Ashly and Jesse Stone share their experiences overcoming addiction by utilizing the Atonement of Jesus Christ and the church’s 12 Step program.
“One thing that I noticed when I started coming back to church was I put my focus on who I wanted to be – instead of trying to fix who I was. Instead of trying to stop doing all of these things, it was, okay, I want to be this person. I imagined myself being a mom and a wife. I wanted a family and I thought, ‘Who is the type of person that I need to be to have those things?’ I envisioned that for myself. Then my focus just really shifted into the steps that I needed to take to be who that person was.” Come Back Team: Director, Founder & Host: Ashly Stone Producer and Senior Editor: Lauren Rose Outreach Manager: Jenna Carlson Art Director: Jeremy Garcia
John lost everything to addiction – his family, his home and his job. After being arrested multiple times he turns his life over to the Lord.
“There is no way, in mortality, to get through it by yourself. You can’t push, you can’t shove, you can’t design, you can’t do any of that. Even if you’re not on drugs! You must turn yourself over to a loving Heavenly Father and then there is this capacity for the Savior to enable you – he kind of does internal work and changes you. You think ‘This is different. I’m different than I was.’ And I give them the credit. Luckily, they caught me before I passed away and helped me out.” Come Back Team: Director, Founder & Host: Ashly Stone Producer and Senior Editor: Lauren Rose Outreach Manager: Jenna Carlson Art Director: Jeremy Garcia
Mark lived a picture perfect life until he fell into temptations in adulthood. After stealing from his work he surrendered to the Lord and completely changed his life.
“Besides my family leaving me, my life couldn’t get any worse. I had hit rock bottom. I met with my bishop and stake president. In my mind I had strayed too far from the path. I just couldn’t see myself becoming the person that I once was. The missionary I was, bearing testimony of Jesus, bringing people to Jesus, and being worthy to exercise the priesthood. It just seemed too distant. But they said I could be clean through the Atonement of our Savior, Jesus Christ, and I could come back from this. I believed them and I had hope in what they said. That’s all I had to go on was hope.” Come Back Team: Director, Founder & Host: Ashly Stone Producer and Senior Editor: Lauren Rose Outreach Manager: Jenna Carlson Art Director: Jeremy Garcia
Missy lived a tumultuous life of addiction until she turned her life over to God and returned to her faith.
“I have felt the Atonement take a burden off of my shoulders and literally remove it. It is a weight I didn’t even realize I had been carrying. It was a freedom and a light in my life that I had lived so long without. When you have a moment or experience like that and when you walk in darkness and then come into the light, there is no going back.” Come Back Team: Director, Founder & Host: Ashly Stone Producer and Senior Editor: Lauren Rose Outreach Manager: Jenna Carlson Art Director: Jeremy Garcia
Kyle’s journey through his struggles and triumphs as he experiences tragedy at a young age. His testimony of God the Father and the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
CONTENT WARNING: This episode contains sensitive content that may be triggering or offensive to some audiences. Parental discretion is advised. “These miracles that I have had in my life will never lead me astray from the church again. I cannot deny these things and it is because of the strength and relationship that I have with my Heavenly Father.” – Recommended: Poem: “The Race” by D. H. Groberg – Come Back Team: Director, Founder & Host: Ashly Stone Producer and Senior Editor: Lauren Rose Outreach Manager: Jenna Carlson Art Director: Jeremy Garcia
Trevor came back after years of struggling for a direction in life – his inspiring testimony of Jesus Christ
“They sang this song called ‘Jesus Comes to Fight For Me’ and when I heard that song it was the first time I had felt the Spirit in ten years. It was very emotional for me. I had not felt the Spirit for a really long time and had been through many trials and tribulations. I was lost and to feel that again was rewarding and it meant there was something out there, that being sober was going to be ok, and that eventually everything would be ok.” Come Back Team: Director, Founder & Host: Ashly Stone Producer and Senior Editor: Lauren Rose Outreach Manager: Jenna Carlson Art Director: Jeremy Garcia
Bruce, a hippy with a career in the Air Force, finds his way back to the gospel of Jesus Christ and serves a mission with his wife for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
“I remember listening to the story ‘17 Points of the True Church’ and thinking that I believe this is all true. I don’t need the proof. I knew the church was true and that I needed to come back. That was the beginning of my journey.” — Recommended: YouTube video (audio only): “17 Points of the True Church”, a talk by Floyd Weston https://youtu.be/aTk-LebVUO8?si=NKdgJPHA-UiRyjVw — Come Back Team: Director, Founder & Host: Ashly Stone Producer and Senior Editor: Lauren Rose Outreach Manager: Jenna Carlson Art Director: Jeremy Garcia
Drew’s struggle with addiction and how he transformed his life by turning to the Savior and coming back to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
CONTENT WARNING: This episode contains sensitive content that may be triggering or offensive to some audiences. Parental discretion is advised. “I had never really completely lost my testimony. It was always back there, I would always say I didn’t want it. I didn’t want my testimony, it was so inconvenient. It frustrated me so bad that I couldn’t shake it! I wanted to be able to do this and that and not feel guilty or like I was doing something wrong. It just wouldn’t go away! But thank goodness that it didn’t. The Savior was not going to give up on me.” Come Back Team: Director, Founder & Host: Ashly Stone Producer and Senior Editor: Lauren Rose Outreach Manager: Jenna Carlson Art Director: Jeremy Garcia
A.J. shares his heartfelt journey with us about his struggles with mental health and returning to his faith and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
“When I got into prison the first thing I asked my family was to send me a triple combination. I had never read the Book of Mormon cover to cover. Prior to that it was piece by piece. It is hard to put into words the amount of darkness you feel while in prison that is surrounding you. You are always reminded of how horrible your decisions are, you are beaten down left and right. I religiously started reading the Book of Mormon every day, really studying it and trying to understand it and grow my own testimony. I started to notice it brought me so much comfort no matter what was going on around me. My scriptures became a guide and a light to me in such a dark place.” Come Back Team: Director, Founder & Host: Ashly Stone Producer and Senior Editor: Lauren Rose Outreach Manager: Jenna Carlson Art Director: Jeremy Garcia
Portia Louder’s incredible journey of coming back to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Portia shares her experience of growing up in a non traditional home and coming back to the church after going through teen pregnancy, drugs, adoption, getting sober, and then eventually going to prison. Portia is an incredible person who puts her heart into sharing her story to influence for good. She helps run the “Worldwide United” page on Facebook that has over 500k members. She shares her story with missionaries at the MTC, works with recovering addicts, and many others who are trying to find their way. Her story is one you don’t want to miss. — Recommended book: Living Louder, by Portia Louder Come Back Team: Director, Founder & Host: Ashly Stone Producer and Senior Editor: Lauren Rose Outreach Manager: Jenna Carlson Art Director: Jeremy Garcia