September 21, 2025 • 52 mins
What if the struggle that nearly broke you was the path God used to bring you back to His light?
Aussie mom and former maximum-security corrections officer, Jac Woodhouse, hit rock bottom in a myriad of ways—dehumanizing workplace misogyny, parting from a 15-year career, navigating her son’s serious health challenges, and fighting her own battle with suicidal ideation. It felt as though one more misstep would’ve broken the camel’s back, until one tender mercy flipped everything around for the better.
In this week’s episode of Latter-Day Lights, Jac walks Scott and Alisha through the quiet signs the Lord placed in her life that eventually set her on the covenant path. What started out as an encounter with a Plan of Salvation pamphlet on her son’s nightstand turned into a beautiful chain reaction—Church with neighbors turned into missionary lessons, which turned into a family baptism. Now, she and her husband serve weekly at the Sydney Australia Temple and in their ward, choosing faith over fear each day.
If Jac’s journey resonates with you, let it be a reminder that God is in the details and the mundane. So the next time life feels heavy, look for a small sign and move toward it. Often, that’s enough.
*** Please SHARE Jac's story and help us spread hope and light to others. ***
To WATCH this episode on YouTube, visit: https://youtu.be/Z7eowq3MK68
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To READ Jac's media interview on News AU, visit: https://www.news.com.au/finance/work/at-work/former-prison-guard-lifts-lid-on-life-inside-goulburns-notorious-supermax/news-story/3357e33af12015fa58f40391490fccdd
To READ Jac's media interview on ABC AU, visit: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-02-06/nsw-corrective-services-toxic-boys-club-culture/11934444?utm_source=abc_news_app&utm_medium=content_shared&utm_campaign=abc_news_app&utm_content=link
To READ Scott’s new book “Faith to Stay” for free, visit: https://www.faithtostay.com/
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Also, if you have a faith-promoting or inspiring story, or know someone who does, please let us know by going to https://www.latterdaylights.com and reaching out to us.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Scott Brandley (00:00):
Hey there as a Latter-day Lights listener, I
want to give you a very specialgift today my brand new book,
faith to Stay.
This book is filled withinspiring stories, powerful
discoveries and even freshinsights to help strengthen your
faith during the storms of life.
So if you're looking to beinspired, uplifted and
(00:21):
spiritually recharged, justvisit faithtostaycom.
Now let's get back to the show.
Hey everyone, I'm ScottBrandley.
Alisha Coakley (00:32):
And I'm Alisha Coakley.
Every member of the church hasa story to share, one that can
instill faith, invite growth andinspire others.
Scott Brandley (00:40):
On today's episode we're going to hear how
years of trials taught onefamily that sometimes even the
rockiest paths can lead to themost beautiful destinations.
Welcome to Latter-day Lights.
Hey everyone, welcome back toanother episode of Latter-day
(01:04):
Lights.
We're so glad that you're withus today and we're really
excited to introduce our specialguest all the way from
Australia, jack Woodhouse.
Jack, welcome.
Hi guys G'day mate.
Jac Woodhouse (01:18):
G'day.
How are you?
Alisha Coakley (01:22):
We're good.
I'm curious, curious.
How is it living in the future?
Jac Woodhouse (01:27):
yes, yes, literally I am in the future.
So, um yeah, nothing much toreport, so it's all good so far
world hasn't ended yet.
Alisha Coakley (01:36):
Good to know we still got what?
Uh, 15 hours no something likethat.
Scott Brandley (01:43):
You've got a 15 hour heads up hey, but if the
world doesn't tell us as soon asyou find out, okay, give us a
heads up you'll be the first oh,man, well, jack, thanks so much
for reaching out to us all theway from Australia.
Alisha Coakley (02:02):
We always love when we find out that we
literally are global right, thatthe podcast has reached far
across the seven seas there'sseven, no, oh all across the
oceans, all across the lands.
We love hearing that Latter-dayLights is.
(02:23):
We love hearing that thatlottery lights is literally
lighting the world with storiesfrom guests like you.
So thanks so much for reachingout and being willing to share
your story today.
Um, before we jump into whatyou're going to talk to us about
, we'd love to know a little bitmore about you yeah, so I am,
(02:43):
um, a mom in in Australia.
Jac Woodhouse (02:45):
I live in New South Wales and I have three
sons one who's 27.
He's technically my stepson,but I've pretty much raised him.
And then my husband and I havetwo other boys 17 and 15.
17-year-old has disabilitiesand issues and health issues and
(03:07):
so on.
But, yeah, we live here inNewcastle, new South Wales, now
for the last 10 years.
My husband was originally froma regional town in Goulburn,
which is where I met him, andyeah, we've been members of the
church now since 2020.
We were baptised as a family inFebruary 2020, just before
(03:28):
COVID opened up, and yeah, sothat was a really interesting
time to go through to join thechurch and then, basically,
everything was shut down and wecouldn't access anything and we
were kind of left floating for awhile.
And, yeah, it was a veryinteresting time.
My husband's a builder and,yeah, we just basically doing
(03:51):
our best to keep our heads abovewater each and every day and do
our best to serve others andserve our ward and, yeah, just
just try and endure to the end,so to speak.
Alisha Coakley (04:05):
That's awesome.
Well, I've said it before onthe show, I'll say it again
Anytime that I hear that youhave three or more boys instant
entry into heaven.
Like you've done your duediligence, there's literally
nothing you could do on thisearth that would send you to
hell, because I'm sure you'vealready been through your own
little version of it from timeto time.
Jac Woodhouse (04:26):
Well, if that's the theory, then I should
actually get further meritbadges, because our eldest son
actually just had they just hadtheir third son, so we have
three grandsons as well.
So yeah.
So we've.
I said to my daughter-in-law tobe a female in this family, you
just have to marry in.
You can't be born into thisfamily, it's just boys.
Alisha Coakley (04:50):
Wow.
Scott Brandley (04:52):
Oh man.
Alisha Coakley (04:54):
Oh man, yeah, Yep, yep, you get bonus points
for that, for sure.
Well, we would love to hearmore about this family of yours
and the journey that you guyswent through.
So we'll go ahead and put youfront and center and let you
tell us where your story began.
Jac Woodhouse (05:14):
Okay, so basically I reached out to you
guys based on a talk that I gaveat state conference a couple of
years ago where I was asked togive a bit of a background
because we're we were reasonablynew members as a family.
Um, so I guess the story startswhere in Goulburn, my husband
(05:34):
and I were prison officers for15 years.
You know, maximum security jail.
We often get a bit of a joketelling, telling that you know
we met in jail.
Scott Brandley (05:46):
Nice.
Jac Woodhouse (05:48):
Yeah, that always .
Alisha Coakley (05:53):
Which explains why you could handle three kids
that are all boys, and then nowthree grandboys too, because you
just dealt with, you know,rough and tough.
Jac Woodhouse (06:00):
Yeah, perhaps.
Yeah, I mean, it's one of theoldest jails in Australia and
maximum security and so on.
So I transferred down there in1999 and met my now husband,
brad, and I had envisaged that Iwould have a future in that
(06:22):
industry, that I loved it.
Despite how hard it was andchallenging it was, I loved it
and I was working my way upthrough management and getting
promotions and so on and 2007,.
I went for a promotion and Iwas promoted into middle
(06:44):
management.
Now to set the scene, I guess,with the way it is in the jail
system and still is, butespecially back then it was very
much a I hate saying a boys'club, very misogynistic, very,
you know, there weren't manywomen in that system, in that
(07:06):
environment at the time, letalone in management.
So I went for the promotion andI was promoted, which made me
one of three female managers atthe time out of about 25 and I
was also the youngest by manyyears.
And around the same time that Iwas promoted I found out I was
(07:30):
pregnant with our middle childand so, yeah, it was made for a
really interesting time cominginto that.
So there weren't a lot of othermanagers that were very happy
about my promotion.
So you can imagine that thatkind of set into effect a whole,
(07:50):
I guess the best way it wasgoing.
It put us on a very challengingpath because my husband was
also obviously a prison officer,but he was of a low rank.
Because my husband was alsoobviously a prison officer, but
he was of a lower rank.
So there were lots of thingsthat came into play where he
(08:13):
became collateral damage in hiscareer as well, through all the
efforts that were extended to me, I guess, to try and push me
out of the position that I wasin, to try and push me out of
the position that I was in, totry and challenge me.
And then, when I was, I had tolet them know that I was
pregnant.
They'd never actually had amanager who'd been in that
(08:37):
position.
They'd never had.
So not only did they have ayoung female in management that
they didn't want there, thenthey had to deal with a young
female manager who was havingchildren and having all of those
issues.
So it basically was just, itwas the perfect storm, I guess
is the best way to put it.
(08:58):
And so then my son was born, orour son was born in 2008.
And there were a lot of thingsthat were done wrong and and
that you know I missed out on alot of things that I should have
been afforded during mymaternity leave and things like
that, and I'm probably skippingover a lot, but I don't want to
(09:19):
bore people um with the, the,the ins and outs, um, I came
back to, came back to work afterhis birth and I was put into
situations and positions andplaces where, for example, I
just had, you know, I had anewborn at home and I was put
(09:42):
into managing a child sexoffender's wing, things like
that.
These were sort of the thingsthat that these other people in
management were trying to do tobreak me effectively.
They were trying to put me into.
So I was having to manage theseinmates who had done horrific
things to children and babiesand so on, that I was having to
(10:05):
manage them and at the same time, I've got a newborn at home
that you know I'm sitting theredealing with these inmates that
all I could picture was my ownnewborn.
So it was a very challengingtime, meant like really played
with me mentally and emotionally.
At the same time, there werejust lots of other pressures
coming in that you know I shouldhave been given leeway and
(10:27):
allowances, which I wasn't.
I was just expected to toe theline like every other manager,
so it just made it really.
It was basically the start oflike me mentally breaking down.
I was put onto a path of mentalillness, which made it really
(10:49):
difficult.
And then so the son that I waspregnant with when I was
promoted.
He's had a lot of health issues.
He was born with somedisabilities and health issues,
serious health issues.
We nearly lost him the day thathe was born, so that
complicated things as well, likeprivately.
(11:09):
So then, with the culminationof all these pressures at work
and privately at home, with hishealth and his issues, we had
decided that we had been tryingfor another child, and it got so
bad that my husband and I bothmade the decision that we were
(11:31):
going to stop trying, that itwas just too much happening.
And then the very next day, loand behold, found out I was
pregnant with our third son andI was just sent into a massive
spin, spin of you know.
Oh, my goodness, how am I goingto do this?
How are we going to cope?
I haven't been coping so far,um and yeah.
(11:55):
So then we were.
We had this third child to umnow take into the mix and this
is part of what plays into ourtestimony because, jumping
forward, it was our third sonwho was effectively responsible
(12:16):
for helping us find the church.
But prior to this, like after Ijust found out that I was
pregnant with him, I was in sucha bad way mentally that I had
planned to have him terminated.
I just couldn't.
I I just I was really reallysick, with a lot morning
sickness as well, so thatexacerbated everything that was
(12:40):
already going on professionallyand then personally with our
other son, with his healthissues.
So I was in a world of physicaland mental and emotional
turmoil that I just struggled toput into words even today,
which doesn't excuse thethoughts that I had about
(13:02):
terminating that pregnancy, butjust kind of hopefully puts it
into perspective for people thatyou know and hopefully they're
not going to be too judgmentalof me.
But yeah, it was just somethingthat I couldn't.
I just couldn't see a wayaround.
Thankfully, my husband and mymother talked me out of it and
(13:23):
we went on to have him and hehas been an amazing blessing
because, like I said, years downthe track, he actually became
the reason that we found thechurch, and I look back now and
again.
I see you know, with thebenefit of hindsight, that he
(13:44):
was put into our family to helpus along that path to where we
are today.
So, following his birth in 2010,things got even worse.
They were constantly, you know,we had the issues with his
(14:07):
brother.
The middle son were gettingworse.
I was struggling to balance myprofessional and personal life,
and managers there werebasically using all of these
things to their advantage.
It was just a horrible time tobe trying to manage a
(14:27):
professional and personalbalance.
I was at the mercy of all ofthese people who had really
maligned agendas that weretrying to force me out of where
I was and essentially in the endof 20 or mid to late 2011, I
(14:50):
was made redundant from my job.
I had put in a lot of paperworkwith a lot of complaints
speaking out about there was alot of sexual harassment, sex
discrimination, grooming, and tothis day, unfortunately,
there's still a lot of womenthat are just so.
It wasn't just me, it was.
I chose to speak out about itat the time, but I was
(15:15):
effectively ignored anddismissed, like I was made
redundant as a result ofspeaking.
So I lost my career 15 years in.
It was 15 years and one weekwas the anniversary of me
joining the department.
And so then my husband and Iand then, like I said earlier,
my husband's career was prettymuch collateral damage as well
(15:38):
so then he, within a week he wasredundant.
So then we were basically thrownout from these you know steady,
well-paying jobs and careers,and we had kind of seen the
writing on the wall of what wascoming.
So we had started a sidebusiness, a business ourselves,
(16:01):
which we then kind of steppedacross into.
But we had no business sense,we had no business knowledge.
We were basically just sort ofjust scrambling day in, day out
between juggling what was goingon professionally, what was
happening, you know, personallytrying to stay afloat
financially.
So so, and for four years wetried to.
(16:28):
We made a success of it.
We had the first mobile coffeebusiness in Goulburn, in a
regional town.
We started that up and I'm veryproud to say that.
But we, yeah, we didn't have alot of business sense and we
lost everything.
We ended up losing, you know,after we had lost our careers
and our steady incomes, we endedup trying to stay ahead of
(16:50):
bankruptcy and things like that.
We had to sell our house, wehad to sell our investment
property, so we lost all ofthose things.
We then um, after years, and atthe same time too, we were
juggling, dealing with our son'sdisabilities.
So he was also diagnosed withjuvenile arthritis when he was
two.
So we were spending a lot oftime trying to manage his pain,
(17:14):
manage his treatments, manage,you know, and, being in a
regional area, that meant thatwe had to take him to sydney and
back, so that was like a, youknow, mostly a turnaround the
entire day in a turnaround trip.
So if we weren't working, weweren't earning money.
Um, as you know, as smallbusiness goes, um, so we were
(17:36):
just falling further and furtherdown the rabbit hole of just
basically each and every day, wewere just trying to keep going,
keep our family going, keep ourbusinesses going and, um,
eventually we came to a pointwhere we decided because my I
was originally from Newcastleand so we knew that things just
(17:56):
weren't working for us as theyshould be in Goulburn we knew
that we didn't have familysupport.
Our son needed bettertreatments, better access to
treatments and services andsupports, and so we made the
decision in 2015 to move toNewcastle to be near family, and
so we moved up here and myhusband.
(18:17):
We sold our business down thereand my husband continued
working as a builder and movedup here.
With that that um, and in theprocess my mental health was
just declining, just gettingworse and worse.
I had many, many moments ofjust not wanting to be here
(18:46):
anymore, feeling feeling likethat I was, my family were
better off without me.
So I was in some pretty darkplaces and thankfully, my
husband was massive support andjust kept us all going.
I then I ended up finding outthat I could start taking legal
(19:10):
action against the departmentand I hadn't known this prior to
everything, because we hadn'thad time to really investigate
anything or any financialopportunities for compensation
or anything like that.
And I was with a counsellor oneday and she said to me about
(19:33):
reopening my workers'compensation claim and I said
what do you mean?
And she said, well, you couldreopen it and try and regain
some sort of compensation orsomething like that.
So, long story short, I madesome inquiries and, um, I found
out that I could actually infact reopen my workers
(19:54):
compensation claim forpsychological injuries, which I
did, which then started off amassive, massive um fight again.
So when you take on a stategovernment department, that's a
pretty massive path to go down,yeah, yep.
(20:16):
So if I knew then what I knewnow, I may not have done it, but
I guess these things are.
You know we go on these pathsfor a reason.
I guess these things are.
You know, we go on these pathsfor a reason.
(20:36):
So I started this fight and Iwent to the Australian Human
Rights Commission for sexdiscrimination and found my
claim was terminated immediatelyunder that legal avenue because
I found out that ever since theSex Discrimination Act had been
started in 1984 here inAustralia, state public servants
(20:58):
across the country weren'tactually protected by it.
They weren't covered by it.
It was.
There was a clause in there, asection that exclusively
precluded any state publicservant being protected by a Sex
Discrimination Act, which, whenI read that, I thought how is
(21:22):
that even possible?
How is that in this age?
So that meant anybody who was ateacher, a nurse, a police
officer, a prison officer, afire in the part of the fire
brigades, ambulance, anybodyacross the country who was
employed under their stategovernment.
(21:44):
They had no protections if theywere sexually discriminated
against in their employment.
So I had to go a differentlegal route for myself
personally at that stage and Ijust had no way to go through
that.
(22:06):
But having said that, I thenstarted down a path of actually
lobbying state parliamentariansto have the legislation changed.
And around that time was whenwe had the whole Me Too movement
going across, you know, acrossthe world, and so we had a lot
of things going on here.
And then there was actuallycalls for there was lots of
(22:29):
things happening here inAustralia at the time.
So I had written to our statepremier complaining about, you
know, things that were wrongwith our system and what was?
You know, what women werefacing in the workforce and so
on, and I was threatened legallyto basically, you know know,
stop speaking up and all ofthese things.
(22:52):
And I ended up attending therewas a nationwide inquiry done by
the Human Rights Commissionhere that were looking to make
changes to the SexDiscrimination Act.
So I went there and I putforward you know that we needed
to have this section removedfrom the.
(23:15):
It needed to be repealed.
And, long story short, there wenot just me, but you know
people like me who spoke upabout this in particular we had
it repealed.
We managed to have that removed, so now we can safely say that,
you know, state publicservicements across across
(23:35):
australia now have protectionunder the sex discrimination act
, which was, you know, somethingthat I'm proud to have been a
part of.
Scott Brandley (23:42):
But um, yeah, that's awesome.
I know that.
Jac Woodhouse (23:43):
You know, if I hadn't, have been put through
these things, um, you know, Iwouldn't have been aware of it
and I wouldn't have been putthrough these things, um, you
know, I wouldn't have been awareof it and I wouldn't have been
able to speak up about it.
And I was into the.
I did interviews, um with acouple of journalists we spoke
up at, which then created a lotmore attention, and I, I made um
, made headlines with it in, youknow, drawing attention for
(24:06):
other women who were facing thesame thing.
So then they were then able toaccess the legal avenues that
they needed under similarcircumstances.
So, you know, I guess there'sanother bright spot in all the
darkness, I guess, for so manyothers, many others, um, so,
(24:36):
yeah, um, and then I guess,around um, so around that time I
was going through all theselegal, um, legal avenues between
2017 and 2020, 2021, um, andthen one of the big turning
points was that I had an unclepass away in 2019.
And so around that time, ouryoungest son and at that stage
(24:58):
we were living next door tomembers of the church.
We became they're like familyto us now and we were living
next to them and we had beeninvited to them and we had been
invited to a couple of things atour now chapel, our now ward,
and my son with the disabilitieshere.
Actually, when we had enrolledour boys in school up here in
(25:21):
Newcastle, we actually madefriends with some members from
the church and there was allthese looking back now, there
was all of these connections,all of these little stepping
stones being put into place thatwe didn't realise at the time,
that, you know, we were becomingintroduced to members of the
church and the church itself.
(25:42):
And so around 2019, my unclepassed away and our youngest son
had lots of questions aboutwhat happens when we die, where
do we go when we die?
And at that stage we we weren't.
We weren't going to church, buthe was.
He was actually going to churchwith our neighbors, so he was
actually going, he would gethimself up.
(26:03):
Yeah, he was.
And when I say he, he was ourlink to getting us into the
church.
He would get himself up.
I think he was only about nineat the time, 2017, 2018.
Yeah, he would have been nineyears old.
He would have been nine yearsold, so he would get himself up
on a Sunday morning and he wouldget himself showered and
dressed and he would jump in thecar with our neighbours and go
(26:26):
off to the ward and go to churchand come home and we were like,
yeah, you know, like I've never.
I grew up, I was born into theCatholic Church, I went to a
Baptist church with myneighbours a very similar thing
to what he was doing.
So I've always known thatthere's something there.
And so we certainly didn't, youknow.
(26:46):
We was like, yeah, whatever youneed to do, you do it.
You know.
We encouraged, you know anysort of knowledge or interest.
And then, when my uncle died,he said you know really what
happens, where do we go, what dowe do, what happens after we
leave here?
And so our neighbours invitedus to their family home evening
(27:07):
with some elders and they taughtus the plan of salvation, and
so we had that there and we hadsome booklets that we took home
with us and it was around thistime that all my legal stuff was
really ramping up and my mentalhealth was really declining at
the same time and I actually hada massive breakdown just after
(27:33):
this and had a massive mentalbreakdown, and I was actually in
my son's bedroom and I was inthe darkest hole that I could
possibly, that I had ever beeninto this point and I was really
contemplating whether sorry, um, yeah, contemplating whether to
(28:03):
still stay, and I was curled upon his in his bed and I rolled
over and I saw the Plan ofSalvation booklet on his bedside
and I grabbed it and I read itagain and to this day, all I can
do is say that it was just.
(28:25):
The Holy Ghost came over me.
I've never experienced afeeling like it.
The Holy Ghost came over me.
I've never experienced afeeling like it, and I just felt
completely at peace and I gotup and I went, that's it.
And I went downstairs and myhusband was just sitting at the
dinner table.
He was just beside himself.
(28:45):
He didn't know what to do, hewas exhausted from everything
and I put the Plan of Salsalvation booklet down in front
of him and I said I'm going tochurch.
You can either come with me ornot, that's your choice, but
this is what I'm doing, this iswhat I now know that I need.
(29:06):
And, to his credit, he said,yeah, let's go, let's do it.
So we started going to church.
This was 2019.
We started meeting with themissionaries.
We started, yeah, doingeverything it was.
And then, 1st of February 2020,we were baptised as a family
(29:27):
the day before our youngestson's birthday, his 10th
birthday.
Okay, yeah.
And then, ever since, we've yeah, my husband's now part of the
elders quorum.
He serves on the elders quorumin our ward.
I'm an advisor for the youngwomen's in our ward.
(29:49):
We yeah, we just I just themiracles that we have seen since
we have turned our lives aroundand joined the church, and my
husband and I also serve at theSydney Australia Temple.
We go down there weekly andserve as well, and it's just
(30:09):
true, like the blessings thathave come and the people that
we've met, where we are now as afamily, like you know, I just
know that we wouldn't be here ifwe hadn't have been on the path
that we had and all of thesetrials that we went through, all
the things that we've had toendure and lost and, you know,
(30:32):
nearly given up lost hope.
Yeah, we wouldn't be here if ithadn't have been for the path
that we were on, and I guessthat's ultimately just what I
wanted to share with people wasmy testimony that it is true it
is, and I wouldn't be sittinghere before you today if it
(30:54):
hadn't have been for for thischurch yeah, wow.
Scott Brandley (31:02):
So spending most of your life outside of the
church and then learning all thethings that you know about the
church, like what do you like?
Do you ever think about thedifference and what your life
was like beforehand?
Jac Woodhouse (31:18):
Yeah, I mean even something as simple as, like we
ran a mobile coffee business.
So there in effect was one.
We were inhaling coffee on adaily basis for four years, like
we were just, and even when wemoved up here, like we, we ended
(31:38):
up giving up tea and coffee,cold turkey.
We were just bang, that's itdone.
You know?
Um, we were drinking, we weredrinkers, we weren't big
drinkers, but we still drank, westill.
So simple things like that interms of like following the word
of wisdom and so on, was it waslike a no-brainer to us, but it
(32:03):
was, you know.
So there's all of those thingsthat were completely foreign to
us to start with, but now it'slike I couldn't imagine doing
anything else, I couldn'timagine being that person that I
was beforehand.
Before we, we found, before wefound the church, and before we
(32:25):
we changed as people and wechanged as a family and and
that's not to say it's all been,you know, an easy in an easy
ride, like, even like our middleson.
He still struggles with a lotof things and you know he's he
questions stuff still to thisday and but hopefully he'll,
he'll, he'll find his owntestimony and you know, all we
(32:47):
can do is provide that and youknow, surround him with the
people that you know are goodrole models and good examples
and so on, but, yeah, fromcoming from outside the church
and spending what 40-odd yearsliving life as we thought,
(33:10):
thought it should be you knowit's um I, I, I'm.
I feel more at peace, beingwhere I am now that's awesome.
Alisha Coakley (33:22):
Can I ask?
So, like when you, when youmentioned the, the struggle that
you had with with, like,thoughts of suicide and things
like that, do you feel like likeafter joining the church, those
have lessened or gone away, oris that still something that
kind of hits you from time totime that you're still working
through?
Jac Woodhouse (33:43):
yeah, definitely still working through mental
health.
Mental illness is is a realthing.
It's, you know, depression andthose feelings of um
worthlessness that you knoweveryone will be better off
without, without you around, um,like before I went all went
(34:05):
through this and experienced allthis.
I, I and I guess that'sprobably another reason why I
had to go through these things,I think, is to be humbled and to
understand and be able to walkin somebody else's footsteps,
because prior to me experiencingthings I had, no, I guess, I
had no understanding of whatdepression was.
(34:27):
I just thought why can't youjust get up, why can't you just
smile, why can't you just, youknow, for other people I just
didn't have that understandingand that empathy, whereas now I
do.
Obviously, and joining thechurch wasn't a miracle pill
like it hasn't been.
You know, wave a magic wand byany means, and you know,
everything's better.
I still have days that you knowI don't want to get out of bed,
(34:50):
but they're far less.
And I do have.
I do have the supports now tohelp me with that that I didn't
before.
I have the scriptures to go to,I have people that I can talk
to.
(35:13):
I know that the thoughts in myhead aren't, mine 're not.
You know, all these negativethoughts, I I know where they're
coming from.
Now it's um, it doesn't meanthat they're any easier to fight
off, but I guess it's justknowing being able to recognize
and and have that support to say, look, you know, you know this
isn't real, you will get throughthis and having the resources
(35:34):
to do it, to help and I guessthat's probably the beauty of
this and trying to say to peopleyou know, both my husband and I
have identified, actually, thatpeople who have grown up in the
church, I don't think fullyappreciate what they've had and
what they do have.
I think it's very easy.
(35:54):
We've we witness from where westand and our experience is that
there are a lot of people whotake for granted the lifestyle
that they've been brought up inand the, the supports that
they've had and for us neverhaving had that until the last
five years.
We're very grateful and veryappreciative and, you know, we,
(36:17):
we we identify it for what it isand I guess that's that's
probably a really key thing forhaving not grown up in the
church as opposed to somebodywho has.
I think it's very easy forpeople to not realize what
they've had and throw it awayvery easily.
Scott Brandley (36:36):
Right, yeah, what about like your perspective
as far as not being a member ofthe church?
Because you know now thatyou're a member of the church,
trying to share the gospel withpeople that aren't members of
the church.
Right, you were on that sidefor most of your life.
Do you have any thoughts onways that members can reach
(37:02):
people that are not members?
Jac Woodhouse (37:07):
Yeah, I think actions speak louder than words.
Okay, I guess, and looking back, I feel I I probably I don't
remember crossing paths withmembers, but I have crossed
(37:31):
paths with missionaries of otherchurches, other faiths, where
I've kind of blown them off inthe past, which I regret now
because I identify that, as youknow, which I regret now because
I identify that, as you know,they're just sharing faith and
sharing, you know, what we now,what I now know is the truth.
(37:53):
I guess the biggest takeawayfor me is that I don't try to
verbally convince people.
I try to convince people by myactions that you know, if
somebody's that my service toother people or my empathy to
(38:14):
other people, or just goingabout supporting people as best
I can, is going to lead to adiscussion of why I do what I do
and then be able to introducemy faith and the church and what
we're about.
Does that make sense?
Scott Brandley (38:35):
Yeah, yeah Well, that's reassuring because a lot
of times you know members Imean, I've grown up my whole
life in the church but you justwonder how you know if you're
actually making a difference.
Doing those things right, beingthat good example and just
trying to be live a christ-likelife, but it sounds like from
(38:57):
your perspective on the otherside, those are the the things
that ultimately do make thedifference.
So we should just keep tryingto do that.
Jac Woodhouse (39:06):
Yep, yep, by all means.
I mean, like I said, the familythat are neighbours that you
know have become like family tous.
They're just beautiful peopleand they're just so giving and
so loving and so open in whetherit was a material thing that we
needed support with, or justemotional support or anything or
(39:29):
advice, or they're just aloving, beautiful family.
So, and then the other, theother families at our children's
school, when we first moved toNewcastle, it was the same thing
.
We were drawn to these peoplebecause of their just their
natures, the type of people thatthey are just so giving and
(39:53):
loving and serving, and it wasjust something that we
gravitated towards because Ithink, essentially, my husband
and I both, despite not beingreligious as such prior to
coming into the church, we werestill always people that would
(40:15):
help others if they needed it.
I think it just helped usgravitate more by seeing these
members.
I think it just helped usgravitate more by seeing these
members.
We could align ourselves withthem because they were just such
giving people.
They were always just there tohelp others that needed help,
(40:36):
regardless of who the person wasthat needed the assistance.
So I guess that would be, youknow, having not grown up in the
church?
Yeah, so I guess that would be.
You know, having not grown upin the church as a yeah, by just
what is it you'll be known by?
You will know them by the theirfruits is that the description.
Yeah, that that just always hasstood out to me, because and
(40:58):
what I try to live by is it'snot so much.
You know you can say all thesethings and you can, you can
somebody, you can sproutscripture and say and say all
the right things, but if you'renot following through or living
those words, I think is thedifference.
Scott Brandley (41:17):
Mm-hmm.
Alisha Coakley (41:18):
Yeah, wow.
So tell me, because one of theother parts of a big part of
your story was was, you know,after going through that whole
experience of of the inequalityat work and just, um, you know,
kind of having that, thatickiness right, it happened to
(41:39):
you and and meeting defeatinstantly, like like when you
first went to to file a suitright and just to be denied
instantly, the most people wouldstop there, like if they were
brave enough to actually goforward and even start a claim
(42:00):
right, most people would stopafter.
They were like oh so how do youthink, and even though you
weren't a member of the churchat the time, how do you think it
was that you were able to keepgoing?
You know, like I mean, you saidyou know, am I right?
Like you?
Jac Woodhouse (42:26):
Yeah, I guess, and to kind of backtrack a bit,
when I went to university andthen pretty much followed up
within a couple of years of thatfalling into the prison system,
I lost a lot of my religiousbeliefs because I was especially
(42:48):
in the jails.
I was kind of like how on earthcan there be a God with all of
this evil and horror and thethings that these people are
doing to each other?
How can there be a God peopleare doing to each other?
How can there be a God?
So I kind of got to a pointwhere I didn't necessarily
(43:08):
believe in a God, but I believedin something.
There was something biggerEverything happens for a reason.
That was the philosophy that Ikind of tried to live my life by
trying to make sense ofeverything, all of the
inequality, all the injustice,all of the you know, seeing what
(43:29):
some of these inmates hadactually done and were
continually doing to otherpeople.
You know, some of it was prettyhorrific.
So I guess I sort of put itinto a context that I could
understand and live by was that,you know, everything happens
for a reason.
There's something out there inthe universe that I can't
(43:51):
explain and I don't really knowabout.
But I'm just putting faith inthe fact that all of this is
happening for a reason.
And I do remember when I openedthat letter, having my claim
denied that you know that therewas no avenue to pursue, and
just the injustice of it.
(44:12):
I remember thinking, well,that's not right, I need to do
something about this.
Maybe I've been, you know,maybe this has happened for a
reason, like it's just one ofthe and and then after that,
then I fell into a heap andcried and you know I was like
you know, screamed and rantedand raved.
(44:33):
You know about the injustice ofit all and how could this
happen?
But I do remember thinking thishas happened for a reason.
This is is like I don't know.
I don't know if that answersyour question, Alisha, but it's
kind of yeah, I guess it kind ofput me on that path.
It was like well, you know, I'mnot standing for this, I've got
(44:58):
nothing left to lose, and maybethis has happened for a reason,
so I've just got to find a wayto do something about it.
Scott Brandley (45:07):
Wow well, we we talked a little bit beforehand
jack about how, when you lookback in your life and you can
see certain things that havehappened and you're like, well,
if though, if that wouldn't havehappened, then this wouldn't
happen, then this wouldn'thappen and I wouldn't have
happened, then this wouldn'thappen then this wouldn't happen
, then I wouldn't be here, right, so things do happen for a
(45:28):
reason, and God's in the details.
You just don't ever know howthose dots are going to add up,
right?
Jac Woodhouse (45:36):
No, and the key point to that is the simple fact
that, when I look back, none ofthis would have happened if I
hadn't have been promoted intothat position of management,
where it was a boys club and itwas misogynistic and, you know,
women weren't accepted in thatrole.
If I'd have just kept goingwhere I was as just a you know
(46:00):
run-of-the-mill prison officer,you know I my head wouldn't have
been up on show and you know Iwouldn't have drawn all of that
negative attention and negativeactivity to myself and my family
.
But the the key point to it all, when I read like the aha
(46:20):
moment was, when I look back,when I was promoted there was a
panel of three people that wereresponsible for doing all of the
interviews and doing the actualpromoting, and one of the men
that were on that panel has beenhe has grown up in the church,
(46:43):
he's a long-time member of thechurch and when I found that out
and I found that out, you know,probably it was around the time
actually I think I was doing mytalk for state conference and I
actually started connecting thedots and realised that this
gentleman was a member of thechurch and I confirmed it.
(47:06):
I made sure I got theconfirmation.
It was kind of like a lightbulbmoment.
So here we had, there was a plan, God had a plan and I still
don't know, like I still haven'tyou know, just to you know,
full disclosure.
It's not like we've reachedsome pinnacle and youacle and
our family, that we've come tothe end of a really great movie
(47:28):
and we've achieved all thesegoals or anything.
It's still a work in progress.
But when I look back, there wasa plan, God had a plan for us
that this guy was part of thepromotional team that promoted
me, that threw me into thisturmoil and all of this loss and
(47:49):
all of these horrible thingsthat I wouldn't even wish on an
enemy that I and my family havesort of stumbled through for so
many years.
But you look back and it's like, well, there was a path, there
was a plan, there's somethingthere and it's not for me to try
(48:10):
and explain or understand, butI look at that and I go well,
again, how else do you explainit?
Alisha Coakley (48:18):
So yeah Well, I know you're not at not at your
pinnacle yet, but I definitelyyou know, imagine that you're
kind of on the upswing at thispoint.
I mean, I feel like it just it'sone of those like in all things
, there must needs to beopposition, but that also means
(48:41):
that when you've hit your reallylow load, there has to be a
really good high right, likeit's.
It's gotta be coming at somepoint.
Uh, that's just what I think,anyway.
So, uh, gosh, um, are there?
Uh, do you have any lastthoughts, anything else that
you'd like to share with withour listeners today before we
(49:02):
wrap up?
Jac Woodhouse (49:06):
I guess, as a as growing up, as a, you know not
being a lifetime member of thechurch is.
Just don't take for grantedwhat you have and you know
appreciate.
You know appreciate the church,appreciate the teachings.
It's not a magic wand, it's notgoing to make anybody's life
(49:31):
perfect, it's not going to.
You know the problems aren'tgoing to disappear.
But lean on the resources thatare available and lean on the
people around us in the churchand take guidance from the
prophet and from his counsellorsand from your ward leaders and
embrace it and, I guess, be agood person.
(49:55):
Be a good person to others andjust be mindful of how your
actions and your words are goingto affect others and that it's
not just the person in front ofyou but they have families
behind them that are beingaffected by your actions and
just try and do good.
Alisha Coakley (50:14):
I love it.
That's perfect, oh, awesome.
Well, thank you so much, jack,for coming on here today, for
reaching out to us all the wayfrom across the world and in the
future.
Thank you so much, jack, forcoming on here today, for
reaching out to us all the wayfrom across the world and in the
future.
I'm really just.
It's just been a pleasure beingable to hear you and your story
, and just the takeaway that youguys have, like your whole
(50:35):
family, seems to just kind ofexude light, and so I love that.
I love seeing that.
So thank you for that.
Jac Woodhouse (50:45):
Thank you.
Scott Brandley (50:45):
Thank you for having me I love.
I love your stories, like yours, jack, where you know, you know
there's trials through life.
You don't know where they'regoing and sometimes you don't
feel like you can even take onemore step or another breath
Right, but somehow you make itthrough that and then God's
right there and he's got you andand he's got a plan.
(51:07):
I just love that.
It's like so inspiring.
So thanks for coming on andsharing that with us.
Jac Woodhouse (51:13):
Thank you.
I just hope it helps somebodyout there that you know, if
they're, if they've got doubt orquestions, then just hopefully
it might support somebody elsein their, in their journey.
Alisha Coakley (51:26):
Yeah, yeah, I really think it will, so, all
right.
Well, folks, that's all that wehave for today.
Remember, if you guys arelistening right now and you are
feeling like you might have astory to share, you might know
someone who, uh, would would beable to be a great guest here on
the show, like Ms Jack.
Reach out to us.
(51:47):
You can email us atlatterdaylights at gmailcom, or
you can head over tolatterdaylightscom and fill out
the contact form at the bottomof the page.
And please, please, please,don't forget to do your
five-second missionary work.
Share this episode, comment onhere, let Jack know what part of
her story really resonated withyou or what kind of thoughts
and feelings you've had about it, and, um, and I guess that's.
(52:08):
I think that's pretty much allwe have, right?
Scott?
Scott Brandley (52:12):
yeah, yeah, enjoy the rest of your day, jack
thank you we're gonna go tosleep on this side of the world
I gotta finish the rest of myday yet well thanks again, jack,
thanks everyone for tuning inand we'll see you next week with
another episode of latter daylights.
(52:32):
Take care bye guys.
Hey there as a Latter-day Lights listener, I
want to give you a very specialgift today my brand new book,
faith to Stay.
This book is filled withinspiring stories, powerful
discoveries and even freshinsights to help strengthen your
faith during the storms of life.
So if you're looking to beinspired, uplifted and
(00:21):
spiritually recharged, justvisit faithtostaycom.
Now let's get back to the show.
Hey everyone, I'm ScottBrandley.
Alisha Coakley (00:32):
And I'm Alisha Coakley.
Every member of the church hasa story to share, one that can
instill faith, invite growth andinspire others.
Scott Brandley (00:40):
On today's episode we're going to hear how
years of trials taught onefamily that sometimes even the
rockiest paths can lead to themost beautiful destinations.
Welcome to Latter-day Lights.
Hey everyone, welcome back toanother episode of Latter-day
(01:04):
Lights.
We're so glad that you're withus today and we're really
excited to introduce our specialguest all the way from
Australia, jack Woodhouse.
Jack, welcome.
Hi guys G'day mate.
Jac Woodhouse (01:18):
G'day.
How are you?
Alisha Coakley (01:22):
We're good.
I'm curious, curious.
How is it living in the future?
Jac Woodhouse (01:27):
yes, yes, literally I am in the future.
So, um yeah, nothing much toreport, so it's all good so far
world hasn't ended yet.
Alisha Coakley (01:36):
Good to know we still got what?
Uh, 15 hours no something likethat.
Scott Brandley (01:43):
You've got a 15 hour heads up hey, but if the
world doesn't tell us as soon asyou find out, okay, give us a
heads up you'll be the first oh,man, well, jack, thanks so much
for reaching out to us all theway from Australia.
Alisha Coakley (02:02):
We always love when we find out that we
literally are global right, thatthe podcast has reached far
across the seven seas there'sseven, no, oh all across the
oceans, all across the lands.
We love hearing that Latter-dayLights is.
(02:23):
We love hearing that thatlottery lights is literally
lighting the world with storiesfrom guests like you.
So thanks so much for reachingout and being willing to share
your story today.
Um, before we jump into whatyou're going to talk to us about
, we'd love to know a little bitmore about you yeah, so I am,
(02:43):
um, a mom in in Australia.
Jac Woodhouse (02:45):
I live in New South Wales and I have three
sons one who's 27.
He's technically my stepson,but I've pretty much raised him.
And then my husband and I havetwo other boys 17 and 15.
17-year-old has disabilitiesand issues and health issues and
(03:07):
so on.
But, yeah, we live here inNewcastle, new South Wales, now
for the last 10 years.
My husband was originally froma regional town in Goulburn,
which is where I met him, andyeah, we've been members of the
church now since 2020.
We were baptised as a family inFebruary 2020, just before
(03:28):
COVID opened up, and yeah, sothat was a really interesting
time to go through to join thechurch and then, basically,
everything was shut down and wecouldn't access anything and we
were kind of left floating for awhile.
And, yeah, it was a veryinteresting time.
My husband's a builder and,yeah, we just basically doing
(03:51):
our best to keep our heads abovewater each and every day and do
our best to serve others andserve our ward and, yeah, just
just try and endure to the end,so to speak.
Alisha Coakley (04:05):
That's awesome.
Well, I've said it before onthe show, I'll say it again
Anytime that I hear that youhave three or more boys instant
entry into heaven.
Like you've done your duediligence, there's literally
nothing you could do on thisearth that would send you to
hell, because I'm sure you'vealready been through your own
little version of it from timeto time.
Jac Woodhouse (04:26):
Well, if that's the theory, then I should
actually get further meritbadges, because our eldest son
actually just had they just hadtheir third son, so we have
three grandsons as well.
So yeah.
So we've.
I said to my daughter-in-law tobe a female in this family, you
just have to marry in.
You can't be born into thisfamily, it's just boys.
Alisha Coakley (04:50):
Wow.
Scott Brandley (04:52):
Oh man.
Alisha Coakley (04:54):
Oh man, yeah, Yep, yep, you get bonus points
for that, for sure.
Well, we would love to hearmore about this family of yours
and the journey that you guyswent through.
So we'll go ahead and put youfront and center and let you
tell us where your story began.
Jac Woodhouse (05:14):
Okay, so basically I reached out to you
guys based on a talk that I gaveat state conference a couple of
years ago where I was asked togive a bit of a background
because we're we were reasonablynew members as a family.
Um, so I guess the story startswhere in Goulburn, my husband
(05:34):
and I were prison officers for15 years.
You know, maximum security jail.
We often get a bit of a joketelling, telling that you know
we met in jail.
Scott Brandley (05:46):
Nice.
Jac Woodhouse (05:48):
Yeah, that always .
Alisha Coakley (05:53):
Which explains why you could handle three kids
that are all boys, and then nowthree grandboys too, because you
just dealt with, you know,rough and tough.
Jac Woodhouse (06:00):
Yeah, perhaps.
Yeah, I mean, it's one of theoldest jails in Australia and
maximum security and so on.
So I transferred down there in1999 and met my now husband,
brad, and I had envisaged that Iwould have a future in that
(06:22):
industry, that I loved it.
Despite how hard it was andchallenging it was, I loved it
and I was working my way upthrough management and getting
promotions and so on and 2007,.
I went for a promotion and Iwas promoted into middle
(06:44):
management.
Now to set the scene, I guess,with the way it is in the jail
system and still is, butespecially back then it was very
much a I hate saying a boys'club, very misogynistic, very,
you know, there weren't manywomen in that system, in that
(07:06):
environment at the time, letalone in management.
So I went for the promotion andI was promoted, which made me
one of three female managers atthe time out of about 25 and I
was also the youngest by manyyears.
And around the same time that Iwas promoted I found out I was
(07:30):
pregnant with our middle childand so, yeah, it was made for a
really interesting time cominginto that.
So there weren't a lot of othermanagers that were very happy
about my promotion.
So you can imagine that thatkind of set into effect a whole,
(07:50):
I guess the best way it wasgoing.
It put us on a very challengingpath because my husband was
also obviously a prison officer,but he was of a low rank.
Because my husband was alsoobviously a prison officer, but
he was of a lower rank.
So there were lots of thingsthat came into play where he
(08:13):
became collateral damage in hiscareer as well, through all the
efforts that were extended to me, I guess, to try and push me
out of the position that I wasin, to try and push me out of
the position that I was in, totry and challenge me.
And then, when I was, I had tolet them know that I was
pregnant.
They'd never actually had amanager who'd been in that
(08:37):
position.
They'd never had.
So not only did they have ayoung female in management that
they didn't want there, thenthey had to deal with a young
female manager who was havingchildren and having all of those
issues.
So it basically was just, itwas the perfect storm, I guess
is the best way to put it.
(08:58):
And so then my son was born, orour son was born in 2008.
And there were a lot of thingsthat were done wrong and and
that you know I missed out on alot of things that I should have
been afforded during mymaternity leave and things like
that, and I'm probably skippingover a lot, but I don't want to
(09:19):
bore people um with the, the,the ins and outs, um, I came
back to, came back to work afterhis birth and I was put into
situations and positions andplaces where, for example, I
just had, you know, I had anewborn at home and I was put
(09:42):
into managing a child sexoffender's wing, things like
that.
These were sort of the thingsthat that these other people in
management were trying to do tobreak me effectively.
They were trying to put me into.
So I was having to manage theseinmates who had done horrific
things to children and babiesand so on, that I was having to
(10:05):
manage them and at the same time, I've got a newborn at home
that you know I'm sitting theredealing with these inmates that
all I could picture was my ownnewborn.
So it was a very challengingtime, meant like really played
with me mentally and emotionally.
At the same time, there werejust lots of other pressures
coming in that you know I shouldhave been given leeway and
(10:27):
allowances, which I wasn't.
I was just expected to toe theline like every other manager,
so it just made it really.
It was basically the start oflike me mentally breaking down.
I was put onto a path of mentalillness, which made it really
(10:49):
difficult.
And then so the son that I waspregnant with when I was
promoted.
He's had a lot of health issues.
He was born with somedisabilities and health issues,
serious health issues.
We nearly lost him the day thathe was born, so that
complicated things as well, likeprivately.
(11:09):
So then, with the culminationof all these pressures at work
and privately at home, with hishealth and his issues, we had
decided that we had been tryingfor another child, and it got so
bad that my husband and I bothmade the decision that we were
(11:31):
going to stop trying, that itwas just too much happening.
And then the very next day, loand behold, found out I was
pregnant with our third son andI was just sent into a massive
spin, spin of you know.
Oh, my goodness, how am I goingto do this?
How are we going to cope?
I haven't been coping so far,um and yeah.
(11:55):
So then we were.
We had this third child to umnow take into the mix and this
is part of what plays into ourtestimony because, jumping
forward, it was our third sonwho was effectively responsible
(12:16):
for helping us find the church.
But prior to this, like after Ijust found out that I was
pregnant with him, I was in sucha bad way mentally that I had
planned to have him terminated.
I just couldn't.
I I just I was really reallysick, with a lot morning
sickness as well, so thatexacerbated everything that was
(12:40):
already going on professionallyand then personally with our
other son, with his healthissues.
So I was in a world of physicaland mental and emotional
turmoil that I just struggled toput into words even today,
which doesn't excuse thethoughts that I had about
(13:02):
terminating that pregnancy, butjust kind of hopefully puts it
into perspective for people thatyou know and hopefully they're
not going to be too judgmentalof me.
But yeah, it was just somethingthat I couldn't.
I just couldn't see a wayaround.
Thankfully, my husband and mymother talked me out of it and
(13:23):
we went on to have him and hehas been an amazing blessing
because, like I said, years downthe track, he actually became
the reason that we found thechurch, and I look back now and
again.
I see you know, with thebenefit of hindsight, that he
(13:44):
was put into our family to helpus along that path to where we
are today.
So, following his birth in 2010,things got even worse.
They were constantly, you know,we had the issues with his
(14:07):
brother.
The middle son were gettingworse.
I was struggling to balance myprofessional and personal life,
and managers there werebasically using all of these
things to their advantage.
It was just a horrible time tobe trying to manage a
(14:27):
professional and personalbalance.
I was at the mercy of all ofthese people who had really
maligned agendas that weretrying to force me out of where
I was and essentially in the endof 20 or mid to late 2011, I
(14:50):
was made redundant from my job.
I had put in a lot of paperworkwith a lot of complaints
speaking out about there was alot of sexual harassment, sex
discrimination, grooming, and tothis day, unfortunately,
there's still a lot of womenthat are just so.
It wasn't just me, it was.
I chose to speak out about itat the time, but I was
(15:15):
effectively ignored anddismissed, like I was made
redundant as a result ofspeaking.
So I lost my career 15 years in.
It was 15 years and one weekwas the anniversary of me
joining the department.
And so then my husband and Iand then, like I said earlier,
my husband's career was prettymuch collateral damage as well
(15:38):
so then he, within a week he wasredundant.
So then we were basically thrownout from these you know steady,
well-paying jobs and careers,and we had kind of seen the
writing on the wall of what wascoming.
So we had started a sidebusiness, a business ourselves,
(16:01):
which we then kind of steppedacross into.
But we had no business sense,we had no business knowledge.
We were basically just sort ofjust scrambling day in, day out
between juggling what was goingon professionally, what was
happening, you know, personallytrying to stay afloat
financially.
So so, and for four years wetried to.
(16:28):
We made a success of it.
We had the first mobile coffeebusiness in Goulburn, in a
regional town.
We started that up and I'm veryproud to say that.
But we, yeah, we didn't have alot of business sense and we
lost everything.
We ended up losing, you know,after we had lost our careers
and our steady incomes, we endedup trying to stay ahead of
(16:50):
bankruptcy and things like that.
We had to sell our house, wehad to sell our investment
property, so we lost all ofthose things.
We then um, after years, and atthe same time too, we were
juggling, dealing with our son'sdisabilities.
So he was also diagnosed withjuvenile arthritis when he was
two.
So we were spending a lot oftime trying to manage his pain,
(17:14):
manage his treatments, manage,you know, and, being in a
regional area, that meant thatwe had to take him to sydney and
back, so that was like a, youknow, mostly a turnaround the
entire day in a turnaround trip.
So if we weren't working, weweren't earning money.
Um, as you know, as smallbusiness goes, um, so we were
(17:36):
just falling further and furtherdown the rabbit hole of just
basically each and every day, wewere just trying to keep going,
keep our family going, keep ourbusinesses going and, um,
eventually we came to a pointwhere we decided because my I
was originally from Newcastleand so we knew that things just
(17:56):
weren't working for us as theyshould be in Goulburn we knew
that we didn't have familysupport.
Our son needed bettertreatments, better access to
treatments and services andsupports, and so we made the
decision in 2015 to move toNewcastle to be near family, and
so we moved up here and myhusband.
(18:17):
We sold our business down thereand my husband continued
working as a builder and movedup here.
With that that um, and in theprocess my mental health was
just declining, just gettingworse and worse.
I had many, many moments ofjust not wanting to be here
(18:46):
anymore, feeling feeling likethat I was, my family were
better off without me.
So I was in some pretty darkplaces and thankfully, my
husband was massive support andjust kept us all going.
I then I ended up finding outthat I could start taking legal
(19:10):
action against the departmentand I hadn't known this prior to
everything, because we hadn'thad time to really investigate
anything or any financialopportunities for compensation
or anything like that.
And I was with a counsellor oneday and she said to me about
(19:33):
reopening my workers'compensation claim and I said
what do you mean?
And she said, well, you couldreopen it and try and regain
some sort of compensation orsomething like that.
So, long story short, I madesome inquiries and, um, I found
out that I could actually infact reopen my workers
(19:54):
compensation claim forpsychological injuries, which I
did, which then started off amassive, massive um fight again.
So when you take on a stategovernment department, that's a
pretty massive path to go down,yeah, yep.
(20:16):
So if I knew then what I knewnow, I may not have done it, but
I guess these things are.
You know we go on these pathsfor a reason.
I guess these things are.
You know, we go on these pathsfor a reason.
(20:36):
So I started this fight and Iwent to the Australian Human
Rights Commission for sexdiscrimination and found my
claim was terminated immediatelyunder that legal avenue because
I found out that ever since theSex Discrimination Act had been
started in 1984 here inAustralia, state public servants
(20:58):
across the country weren'tactually protected by it.
They weren't covered by it.
It was.
There was a clause in there, asection that exclusively
precluded any state publicservant being protected by a Sex
Discrimination Act, which, whenI read that, I thought how is
(21:22):
that even possible?
How is that in this age?
So that meant anybody who was ateacher, a nurse, a police
officer, a prison officer, afire in the part of the fire
brigades, ambulance, anybodyacross the country who was
employed under their stategovernment.
(21:44):
They had no protections if theywere sexually discriminated
against in their employment.
So I had to go a differentlegal route for myself
personally at that stage and Ijust had no way to go through
that.
(22:06):
But having said that, I thenstarted down a path of actually
lobbying state parliamentariansto have the legislation changed.
And around that time was whenwe had the whole Me Too movement
going across, you know, acrossthe world, and so we had a lot
of things going on here.
And then there was actuallycalls for there was lots of
(22:29):
things happening here inAustralia at the time.
So I had written to our statepremier complaining about, you
know, things that were wrongwith our system and what was?
You know, what women werefacing in the workforce and so
on, and I was threatened legallyto basically, you know know,
stop speaking up and all ofthese things.
(22:52):
And I ended up attending therewas a nationwide inquiry done by
the Human Rights Commissionhere that were looking to make
changes to the SexDiscrimination Act.
So I went there and I putforward you know that we needed
to have this section removedfrom the.
(23:15):
It needed to be repealed.
And, long story short, there wenot just me, but you know
people like me who spoke upabout this in particular we had
it repealed.
We managed to have that removed, so now we can safely say that,
you know, state publicservicements across across
(23:35):
australia now have protectionunder the sex discrimination act
, which was, you know, somethingthat I'm proud to have been a
part of.
Scott Brandley (23:42):
But um, yeah, that's awesome.
I know that.
Jac Woodhouse (23:43):
You know, if I hadn't, have been put through
these things, um, you know, Iwouldn't have been aware of it
and I wouldn't have been putthrough these things, um, you
know, I wouldn't have been awareof it and I wouldn't have been
able to speak up about it.
And I was into the.
I did interviews, um with acouple of journalists we spoke
up at, which then created a lotmore attention, and I, I made um
, made headlines with it in, youknow, drawing attention for
(24:06):
other women who were facing thesame thing.
So then they were then able toaccess the legal avenues that
they needed under similarcircumstances.
So, you know, I guess there'sanother bright spot in all the
darkness, I guess, for so manyothers, many others, um, so,
(24:36):
yeah, um, and then I guess,around um, so around that time I
was going through all theselegal, um, legal avenues between
2017 and 2020, 2021, um, andthen one of the big turning
points was that I had an unclepass away in 2019.
And so around that time, ouryoungest son and at that stage
(24:58):
we were living next door tomembers of the church.
We became they're like familyto us now and we were living
next to them and we had beeninvited to them and we had been
invited to a couple of things atour now chapel, our now ward,
and my son with the disabilitieshere.
Actually, when we had enrolledour boys in school up here in
(25:21):
Newcastle, we actually madefriends with some members from
the church and there was allthese looking back now, there
was all of these connections,all of these little stepping
stones being put into place thatwe didn't realise at the time,
that, you know, we were becomingintroduced to members of the
church and the church itself.
(25:42):
And so around 2019, my unclepassed away and our youngest son
had lots of questions aboutwhat happens when we die, where
do we go when we die?
And at that stage we we weren't.
We weren't going to church, buthe was.
He was actually going to churchwith our neighbors, so he was
actually going, he would gethimself up.
(26:03):
Yeah, he was.
And when I say he, he was ourlink to getting us into the
church.
He would get himself up.
I think he was only about nineat the time, 2017, 2018.
Yeah, he would have been nineyears old.
He would have been nine yearsold, so he would get himself up
on a Sunday morning and he wouldget himself showered and
dressed and he would jump in thecar with our neighbours and go
(26:26):
off to the ward and go to churchand come home and we were like,
yeah, you know, like I've never.
I grew up, I was born into theCatholic Church, I went to a
Baptist church with myneighbours a very similar thing
to what he was doing.
So I've always known thatthere's something there.
And so we certainly didn't, youknow.
(26:46):
We was like, yeah, whatever youneed to do, you do it.
You know.
We encouraged, you know anysort of knowledge or interest.
And then, when my uncle died,he said you know really what
happens, where do we go, what dowe do, what happens after we
leave here?
And so our neighbours invitedus to their family home evening
(27:07):
with some elders and they taughtus the plan of salvation, and
so we had that there and we hadsome booklets that we took home
with us and it was around thistime that all my legal stuff was
really ramping up and my mentalhealth was really declining at
the same time and I actually hada massive breakdown just after
(27:33):
this and had a massive mentalbreakdown, and I was actually in
my son's bedroom and I was inthe darkest hole that I could
possibly, that I had ever beeninto this point and I was really
contemplating whether sorry, um, yeah, contemplating whether to
(28:03):
still stay, and I was curled upon his in his bed and I rolled
over and I saw the Plan ofSalvation booklet on his bedside
and I grabbed it and I read itagain and to this day, all I can
do is say that it was just.
(28:25):
The Holy Ghost came over me.
I've never experienced afeeling like it.
The Holy Ghost came over me.
I've never experienced afeeling like it, and I just felt
completely at peace and I gotup and I went, that's it.
And I went downstairs and myhusband was just sitting at the
dinner table.
He was just beside himself.
(28:45):
He didn't know what to do, hewas exhausted from everything
and I put the Plan of Salsalvation booklet down in front
of him and I said I'm going tochurch.
You can either come with me ornot, that's your choice, but
this is what I'm doing, this iswhat I now know that I need.
(29:06):
And, to his credit, he said,yeah, let's go, let's do it.
So we started going to church.
This was 2019.
We started meeting with themissionaries.
We started, yeah, doingeverything it was.
And then, 1st of February 2020,we were baptised as a family
(29:27):
the day before our youngestson's birthday, his 10th
birthday.
Okay, yeah.
And then, ever since, we've yeah, my husband's now part of the
elders quorum.
He serves on the elders quorumin our ward.
I'm an advisor for the youngwomen's in our ward.
(29:49):
We yeah, we just I just themiracles that we have seen since
we have turned our lives aroundand joined the church, and my
husband and I also serve at theSydney Australia Temple.
We go down there weekly andserve as well, and it's just
(30:09):
true, like the blessings thathave come and the people that
we've met, where we are now as afamily, like you know, I just
know that we wouldn't be here ifwe hadn't have been on the path
that we had and all of thesetrials that we went through, all
the things that we've had toendure and lost and, you know,
(30:32):
nearly given up lost hope.
Yeah, we wouldn't be here if ithadn't have been for the path
that we were on, and I guessthat's ultimately just what I
wanted to share with people wasmy testimony that it is true it
is, and I wouldn't be sittinghere before you today if it
(30:54):
hadn't have been for for thischurch yeah, wow.
Scott Brandley (31:02):
So spending most of your life outside of the
church and then learning all thethings that you know about the
church, like what do you like?
Do you ever think about thedifference and what your life
was like beforehand?
Jac Woodhouse (31:18):
Yeah, I mean even something as simple as, like we
ran a mobile coffee business.
So there in effect was one.
We were inhaling coffee on adaily basis for four years, like
we were just, and even when wemoved up here, like we, we ended
(31:38):
up giving up tea and coffee,cold turkey.
We were just bang, that's itdone.
You know?
Um, we were drinking, we weredrinkers, we weren't big
drinkers, but we still drank, westill.
So simple things like that interms of like following the word
of wisdom and so on, was it waslike a no-brainer to us, but it
(32:03):
was, you know.
So there's all of those thingsthat were completely foreign to
us to start with, but now it'slike I couldn't imagine doing
anything else, I couldn'timagine being that person that I
was beforehand.
Before we, we found, before wefound the church, and before we
(32:25):
we changed as people and wechanged as a family and and
that's not to say it's all been,you know, an easy in an easy
ride, like, even like our middleson.
He still struggles with a lotof things and you know he's he
questions stuff still to thisday and but hopefully he'll,
he'll, he'll find his owntestimony and you know, all we
(32:47):
can do is provide that and youknow, surround him with the
people that you know are goodrole models and good examples
and so on, but, yeah, fromcoming from outside the church
and spending what 40-odd yearsliving life as we thought,
(33:10):
thought it should be you knowit's um I, I, I'm.
I feel more at peace, beingwhere I am now that's awesome.
Alisha Coakley (33:22):
Can I ask?
So, like when you, when youmentioned the, the struggle that
you had with with, like,thoughts of suicide and things
like that, do you feel like likeafter joining the church, those
have lessened or gone away, oris that still something that
kind of hits you from time totime that you're still working
through?
Jac Woodhouse (33:43):
yeah, definitely still working through mental
health.
Mental illness is is a realthing.
It's, you know, depression andthose feelings of um
worthlessness that you knoweveryone will be better off
without, without you around, um,like before I went all went
(34:05):
through this and experienced allthis.
I, I and I guess that'sprobably another reason why I
had to go through these things,I think, is to be humbled and to
understand and be able to walkin somebody else's footsteps,
because prior to me experiencingthings I had, no, I guess, I
had no understanding of whatdepression was.
(34:27):
I just thought why can't youjust get up, why can't you just
smile, why can't you just, youknow, for other people I just
didn't have that understandingand that empathy, whereas now I
do.
Obviously, and joining thechurch wasn't a miracle pill
like it hasn't been.
You know, wave a magic wand byany means, and you know,
everything's better.
I still have days that you knowI don't want to get out of bed,
(34:50):
but they're far less.
And I do have.
I do have the supports now tohelp me with that that I didn't
before.
I have the scriptures to go to,I have people that I can talk
to.
(35:13):
I know that the thoughts in myhead aren't, mine 're not.
You know, all these negativethoughts, I I know where they're
coming from.
Now it's um, it doesn't meanthat they're any easier to fight
off, but I guess it's justknowing being able to recognize
and and have that support to say, look, you know, you know this
isn't real, you will get throughthis and having the resources
(35:34):
to do it, to help and I guessthat's probably the beauty of
this and trying to say to peopleyou know, both my husband and I
have identified, actually, thatpeople who have grown up in the
church, I don't think fullyappreciate what they've had and
what they do have.
I think it's very easy.
(35:54):
We've we witness from where westand and our experience is that
there are a lot of people whotake for granted the lifestyle
that they've been brought up inand the, the supports that
they've had and for us neverhaving had that until the last
five years.
We're very grateful and veryappreciative and, you know, we,
(36:17):
we we identify it for what it isand I guess that's that's
probably a really key thing forhaving not grown up in the
church as opposed to somebodywho has.
I think it's very easy forpeople to not realize what
they've had and throw it awayvery easily.
Scott Brandley (36:36):
Right, yeah, what about like your perspective
as far as not being a member ofthe church?
Because you know now thatyou're a member of the church,
trying to share the gospel withpeople that aren't members of
the church.
Right, you were on that sidefor most of your life.
Do you have any thoughts onways that members can reach
(37:02):
people that are not members?
Jac Woodhouse (37:07):
Yeah, I think actions speak louder than words.
Okay, I guess, and looking back, I feel I I probably I don't
remember crossing paths withmembers, but I have crossed
(37:31):
paths with missionaries of otherchurches, other faiths, where
I've kind of blown them off inthe past, which I regret now
because I identify that, as youknow, which I regret now because
I identify that, as you know,they're just sharing faith and
sharing, you know, what we now,what I now know is the truth.
(37:53):
I guess the biggest takeawayfor me is that I don't try to
verbally convince people.
I try to convince people by myactions that you know, if
somebody's that my service toother people or my empathy to
(38:14):
other people, or just goingabout supporting people as best
I can, is going to lead to adiscussion of why I do what I do
and then be able to introducemy faith and the church and what
we're about.
Does that make sense?
Scott Brandley (38:35):
Yeah, yeah Well, that's reassuring because a lot
of times you know members Imean, I've grown up my whole
life in the church but you justwonder how you know if you're
actually making a difference.
Doing those things right, beingthat good example and just
trying to be live a christ-likelife, but it sounds like from
(38:57):
your perspective on the otherside, those are the the things
that ultimately do make thedifference.
So we should just keep tryingto do that.
Jac Woodhouse (39:06):
Yep, yep, by all means.
I mean, like I said, the familythat are neighbours that you
know have become like family tous.
They're just beautiful peopleand they're just so giving and
so loving and so open in whetherit was a material thing that we
needed support with, or justemotional support or anything or
(39:29):
advice, or they're just aloving, beautiful family.
So, and then the other, theother families at our children's
school, when we first moved toNewcastle, it was the same thing
.
We were drawn to these peoplebecause of their just their
natures, the type of people thatthey are just so giving and
(39:53):
loving and serving, and it wasjust something that we
gravitated towards because Ithink, essentially, my husband
and I both, despite not beingreligious as such prior to
coming into the church, we werestill always people that would
(40:15):
help others if they needed it.
I think it just helped usgravitate more by seeing these
members.
I think it just helped usgravitate more by seeing these
members.
We could align ourselves withthem because they were just such
giving people.
They were always just there tohelp others that needed help,
(40:36):
regardless of who the person wasthat needed the assistance.
So I guess that would be, youknow, having not grown up in the
church?
Yeah, so I guess that would be.
You know, having not grown upin the church as a yeah, by just
what is it you'll be known by?
You will know them by the theirfruits is that the description.
Yeah, that that just always hasstood out to me, because and
(40:58):
what I try to live by is it'snot so much.
You know you can say all thesethings and you can, you can
somebody, you can sproutscripture and say and say all
the right things, but if you'renot following through or living
those words, I think is thedifference.
Scott Brandley (41:17):
Mm-hmm.
Alisha Coakley (41:18):
Yeah, wow.
So tell me, because one of theother parts of a big part of
your story was was, you know,after going through that whole
experience of of the inequalityat work and just, um, you know,
kind of having that, thatickiness right, it happened to
(41:39):
you and and meeting defeatinstantly, like like when you
first went to to file a suitright and just to be denied
instantly, the most people wouldstop there, like if they were
brave enough to actually goforward and even start a claim
(42:00):
right, most people would stopafter.
They were like oh so how do youthink, and even though you
weren't a member of the churchat the time, how do you think it
was that you were able to keepgoing?
You know, like I mean, you saidyou know, am I right?
Like you?
Jac Woodhouse (42:26):
Yeah, I guess, and to kind of backtrack a bit,
when I went to university andthen pretty much followed up
within a couple of years of thatfalling into the prison system,
I lost a lot of my religiousbeliefs because I was especially
(42:48):
in the jails.
I was kind of like how on earthcan there be a God with all of
this evil and horror and thethings that these people are
doing to each other?
How can there be a God peopleare doing to each other?
How can there be a God?
So I kind of got to a pointwhere I didn't necessarily
(43:08):
believe in a God, but I believedin something.
There was something biggerEverything happens for a reason.
That was the philosophy that Ikind of tried to live my life by
trying to make sense ofeverything, all of the
inequality, all the injustice,all of the you know, seeing what
(43:29):
some of these inmates hadactually done and were
continually doing to otherpeople.
You know, some of it was prettyhorrific.
So I guess I sort of put itinto a context that I could
understand and live by was that,you know, everything happens
for a reason.
There's something out there inthe universe that I can't
(43:51):
explain and I don't really knowabout.
But I'm just putting faith inthe fact that all of this is
happening for a reason.
And I do remember when I openedthat letter, having my claim
denied that you know that therewas no avenue to pursue, and
just the injustice of it.
(44:12):
I remember thinking, well,that's not right, I need to do
something about this.
Maybe I've been, you know,maybe this has happened for a
reason, like it's just one ofthe and and then after that,
then I fell into a heap andcried and you know I was like
you know, screamed and rantedand raved.
(44:33):
You know about the injustice ofit all and how could this
happen?
But I do remember thinking thishas happened for a reason.
This is is like I don't know.
I don't know if that answersyour question, Alisha, but it's
kind of yeah, I guess it kind ofput me on that path.
It was like well, you know, I'mnot standing for this, I've got
(44:58):
nothing left to lose, and maybethis has happened for a reason,
so I've just got to find a wayto do something about it.
Scott Brandley (45:07):
Wow well, we we talked a little bit beforehand
jack about how, when you lookback in your life and you can
see certain things that havehappened and you're like, well,
if though, if that wouldn't havehappened, then this wouldn't
happen, then this wouldn'thappen and I wouldn't have
happened, then this wouldn'thappen then this wouldn't happen
, then I wouldn't be here, right, so things do happen for a
(45:28):
reason, and God's in the details.
You just don't ever know howthose dots are going to add up,
right?
Jac Woodhouse (45:36):
No, and the key point to that is the simple fact
that, when I look back, none ofthis would have happened if I
hadn't have been promoted intothat position of management,
where it was a boys club and itwas misogynistic and, you know,
women weren't accepted in thatrole.
If I'd have just kept goingwhere I was as just a you know
(46:00):
run-of-the-mill prison officer,you know I my head wouldn't have
been up on show and you know Iwouldn't have drawn all of that
negative attention and negativeactivity to myself and my family
.
But the the key point to it all, when I read like the aha
(46:20):
moment was, when I look back,when I was promoted there was a
panel of three people that wereresponsible for doing all of the
interviews and doing the actualpromoting, and one of the men
that were on that panel has beenhe has grown up in the church,
(46:43):
he's a long-time member of thechurch and when I found that out
and I found that out, you know,probably it was around the time
actually I think I was doing mytalk for state conference and I
actually started connecting thedots and realised that this
gentleman was a member of thechurch and I confirmed it.
(47:06):
I made sure I got theconfirmation.
It was kind of like a lightbulbmoment.
So here we had, there was a plan, God had a plan and I still
don't know, like I still haven'tyou know, just to you know,
full disclosure.
It's not like we've reachedsome pinnacle and youacle and
our family, that we've come tothe end of a really great movie
(47:28):
and we've achieved all thesegoals or anything.
It's still a work in progress.
But when I look back, there wasa plan, God had a plan for us
that this guy was part of thepromotional team that promoted
me, that threw me into thisturmoil and all of this loss and
(47:49):
all of these horrible thingsthat I wouldn't even wish on an
enemy that I and my family havesort of stumbled through for so
many years.
But you look back and it's like, well, there was a path, there
was a plan, there's somethingthere and it's not for me to try
(48:10):
and explain or understand, butI look at that and I go well,
again, how else do you explainit?
Alisha Coakley (48:18):
So yeah Well, I know you're not at not at your
pinnacle yet, but I definitelyyou know, imagine that you're
kind of on the upswing at thispoint.
I mean, I feel like it just it'sone of those like in all things
, there must needs to beopposition, but that also means
(48:41):
that when you've hit your reallylow load, there has to be a
really good high right, likeit's.
It's gotta be coming at somepoint.
Uh, that's just what I think,anyway.
So, uh, gosh, um, are there?
Uh, do you have any lastthoughts, anything else that
you'd like to share with withour listeners today before we
(49:02):
wrap up?
Jac Woodhouse (49:06):
I guess, as a as growing up, as a, you know not
being a lifetime member of thechurch is.
Just don't take for grantedwhat you have and you know
appreciate.
You know appreciate the church,appreciate the teachings.
It's not a magic wand, it's notgoing to make anybody's life
(49:31):
perfect, it's not going to.
You know the problems aren'tgoing to disappear.
But lean on the resources thatare available and lean on the
people around us in the churchand take guidance from the
prophet and from his counsellorsand from your ward leaders and
embrace it and, I guess, be agood person.
(49:55):
Be a good person to others andjust be mindful of how your
actions and your words are goingto affect others and that it's
not just the person in front ofyou but they have families
behind them that are beingaffected by your actions and
just try and do good.
Alisha Coakley (50:14):
I love it.
That's perfect, oh, awesome.
Well, thank you so much, jack,for coming on here today, for
reaching out to us all the wayfrom across the world and in the
future.
Thank you so much, jack, forcoming on here today, for
reaching out to us all the wayfrom across the world and in the
future.
I'm really just.
It's just been a pleasure beingable to hear you and your story
, and just the takeaway that youguys have, like your whole
(50:35):
family, seems to just kind ofexude light, and so I love that.
I love seeing that.
So thank you for that.
Jac Woodhouse (50:45):
Thank you.
Scott Brandley (50:45):
Thank you for having me I love.
I love your stories, like yours, jack, where you know, you know
there's trials through life.
You don't know where they'regoing and sometimes you don't
feel like you can even take onemore step or another breath
Right, but somehow you make itthrough that and then God's
right there and he's got you andand he's got a plan.
(51:07):
I just love that.
It's like so inspiring.
So thanks for coming on andsharing that with us.
Jac Woodhouse (51:13):
Thank you.
I just hope it helps somebodyout there that you know, if
they're, if they've got doubt orquestions, then just hopefully
it might support somebody elsein their, in their journey.
Alisha Coakley (51:26):
Yeah, yeah, I really think it will, so, all
right.
Well, folks, that's all that wehave for today.
Remember, if you guys arelistening right now and you are
feeling like you might have astory to share, you might know
someone who, uh, would would beable to be a great guest here on
the show, like Ms Jack.
Reach out to us.
(51:47):
You can email us atlatterdaylights at gmailcom, or
you can head over tolatterdaylightscom and fill out
the contact form at the bottomof the page.
And please, please, please,don't forget to do your
five-second missionary work.
Share this episode, comment onhere, let Jack know what part of
her story really resonated withyou or what kind of thoughts
and feelings you've had about it, and, um, and I guess that's.
(52:08):
I think that's pretty much allwe have, right?
Scott?
Scott Brandley (52:12):
yeah, yeah, enjoy the rest of your day, jack
thank you we're gonna go tosleep on this side of the world
I gotta finish the rest of myday yet well thanks again, jack,
thanks everyone for tuning inand we'll see you next week with
another episode of latter daylights.
(52:32):
Take care bye guys.
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