiration on that?
So I feel like just asking the Lord for the things that we
want that are good--He's told us, "Do that,
and you will receive those things."
I 100 percent believe that.
I know that's true.
I'd just like to add, something that's huge for me that affects
my whole day is--it's going to sound like such a seminary
answer, but if I don't read my scriptures in the morning--and
I'm always talking about, "I've got to read my scriptures.
I'm feeling terrible today."
We say it all the time.
We'll be playing Smash.
We'll be playing video games, and Stacey will be, like,
"Guys, I've got to read my scriptures.
I don't say it because I'm, like, checking off a list,
but it legitimately affects my day.
It helps me feel that peace and that comfort that's
so essential.
And that is something that affects work,
because I'm going to work and I take that vibe with me.
Thank you, guys.
This next question has to do with adversity,
and it's specifically also for Jason.
And you guys can add later; don't worry.
But Chad from Idaho has a question for you.
He asked, "During your daughter's critical time
in the intensive care unit, what helped you
get through that experience?"
Well, Chad, you're from Idaho, so I respect you, man.
This is going to be a harder one.
As some of you may know, my daughter
had a brain aneurysm last December,
so we went from having this super-healthy little girl
to not knowing if she was going to live.
And we brought her to the Provo hospital.
And my wife and her had to go on a life flight.
They had to be helicoptered to Salt Lake,
to Primary Children's.
So they left, and I felt just so alone.
It was just so scary and a pain that I didn't think
was possible.
But I can testify to the power, the peace
that the Atonement can bring, that priesthood can bring.
James drove me to the hospital, and I was just a wreck.
I was just--I was in shock.
And they asked if I wanted to give my wife a blessing,
and I couldn't because I was going through shock.
And one of the writers on Studio C, who's not up here,
but he's a good friend--Dave Vance--he gave me a blessing
so that I could give a blessing.
I didn't even know the priesthood worked that way.
But it definitely does.
And I just felt this overwhelming peace as he gave
me this blessing that no matter what happened,
even if she had to go back to heaven--because sometimes that
happens.
Even the most righteous people in the world
lose their loved ones.
It's not about righteousness.
But I felt this peace that no matter what happened,
I'd be OK.
And I was able to give my wife a blessing,
and then I was able to give my daughter a blessing.
What I learned through adversity,
no matter what you're going through,
is that someone out there has already experienced it for you
and can relate to you perfectly.
So no matter how bad it gets, there's someone who is ready
to give you that peace, and it's up to you to--He is ready
at the door to give it to you.
So just pray and rely on your close relationships and loved
ones, and it'll come.
Thank you.
Does anyone else have any other stories or things like that?
I kind of want to just add to that a little bit.
We're all crying.
It was an experience for everybody.
But I think the lesson for the rest of the cast,
with that experience, is just how to be there for someone.
And how do you help someone through like a really hard
challenge like that?
I think the key is just to be there.
You don't have to do anything magical or even big,
but just being with someone during that time
really makes a difference.
I've been on the receiving end of that too,
so I feel like often when something really big
like that happens to someone, people just
don't know what to do.
So my advice would just be--be there.
Thank you, guys.
Many youth are familiar with how the Savior can help us overcome
sin and adversity and trials.
But many don't rely enough on His strength
to overcome our challenges.
Eve from New Mexico wants to know, "How have you
used the Atonement of Jesus Christ
to help with your problems?" [INAUDIBLE] from India
asks, "How has the Atonement influenced you individually?"
I feel like often when we use the word Atonement,
to us it almost seems like this big, abstract thing out there,
that we know Christ suffered the Atonement.
It's this huge miracle that applies to the entire world.
We think about it just out there and distanced,
but I think He wants us to feel it very personally.
He wants us to feel close to Him because He
suffered the Atonement very personally for you.
So I try to use the Atonement in everything.
I know that some things may seem really stupid.
I have not gone through nearly any kind of trial
that some people have in this world.
But I also know that Christ knows how certain things hurt
me and how certain things challenge me and make
me feel like I can't quite get to that place
where He is even though He might be reaching out for me.
So I think even in sin, too, sometimes
we shy away from the Atonement because we're embarrassed.
We're like, "I'm so sorry, Christ.
I'm so sorry, Heavenly Father, that I hurt you this way,
and I keep doing it over and over and over.
I'm just being stupid."
That's how I feel all the time.
But Christ is just waiting for you
to take advantage of this gift that He gave you.
And every time you use the Atonement,
it's bringing Christ into your soul, into your life.
It becomes this very personal--it's almost like
a three-legged race where you are with Christ.
He's in this with you.
He's bound himself to you because He's
going through that exact same experience with you.
Not even you and your neighbor could
have gone through the exact same trial,
but He went through it for you, and He went through it
for your neighbor.
So I feel like whatever it is, don't think,
"Is this big enough for the Atonement?" or "Am
I worthy for the Atonement?"
Just use it, because that's what it's there for.
I was going to say, I think Whitney's right too.
It's sometimes hard to be like, "How do I use the Atonement?
Atonement--how do you tap into that?"
And personally, my experience for me--we are all
so imperfect, and we make mistakes.
We make tons of them.
For me, how I use it is, in one aspect,
I try my best, which isn't really that good.
But I try my best.
And then I, like, almost remove that stress
and just trust that the Lord will help me.
And that is so much easier said than done.
It's so easy to say, "Don't worry,"
but to actually not worry about big things that are going on
is really hard.
But that's the key for me, to try my best and to trust.
And trying my best means doing what
I can to stay close to the Lord and just to trust in Him
and just believe.
I think, honestly, on top of all the other stuff
that the Atonement does, one huge thing for me
is the feeling of being different,
just the feeling like I'm not like anyone else.
No one can really understand me.
Maybe no one wants to, and maybe the world doesn't need me.
That kind of thing.
And I worried a lot about that in high school.
And sometimes I still worry about it.
But the more I use the Atonement in the sense of having
a relationship with Heavenly Father and knowing that He
cares that much and that Christ did that for me--because
sometimes we all try to be part of the group.
We all try to fit in.
We want to understand each other.
And it makes sense; it's a social thing.
But being completely just you, and you're
the only one that's like you, is one of the most
beautiful parts of life.
I'm on the verge of crying.
One of those beautiful parts of life
is that you're the only one who's you,
and the world needs you.
But the other side of it is, sometimes
that makes you feel so lonely.
We have a brand-new question that just came in, just now.
And it is from Jaden from Idaho, who is watching tonight
and asks, "I am not a member, and I'm
interested in the Church.
I watch your show all the time and love you guys so much.
My question is, how can I show Christlike love
to someone who has wronged me?"
So a few years back, when I graduated from college,
my wife was hit by a car, by a person on heroin, and--
His wife was at a bus stop, not in the car.
Yeah, she was standing on the sidewalk.
And that moment, that whole experience,
was very hard for me.
And I didn't handle it very well.
And I was full of anger and I was full of hate.
And I never--I didn't eventually show Christlike love to this
person, but I think the Atonement of Christ and just
my faith in God has helped me eventually let go of that anger
and that hate because somebody wronged you.
Don't let their actions eat at you
and make it so that you can't be the best
person that you can be.
And once--it took years to get past that moment--but
eventually, I've come to the point where I could forgive
and, I think, just try to move beyond it.
And just have faith that in the end,
everything's going to work out.
I have something to add to that.
When I was younger--I won't go into specifics,
but I was wronged.
And I had a lot of confusion and frustration
afterward for a long time, not understanding
this person and how they could do what they did.
And when I was older, I watched this person serve someone
that I really loved, my brother, who's been through a lot.
And it just opened my eyes to the fact that when
we're not--when we dehumanize someone who's wronged us
by turning them into the thing that they did to us instead
of a person who can change, we're not putting our trust
in the Atonement.
We're not preventing that power to be able to--not that you can
prevent the Atonement working for someone else--but just that
we're missing a piece there.
And it just made me realize that anytime someone wrongs you,
they are just as full of potential and hope
for being better and for improving as you are.
And they might make different mistakes from you,
but you are the same.
And it was a really beautiful experience for me.
And it just reminded me that God loves everybody, and the reason
why is because we can all do what He did.
We can all change.
Thank you for all of that.
That was wonderful.
We have a question that just came in from Stephen
on LDS.org.
He asks, "What have been some of your most memorable experiences
being a part of Studio C?"
This is a happy question.
Straight up, I love what I do so much.
But part of what I love about this--these little stinkers I
work with.
And it makes those bad days so much better being
surrounded by people that you love, and I love you.
What are you laughing at?
No, I was just thinking of--recently,
the Batman sketch.
It hasn't been released yet.
Oh, I wasn't there.
But it was a nightmare of a shoot.
It was the most freezing-cold day of the summer.
It was raining all night, right?
It was a night.
It was raining.
We filmed all night long.
So whenever you see a sketch that is at nighttime,
we started when it became dark, and we
finish when it becomes light.
So all night.
And it was raining, and it was weirdly cold for August
or whenever it was.
There was that fire.
We may or may not have started the fire.
But I was just like, "I'm just so glad that I'm
doing this with these people.
Otherwise I just might quit."
And it was really legitimately fun.
I had a lot of fun.
But in a different situation, looking at it a different way
with different people, I might be like,
"This is the worst thing."
So the best thing for me [INAUDIBLE] are these people.
I get all cheesy, man.
It's true.
We're the best.
I think one advantage that we have, too, is,
we get a lot of feedback about what we're doing.
So we'll get people who write in to the show
and tell us how we have personally helped them.
And that's amazing because I feel
like no other time in my life do I have people who then
write me and say, "Hey, that one thing that you
did on August 12, 2008, really helped me through this."
But we have people who tell us all the time
how the things they're struggling with,
really hard things, that being really stupid on a stage
has helped them.
And that's awesome.
So I can't imagine that something
that I have chosen to do that seems so foolish and crazy
has been able to help people.
And then I get to hear back about it,
because then it just makes me feel--I wish everyone could
hear about the good that you do for other people,
because if you got the feedback that we get all the time,
you'd be like, "I'm doing OK."
Can I add to that?
I would encourage everyone to do that,
because I just had my birthday, and I
got tons of very specifically nice things said to me.
And I was like, "Oh, man, if people
did this for their accountant or whatever,
it would be really cool.
It would be awesome if we just did
that for everyone that was important in our lives,
that we took the time to let them know how and why they're
important to us."
It's awesome, the power that you can have to do good.
Thank you.
Well, guys, this hour has really flown by.
It's almost over, but before we go,
we have one last question for you.
We are so grateful for all the advice you guys have given
tonight and even Stacey's dance moves, which are
helpful to all of us, I think.
Amanda, I want to hear back.
Alabama.
But the last thing that youth want to know
is, we've been asked to hear some advice
and counsel from you guys.
And Elisa from Texas asked, "What are the most
important things to remember in school, and what
is your advice for us today?"
If I can real quick--I think having perspective for me,
at least, has been everything.
So David faces Goliath, and Goliath is huge,
but God is bigger infinitely than any Goliath
that you may face.
So I think that just keeping that perspective
and knowing that you are not just you.
You can be with God, and through the Atonement of Jesus Christ,
you can be stronger than anything
that you're going to face.
And that is real.
That has been real in my life.
I would say, be the best you ever.
You don't have to be anybody else.
You don't have to live the gospel exactly
like somebody else.
It won't look the same on any person.
So I would just say, whatever you
can do to not compare yourself to other people, do it,
because being yourself is so great.
That's what you're supposed to do.
So just embrace yourself, because it's the best.
I think, always do your best at everything that you do.
Don't do something if you're not going to give it your all.
I would just say, quality of friends
is more important than quantity.
I had a really hard time in middle school.
I had a bully who was a girl, which made it even worse.
But fortunately I found a group of really just two or three
really close friends that we went through high school
together.
And they kind of rescued me.
I was getting picked on so much that I was, like,
faking sick because I didn't want to go to school.
It was a really tough time.
But fortunately I had some friends that reached out to me.
And if you have the opportunity to reach out
to maybe someone you see that's getting bullied
or who just needs a friend, I would
encourage you to do that because it
could make a huge difference in that person's life.
Just to tack on that--I was incredibly shy growing up.
I couldn't talk to people without just sweating
through my body.
And what really helped me was when
I stopped caring as much what people thought,
because I realized that it didn't really affect me.
And then I stepped outside of my comfort zone.
And I wish I would have known that, because that transformed
me into who I am today.
Anyone else have any--
I would just say something I wish I knew sooner in life.
It's just like, you're not alone,
even though I feel--at least, most everybody feels very
alone, maybe a lot of the time.
And it's so challenging to branch out and love people,
because that makes you vulnerable.
But there are your family, hopefully some good friends,
and just people in general.
There's a lot of love to be had, to share.
And you don't have to be alone.
And even if you can't find anyone,
you always have your Heavenly Father.
Thank you so much.
Anyone--
And to piggyback off that, because what I wanted to say
is, build a relationship with your Heavenly Father,
however you want to do that.
And exactly like Mal said, you will do it differently
than other people will do it.
If yours is "I'm praying this many times,"
or "In this situation I always pray," or "In this situation
I always pull out my scriptures,"
whatever works for you is what works for you,
and that is fantastic.
And Heavenly Father wants to find you
and wants you to come to Him any way you can.
You'll figure out how to best have a relationship with Him.
It's always worth it.
I echo everything.
I was going to say, I think, be endlessly kind.
Just be kind as much as you can to everyone.
I think it's really easy to burn a bridge just
by saying something that you don't mean to say.
You know, just take care of other people.
And I think when you do that, you're going to find yourself
in the right place.
Thank you, guys, so much for all of your insights
and testimonies and experiences.
I know I felt the Spirit here.
Thank you for your examples of being ourselves
and trusting Heavenly Father and our parents.
We're really grateful, and I know that I'll take all of this
into my life.
Thank you.
Thank you for having us.
You made us cry.
Thanks, guys.
We love you very much.
We do appreciate you.
It's been great.
And to all the youth out there, we
are so grateful that you guys tuned in to watch this event.
If nothing else, know that God loves you guys,
and tune in for our next event.
See you.