Sam Left the LDS Church and Battled Addiction…then God Called Her on a Mission
“ But it has come to the point where I know who God is, and I know what He feels like, and I know that I feel Him in the places that I go regarding the church. I know that what I have found is true because of that, and I will continue to have questions the rest of my life, and that’s okay.” – 00:00 Faith Questions Begin 00:40 Foundation Updates Overview 04:45 Come Back To Christ Event 07:04 Meet Sam And Her Background 09:01 Doubts Addiction And Turning Point 23:02 Mission Temptations 28:51 Studying Hard Questions 32:32 Faith Amid Social Media – Serve Clothing code COMEBACK for 15% off https://serveclothing.com/ If you have a story to share please submit here: https://comebackpodcast.org/submissions/ For inquiries contact info.comebackpodcast@gmail.com – Come Back Team: Director, Founder, & Host: Ashly Stone Editor: Cara Reed Outreach Manager: Jenna Carlson Assistant Editor: Britt Smallze Art Director: Jeremy Garcia Production Director: Trent Wardwell
Hank Smith on How to Keep Your Testimony Strong, Unshaken, and Rooted in the Gospel of Jesus Christ
Hank Smith’s remarks at our recent Come Back to Christ Event. Hank shares a message of the incredible redemptive power of our Savior, the secret to staying unshaken by the world, and the goodness of the fruit of the tree of life. “A person with an experience is never at the mercy of a person with an opinion” ~ Hank Smith Serve Clothing code COMEBACK for 15% offhttps://serveclothing.com/Memor Jewelry code COMEBACK for 10% offhttps://memorjewelry.com/If you have a story to share please contact ashly.comebackpodcast@gmail.comFor inquiries contact info.comebackpodcast@gmail.comCome Back Team:Director, Founder, & Host: Ashly StoneEditor: Cara ReedOutreach Manager: Jenna CarlsonAssistant Editor: Michelle BergerAssistant Editor: Britt SmallzeArt Director: Jeremy GarciaProduction Director: Trent Wardwell
Brian’s story of missionary shame, medical miracles, and a Savior that never gave up on him
“My testimony evolved a lot after I became a father. I could now relate in a different way than I’d ever understood before to what I think our Heavenly Father views with us in the trials that we go through. I think He is up at night, tears in His eyes sobbing because He knows the pain that we’re going through, but He also knows that we need to go through it. The pain is part of what teaches us so much. Oftentimes it turns us into who we are because of how stark those lessons are.” 00:00 Struggles with Faith and Health 05:31 Health Crisis in the MTC 08:08 Struggles with Church and Faith 12:36 Diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis 25:29 Dealing with Resentment After Returning Home 30:37 Advice for Early Returned Missionaries 37:54 Mental Health and Youth Challenges 44:09 Perfectionism and Parental Pressure Cozy Earth code COMEBACK for 40% off https://cozyearth.com/Mike’s Auto Shackhttps://mikesautoshack.com/ Serve Clothing code COMEBACK for 15% off https://serveclothing.com/ If you have a story to share please contact ashly.comebackpodcast@gmail.com For inquiries contact info.comebackpodcast@gmail.com Come Back Team: Director, Founder, & Host: Ashly Stone Editor: Cara Reed Outreach Manager: Jenna Carlson Assistant Editor: Michelle Berger Assistant Editor: Britt Smallze Art Director: Jeremy Garcia Production Director: Trent Wardwell
The murder of Ashley’s brother shook her faith – until she started noticing miracles around her.
CONTENT WARNING: This episode contains sensitive content that may be triggering or offensive to some audiences. Parental discretion is advised. “The trial is going to be coming up either at the end of this year or possibly at the beginning of next year. So I’m still going to be going through this. I still have to sit through a full trial. But now I have a lot more strength and armor on me. I am preparing for it to be hard, so I just have to find strength in the Savior. I remember praying one night about forgiveness and how sometimes when you hold that stuff inside it can eat away at you. It’s like poison inside of you. And I thought, ‘how could I ever pray to allow forgiveness for murder? That one’s too big.’ So as I was praying about it, I just thought, ‘All I can do is pray that the savior will carry the burden that I feel from losing someone to murder.’ And in that moment that’s what I did. I said, ‘I don’t know what this looks like, but I need you to carry this for me.’ The Savior never once has let me down with asking Him to carry a burden. It doesn’t matter what kind, whether it’s overcoming depression, losing people or financial loss, the Savior’s love is there, He carries all burdens. So I’ve learned through all this that he can carry anything.” https://mikesautoshack.com/ Come Back Team: Director, Founder & Host: Ashly Stone Producer: Lauren Rose Outreach Manager: Jenna Carlson Editor: Cara Reed Assistant Editor: Michelle Berger Art Director: Jeremy Garcia Episode sponsor: Serve Clothing https://serveclothing.com/?gad_source=1
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 Editor: Michelle Berger Art Director: Jeremy Garcia
Growing up Hayden’s family was in and out of the gospel. As he began experiencing difficulties in his new marriage he learned the importance of making and keeping covenants.
CONTENT WARNING: This episode contains sensitive content that may be triggering or offensive to some audiences. Parental discretion is advised. “Once I got to the celestial room I was just sitting and thought ‘I am ready, 100% if you tell me to do something I will do it.’ I sat there for 20-30 minutes and nothing was coming to me. At this point I was beginning to remember what the Spirit felt like and what promptings felt like because I had experienced a lot of that on my mission. After sitting there for 45 minutes all of a sudden it was like a bus and boom—I heard ‘You need to be in the church, I have a lot of plans for you, you need to be here.’ It was like a light switch after that, I had conviction not just in school but in every part of my life. Things I had never been able to accomplish before I was now able to do.” Come Back Team: Director, Founder & Host: Ashly Stone Producer and Senior Editor: Lauren Rose Outreach Manager: Jenna Carlson Editor: Michelle Berger Art Director: Jeremy Garcia
With Jen’s faith in Christ, her life was changed from being a homeless meth addict to helping others.
CONTENT WARNING: This episode contains sensitive content that may be triggering or offensive to some audiences. Parental discretion is advised. “There is a song sung by David Archuleta called ‘Glorious’ and he talks about how we all have times in our life where we feel aimless and we can’t see where we belong and we can’t see where we fit. That life is this beautiful symphony we all have parts that we contribute to make that melody the masterpiece that it is. If you haven’t figured out your part yet then just keep listening, you will figure it out. In that moment I translated that to stay on the planet a little longer, you haven’t figured out what your part is yet. So I decided I would give this prayer thing a chance. I drove my truck to my storage unit that I was living in and turned off the car. I turned to God as if He was sitting in the seat next to me and I just started pouring my heart out to Him.” – https://turtleshelterproject.org https://instagram.com/turtleshelterproject?igshid=MTNiYzNiMzkwZA== https://www.facebook.com/turtleshelterproject – Come Back Team: Director, Founder & Host: Ashly Stone Producer and Senior Editor: Lauren Rose Outreach Manager: Jenna Carlson Editor: Michelle Berger Art Director: Jeremy Garcia
After partying through high school and college, Brooke desperately needed change. She turned toward her Savior and found the light she needed in her life
“Even though I was by myself going to church, looking back on it, I don’t even remember being alone. I didn’t feel alone during this entire process of turning back to Him; I wasn’t feeling alone anymore and I wasn’t scared to go by myself. I got my recommend back and I went to the temple by myself and I never felt alone. I ended up being the happiest I had ever been. I was so excited to have that light come back within me. I just wanted to scream from the rooftops: ‘I feel changed, I feel whole!’” Come Back Team: Director, Founder & Host: Ashly Stone Producer and Senior Editor: Lauren Rose Outreach Manager: Jenna Carlson Editor: Michelle Berger Art Director: Jeremy Garcia
Bekah’s experience with family falling away, girls camp, and intimate moments that helped guide her back to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
“Be open to other people’s opinions. I used to think ‘This church is either true or it is not.’ I never thought there could be any gray area. The way I saw everything was so black and white, but that is something I have learned is to be open to other possibilities. Don’t just cut everything off because one thing doesn’t make sense.” — Recommended: Book: When It Doesn’t Make Sense, by John Bytheway __ Come Back Team: Director, Founder & Host: Ashly Stone Producer and Senior Editor: Lauren Rose Outreach Manager: Jenna Carlson Editor: Michelle Berger Art Director: Jeremy Garcia
Karl takes us through his life lessons and his journey back to the Savior through The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
“I was playing football with my boys and my oldest said, ‘Dad, I really want to go back to church. I miss it.’ And I asked, ‘Why do you miss it?’ And he says, ‘I miss the feeling I had there.’ Then the other boys chimed in and said they really wanted to go back to Scouts. Then we all hugged and had that moment and they just said, ‘Dad can you take us back to church?’ And it just floored me, so I took them the next week.” — Recommended: Karl’s podcast: “Three Dad Bods” — Come Back Team: Director, Founder & Host: Ashly Stone Producer and Senior Editor: Lauren Rose Outreach Manager: Jenna Carlson Editor: Michelle Berger Art Director: Jeremy Garcia