Come Back Podcast

" I think studying a little bit about a hard topic can be more dangerous than studying a lot about a hard topic because there's so much more under the iceberg that can help contextualize what's going on. And so I would definitely say if you're struggling, don't be afraid of the hard questions, but just do it with an approach of faith, hope, and charity. Take a deep breath, make sure you take your time and are doing it in a mindset ...

" I remember the last thing that he landed on was talking about Jesus Christ, and I just remember thinking like, oh my gosh, like, what am I doing? How am I doing this by myself? How am I thinking I can possibly get through this crazy time in my life... How am I doing this alone? So I said, you know what, I'm going to read the Book of Mormon, everything revolves around this book, right? Let's see what it's actually...

"One evening after work, I actually had been pondering all this. And just realized, I was completely convinced that God had tried to reach out to the world, reach out to me through Christ, and so I went into one of the little side classrooms that they have there that was empty and prayed, and just accepted Christ, confessed my sins, my sinfulness. And that night walking home I just experienced wave after wave of peace coming o...

 "It's a little scary, you know, going to church with tattoos for the first time or having multicolored hair and going to church or dressing a certain way. But like at the end of the day, we are all children of God. He's just happy to see us there. And even if you don't feel like you belong, you belong because he accepts you. You belong because you belong with Christ. Not because you belong with the crowd, but beca...

 "This is what those athletes are missing, they are missing peace. They're missing hope. They're missing security. I have never been more confident in my life. In sports, we put on this facade that we're the best and we have so much confidence and it is so shallow. You do one thing and boom, our confidence is tanked. And so my invitation to those athletes would be, if you want to be more confident than you've e...

"Things continue to happen as long as you keep seeking. You know, if you're a seeker and you found the church, rev up to think about what you were doing when you were seeking. How much were you reading? How much were you praying? Who did you associate yourself with? Where did you spend your time? Okay. Get back into that mode, then come back to your current self. Game time! You'll be able to feel the gospel alive again."

Website: h...

"God has been miraculous. And the best thing that ever happened is I learned that I love Jesus Christ. I love what he does for us. I know he is real and I know that he loves me, which I never knew that before. I was just going through those experiences to have to tell the story here, and there's just so much more about being a gay man and navigating through the church."

Come Back Team

Director, Founder & Host: Ashly Stone

Outreach...

"I studied and I prayed and I screamed at God and I sobbed in the shower when you realize you don't know what you believe anymore and that potentially everything that you have believed and you've built your life on and you've built your eternity. , when that's suddenly gone. You are like, I don't know who I am., I just felt like I was in just absolute misery. I didn't know what was up. I didn't know what was down. I knew that I was...

 "I went home and I was like, I need to change. Like I need to change! I knew it was gonna be hard. I had to change everything. So I'm like, okay, I'm gonna go to church every Sunday. That is what I'm gonna start with. I don't care if I listen. I don't care if I wanna be there, but I'm starting with that because that's something I can do. I'll go to church every Sunday. I started with that."...

"I think that's the big thing is I had been to the temple once, right when I got outta prison. But I didn't feel like I was doing it for myself. I felt like I was doing it for the people around me and I didn't get to really enjoy it. And of course, your first time in the temple, you're looking everywhere. You're like, what does this mean? What does this mean? But now that I came back to this church and I we...

CONTENT WARNING: This episode contains sensitive content that may be triggering or offensive to some audiences. Parental discretion is advised.

" Reading the Book of Mormon that week, I really sat down and actually studied the words of the Book of Mormon, and it was powerful. It was so powerful. It was undeniable. And I had been reading about how this genius farmer, right, we always were like, 'He's such a genius. That's how you get...

" And I see that in Thomas B. Marsh's words, where he says 'The Savior loved me, but he loved me enough to whoop me.' Basically, to put me in circumstances where I realized that I needed to come back and that I was missing something from my life."

Come Back Team

Director, Founder & Host: Ashly Stone

Producer: Trent Wardwell

Outreach Manager: Jenna Carlson

Editor: Cara Reed

Assistant Editor: Michelle Berger

Ar...

CONTENT WARNING: This episode contains sensitive content that may be triggering or offensive to some audiences. Parental discretion is advised.

"We can go through hard things. We can be the most horrible or the worst human. Christ still loves us and He still waits patiently for us to come back. It's been awesome going to the temple. It's been amazing! I ended up recently speaking at stake conference because addictio...

"So here I am just one after another. I was smart enough to recognize Satan should have been a little more subtle because this was way too obvious. It was clear that I was under attack and especially that my husband had just been called to be Bishop. I'm like, okay. So I had enough wisdom to step back and recognize that. It still didn't take away from the fact that I cried myself to sleep every night. I didn't know...

"I am so glad that I've been on both ends because to feel what it actually feels like is really cool. So many times I'd be like, 'what if I wouldn't have come back? I wouldn't have had this experience. And I wouldn't be able to associate with these people in the way that I have been.' And every time I was just so thankful that there was a desire in me that never gave up looking for Jesus. And that other people listened to the Spiri...

"Sometimes at school I would go into the bathroom when I was just having a really bad day at school and I would just close the door on the stall and pray: 'If I'm doing the right thing, I need your help.' And I just remember feeling my Heavenly Father's love just pour over me. It was tangible. You know, He's there for these hard things that we experience. He is absolutely there."

https://www.churcho...

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...

"Just as the Psalmist said, 'pride goeth before the fall.' And boy, did I learn that lesson. If I were to boil it down to what is the one thing that is different about me from before my crisis and after my crisis, it is that I was stripped, completely stripped, of my pride. The Lord needed to compel me to be humble. I was one of those foolish ones that needed to be compelled to be humble. I think of all the things I le...