May 18, 2025 • 42 mins
In this episode of Dear Daughters of God, Suzanne Bates shares her powerful journey from extreme despair to triumph, grounded in her faith and the gospel of Jesus Christ. Amidst her struggles with health, addiction, and domestic violence, Suzanne's story touches on her personal experiences with angels, the power of light, and the spiritual significance of the temple. Now working as a natural health expert, she continues to inspire others with her testimony of Jesus Christ's love.
Thanks for listening! I'm on Instagram as deardaughtersofgod. Follow me on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/invites/contact/?i=1iyjqx0cq4kbk&utm_content=qr66nqv
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Stephanie (00:00):
Hello, I am Stephanie Eccles.
This is Dear Daughters of God.
Welcome.
We're so glad you're here.
Stephanie test (00:14):
I am a retired school administrator
natural storyteller, and I am adaughter of God.
Now, I tell the stories
of our lives from theperspective
of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Microphone (Samson Q2U (00:25):
Welcome, Dear Daughters of God.
I address you that way becausethat's what you are to Him.
To our Heavenly Father, you aredear.
Stephanie (00:34):
Today we have a guest I'm thrilled to introduce my
dear friend, Suzanne Bates.
Welcome Suzanne.
Suzanne Bates (00:44):
Thank you for having me, Stephanie.
Stephanie (00:45):
oh, I'm so thrilled to have you here.
I was attending a women's eventthat Stacey Harmer was hosting.
She has a group called VibrantLiving and Suzanne was the guest
lecturer.
Suzanne was talking about howshe went from being very ill to
becoming very healthy andvibrant and I was so impressed
(01:07):
with her lecture.
I went and met her at the endand we've become fast friends
and it's enriched my life havingher friendship.
she's going to share part of herlife with us today.
Suzanne Bates is the mother offour children.
She worked as an ICU nurse.
Emergency room nurse for severalyears.
Her story of rising out ofextreme despair to ultimately
(01:29):
triumph over mental anguish anddeath itself is a testament to
the power and reality of JesusChrist.
Her journey gives unique, thoughnot uncommon, Perspective on the
reality of angels, the power oflight and the temple,
specifically how they areintertwined.
(01:50):
She works as a natural healthexpert at Renew Wellness and
Vitality Nutrition.
She has nearly completed adoctor of naturopathy,
Congratulations, Suzanne!
Suzanne Bates (02:02):
you.
Stephanie (02:03):
I know you're very close.
when are you going to graduate?
Suzanne Bates (02:06):
So I should be done by May.
Stephanie (02:09):
May.
So soon.
So soon.
Yes.
Oh, wonderful.
Wonderful.
And I know you're already seeingpatients, like we said, at Renew
Wellness.
I like having you here.
So be sure to like and subscribeso you can receive every video.
See you soon.
Now, Suzanne, tell us why youfeel compelled to share portions
(02:33):
of your life.
Suzanne Bates (02:33):
Okay, it's true that I haven't spoken openly
about things that I'm going totalk about today because they
are very sacred in nature andthey're sacred to me yet as has
gone by and the years havestarted to pass, the despair in
many of the people I see and,you know, those that I interact
(02:57):
with.
I thought I know something thatmaybe not everyone knows and
maybe my story and, andexperiences someone and, take
away discouragement and fear.
Actually, I think I hope to beable to.
(03:18):
To spell fear in people and I, Ifelt like this is the right time
to do it and, and like I said,it, it will just be part of what
I've experienced, but, but Ithink it's meant to help someone
Thank you for helping usunderstand the why.
Why we are grateful that you'regoing to Answer that call today.
(03:42):
Well, let's see, in ourconversations, you've talked
about a place of light,remembering as a child, memories
of a place of light.
Would you like to start there?
Sure, So I, I remember being ayoung child, and interpreting
(04:04):
life and my life experiences andbeing aware I had been in a
place of light and knowing whatpart of that looked like.
And I remember being with a manwho.
Walked down the main street thatI would later grow up on with me
(04:26):
and I Don't remember what hesaid, but I remember he was
there and I remember he wasinvested in me and think maybe
preparing me is what it's feltlike and I thought I I started
to wonder as a child, where isthat light?
Where is that man?
I don't remember not rememberingthe light and the feeling of the
(04:50):
light is what I have beenallowed to remember.
The bliss, are uncomfortablehere because we originate from
bliss, complete bliss, we'reuncomfortable here because
that's where we come from.
And I've known that my wholelife, that I've come from a
place of light, you know, I, Iknow that,
Stephanie (05:11):
What, what an incredible advantage to have
this understanding you don'teven remember a time where you
didn't understand this.
So since the very beginning ofyour life, you remember this
Suzanne Bates (05:24):
I
Stephanie (05:24):
and, who do you think this person was, this man?
Suzanne Bates (05:28):
So I have not been allowed to remember his
face, but I, I think of him asan angel.
Maybe it was the savior.
And, and, you know, wouldn'tthat be a beautiful thing if it
were, I think that the saviorhas angels who are so invested
(05:51):
in our transition to this life.
And our preparation for thislife, and I think that that
shouldn't be a surprise toanyone, right?
We know we came the preexistence.
We know we've been with God, andso why would God just throw us
into an experience withoutpreparing us first?
(06:13):
it would make sense and we don'teven need to know the details of
how that happened other than toknow, know, of course God would
be preparing us.
Or helping us in every way thathe could to integrate into this
experience of life here.
Yeah, and so, it's beautiful tothink about that.
(06:34):
Yes.
Stephanie (06:48):
and, and, and this, this man certainly, I mean, you
could refer to him as one ofthose angels and the temple, and
the sounds of angels voices inthe temple, how did that come
together for you?
Hmm.
(07:11):
Hmm.
Suzanne Bates (07:17):
we weren't great.
We were pretty good, but weweren't amazing.
was part of the choir hence thefact that we weren't probably
great.
And knew what we sounded likebecause we practiced several
weeks together.
And when we got into thecelestial room, as I singing, we
(07:38):
heard, and it just, it was notjust me.
It was many of the choir heardan angel.
It wasn't one, it was angelicvoices.
And they were and they were, andthey pierced our souls.
We were weeping.
We knew something incredible hadjust happened.
(07:59):
And so as a 20 year old, I'mthinking, just heard that with
my ear, my own ear we, said toeach other, members of the
choir, did you just hear thatsound?
so many of us, yes, there wereangels, we heard it and people
in the congregation.
In fact, I had a family memberwe were talking about, she was
in the congregation with myaunts and, she said that she
(08:25):
heard it.
And so there's something therethat's beautiful.
And I've remembered that soundand I've remembered that it
happened.
And I thought day.
God knows I heard that sound.
Stephanie (08:40):
Hmm.
Suzanne Bates (08:40):
witnessed that I've heard that sound,
Stephanie (08:43):
Hmm.
Suzanne Bates (08:44):
so I can't ever deny that I've heard that sound.
Stephanie (08:48):
So it's another testament to you that God was
aware of you and gave you,another miracle in your life,
that angels were around you,watching over you, singing
beside you
Suzanne Bates (09:01):
Right.
Stephanie (09:02):
by your side,
Suzanne Bates (09:03):
Right.
Stephanie (09:03):
a tender mercy.
Suzanne Bates (09:04):
For sure.
Stephanie (09:05):
Yes.
Suzanne Bates (09:06):
So.
Stephanie (09:08):
Elder Holland has talked about calling down
angels.
Suzanne Bates (09:11):
Yeah,
Stephanie (09:12):
you have an experience with elder Holland
and angels.
Will you tell us about thatexperience?
Suzanne Bates (09:20):
Yes.
that's such a powerfulexperience.
I ended up as a nursing studentat Primary Children's Hospital
and had a very, very sick boy,and it was.
Just towards the end of hislife, suffering was continuing
(09:41):
and it was so excruciating thecancer for him and they were
running out of things to do andto help him.
it was like this terribleemotional whiplash where a
mother doesn't want to let go oftheir child.
And yet.
You know, it's like sending themoff into the unknown, kind of a
(10:03):
feeling.
And so I was in
Stephanie (10:06):
Okay.
Suzanne Bates (10:26):
felt it.
It felt
Stephanie (10:30):
As if someone was standing there we know how it
feels..
the room was full that boy diedwithin a few minutes.
I was so stunned by thatexperience
Suzanne Bates (10:45):
I went home and immediately told my family, I
can't believe what justhappened.
I can't believe I just saw it,you know.
And so for years and years andyears, it was another piece of
angels in my life.
And it just has added testimonyof the way that they can be
called down.
We can ask for themindividually, we can call, you
(11:08):
know, down and and ask ourheavenly father to send them.
And I think just by requestingtheir help, that we feel it even
even greater.
Stephanie (11:18):
Yes.
Oh, that must have been aremarkable experience to be in
that room, with the mother andthe little boy,
Suzanne Bates (11:26):
Yeah.
Stephanie (11:26):
and as that, and witness that miracle with the
angels coming.
Suzanne Bates (11:32):
It was, it left an impression, for sure.
Yeah.
Stephanie (11:45):
talked about a glass building.
A glass building.
Tell us about that.
What is that about?
Suzanne Bates (11:54):
There was a night that I went to sleep after I'd
been engaged, and I hadn't beenendowed yet.
And I, I feel bad that I'msaying this, but the truth was I
was putting off being in doubtbecause I thought, you know, I'm
not really sure that I want towear garments.
Of course, I'm going to wearthem, but maybe I'll put it off
(12:17):
a little bit longer kind of a
Stephanie (12:18):
Mm-hmm
Suzanne Bates (12:20):
It isn't great, but it is what it is.
And I went to sleep one nightand I was, I was taken to a
glass building above the GreatSalt Lake.
There were windows.
that faced east, and so I couldsee the temple in Bountiful, and
(12:42):
the temple in Salt Lake lit up,and the rays were just coming,
just powerful rays, and straightup, and I, and I still remember
that so well, and I, in thisdream, I, I, I was able to see
people driving around, I couldsee cars driving around, could
(13:03):
see a parking lot of theBountiful temple.
could see there weren't manypeople there and angels, this
angel was in white, pure white,brighter than the new day sun,
And there's no, nobody needs to,to move their lips to talk.
(13:26):
It was just, there's anunderstanding of thoughts and
Stephanie (13:32):
there's a lot of culture there.
And there's a lot of, you know,fiscal instruments, there's a
lot of pushing for there's a lotof pushing for more population
training, and technical culturethat's needed to be And I think
that's something that we need tohave a conversation about.
(13:55):
I think we need to have aboutthat.
I'm going to announce
Suzanne Bates (14:01):
in, they don't Because I, You know, I had
Stephanie (14:08):
Mm hmm.
Mm hmm.
Mm hmm.
Suzanne Bates (14:32):
myself.
And so I've gone from theknowledge of here's, I've heard
an angel.
actually communicated with theangel.
I looked down, I've been shownthe power of the temple.
And this is where I know for afact that things I've been shown
have me alive, have kept me fromgiving up It was so painful.
(15:00):
I ended up many people indomestic violence with extreme
emotional and mentaldysfunction.
And so I'd gone from thrivingTo, all of a sudden, living in a
nightmare.
(15:20):
Oh, was there anyone to reachout to Suzanne The thing that's
so interesting is, it startedslow, it started slow.
And my attachment was so tightto him, I had dated so many
people, said no to differentpeople and, and married.
(15:42):
And I realize now I didn't lovemyself enough to probably choose
the best person for me, but Iwas also on top of that deceived
by him.
And so ended up with a verywounded person who I wish well,
of course, but I had, I, Icompletely lost my ability to
(16:09):
function like a normal person.
I mean, I ended up dependent andthen addicted to medication
after a C section and,
Stephanie (16:18):
Oh, like, pain type medication.
Suzanne Bates (16:21):
yeah, yep.
Stephanie (16:22):
Oh.
Suzanne Bates (16:23):
And so it was during the time where it's being
given out to everyone.
So it was like, take this, takethis, take this.
And then I have to go back towork.
baby was two and a half weeksold and so my incision never
healed properly.
So I ended up having to have.
It taken care of again.
(16:44):
And then the pain medicationjust kept being prescribed.
Stephanie (16:48):
Oh, dear.
Suzanne Bates (16:49):
yeah.
it was what's happened in thefollowing years.
I stayed with the same person inaddiction, my own addiction, his
addiction to something else,just free falling, thinking I, I
don't deserve God's loveanymore.
(17:12):
like many women in domesticviolence, believe it was my
fault and, and if you're toldit's your fault, secretly inside
you also believe it's yourfault, it just destroys your
sense of fighting for anythinggood in your life.
(17:33):
And so for me, my husband brokeme and paraded me in my
dysfunction I ended up becomingextremely Sick, physically,
mentally, emotionally, I came tothe marriage thriving and I left
disabled.
I
Stephanie (17:51):
Yeah.
Suzanne Bates (17:52):
I'll never be deserving of God's love again,
I, going to church and just didnot feel, didn't feel worthy of
things.
I think I thought about theseexperiences with light.
I thought about angels, but Ifelt so far away knowing how do
(18:13):
I get back
Stephanie (18:14):
Okay.
(18:39):
Oh, here we go.
Suzanne Bates (18:40):
Harder and harder to breathe.
So it was if I was goingunderground and all of a sudden
things were crushing in aroundme and I could not breathe, was
not breathing.
And there was angel greeted meand was the bliss all over
again.
(19:00):
There was There was clarityabout who I am.
Wait a minute, I might be worthfighting for because
Stephanie (19:11):
Hmm.
Okay.
Suzanne Bates (19:12):
loved by these people that are greeting me.
And I, I'm so loved and I wastaken up and I was shown things.
And I can't talk abouteverything I was shown, but I
can say
Stephanie (19:26):
and hmm
Suzanne Bates (19:49):
all the places.
I'm, I'm still not, I, I wasshown many things, so this is
just kind of of those thingsthat I, I was shown everyone at
once, all of their feelings andthoughts as well as them at
once.
So I could feel what everyonewas feeling, and I could see
(20:12):
this tremendous pull withhumanity trying to be dissuaded
by the dark spirits that werearound, those trying to live and
work on this earth here.
To do their work here.
There were glorious angelshelping and assisting those that
(20:32):
are here on earth in a myriad ofways.
And so
Stephanie (20:37):
when we feel alone we're not alone That's one of
the reasons I wanted to come onhere just to let everyone know
suffering we are not alone wecan be strengthened when things
go terribly wrong As long as Aslong as we yoke ourselves to
Jesus Christ we have no reasonto fear, we have no reason to
(21:02):
fear All is
Suzanne Bates (21:05):
well.
Stephanie (21:06):
We can't comprehend how precious and priceless we
are but I think so that reallyhelped me to fight through
physical, emotional, and mentalchallenges as I tried to get
better when I came back into mybody I took a breath so
uncomfortable, I have no ideahow long I held my breath but I
(21:28):
remember coming back in my bodyand immediately just yearning
for where I'd been.
What just happened to me?
You know..
So I think about this experienceseveral times
Suzanne Bates (21:43):
I think one of the biggest problems we have is
we live our lives from a placeof not understanding our value
as a human being and our worth.
I
Stephanie (21:52):
had so
Suzanne Bates (21:54):
much healing that happened after that.
Significant healing,
Stephanie (21:59):
spiritual and physical healing.
Suzanne Bates (22:01):
And even though things, you know, there were
bumps in the road and happened,I was well on my way.
that, because how do you gothrough that and think about it
every day, long or short, andnot just think, maybe I'm okay,
maybe I'm a little bit betterthan I think I am.
In fact, you know, I might bereally special.
Stephanie (22:23):
Suzanne says that our biggest problem is that we do
not understand our worth.
There was a wonderful sermonettegiven in our latest general
conference this last April.
It was given by.
Sister Tamara W.
Runia the first counselor in theyoung women's general
presidency, she titled herSermonette, Your Repentance
(22:44):
Doesn't Burden Jesus Christ.
It Brightens His Joy she teachesthis principle of worth and
repentance, We're going toconcentrate on the worth part
with such simplicity, she usesphysical actions to drive home
her point.
So I've cut just a clip of hersermonette so you can both see
(23:08):
it and hear the simple way inwhich she teaches this beautiful
principle.
Here it is.
Tamara Runia (23:15):
He delights to forgive because to him we are
delightful.
Don't you just feel that's true?
Then why is it so hard for us tobelieve Satan?
The great accuser and deceiveruses shame to keep us from God.
Shame is a darkness so heavy.
It feels that if you took it outof your body, it would have an
(23:36):
actual weight or heft to it.
Shame is the voice that beatsyou up saying, what were you
thinking?
Do you ever get anything right?
Shame doesn't tell us we made amistake.
It tells us we are our mistakes.
You may even hear hide.
The adversary does everything inhis power to keep the heaviness
(23:56):
inside telling us the cost istoo high, that it'll be easier
if this stays in darkness.
Removing all hope, Satan is thethief of hope, and you need to
hear this.
So I'll say these words outloud.
You are not the voice in yourhead.
Or the mistakes you have made,you may need to say that out
(24:18):
loud too.
Tell Satan, not today.
Put him behind you.
Feel that.
Pull the Godly sorrow that turnsyou towards your savior and
watch his grace enter into yourlife and the lives of those you
love.
I promise the minute we bring abroken heart courageously
towards him, he is immediatelythere.
(24:38):
If you saw someone drowning,wouldn't you reach your handout
to rescue them?
Could you imagine your saviorrejecting your outstretched
hand?
I imagine him diving into thewater descending below.
All things to lift us up so wecan take a fresh breath.
No one can sink lower than thelight of Christ shines.
Our savior is forever brighterthan the darkness of shame, and
(25:01):
he would never attack yourworth.
So watch closely imagine thatthis hand represents worth and
this hand represents obedience.
Maybe you woke up this morning,said meaningful prayer.
Search the scriptures to hearGod's voice.
You've made good decisions andare treating the people you live
with.
With Christlikeness, you'relistening to general conference.
(25:22):
Your obedience is here.
Or maybe things haven't gone sowell.
You've struggled lately to dothe small, simple things to
connect to heaven.
Maybe you've made some decisionsyou weren't proud of.
Where is your worth?
Has this hand moved at all?
Your worth isn't tied toobedience.
Your worth is constant.
It never changes.
(25:42):
It was given to you by God, andthere's nothing you or anyone
else can do to change it.
Obedience does bring blessings.
That is true, but worth isn'tone of them.
Your worth is always great inthe sight of God no matter where
your decisions have taken youover here.
And while I make mistakes, Iwant to stay in covenant
relationship with Christ, andI'll tell you why.
(26:05):
I grew up taking diving lessonsand learned that when judges
score a dive, they watched theexecution with the entry
perfectly vertical, with toespointed and a small splash.
Then they do somethingextraordinary.
They factor in the degree ofdifficulty.
Everyone is diving with theirown degree of difficulty, and
(26:25):
your savior is the only one whotruly knows the difficulty you
are diving with.
I want a relationship with theone person who gets me.
Who knows my heart and how hardI'm trying.
Stephanie (26:38):
Wasn't Sister Runia?
Terrific.
So our worth is constant.
It was given to us by God, thevery one who truly understands
the level of difficulty of eachone of our individual lives, and
it cannot be taken away.
It is the adversary, the greataccuser that would like us to
(27:02):
believe that our mistakes arewho we are, and that is a lie.
We are not our mistakes.
Obedience does bring blessings,but it is not tied to our
self-worth.
Our self-worth is constant.
(27:25):
Now back to the interview.
I became obsessed withunderstanding physical light,
spiritual light, and all ofthat.
I, I felt impressed last Octoberto go out every morning I have
seasonal affective disorder.
So every year for 40, 45 days.
(27:47):
You know, when the winter comes,I become just, I blow energy
grumpy.
eating everyone's pie.
I'm, you know, I'm doing Even mypecan pie.
Suzanne Bates (27:58):
oh yeah, I'd be down
Stephanie (28:00):
Oh, good.
I need help eating it because noone else in my house will eat
it.
I found, I found my pie friend.
Suzanne Bates (28:07):
You have, you have, you have these ones.
Stephanie (28:11):
Okay.
Sorry.
I
Suzanne Bates (28:12):
sure.
Stephanie (28:12):
got up.
I got up.
Sorry.
So, so, so you, you get in theslump and you want to eat every,
everything.
Suzanne Bates (28:17):
Yeah, I get in the slum, I want to eat
everything.
And
Stephanie (28:20):
Okay.
Okay.
Suzanne Bates (28:20):
You know, I can't move to Florida, maybe if I go
out in the morning, now at thispoint, I still have diabetes.
This point, blood pressure hadcome down quite a bit, but my
kidney numbers weren't thatgreat.
They, and so going out in themorning, I ended up finding this
(28:42):
incredible source of healing formy body through infrared light
and red light.
And through just the practice, Ideveloped a small practice where
I go out and I feel like, youknow, we have those mornings
when we get up and maybe wedon't like ourselves that much
that day.
But
Stephanie (29:01):
huh.
Suzanne Bates (29:02):
go out and for me, it was like, Heavenly
Father, I'm here.
Will you help me today to likemyself enough to do the right
things today for myself?
And regain the hope and toremember the power, that is
(29:24):
around us so that I don't, youknow, have to lose hope.
And in going out every morning,I, I healed so much of my PTSD
Stephanie (29:35):
Oh.
Suzanne Bates (29:37):
and things that I'm now teaching my clients, but
I had such severe PTSD.
I could barely, I rememberrolling myself up in blankets
because I didn't want the air.
Stephanie (29:50):
Oh my, yes, now, how, how do you go out?
How early?
Suzanne Bates (29:57):
I'm going to go out in the sunrises and I
Stephanie (30:00):
Let's.
Suzanne Bates (30:01):
and I have something to meditate on to try
to get my mind to practiceholding still for a minute and
just being in and being therewith my Heavenly Father, Savior.
And read scriptures about lightand, and, and, and, and, and,
and, and, and, and, and, Thenoften I am to get myself into a
state of gratitude, you know, instudying this as a wellness
(30:23):
professional, I've, are so manyamazing things gratitude does
for the body physiologically,we're talking, it lowers the
blood pressure, but the mostsignificant thing that gratitude
did and does for me is it takesme out of fight or flight every
morning.
Stephanie (30:43):
Mm.
Suzanne Bates (30:43):
I think often if you have a history of abuse or
trauma in some way, wake up withkind of this sense of dread.
And so being able to centermyself, being able to be okay
with what's happening during theday and days and days and days
(31:05):
and days of that, the, it's beena precious experience for me
every morning to go out and itfeels like.
the most brilliant light showevery morning and
Stephanie (31:16):
Really?
Suzanne Bates (31:17):
snows and I go out and my neighbors think I'm
crazy, it's okay, your neighborsthink you're crazy, and I
accidentally got rid of mydiabetes using sunlight,
Stephanie (31:29):
Accidentally.
Suzanne Bates (31:30):
accidentally,
Stephanie (31:32):
Accidentally.
Suzanne Bates (31:33):
I,
Stephanie (31:33):
that's amazing.
Hmm.
Hmm.
Suzanne Bates (31:37):
better, and I thought, wait a minute, what's
going on here, and then startedto really research light and
understand the power of infraredand red light, our eyes were
meant to look upwards.
We're meant to look towards theheaven.
And when God commands us to dothat, look to God and look and
look, there's actually thesecells built in to monitor this
(32:02):
invisible magical light calledinfrared light.
And light is incredible becauseit comes in into the eyes and
immediately it's like we're anavatar, Stephanie.
It, because we've got theseintrinsically photosensitive
(32:22):
retinal ganglion cells are thereto take in that energy and they
distribute it all over the body.
And we know that it goesstraight to the fetus.
very best stuff is going to gostraight to, to a developing
baby So it's, it's just such abeautiful thing to understand
(32:45):
that all of a sudden my energywas back.
My energy was back.
Now, it was not fun to go out inthe cold in the beginning
because
Stephanie (32:53):
Yeah.
Because we live in Utah.
Suzanne Bates (32:55):
We live in Utah.
It's so cold sometimes here.
Stephanie (32:58):
Yeah.
Suzanne Bates (33:00):
And so I found out I had to write up a contract
for myself, which is somethingmy, my dad would do all the time
growing up.
He'd make us type up and sign acontract that we were going to
do something so I did that.
And kids watch me sign it, andyour kids watch you sign it,
(33:20):
then you're
Stephanie (33:22):
Then you're,
Suzanne Bates (33:22):
trouble
Stephanie (33:23):
then you're stuck.
I mean, you're, you can't doanything.
If your kids watch you sign it.
Yeah.
Suzanne Bates (33:28):
So from October 9th, I said I was going to go
out for 100 mornings and do justsunlight.
And the, it's been amazing.
amazing to see how my physical,mental, emotional, spiritual
health has all improved.
Stephanie (33:44):
you did start with, meditating about what you're
grateful for, which helps bringyou out of fight or flight type
of type of a state.
Right?
So what sort of things did youfind you were grateful for?
I mean, life was hard.
Suzanne Bates (33:58):
Yeah,
Stephanie (33:59):
You had what else?
Suzanne Bates (34:01):
I have so many things.
It's embarrassing, Well, I don'thave many of them anymore.
But it's
Stephanie (34:08):
heart disease
Suzanne Bates (34:08):
How are you?
Stephanie (34:09):
were two of them.
Suzanne Bates (34:10):
And then my
Stephanie (34:11):
Yeah,
Suzanne Bates (34:11):
are failing.
Stephanie (34:12):
your kidneys were failing.
So what sort of things were yougrateful for?
I don't mean to say that ofcourse there were not things
that, that you should begrateful for.
Of course there were.
I'm just curious, what thingsdid you find, did you
acknowledge that you weregrateful for?
Suzanne Bates (34:27):
So I would find anything, anything that I can
think of.
And
Stephanie (34:32):
Okay.
This
Suzanne Bates (34:35):
for my socks and for my soft blanket.
Just my car keys not being lostand my phone not being lost.
And I, and I thank him for, youknow, really anything that I can
think of.
And the amazing part of thisentire law and principle is that
(34:58):
when we express gratitude toGod, we are immediately blessed
again.
So I say thank you all day longand reasons to say thank you
come all day long.
And they come in amazing ways,you know, and there's obviously
difficulty in life, it's part ofbeing alive, but the beautiful
(35:20):
things that come into my lifethat, that I think, you know,
wow, like heaven, if we saythank you, heaven gives us so
many reasons to, to keep sayingthank you and,
Stephanie (35:32):
reminds me of, of the desperate times in education,
like in, during COVID.
Suzanne Bates (35:38):
yeah,
Stephanie (35:38):
COVID, when it was really, really difficult and
everyone went insane, you know,to, to a, to a certain level.
So it's times like that.
That's why I wanted to hear,what do, what were you grateful
for?
I have plenty of things to begrateful for, but I was just
(35:58):
thinking of times when life wasreally hard.
Suzanne Bates (36:01):
when life is really hard, this is the way to
survive it,
Stephanie (36:05):
Yeah.
Suzanne Bates (36:06):
I think in just expressing gratitude for the
scriptures and the power of thetemple and really feeling what
life would be like withouttemple and, then just allowing
the excitement of the fact thatwe don't have to live life
without the temple flow into us.
And that gratitude, it literallyheals the body.
(36:29):
And so we've talked about, youknow, we've got this internal
pharmacy that our emotions justwe have this, you know,
adrenaline going and thendifferent, different chemicals
in the body causing differentemotions and reactions.
But if we can say, I'm thankful,I'm grateful, then the chemicals
in the body actually returned tohomeostasis.
And so we can say, I'm thankful,I'm grateful, then the chemicals
(36:51):
in the body actually returned tohomeostasis.
it's like a chemical override ofthe anxiety to, to practice
gratitude to the point that you,feel it is very powerful
Stephanie (37:05):
I can relate to that.
Just, in those times where I'vebeen upset about something and
then just had a time where Ifelt grateful for something and
it's healed.
It's healed my anger.
Yes.
Yes.
It's amazing what, what changingthe emotion can do to the whole
(37:27):
body
Suzanne Bates (37:28):
right.
Stephanie (37:29):
physically.
Yes.
Suzanne Bates (37:32):
it's like gratitude is allowing us to
reframe our negativeexperiences,
Stephanie (37:37):
Mhm.
Mhm.
Right.
Suzanne Bates (37:39):
can reframe them.
And they don't have power overus the same
Stephanie (37:44):
Mhm.
Suzanne Bates (37:44):
still.
Stephanie (37:44):
Mhm.
Right.
Suzanne Bates (37:46):
fantastic tool,
Stephanie (37:49):
Yes, yes, You know, when, when I first met you, you
were giving the lecture andtalking about that 100 day
challenge that you gave yourself
Suzanne Bates (37:57):
Oh,
Stephanie (38:03):
and I decided I've got to go out there.
So I was, I was going out thereand it was when it was very cold
Suzanne Bates (38:09):
wow.
Stephanie (38:11):
lots of precipitation and I didn't have coverage
outside.
Suzanne Bates (38:15):
Perfect.
Stephanie (38:16):
so I was wearing my husband's big like parka that
kind of looks like a sleepingbag and I, he took some pretty
good pictures of me and we wenton for several days, but I, I
have lapsed.
I have lapsed, so I'm going tohave to write a contract.
Suzanne Bates (38:31):
It's
Stephanie (38:31):
I'm going to have to write a contract and get back on
it.
Suzanne Bates (38:34):
I'll, maybe I can oversee the contract.
Stephanie (38:37):
I think you, I think that's the key.
Suzanne Bates (38:39):
for
Stephanie (38:40):
I have to show it to people.
Suzanne Bates (38:41):
You'll just have to show it to me.
Stephanie (38:43):
I'll show it to Suzanne.
I'll show it to Suzanne.
Yeah.
Suzanne Bates (38:48):
S
Stephanie (38:49):
Yeah.
I, I, I think for me, I mighthave to start with walking out
there.
It's easier for me to move.
Suzanne Bates (38:56):
Yeah,
Stephanie (38:56):
I'm moving, then I'm producing body heat
Suzanne Bates (38:59):
right.
Stephanie (38:59):
and I might have to start with that.
Suzanne Bates (39:02):
You know, it's so strange.
Who would think that just goingout in the morning for 10 to 15
minutes?
would actually restore yoursleeping habits that are poor,
actually heal the body ofinflammation in so many ways,
will actually heal your heartand soul in so many ways.
(39:22):
We know that it takes cortisoldown when you're in this light,
and that's the stress hormone,of course, so it is so powerful
to to just be able to go outthere and, experience this great
gift that we have, It's therefor us for free.
So.
Stephanie (39:42):
It is.
It is.
It is there for us for free.
There for us for free.
It's amazing.
you were going to talk aboutlight within the scriptures that
has touched your life.
There was a scripture inDoctrine and Covenants chapter
88, right?
Suzanne Bates (39:57):
yeah, yeah, it
Stephanie (39:59):
Okay.
Suzanne Bates (40:00):
in verse 11, it says, And the light which
shineth, which giveth you light,is through him who enlighteneth
your eyes, which is the samelight that quickeneth your
understandings.
Which light proceeded forth fromthe presence of God to fill the
immensity of space, the light,which is in all things, which
(40:21):
giveth life to all things, whichis the law by which all things
are governed.
Even the power of God sittethupon his throne, is in the bosom
of eternity, who is in the midstof all things.
I love that.
love thinking about how lightproceeds forth from the presence
of God fills the immensity ofspace.
(40:42):
I love it because I have seenit.
I've seen it, and I know whatI've seen.
And
Stephanie (40:49):
Yeah.
Suzanne Bates (40:50):
and it's beautiful, and it's exquisite
beyond our comprehension.
And
Stephanie (40:55):
Yeah,
Suzanne Bates (40:56):
it's kind of like a comfort blanket for me to read
these verses on difficult days.
I
Stephanie (41:03):
yes.
Suzanne Bates (41:04):
verses.
Yeah, for sure.
Stephanie (41:05):
I'm glad you point those out.
I'm going to put those down as ascripture to refer to, to remind
me of, the light of Christ
Suzanne Bates (41:14):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Stephanie (41:16):
Suzanne, thank you for joining us today.
It has been so fulfillinglearning about the miracles
you've received in your life.
These tender mercies thatprepared you for.
Becoming a naturopathic doctor.
And that helps you betterunderstand how much our savior
(41:36):
Jesus Christ loves us By givingus these angels around us and
these miracles in your life thathave taught you again and again,
how much love there is, and theangels are there to comfort us,
to love us, to cheer us on, andthat we have this goodness about
(41:56):
us, that it's not about thethings we have or the way we
look, but that we are there.
This incredible being, just aswe are, just as we are,
Suzanne Bates (42:08):
exactly.
Stephanie (42:09):
I'm so grateful for that.
I hope that you will continue onin your studies and I have been
motivated to get back outsidebefore the sun rises
Suzanne Bates (42:20):
That's right.
Stephanie (42:21):
and get my infrared light every day.
Suzanne Bates (42:24):
right.
Exactly.
Stephanie (42:25):
Yes,
Suzanne Bates (42:26):
great.
Stephanie (42:27):
with the scriptures added to that.
Suzanne Bates (42:29):
Yeah.
Stephanie (42:29):
Yeah.
Yes.
And for now we will say farewelluntil we meet again.
Suzanne Bates (42:36):
Sounds great.
Thanks,
Stephanie (42:38):
bye everybody.
Hello, I am Stephanie Eccles.
This is Dear Daughters of God.
Welcome.
We're so glad you're here.
Stephanie test (00:14):
I am a retired school administrator
natural storyteller, and I am adaughter of God.
Now, I tell the stories
of our lives from theperspective
of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Microphone (Samson Q2U (00:25):
Welcome, Dear Daughters of God.
I address you that way becausethat's what you are to Him.
To our Heavenly Father, you aredear.
Stephanie (00:34):
Today we have a guest I'm thrilled to introduce my
dear friend, Suzanne Bates.
Welcome Suzanne.
Suzanne Bates (00:44):
Thank you for having me, Stephanie.
Stephanie (00:45):
oh, I'm so thrilled to have you here.
I was attending a women's eventthat Stacey Harmer was hosting.
She has a group called VibrantLiving and Suzanne was the guest
lecturer.
Suzanne was talking about howshe went from being very ill to
becoming very healthy andvibrant and I was so impressed
(01:07):
with her lecture.
I went and met her at the endand we've become fast friends
and it's enriched my life havingher friendship.
she's going to share part of herlife with us today.
Suzanne Bates is the mother offour children.
She worked as an ICU nurse.
Emergency room nurse for severalyears.
Her story of rising out ofextreme despair to ultimately
(01:29):
triumph over mental anguish anddeath itself is a testament to
the power and reality of JesusChrist.
Her journey gives unique, thoughnot uncommon, Perspective on the
reality of angels, the power oflight and the temple,
specifically how they areintertwined.
(01:50):
She works as a natural healthexpert at Renew Wellness and
Vitality Nutrition.
She has nearly completed adoctor of naturopathy,
Congratulations, Suzanne!
Suzanne Bates (02:02):
you.
Stephanie (02:03):
I know you're very close.
when are you going to graduate?
Suzanne Bates (02:06):
So I should be done by May.
Stephanie (02:09):
May.
So soon.
So soon.
Yes.
Oh, wonderful.
Wonderful.
And I know you're already seeingpatients, like we said, at Renew
Wellness.
I like having you here.
So be sure to like and subscribeso you can receive every video.
See you soon.
Now, Suzanne, tell us why youfeel compelled to share portions
(02:33):
of your life.
Suzanne Bates (02:33):
Okay, it's true that I haven't spoken openly
about things that I'm going totalk about today because they
are very sacred in nature andthey're sacred to me yet as has
gone by and the years havestarted to pass, the despair in
many of the people I see and,you know, those that I interact
(02:57):
with.
I thought I know something thatmaybe not everyone knows and
maybe my story and, andexperiences someone and, take
away discouragement and fear.
Actually, I think I hope to beable to.
(03:18):
To spell fear in people and I, Ifelt like this is the right time
to do it and, and like I said,it, it will just be part of what
I've experienced, but, but Ithink it's meant to help someone
Thank you for helping usunderstand the why.
Why we are grateful that you'regoing to Answer that call today.
(03:42):
Well, let's see, in ourconversations, you've talked
about a place of light,remembering as a child, memories
of a place of light.
Would you like to start there?
Sure, So I, I remember being ayoung child, and interpreting
(04:04):
life and my life experiences andbeing aware I had been in a
place of light and knowing whatpart of that looked like.
And I remember being with a manwho.
Walked down the main street thatI would later grow up on with me
(04:26):
and I Don't remember what hesaid, but I remember he was
there and I remember he wasinvested in me and think maybe
preparing me is what it's feltlike and I thought I I started
to wonder as a child, where isthat light?
Where is that man?
I don't remember not rememberingthe light and the feeling of the
(04:50):
light is what I have beenallowed to remember.
The bliss, are uncomfortablehere because we originate from
bliss, complete bliss, we'reuncomfortable here because
that's where we come from.
And I've known that my wholelife, that I've come from a
place of light, you know, I, Iknow that,
Stephanie (05:11):
What, what an incredible advantage to have
this understanding you don'teven remember a time where you
didn't understand this.
So since the very beginning ofyour life, you remember this
Suzanne Bates (05:24):
I
Stephanie (05:24):
and, who do you think this person was, this man?
Suzanne Bates (05:28):
So I have not been allowed to remember his
face, but I, I think of him asan angel.
Maybe it was the savior.
And, and, you know, wouldn'tthat be a beautiful thing if it
were, I think that the saviorhas angels who are so invested
(05:51):
in our transition to this life.
And our preparation for thislife, and I think that that
shouldn't be a surprise toanyone, right?
We know we came the preexistence.
We know we've been with God, andso why would God just throw us
into an experience withoutpreparing us first?
(06:13):
it would make sense and we don'teven need to know the details of
how that happened other than toknow, know, of course God would
be preparing us.
Or helping us in every way thathe could to integrate into this
experience of life here.
Yeah, and so, it's beautiful tothink about that.
(06:34):
Yes.
Stephanie (06:48):
and, and, and this, this man certainly, I mean, you
could refer to him as one ofthose angels and the temple, and
the sounds of angels voices inthe temple, how did that come
together for you?
Hmm.
(07:11):
Hmm.
Suzanne Bates (07:17):
we weren't great.
We were pretty good, but weweren't amazing.
was part of the choir hence thefact that we weren't probably
great.
And knew what we sounded likebecause we practiced several
weeks together.
And when we got into thecelestial room, as I singing, we
(07:38):
heard, and it just, it was notjust me.
It was many of the choir heardan angel.
It wasn't one, it was angelicvoices.
And they were and they were, andthey pierced our souls.
We were weeping.
We knew something incredible hadjust happened.
(07:59):
And so as a 20 year old, I'mthinking, just heard that with
my ear, my own ear we, said toeach other, members of the
choir, did you just hear thatsound?
so many of us, yes, there wereangels, we heard it and people
in the congregation.
In fact, I had a family memberwe were talking about, she was
in the congregation with myaunts and, she said that she
(08:25):
heard it.
And so there's something therethat's beautiful.
And I've remembered that soundand I've remembered that it
happened.
And I thought day.
God knows I heard that sound.
Stephanie (08:40):
Hmm.
Suzanne Bates (08:40):
witnessed that I've heard that sound,
Stephanie (08:43):
Hmm.
Suzanne Bates (08:44):
so I can't ever deny that I've heard that sound.
Stephanie (08:48):
So it's another testament to you that God was
aware of you and gave you,another miracle in your life,
that angels were around you,watching over you, singing
beside you
Suzanne Bates (09:01):
Right.
Stephanie (09:02):
by your side,
Suzanne Bates (09:03):
Right.
Stephanie (09:03):
a tender mercy.
Suzanne Bates (09:04):
For sure.
Stephanie (09:05):
Yes.
Suzanne Bates (09:06):
So.
Stephanie (09:08):
Elder Holland has talked about calling down
angels.
Suzanne Bates (09:11):
Yeah,
Stephanie (09:12):
you have an experience with elder Holland
and angels.
Will you tell us about thatexperience?
Suzanne Bates (09:20):
Yes.
that's such a powerfulexperience.
I ended up as a nursing studentat Primary Children's Hospital
and had a very, very sick boy,and it was.
Just towards the end of hislife, suffering was continuing
(09:41):
and it was so excruciating thecancer for him and they were
running out of things to do andto help him.
it was like this terribleemotional whiplash where a
mother doesn't want to let go oftheir child.
And yet.
You know, it's like sending themoff into the unknown, kind of a
(10:03):
feeling.
And so I was in
Stephanie (10:06):
Okay.
Suzanne Bates (10:26):
felt it.
It felt
Stephanie (10:30):
As if someone was standing there we know how it
feels..
the room was full that boy diedwithin a few minutes.
I was so stunned by thatexperience
Suzanne Bates (10:45):
I went home and immediately told my family, I
can't believe what justhappened.
I can't believe I just saw it,you know.
And so for years and years andyears, it was another piece of
angels in my life.
And it just has added testimonyof the way that they can be
called down.
We can ask for themindividually, we can call, you
(11:08):
know, down and and ask ourheavenly father to send them.
And I think just by requestingtheir help, that we feel it even
even greater.
Stephanie (11:18):
Yes.
Oh, that must have been aremarkable experience to be in
that room, with the mother andthe little boy,
Suzanne Bates (11:26):
Yeah.
Stephanie (11:26):
and as that, and witness that miracle with the
angels coming.
Suzanne Bates (11:32):
It was, it left an impression, for sure.
Yeah.
Stephanie (11:45):
talked about a glass building.
A glass building.
Tell us about that.
What is that about?
Suzanne Bates (11:54):
There was a night that I went to sleep after I'd
been engaged, and I hadn't beenendowed yet.
And I, I feel bad that I'msaying this, but the truth was I
was putting off being in doubtbecause I thought, you know, I'm
not really sure that I want towear garments.
Of course, I'm going to wearthem, but maybe I'll put it off
(12:17):
a little bit longer kind of a
Stephanie (12:18):
Mm-hmm
Suzanne Bates (12:20):
It isn't great, but it is what it is.
And I went to sleep one nightand I was, I was taken to a
glass building above the GreatSalt Lake.
There were windows.
that faced east, and so I couldsee the temple in Bountiful, and
(12:42):
the temple in Salt Lake lit up,and the rays were just coming,
just powerful rays, and straightup, and I, and I still remember
that so well, and I, in thisdream, I, I, I was able to see
people driving around, I couldsee cars driving around, could
(13:03):
see a parking lot of theBountiful temple.
could see there weren't manypeople there and angels, this
angel was in white, pure white,brighter than the new day sun,
And there's no, nobody needs to,to move their lips to talk.
(13:26):
It was just, there's anunderstanding of thoughts and
Stephanie (13:32):
there's a lot of culture there.
And there's a lot of, you know,fiscal instruments, there's a
lot of pushing for there's a lotof pushing for more population
training, and technical culturethat's needed to be And I think
that's something that we need tohave a conversation about.
(13:55):
I think we need to have aboutthat.
I'm going to announce
Suzanne Bates (14:01):
in, they don't Because I, You know, I had
Stephanie (14:08):
Mm hmm.
Mm hmm.
Mm hmm.
Suzanne Bates (14:32):
myself.
And so I've gone from theknowledge of here's, I've heard
an angel.
actually communicated with theangel.
I looked down, I've been shownthe power of the temple.
And this is where I know for afact that things I've been shown
have me alive, have kept me fromgiving up It was so painful.
(15:00):
I ended up many people indomestic violence with extreme
emotional and mentaldysfunction.
And so I'd gone from thrivingTo, all of a sudden, living in a
nightmare.
(15:20):
Oh, was there anyone to reachout to Suzanne The thing that's
so interesting is, it startedslow, it started slow.
And my attachment was so tightto him, I had dated so many
people, said no to differentpeople and, and married.
(15:42):
And I realize now I didn't lovemyself enough to probably choose
the best person for me, but Iwas also on top of that deceived
by him.
And so ended up with a verywounded person who I wish well,
of course, but I had, I, Icompletely lost my ability to
(16:09):
function like a normal person.
I mean, I ended up dependent andthen addicted to medication
after a C section and,
Stephanie (16:18):
Oh, like, pain type medication.
Suzanne Bates (16:21):
yeah, yep.
Stephanie (16:22):
Oh.
Suzanne Bates (16:23):
And so it was during the time where it's being
given out to everyone.
So it was like, take this, takethis, take this.
And then I have to go back towork.
baby was two and a half weeksold and so my incision never
healed properly.
So I ended up having to have.
It taken care of again.
(16:44):
And then the pain medicationjust kept being prescribed.
Stephanie (16:48):
Oh, dear.
Suzanne Bates (16:49):
yeah.
it was what's happened in thefollowing years.
I stayed with the same person inaddiction, my own addiction, his
addiction to something else,just free falling, thinking I, I
don't deserve God's loveanymore.
(17:12):
like many women in domesticviolence, believe it was my
fault and, and if you're toldit's your fault, secretly inside
you also believe it's yourfault, it just destroys your
sense of fighting for anythinggood in your life.
(17:33):
And so for me, my husband brokeme and paraded me in my
dysfunction I ended up becomingextremely Sick, physically,
mentally, emotionally, I came tothe marriage thriving and I left
disabled.
I
Stephanie (17:51):
Yeah.
Suzanne Bates (17:52):
I'll never be deserving of God's love again,
I, going to church and just didnot feel, didn't feel worthy of
things.
I think I thought about theseexperiences with light.
I thought about angels, but Ifelt so far away knowing how do
(18:13):
I get back
Stephanie (18:14):
Okay.
(18:39):
Oh, here we go.
Suzanne Bates (18:40):
Harder and harder to breathe.
So it was if I was goingunderground and all of a sudden
things were crushing in aroundme and I could not breathe, was
not breathing.
And there was angel greeted meand was the bliss all over
again.
(19:00):
There was There was clarityabout who I am.
Wait a minute, I might be worthfighting for because
Stephanie (19:11):
Hmm.
Okay.
Suzanne Bates (19:12):
loved by these people that are greeting me.
And I, I'm so loved and I wastaken up and I was shown things.
And I can't talk abouteverything I was shown, but I
can say
Stephanie (19:26):
and hmm
Suzanne Bates (19:49):
all the places.
I'm, I'm still not, I, I wasshown many things, so this is
just kind of of those thingsthat I, I was shown everyone at
once, all of their feelings andthoughts as well as them at
once.
So I could feel what everyonewas feeling, and I could see
(20:12):
this tremendous pull withhumanity trying to be dissuaded
by the dark spirits that werearound, those trying to live and
work on this earth here.
To do their work here.
There were glorious angelshelping and assisting those that
(20:32):
are here on earth in a myriad ofways.
And so
Stephanie (20:37):
when we feel alone we're not alone That's one of
the reasons I wanted to come onhere just to let everyone know
suffering we are not alone wecan be strengthened when things
go terribly wrong As long as Aslong as we yoke ourselves to
Jesus Christ we have no reasonto fear, we have no reason to
(21:02):
fear All is
Suzanne Bates (21:05):
well.
Stephanie (21:06):
We can't comprehend how precious and priceless we
are but I think so that reallyhelped me to fight through
physical, emotional, and mentalchallenges as I tried to get
better when I came back into mybody I took a breath so
uncomfortable, I have no ideahow long I held my breath but I
(21:28):
remember coming back in my bodyand immediately just yearning
for where I'd been.
What just happened to me?
You know..
So I think about this experienceseveral times
Suzanne Bates (21:43):
I think one of the biggest problems we have is
we live our lives from a placeof not understanding our value
as a human being and our worth.
I
Stephanie (21:52):
had so
Suzanne Bates (21:54):
much healing that happened after that.
Significant healing,
Stephanie (21:59):
spiritual and physical healing.
Suzanne Bates (22:01):
And even though things, you know, there were
bumps in the road and happened,I was well on my way.
that, because how do you gothrough that and think about it
every day, long or short, andnot just think, maybe I'm okay,
maybe I'm a little bit betterthan I think I am.
In fact, you know, I might bereally special.
Stephanie (22:23):
Suzanne says that our biggest problem is that we do
not understand our worth.
There was a wonderful sermonettegiven in our latest general
conference this last April.
It was given by.
Sister Tamara W.
Runia the first counselor in theyoung women's general
presidency, she titled herSermonette, Your Repentance
(22:44):
Doesn't Burden Jesus Christ.
It Brightens His Joy she teachesthis principle of worth and
repentance, We're going toconcentrate on the worth part
with such simplicity, she usesphysical actions to drive home
her point.
So I've cut just a clip of hersermonette so you can both see
(23:08):
it and hear the simple way inwhich she teaches this beautiful
principle.
Here it is.
Tamara Runia (23:15):
He delights to forgive because to him we are
delightful.
Don't you just feel that's true?
Then why is it so hard for us tobelieve Satan?
The great accuser and deceiveruses shame to keep us from God.
Shame is a darkness so heavy.
It feels that if you took it outof your body, it would have an
(23:36):
actual weight or heft to it.
Shame is the voice that beatsyou up saying, what were you
thinking?
Do you ever get anything right?
Shame doesn't tell us we made amistake.
It tells us we are our mistakes.
You may even hear hide.
The adversary does everything inhis power to keep the heaviness
(23:56):
inside telling us the cost istoo high, that it'll be easier
if this stays in darkness.
Removing all hope, Satan is thethief of hope, and you need to
hear this.
So I'll say these words outloud.
You are not the voice in yourhead.
Or the mistakes you have made,you may need to say that out
(24:18):
loud too.
Tell Satan, not today.
Put him behind you.
Feel that.
Pull the Godly sorrow that turnsyou towards your savior and
watch his grace enter into yourlife and the lives of those you
love.
I promise the minute we bring abroken heart courageously
towards him, he is immediatelythere.
(24:38):
If you saw someone drowning,wouldn't you reach your handout
to rescue them?
Could you imagine your saviorrejecting your outstretched
hand?
I imagine him diving into thewater descending below.
All things to lift us up so wecan take a fresh breath.
No one can sink lower than thelight of Christ shines.
Our savior is forever brighterthan the darkness of shame, and
(25:01):
he would never attack yourworth.
So watch closely imagine thatthis hand represents worth and
this hand represents obedience.
Maybe you woke up this morning,said meaningful prayer.
Search the scriptures to hearGod's voice.
You've made good decisions andare treating the people you live
with.
With Christlikeness, you'relistening to general conference.
(25:22):
Your obedience is here.
Or maybe things haven't gone sowell.
You've struggled lately to dothe small, simple things to
connect to heaven.
Maybe you've made some decisionsyou weren't proud of.
Where is your worth?
Has this hand moved at all?
Your worth isn't tied toobedience.
Your worth is constant.
It never changes.
(25:42):
It was given to you by God, andthere's nothing you or anyone
else can do to change it.
Obedience does bring blessings.
That is true, but worth isn'tone of them.
Your worth is always great inthe sight of God no matter where
your decisions have taken youover here.
And while I make mistakes, Iwant to stay in covenant
relationship with Christ, andI'll tell you why.
(26:05):
I grew up taking diving lessonsand learned that when judges
score a dive, they watched theexecution with the entry
perfectly vertical, with toespointed and a small splash.
Then they do somethingextraordinary.
They factor in the degree ofdifficulty.
Everyone is diving with theirown degree of difficulty, and
(26:25):
your savior is the only one whotruly knows the difficulty you
are diving with.
I want a relationship with theone person who gets me.
Who knows my heart and how hardI'm trying.
Stephanie (26:38):
Wasn't Sister Runia?
Terrific.
So our worth is constant.
It was given to us by God, thevery one who truly understands
the level of difficulty of eachone of our individual lives, and
it cannot be taken away.
It is the adversary, the greataccuser that would like us to
(27:02):
believe that our mistakes arewho we are, and that is a lie.
We are not our mistakes.
Obedience does bring blessings,but it is not tied to our
self-worth.
Our self-worth is constant.
(27:25):
Now back to the interview.
I became obsessed withunderstanding physical light,
spiritual light, and all ofthat.
I, I felt impressed last Octoberto go out every morning I have
seasonal affective disorder.
So every year for 40, 45 days.
(27:47):
You know, when the winter comes,I become just, I blow energy
grumpy.
eating everyone's pie.
I'm, you know, I'm doing Even mypecan pie.
Suzanne Bates (27:58):
oh yeah, I'd be down
Stephanie (28:00):
Oh, good.
I need help eating it because noone else in my house will eat
it.
I found, I found my pie friend.
Suzanne Bates (28:07):
You have, you have, you have these ones.
Stephanie (28:11):
Okay.
Sorry.
I
Suzanne Bates (28:12):
sure.
Stephanie (28:12):
got up.
I got up.
Sorry.
So, so, so you, you get in theslump and you want to eat every,
everything.
Suzanne Bates (28:17):
Yeah, I get in the slum, I want to eat
everything.
And
Stephanie (28:20):
Okay.
Okay.
Suzanne Bates (28:20):
You know, I can't move to Florida, maybe if I go
out in the morning, now at thispoint, I still have diabetes.
This point, blood pressure hadcome down quite a bit, but my
kidney numbers weren't thatgreat.
They, and so going out in themorning, I ended up finding this
(28:42):
incredible source of healing formy body through infrared light
and red light.
And through just the practice, Ideveloped a small practice where
I go out and I feel like, youknow, we have those mornings
when we get up and maybe wedon't like ourselves that much
that day.
But
Stephanie (29:01):
huh.
Suzanne Bates (29:02):
go out and for me, it was like, Heavenly
Father, I'm here.
Will you help me today to likemyself enough to do the right
things today for myself?
And regain the hope and toremember the power, that is
(29:24):
around us so that I don't, youknow, have to lose hope.
And in going out every morning,I, I healed so much of my PTSD
Stephanie (29:35):
Oh.
Suzanne Bates (29:37):
and things that I'm now teaching my clients, but
I had such severe PTSD.
I could barely, I rememberrolling myself up in blankets
because I didn't want the air.
Stephanie (29:50):
Oh my, yes, now, how, how do you go out?
How early?
Suzanne Bates (29:57):
I'm going to go out in the sunrises and I
Stephanie (30:00):
Let's.
Suzanne Bates (30:01):
and I have something to meditate on to try
to get my mind to practiceholding still for a minute and
just being in and being therewith my Heavenly Father, Savior.
And read scriptures about lightand, and, and, and, and, and,
and, and, and, and, and, Thenoften I am to get myself into a
state of gratitude, you know, instudying this as a wellness
(30:23):
professional, I've, are so manyamazing things gratitude does
for the body physiologically,we're talking, it lowers the
blood pressure, but the mostsignificant thing that gratitude
did and does for me is it takesme out of fight or flight every
morning.
Stephanie (30:43):
Mm.
Suzanne Bates (30:43):
I think often if you have a history of abuse or
trauma in some way, wake up withkind of this sense of dread.
And so being able to centermyself, being able to be okay
with what's happening during theday and days and days and days
(31:05):
and days of that, the, it's beena precious experience for me
every morning to go out and itfeels like.
the most brilliant light showevery morning and
Stephanie (31:16):
Really?
Suzanne Bates (31:17):
snows and I go out and my neighbors think I'm
crazy, it's okay, your neighborsthink you're crazy, and I
accidentally got rid of mydiabetes using sunlight,
Stephanie (31:29):
Accidentally.
Suzanne Bates (31:30):
accidentally,
Stephanie (31:32):
Accidentally.
Suzanne Bates (31:33):
I,
Stephanie (31:33):
that's amazing.
Hmm.
Hmm.
Suzanne Bates (31:37):
better, and I thought, wait a minute, what's
going on here, and then startedto really research light and
understand the power of infraredand red light, our eyes were
meant to look upwards.
We're meant to look towards theheaven.
And when God commands us to dothat, look to God and look and
look, there's actually thesecells built in to monitor this
(32:02):
invisible magical light calledinfrared light.
And light is incredible becauseit comes in into the eyes and
immediately it's like we're anavatar, Stephanie.
It, because we've got theseintrinsically photosensitive
(32:22):
retinal ganglion cells are thereto take in that energy and they
distribute it all over the body.
And we know that it goesstraight to the fetus.
very best stuff is going to gostraight to, to a developing
baby So it's, it's just such abeautiful thing to understand
(32:45):
that all of a sudden my energywas back.
My energy was back.
Now, it was not fun to go out inthe cold in the beginning
because
Stephanie (32:53):
Yeah.
Because we live in Utah.
Suzanne Bates (32:55):
We live in Utah.
It's so cold sometimes here.
Stephanie (32:58):
Yeah.
Suzanne Bates (33:00):
And so I found out I had to write up a contract
for myself, which is somethingmy, my dad would do all the time
growing up.
He'd make us type up and sign acontract that we were going to
do something so I did that.
And kids watch me sign it, andyour kids watch you sign it,
(33:20):
then you're
Stephanie (33:22):
Then you're,
Suzanne Bates (33:22):
trouble
Stephanie (33:23):
then you're stuck.
I mean, you're, you can't doanything.
If your kids watch you sign it.
Yeah.
Suzanne Bates (33:28):
So from October 9th, I said I was going to go
out for 100 mornings and do justsunlight.
And the, it's been amazing.
amazing to see how my physical,mental, emotional, spiritual
health has all improved.
Stephanie (33:44):
you did start with, meditating about what you're
grateful for, which helps bringyou out of fight or flight type
of type of a state.
Right?
So what sort of things did youfind you were grateful for?
I mean, life was hard.
Suzanne Bates (33:58):
Yeah,
Stephanie (33:59):
You had what else?
Suzanne Bates (34:01):
I have so many things.
It's embarrassing, Well, I don'thave many of them anymore.
But it's
Stephanie (34:08):
heart disease
Suzanne Bates (34:08):
How are you?
Stephanie (34:09):
were two of them.
Suzanne Bates (34:10):
And then my
Stephanie (34:11):
Yeah,
Suzanne Bates (34:11):
are failing.
Stephanie (34:12):
your kidneys were failing.
So what sort of things were yougrateful for?
I don't mean to say that ofcourse there were not things
that, that you should begrateful for.
Of course there were.
I'm just curious, what thingsdid you find, did you
acknowledge that you weregrateful for?
Suzanne Bates (34:27):
So I would find anything, anything that I can
think of.
And
Stephanie (34:32):
Okay.
This
Suzanne Bates (34:35):
for my socks and for my soft blanket.
Just my car keys not being lostand my phone not being lost.
And I, and I thank him for, youknow, really anything that I can
think of.
And the amazing part of thisentire law and principle is that
(34:58):
when we express gratitude toGod, we are immediately blessed
again.
So I say thank you all day longand reasons to say thank you
come all day long.
And they come in amazing ways,you know, and there's obviously
difficulty in life, it's part ofbeing alive, but the beautiful
(35:20):
things that come into my lifethat, that I think, you know,
wow, like heaven, if we saythank you, heaven gives us so
many reasons to, to keep sayingthank you and,
Stephanie (35:32):
reminds me of, of the desperate times in education,
like in, during COVID.
Suzanne Bates (35:38):
yeah,
Stephanie (35:38):
COVID, when it was really, really difficult and
everyone went insane, you know,to, to a, to a certain level.
So it's times like that.
That's why I wanted to hear,what do, what were you grateful
for?
I have plenty of things to begrateful for, but I was just
(35:58):
thinking of times when life wasreally hard.
Suzanne Bates (36:01):
when life is really hard, this is the way to
survive it,
Stephanie (36:05):
Yeah.
Suzanne Bates (36:06):
I think in just expressing gratitude for the
scriptures and the power of thetemple and really feeling what
life would be like withouttemple and, then just allowing
the excitement of the fact thatwe don't have to live life
without the temple flow into us.
And that gratitude, it literallyheals the body.
(36:29):
And so we've talked about, youknow, we've got this internal
pharmacy that our emotions justwe have this, you know,
adrenaline going and thendifferent, different chemicals
in the body causing differentemotions and reactions.
But if we can say, I'm thankful,I'm grateful, then the chemicals
in the body actually returned tohomeostasis.
And so we can say, I'm thankful,I'm grateful, then the chemicals
(36:51):
in the body actually returned tohomeostasis.
it's like a chemical override ofthe anxiety to, to practice
gratitude to the point that you,feel it is very powerful
Stephanie (37:05):
I can relate to that.
Just, in those times where I'vebeen upset about something and
then just had a time where Ifelt grateful for something and
it's healed.
It's healed my anger.
Yes.
Yes.
It's amazing what, what changingthe emotion can do to the whole
(37:27):
body
Suzanne Bates (37:28):
right.
Stephanie (37:29):
physically.
Yes.
Suzanne Bates (37:32):
it's like gratitude is allowing us to
reframe our negativeexperiences,
Stephanie (37:37):
Mhm.
Mhm.
Right.
Suzanne Bates (37:39):
can reframe them.
And they don't have power overus the same
Stephanie (37:44):
Mhm.
Suzanne Bates (37:44):
still.
Stephanie (37:44):
Mhm.
Right.
Suzanne Bates (37:46):
fantastic tool,
Stephanie (37:49):
Yes, yes, You know, when, when I first met you, you
were giving the lecture andtalking about that 100 day
challenge that you gave yourself
Suzanne Bates (37:57):
Oh,
Stephanie (38:03):
and I decided I've got to go out there.
So I was, I was going out thereand it was when it was very cold
Suzanne Bates (38:09):
wow.
Stephanie (38:11):
lots of precipitation and I didn't have coverage
outside.
Suzanne Bates (38:15):
Perfect.
Stephanie (38:16):
so I was wearing my husband's big like parka that
kind of looks like a sleepingbag and I, he took some pretty
good pictures of me and we wenton for several days, but I, I
have lapsed.
I have lapsed, so I'm going tohave to write a contract.
Suzanne Bates (38:31):
It's
Stephanie (38:31):
I'm going to have to write a contract and get back on
it.
Suzanne Bates (38:34):
I'll, maybe I can oversee the contract.
Stephanie (38:37):
I think you, I think that's the key.
Suzanne Bates (38:39):
for
Stephanie (38:40):
I have to show it to people.
Suzanne Bates (38:41):
You'll just have to show it to me.
Stephanie (38:43):
I'll show it to Suzanne.
I'll show it to Suzanne.
Yeah.
Suzanne Bates (38:48):
S
Stephanie (38:49):
Yeah.
I, I, I think for me, I mighthave to start with walking out
there.
It's easier for me to move.
Suzanne Bates (38:56):
Yeah,
Stephanie (38:56):
I'm moving, then I'm producing body heat
Suzanne Bates (38:59):
right.
Stephanie (38:59):
and I might have to start with that.
Suzanne Bates (39:02):
You know, it's so strange.
Who would think that just goingout in the morning for 10 to 15
minutes?
would actually restore yoursleeping habits that are poor,
actually heal the body ofinflammation in so many ways,
will actually heal your heartand soul in so many ways.
(39:22):
We know that it takes cortisoldown when you're in this light,
and that's the stress hormone,of course, so it is so powerful
to to just be able to go outthere and, experience this great
gift that we have, It's therefor us for free.
So.
Stephanie (39:42):
It is.
It is.
It is there for us for free.
There for us for free.
It's amazing.
you were going to talk aboutlight within the scriptures that
has touched your life.
There was a scripture inDoctrine and Covenants chapter
88, right?
Suzanne Bates (39:57):
yeah, yeah, it
Stephanie (39:59):
Okay.
Suzanne Bates (40:00):
in verse 11, it says, And the light which
shineth, which giveth you light,is through him who enlighteneth
your eyes, which is the samelight that quickeneth your
understandings.
Which light proceeded forth fromthe presence of God to fill the
immensity of space, the light,which is in all things, which
(40:21):
giveth life to all things, whichis the law by which all things
are governed.
Even the power of God sittethupon his throne, is in the bosom
of eternity, who is in the midstof all things.
I love that.
love thinking about how lightproceeds forth from the presence
of God fills the immensity ofspace.
(40:42):
I love it because I have seenit.
I've seen it, and I know whatI've seen.
And
Stephanie (40:49):
Yeah.
Suzanne Bates (40:50):
and it's beautiful, and it's exquisite
beyond our comprehension.
And
Stephanie (40:55):
Yeah,
Suzanne Bates (40:56):
it's kind of like a comfort blanket for me to read
these verses on difficult days.
I
Stephanie (41:03):
yes.
Suzanne Bates (41:04):
verses.
Yeah, for sure.
Stephanie (41:05):
I'm glad you point those out.
I'm going to put those down as ascripture to refer to, to remind
me of, the light of Christ
Suzanne Bates (41:14):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Stephanie (41:16):
Suzanne, thank you for joining us today.
It has been so fulfillinglearning about the miracles
you've received in your life.
These tender mercies thatprepared you for.
Becoming a naturopathic doctor.
And that helps you betterunderstand how much our savior
(41:36):
Jesus Christ loves us By givingus these angels around us and
these miracles in your life thathave taught you again and again,
how much love there is, and theangels are there to comfort us,
to love us, to cheer us on, andthat we have this goodness about
(41:56):
us, that it's not about thethings we have or the way we
look, but that we are there.
This incredible being, just aswe are, just as we are,
Suzanne Bates (42:08):
exactly.
Stephanie (42:09):
I'm so grateful for that.
I hope that you will continue onin your studies and I have been
motivated to get back outsidebefore the sun rises
Suzanne Bates (42:20):
That's right.
Stephanie (42:21):
and get my infrared light every day.
Suzanne Bates (42:24):
right.
Exactly.
Stephanie (42:25):
Yes,
Suzanne Bates (42:26):
great.
Stephanie (42:27):
with the scriptures added to that.
Suzanne Bates (42:29):
Yeah.
Stephanie (42:29):
Yeah.
Yes.
And for now we will say farewelluntil we meet again.
Suzanne Bates (42:36):
Sounds great.
Thanks,
Stephanie (42:38):
bye everybody.
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