Kelsea’s dark experience with New Age theology and how turning her heart to Jesus Christ saved her marriage.
“I think that’s actually why New Age is so dangerous, because there’s so much about it that are counterfeits of the restored gospel. There’s so much about it that feels true and sounds true, you can convince yourself it is true because it’s a bunch of truth mixed with lies. It’s a counterfeit of part of the restored gospel. I think that’s why a lot of LDS women seem to gravitate towards it because it’s so similar to what they already know and feel. That’s what makes counterfeits so dangerous is that they look like the real thing. Even meditation is not bad, I think the highest form of meditation is prayer. What is prayer if it’s not meditating with God? Do you want to spend this 20 minutes meditating with yourself and just opening your mind up to whatever? Or do you want to spend that 20 minutes meditating with God in prayer, which is something you already have? And then there’s energy healing, but where does the healing come from? These people don’t have the priesthood they’re not getting it from Christ. So where is that coming from?” Come Back Team: Director, Founder & Host: Ashly Stone Producer and Senior Editor: Lauren Rose Outreach Manager: Jenna Carlson Art Director: Jeremy Garcia Episode sponsor: Serve Clothing https://serveclothing.com/?gad_source=1
Rob was raised in a polygamist group. As he got older he inquired of God what the right thing to do was, and he was led to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
“I went on a three -day fast like I did when I needed to find answers and on the third morning of the fast I woke up. It was a Sunday morning, I just told the Lord ‘I’m not getting up off my knees until you give me an answer.’ I asked him because my uncle Owen, he was my dad’s brother, was put in charge of the group after my dad was killed. I asked Heavenly Father if he was the prophet here on the earth or if he wasn’t the prophet. I was shown a vision of a field, it was dark at night and my uncle Owen was wandering through the field. He had a dark suit on and his countenance was dark and then the voice of the Lord came into my mind and He said, ‘by their fruit ye shall know them.’ Then I started thinking about all the things that he had done throughout his life and things that were not always the greatest or the best. He had five or six wives and he was living polygamy. He had done some things that I didn’t think were very noble or right. I kind of pondered about that for a little bit. Then I prayed again and asked if President Gordon B. Hinckley, who was the LDS church president at the time in 1997, if he was the prophet here on the earth. I was shown the same field only it was noon day, it was bright and sunny and there was wheat blowing in the wind. President Hinckley walked out into the field and he had a white suit on and a white tie and shirt and his face was just glowing and I had the same voice come into my head, ‘by their fruits you shall know them.’ I was shown the things that President Hinckley had done and everything that I was shown was all good fruits. I just had this burning in my bosom and was on fire from the top of my head to my feet. This was right. He was the prophet here on the earth. And the Lord was giving me that answer. I’d never felt anything so wonderful in my life.” Come Back Team: Director, Founder & Host: Ashly Stone Producer and Senior Editor: Lauren Rose Outreach Manager: Jenna Carlson Art Director: Jeremy Garcia
As a young woman Jane was a closet rebel. Her story takes us through the many experiences that lead her to her Savior, Jesus Christ.
“I still had no idea of coming back to the church. I didn’t plan on it. We went to my sister’s ward and we were saying the sacrament prayers, I just had this feeling in my heart. I looked at Lynn and I said, ‘What do I need to do to take the sacrament? I remember Jesus.’ And she beamed and she said, ‘You were baptized.’ So I took the water and that was when the first trickle of living water started trickling back into my heart. Shortly after that, we got an email from the church saying anybody who’s gluten intolerant, you can bring your own gluten-free bread. So I started doing that. And it was when I started taking the full sacrament that cracks really started opening in my heart. And not long after that, I started reading the Book of Mormon, the Pearl of Great Price, the Doctrine and Covenants. I read them all in very short order and started reminding myself of what I had left behind.” Memoirs of a Prodigal Daughter: Returning to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints https://amzn.to/3Vp9Tcg House of Glory: Poems for Latter-day Saints Faith & Doubt: Poems for Troubled Times https://books2read.com/u/mg5Qv6 https://www.plantwhys.com/comeback Come Back Team: Director, Founder & Host: Ashly Stone Producer and Senior Editor: Lauren Rose Outreach Manager: Jenna Carlson Art Director: Jeremy Garcia
Tony started to explore the New Age movement and found himself in a dark place. How the Book of Mormon brought him clarity.
“There is a truth and there is a line. I did cross that line and I am back. Christ is our Savior. He did do what he did. There is evil. I felt it. I felt it on a stage. I felt the coldness of being on that stage in front of an entity of evil spirits. I felt it to my core. It made me shake I felt it so much. I’ve also stood next to President Nelson. he came to our mission and I got to look at him and be with him. And I felt on fire. I felt calm. I felt peace. And so I knew at that moment, and this, by the way, was the week that President Monson had died and President Nelson was being put in as prophet.” Come Back Team: Director, Founder & Host: Ashly Stone Producer and Senior Editor: Lauren Rose Outreach Manager: Jenna Carlson Art Director: Jeremy Garcia
Scott and Melissa got married with the intent to never be active members in the LDS church – until they began drawing closer to their Savior and were led back.
I started to get promptings and I was like, ‘I’m going to go read the Bible at the temple.’ I still had no inclination of going back to the church. Zero. So why did that make sense to me? I don’t know. But I went to the temple and parked in the parking lot and just read my Bible at five in the morning. There was one morning when I was just reading the Bible in the temple parking lot and had words in my mind that I knew weren’t mine. It just said, ‘you need to go to the temple.’ And I was like, ‘God, I hear you, but what other churches have temples? Because that’s not the one that I want to go to.’ But I was like, message received. Then it took some time, and I started to feel promptings that I should open the Book of Mormon. This was all in secret because I knew that Melissa wouldn’t approve or that it would upset her. So I was reading the Book of Mormon and then at some point this really strong witness came that this was the church that I needed to be going to.” https://www.plantwhys.com/free-1-week-meal-guide Come Back Team: Director, Founder & Host: Ashly Stone Producer and Senior Editor: Lauren Rose Outreach Manager: Jenna Carlson Art Director: Jeremy Garcia
A mother/daughter duo – Laura and Chelsea share their journey as Laura returns to the church after watching her daughter, Chelsea, convert.
“I just had the desire. I thought in order to be baptized, that I had to know everything about the religion. Just like I told her “You gotta know, you better know.” So I wasn’t planning on getting baptized so quickly until I read Alma 32:27. It says you just have to have a desire and God will do the rest. And I was like, I have a desire, I really do. I have felt so good about this. I’ve been going from summertime until April. I decided to start reading the Book of Mormon in January so by April I was devouring it. I was mind blown by all of the truths. I couldn’t believe it. I love the Book of Mormon. It’s amazing! It’s so relatable, you know, to your life. You can just see yourself.” Come Back Team: Director, Founder & Host: Ashly Stone Producer and Senior Editor: Lauren Rose Outreach Manager: Jenna Carlson Art Director: Jeremy Garcia
David Alexander grew up Christian but found most faiths to be unfulfilling. After searching for 47 years he found the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and was baptized.
“From then on, I’d listen to Conference talks. I’d been studying the Bible and just trying to sort everything out. All these bombs would be going off in my heart — where everything that I’d learned for 47 years just melted seamlessly into the Restoration. It’s just the most amazing thing, beyond human understanding as far as I’m concerned. It’s like a class triple A miracle! I haven’t even scratched the surface of the vastness of the Restoration! As soon as I really humbled myself it just began to open up to me. It still took me another two months after that before faith completely came to me and I heard powerfully and definitively in my heart that the Book of Mormon is the Word of God and that Joseph Smith truly was a prophet of God.” – https://www.youtube.com/@davidmalvinalexander – Come Back Team: Director, Founder & Host: Ashly Stone Producer and Senior Editor: Lauren Rose Outreach Manager: Jenna Carlson Art Director: Jeremy Garcia
Josh’s faith crisis began during law school and progressed as he began practicing law. After many years of reconstructing he shares his wisdom and powerful testimony of the Savior’s church.
“A faith journey is a long conversation. One of the things that gave me great comfort when I came back to the church was reading the story of Abraham. The father of the three western religions would sometimes go decades between spiritual manifestations. If Abraham is going decades between spiritual manifestations, you might go decades too and that’s ok. Remember that it is a long process, the sooner you can get back to having the faith of a child the shorter your faith crisis is going to be because those spiritual manifestations are real.” – Find Josh on TikTok: @latterdaychristian – Come Back Team: Director, Founder & Host: Ashly Stone Producer and Senior Editor: Lauren Rose Outreach Manager: Jenna Carlson Art Director: Jeremy Garcia
Matt shares his struggles of overcoming rejection when he converted to the church as a young adult, as well as overcoming challenging things he since learned within church history.
“I may be crazy, but I’m not crazy because I joined the church. It is one of the few good decisions that I have made in my life. I have investigated everything I can find about the church. I’ve read every negative publication that is noteworthy, I’ve listened to people share their exit stories. The only reason that I am here is because it is true. The reason I know it is true is because of the experiences that I have had. I hope if someone is thinking about coming back, just do it. Your life will be better, your posterity will thank you for making it through the hard times. I believe all the church’s truth claims. I am happy to be here and that I am still a member going to church.” Come Back Team: Director, Founder & Host: Ashly Stone Producer and Senior Editor: Lauren Rose Outreach Manager: Jenna Carlson Art Director: Jeremy Garcia
Maxine, a historian and theologian, was excommunicated after publishing a book about early Mormon feminism. After years of studying other religions she was rebaptized into the LDS church.
“I had been serving in a private chapel for 13 years and when I came back into the ward and sat there and felt the Spirit of the body of Christ in that ward I just started sobbing. I couldn’t stop crying. It felt like I was immersed in an ocean of love and light because the body of Christ is so alive in Mormonism and in Sacrament Meeting.” Come Back Team: Director, Founder & Host: Ashly Stone Producer and Senior Editor: Lauren Rose Outreach Manager: Jenna Carlson Art Director: Jeremy Garcia