Have you ever felt like no matter how far you drift, something keeps pulling you back?
In today’s episode we hear the story of Melanie, who grew up without religion, found the Church, and then walked away from it for nearly 30 years. But fortunately, through a series of miracles, she found her way back.
From surviving a turbulent and abusive past to experiencing moments of profound revelation and protection, Melanie's journey is one of angels, divine interventions, and unwavering spiritual confirmations that remind us that God never gives up on us, even when we feel far from Him.
Whether you've ever struggled with faith, felt distant from God, or simply need a reminder that miracles are real, this episode will touch your heart in ways you won’t expect.
*** Please SHARE Melanie's story and help us spread hope and light to others. ***
To WATCH this episode on YouTube, visit: https://youtu.be/9dfB20d2iAM
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Scott Brandley (00:00):
Hi everyone, I'm Scott Brandley.
Alisha Coakley (00:02):
And I'm Alisha Coakley.
Every member of the church hasa story to share, one that can
instill faith, invite growth andinspire others.
Scott Brandley (00:10):
On today's episode, we're going to hear how
one woman's experience finding,leaving and returning to the
church has shown her that ourlives are filled with angels and
miracles.
Welcome to Latter-day Lights.
Hey everyone, welcome back toanother episode of Latter-day
(00:38):
Lights.
We're so glad that you're herewith us today.
We're really excited tointroduce our special guest,
melanie, today.
Welcome to the show.
Melanie (00:43):
Hi, it's great to be with you both.
Thank you for having me.
Alisha Coakley (00:46):
Yes, of course, and if anyone's listening right
now, they hear a little bit ofan accent.
Melanie is coming to us all theway from the future.
She is tomorrow for many of uslisteners here from Melbourne,
australia.
Correct, melanie, that'scorrect.
Yes, awesome, I get so excitedwhen we have listeners from,
(01:08):
like, outside of the US.
It's just, it's so like I don'tknow.
It's just amazing to me the waythat the world is and with
technology, and how far reaching, you know, our show has grown
over the last couple of yearsand wait, is it?
three years now.
Yeah, we're coming over a thirdyear.
Holy moly.
(01:28):
It's just crazy to me that youknow that we're like just
getting people from all over theplace now and I'm I love it
because accents are like myfavorite thing.
I am terrible at understandingthem most of the time, but like
I had no problem with yours andI, it's just just, it just draws
me in, so I'm so excited to oh,that's good, thank you, thank
(01:48):
you yeah, for a long time I haduh siri, be an english woman
when I talk to siri fromaustralia I I sometimes have to
change my accent to get her tounderstand what I'm saying.
Melanie (02:12):
Oh, really yes, yes, I have to try and sound a bit more
australian because I was bornin new zealand, so sometimes I
have to alter it a wee bit toyou know, get the name, places
and things correct to get toknow where I'm going.
Alisha Coakley (02:24):
So yeah, oh man, that's so funny.
Yeah, yeah, accents are aresuch a cool thing there it's.
It's amazing how, even likeeven the same state or the same
country, you can have so manydifferent like little tweaks.
You know, like here in texas,like we know, we know if you're
from dallas, we know if you'refrom you know, like here in
Texas, like we know, we know ifyou're from Dallas, we know if
you're from you know, way downsouth on the border and wherever
(02:47):
else, just just based on howhow much of a draw you have yes,
yes, I noticed that Americanstend to not pronounce t's like
yeah, it would be Sutton sort ofthing.
Melanie (03:01):
I listen to that quite often.
I think where did the T go?
Alisha Coakley (03:05):
Yeah, in Utah they kind of do.
They go mountain, mountain andI'm like Mountain mountain.
Mountain, mountain, mountain,or maybe that's the opposite.
Maybe they do less, I can'tremember Mountain mountain.
Anyway, utah's weird Utahdoesn't know how to pronounce
hurricane either, so they sayhurkin Hurricane, hurricane,
(03:25):
okay, I'll say hurkin, hurricane, hurricane.
Melanie (03:26):
Okay, I'm going to test you on that later, scott.
Scott Brandley (03:30):
I'm not actually from Utah, I'm from Canada, so
I get an exception to that.
Melanie (03:35):
You do, you do.
Scott Brandley (03:35):
Yes, yes.
Alisha Coakley (03:36):
No, this is kind of fun.
Canadian, Australian andAmerican walk on a show.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, oh my gosh,All right.
Well, tell us a little bit moreabout yourself, Melanie.
Melanie (03:52):
Okay, so I grew up as an only child in New Zealand in
a really small town called Waihi, and I sort of grew up, you
know, swimming in the ocean froma really, really young age you
live on an island, so you haveto know how to swim from a
really young age Biking aroundwith my friends living on farms
just a very basic life where weate all our vegetables out of
(04:13):
our garden, and we had asimplistic lifestyle, which was
really nice.
I'm really happy to have grownup in that sort of environment.
I, unfortunately, have beenmarried twice.
I've got two beautiful childrenmy beautiful son, who's turning
29 shortly and he lives here inMelbourne, and my daughter
(04:35):
lives in Southeast Asia.
They're both married and I'vegot a beautiful grandchild.
I immigrated to Australia sortof 14 to 15 years ago, which was
an amazing, amazing move.
I never wanted to leave NewZealand.
However, you know, I loveMelbourne.
Melbourne is an amazing city Idon't know if you know, many
listeners have been here, butit's amazing and when I came
(04:58):
here it felt like home to me.
You know, I really loved it somuch and I will spend the rest
of my life here.
So, yeah, that's the very, veryshort version of my life.
Alisha Coakley (05:08):
Nice.
What do you do as far as likecareer?
Melanie (05:13):
hobbies.
So I worked in dental for mostof my life.
I have worked in lots ofdifferent fields.
I did work at the JusticeDepartment when I was young.
I worked in dental for many,many years.
Hobbies are interior design.
I've got a diploma in interiordesign and I love decorating
things like that.
I had a small interior designbusiness with a friend.
I'm now just doing a bit ofagency dental work, but I've
(05:37):
kind of taken a bit of time outin the last 12 months to just
work on different things Ineeded to do.
I wrote a book on survivingdomestic violence because that
ended up happening to me in mylast marriage.
And yeah, I've just been tryingto heal and go through a
healing process.
Gotcha, yeah, wow.
(05:58):
So yeah, that's about it really.
Very short nutshell.
Alisha Coakley (06:04):
Yeah, yeah, great.
It really very short nutshell.
Yeah, yeah, great.
Well, we would love to go aheadand turn the time over to you
and just kind of let you tell uswhere your uh story begins.
Melanie (06:16):
Yeah, sure.
So when I grew up in a smalltown in new zealand, we sort of
grew up really without anyreligion.
So my mother taught me twothings in life and one was to
always pray.
The other was to never take theLord's name in vain, which you
know I'm very thankful to herfor.
But it was kind of unusual tohave religion.
(06:38):
We lived in a town where wedidn't really know people that
were religious and if they werereligious they kind of stood out
.
It was sort of like more theabnormal than the normal.
Um, it was a very much.
My parents were much at a partylifestyle.
You go to each other's housesand drink and play guitars and
you know that was kind of thethat got to the beach.
That was sort of the lifestyle.
Um, my auntie is a member of thechurch of jesus christ of
(07:01):
latter-day Saints and she livedin Calgary in Alberta and so
every birthday and Christmas shewould send me church magazines,
church books and, you know,chocolates and things which I
thought were pretty sensationalbecause we didn't have things
like that in New Zealand.
It was a treat.
But at one point I rememberthinking what am I getting this
(07:25):
sort of just stuff, thinking, ah, what, what am I getting this
bit of just stuff for?
Like what, what do I have thisfor?
And I flicked through uh, Ithink it was a hymn book.
I can't be 100 sure, but Ithink it was a hymn book and I
saw Christ and I saw him withhis arms wide open to me.
(07:46):
Well, that's what it felt liketo me and my entire body I felt,
you know, this immense sense ofguilt for having that thought.
You know, it really pierced methrough my body and I looked
back through that hymn book, youknow, a thousand times to try
to find this image of Christagain.
(08:06):
And it was never, ever there.
So it sort of started myspiritual experience.
I recognized in that momentthat, you know, christ was real
and even though I never reallyknew about him, my parents, my
mother, wanted me to be baptizedin the church and she had me
baptized, but I never hadlessons or anything.
I I never knew, why, you know,and as a child that lived in the
(08:30):
water and all I wanted to dowas swim, um, getting into a
font and being in the warm water.
To me it was like, oh yay, I,you know, and I just remember
looking at my mother and she wasgiving me a dirty look like no,
you're not there to swim,you're there to be baptized.
Yeah, so but I never, you know,honestly, didn't understand it.
(08:51):
Um, really had no idea so, butthere were some weird things
that happened to me as a child.
I, um my mother, loved me tobits and looked after me really,
really well, but she was verynarcissistic and very
emotionally abusive.
Life with her was, you know,very difficult, and I think that
(09:12):
because I believe, looking back, that Heavenly Father knew this
was going to be my situation.
It was like he gave me thisgift and I wondered why I lived
in my body.
It never made sense to me, Icouldn't understand it and I
never really felt like I was athome.
I felt like an outsider in thislife.
(09:33):
And you know, it always seemedvery strange to me.
I couldn't figure it out and Ialmost and I feel looking back,
that I sort of craved myheavenly parents, without
realizing that.
That's the emotions that I washaving at the time that I craved
this other mother.
It was like I craved heavenlymother before I even knew that I
(09:54):
had one.
You know, I had this hugecraving for her and the years
went by.
The years went by and I grew upand I wanted to go and see the
world, like most New Zealanders.
You get a passport.
Young, you travel.
Young, everyone wants to go toEurope.
We all do the OE thing go andlive abroad, see as many
countries as you can.
(10:14):
You do this, this is what youdo.
So I did all of that.
I traveled.
I came home and I startedworking at the Justice
Department and in the witnessstand one day was my husband.
He was giving evidence for acar crash that he had witnessed.
So we were very young, but wegot married quite quickly.
(10:38):
After we were married, differentthings started happening.
I had a friend that was killedin a car accident.
My grandparents started to dieand I really, really, really
wanted to know who I was.
I wanted to understand, youknow, life, what had happened,
what's happening.
So we started meeting with themissionaries.
No intention for my husband atthe time to be involved in the
(11:03):
church, it was just really mewanting to know.
But when he listened to thelessons, the Spirit was very
strong to him and he decided tojoin the church.
When the missionaries taught methe lessons, I absolutely knew
and it was like I had alwaysknown that everything they were
telling me was true and that,you know, I, I loved it.
(11:25):
I felt the spirit, I felt peacethat I'd never, ever,
experienced in my life.
It was enormous peace.
Um, when I went to church, whenI went, sorry, when I went to
work and I would talk to myfriends at work who were members
of the Baptist church,evangelistic Christians or
non-religious, they just, youknow, I got a really hard time a
(11:49):
really hard time and I gothounded over Trinity and I just
remember saying to them like Idon't even remotely understand
you know that I mean nodisrespect, but I don't believe
that Jesus was praying tohimself when he's calling out to
his father.
(12:10):
That doesn't make sense to me atall and I just I don't believe
it.
I know that they're separate.
I know that he is the son ofGod, that Heavenly Father, jesus
Christ is two separate beingsand I have always known that.
I can't say how I've alwaysknown it, I just know it.
And I have always known that.
I can't say how I've alwaysknown it, I just know it.
And the other thing that Iwould say to them is that when I
talk to them, as much as I lovethem and as much as their
(12:35):
friendship is very important tome, I say to them you know, I
see darkness when you talk aboutthe subject, but when I'm with
the missionaries, I see and Ifeel peace.
And back in those days, you know, we didn't have the internet,
we didn't have, you know, theopportunity to learn a whole lot
more and I really knew nothing.
I read the Book of Mormon.
I didn't understand it but Iliked it.
(12:56):
But my testimony has and hasalways been not sourally based,
but from just knowing inside.
I know it inside and I sort ofsomehow always know it inside.
It very much comes from theHoly Ghost and from that sense
of peace.
And back then the missionariesgave me some talk tapes and I
(13:19):
listened to the prophet andapostles on talk tapes.
And gosh, you really show yourage sometimes, don't you say
these things?
You know, um, so, um, but whenand when I would listen to these
things, you know, I just feltthe spirit and I felt this peace
that I'd never known in my life.
It was amazing and um, so myhusband got baptized and that
(13:43):
was in itself, you know, thishuge testimony building
experience.
The spirit was so strong,everybody was crying.
He said, when he got out of thewater that he literally felt
all his sins wash away.
You know, it was a literal.
He said, from the top of hishead to the tips of his toes, he
the physical, you know, removalfrom his body of all his sins.
(14:06):
And it was, you know, reallyamazing.
Um, we sort of went through someyears where all these things
happened to us.
Like I started, um, dreamingabout everything that was going
to happen to us in advance so Iwould go to sleep, to sleep at
night, and we were going to goten pin bowling the next day and
(14:27):
I knew that our car was goingto break down and we were going
to have a flat tyre.
It was like my mind expandedand I just had all these visions
and all these things happened.
My grandmother had passed awayand my grandmother started
coming back and visiting me.
She'd come to me when I wasupset about things.
(14:50):
Um, I I never I couldn't seeher.
But it was exactly the same asseeing her.
I felt her, I could smell her,I could literally put my hand
out and touch her.
It was this incrediblespiritual experience.
We would walk under lightstogether in the street and they
(15:11):
would go off.
It was very strange, verystrange things happened when I
got pregnant.
I couldn't touch a supermarkettrolley because I would get
electric shocks.
I had no problem.
I was very blessed in gettingpregnant twice very easily and
no problem during my pregnancy.
But giving birth was difficult.
(15:34):
Before I had my first child, Iwas almost killed in an accident
.
A drunk driver came towards meand I saw it like sort of like
in a slow motion movie, and sohe came to sort of drive into
the side of my car and he and Iremember seeing his face and I
(15:55):
could tell that he was drunk,that something was really wrong
and it was frozen in the moment.
But it was like his car wasshifted away from us and that I
was protected and I believeangels shifted his car and
protected us During my birth.
It was very well, you know,alisha, it was very painful.
(16:15):
I was induced and the pain wasjust.
You know it was, and in newzealand there's not great
antenatal uh, yeah, it's notgreat and um, I was just
screaming in pain the whole time, um, but I was praying at the
same time and, and at one pointI I honestly felt like I was
(16:35):
going to die.
I really felt like my life wasleaving my body.
I couldn't push my baby out.
I felt like I was dying butmiraculously they got my
daughter out and she was amazing.
And once again I felt thisincredible blessing as my little
(16:58):
girl grew and she talked from avery young age.
She had an amazing vocabularyfrom a very, very young age and
I would have her in a car seatand I would think about
something and she would answerme.
We had this strange telepathicconnection between us.
It was all these things thathappened.
(17:19):
But during this time too, youknow, we had two children.
We faced constant opposition,you know, not just from friends
but from our families, who didnot want us to belong to the
church.
We didn't really have friendsat church.
It was very different in NewZealand.
(17:40):
We just culturally differentand we never entirely felt like
we could fit in, so much um.
So we made the decision to moveaway from the church.
Um, but I did have my childrenbaptized, you know, when they
were old enough, and I wanted tocome back to church at that
point and I talked to my husbandabout that and said I want to
(18:00):
go back to my faith.
But he was like no way, no,it's not happening.
We're not.
I'm not staying married to youif you go back to your faith.
So you know that was not.
It wasn't even a thing.
So so I didn't.
I never stopped mourning it,you know.
(18:21):
I knew that it was wrong.
I knew that leaving was wrongand I mourned it constantly,
constantly.
And I?
Um woke up one morning and Isaw this evil spirit standing
beside my bed and I knew youknow, obviously straight away
that that me leaving my faithwas wrong.
It was wrong.
So our marriage broke up and weboth three married different
(18:46):
people.
My husband married a Canadianwoman and I married a boy that
I'd been to school with.
Unfortunately, I made a reallybad choice.
Um, on one hand, he was, youknow, he loved my children and
he was a.
He was a very good stepfather.
He had many, many greatqualities and I did really love
(19:09):
him, but he was very much atelestial being, um, very much
so.
So the years went by, thechildren sort of became
teenagers.
We moved around a lot becauseof his job, um, he got offered a
job in australia.
We decided to take it.
We came here.
We then got offered a job.
(19:30):
We were living in alban, wherehe got offered a job in
queensland.
We moved to queensland and,unbeknownst to me, he started
living this double life.
There were years of trauma.
He became this completelydifferent person and I was
(19:54):
extremely confused.
I felt trapped, I didn't knowwhat to do and, because I had
been married before, Idesperately wanted this to work.
I didn't want to give up.
So, yeah, so I didn't know.
He was working all the time,travelling all the time,
unbeknownst to me.
(20:14):
He had become a cocaine addict,and I never in my wildest
dreams I mean, we were, you know, a pretty normal family,
anti-drugs.
You know, um, that you know myhusband would drink heavily, but
I never, ever, dreamed that hewould do anything like that ever
.
It took me years to find out.
(20:41):
So, as the years are going byand he started becoming
extremely abusive and lifebecame, you know, it was living
in a torture chamber I started.
Heavenly Father started givingme personal revelation, this
personal revelation that wouldcome to me in dreams.
So I started dreaming that, um,that he was up to no good, and
(21:10):
I genuinely it wasn't like thatcame from a place in my brain
where, deep down, I knew it,because I didn't, I absolutely
didn't know it.
It came to me in my dreams andI could see that he was up to no
good, but with no specifics.
I also dreamed that I was goingto go to the temple.
And this went on for a reallylong time.
(21:33):
These dreams, this went on for aa really, really long time and
I it became louder and louder.
It started off soft and itbecame louder and louder and
then to the point that, you know, sometimes I would wake up and
I would not know what was realand what wasn't.
I felt like I was living insome sort of bizarre twilight
(21:54):
zone and very confused, veryconfused that as I look back at
that now, I think if I had beenshown the truth, the extent of
the truth of all the evil thingsthat he was doing behind my
back and I don't hide myfeelings very well, so he would
have known that.
I knew that I think that Iprobably would have lost my life
(22:17):
.
So Heavenly Father gave meenough to give me some warning,
but not enough that I would havebeen killed.
So he gave me the perfectbalance.
So life went on and thingsbecame more terrifying and I
knew that my life was at risk.
(22:39):
In the last weekend I was withhim.
You know he almost killed meand I was beyond traumatized.
He was taken away.
I phoned, I escaped my daughterand I escaped and we packed our
dogs in the car.
We pretended we were going tothe beach.
We had hidden an overnight bagand as soon as we got around the
(23:05):
corner we phoned my GP and shecalled an ambulance and the
police, who went to our home andbasically arrested him.
He ended up getting put in amental health facility for three
months and during this time Ihad no idea whether they would
just lead him out, because thishad happened once before, about
(23:28):
a year previously, and he toldme he would kill me if it
happened again.
So I was so scared.
I was so scared and my son cameto Queensland, hired a twin cab
ute and we put as manybelongings as we could in the
back and he drove for 24 hoursstraight and we stopped at one
point to have a little sleep butmy children literally lifted me
(23:52):
into the vehicle and put myseatbelt on me because I
couldn't function.
I just I had absolutely nothingleft, nothing.
I was just completely,completely traumatized and I
first came back.
I couldn't eat.
The only thing that made mefeel better was drinking wine,
(24:15):
I'm ashamed to say, but I livedon it because it, because, you
know, I couldn't.
I was just so traumatized.
Um, quite a lot of time went byand I was not in a I was not in
a good place.
I I couldn't, I didn't know howto function, didn't know how to
get myself through the traumaof it all and to finalize
(24:36):
divorce proceedings, to gothrough all this while he's
suffering with mental health,and there's just a lot.
There wasn't one thing therewas a mountain of things.
There was a mountain to climband a mountain of obstacles.
And my son said to me Mom, whydon't you look at going to
church?
Why don't you listen topodcasts?
So I started listening topodcasts, initially about nature
(25:00):
, bees, things like that.
And then I came across thispodcast which was what's it like
to be or in the church of JesusChrist of Latter-day Saints,
and I started listening to it.
And as soon as I startedlistening to it, all of my
feelings, about my faith,everything came back.
It was like a fire underneathme.
(25:22):
That just was like yes, this isreally amazing, but I was very
scared to walk back in the door.
I thought, you know, I justcan't go back and have something
happen, or if I go back, I needto know that it's forever and
I've never, ever once questionedmy testimony.
(25:43):
I've never once questioned thetruth.
I have always known it.
I don't need to pray and ask ifit's true because I know that
it is.
I feel like heavenly father hasblessed me with that gift of
knowing that it is.
You know, just, it's a hugeblessing.
So I really worked on myselfbefore I walked in the door and
I spent a lot of time prayingabout it, getting that feeling
(26:08):
from the Holy Spirit.
So I walked into the CaulfieldWard here in Melbourne and it
was a fasting testimony meetingand I am not someone who's ever
wanted to talk in public.
I, you know, when I was youngerand joined, I wouldn't even get
up and say a prayer, like Iwouldn't do it.
And I yeah, it was just like no, no, no, no, um, but I
(26:30):
literally felt the spirit liftme off the chair, I felt myself
get lifted up and I got up and Iintroduced myself to everybody,
gave a blurb about myself.
I can't remember but, um, and Ijust felt the spirit so
strongly it was, it was just,you know, it was absolutely
(26:53):
amazing.
And I'm I'd phoned an oldneighbor who was a Latter-day
Saint in Brisbane.
I said, look, I am thinkingabout, you know, going back to
church.
However, I love coffee and Ilove wine and none of my friends
are members.
What do you think?
And she said who cares?
Just go, don't even worry aboutit.
(27:13):
She said everything else willcome in time and it was the best
if she'd been critical, um, orjudgmental.
You know, it might have been alittle bit different, but I
think it's really important forpeople who are coming back or
looking at the church that it'snot.
You know, it's a process, it'sthe process and you know you
(27:36):
improve and you improve yourselfalong the way.
So I started doing that and myfirst thing was I said to
Heavenly Father, look at themoment.
I cannot stop drinking with myfriends.
However, I will not open aglass of wine in my house and
this is what I'm going to do,and you know, I felt the spirit
(27:57):
and I just went through aprocess, and it was another two
years of a lot of trauma.
My ex-husband would not settlewith me.
He almost left me homeless andwhen I had gone into his bank
accounts, when he was in themental health ward, I had
discovered that he had withdrawnover half a million dollars of
(28:19):
our savings to spend on hisillicit lifestyle without me
having any idea.
Yeah, and and and you know,look, there's a whole lot more.
That's the.
It's like the tip of theiceberg.
Um, so I was trying to savemyself and what I had left, and
save myself at this age, and itwas really, really difficult,
(28:44):
and so I felt like the only wayI got through it was prayer.
And I came to a bit of apivotal moment that I can't kind
of get into in a public forum,but I was at a point that I
desperately needed HeavenlyFather's help.
I needed a miracle, I needed tobe saved and I needed this so
(29:04):
badly.
And I got the phone call fromsome lawyers and it just crushed
me and I cried, I screamed outto Heavenly Father.
And I'm not a screamer, I'm asuffering, silent person.
If I've got huge emotions, Ihold them in myself, but I'm
just crying.
And I said to him I don'tunderstand.
I'm doing everything I can tobe the best person I can be.
(29:27):
I don't want more I can do, butI need this.
I need this to happen for me,for my future, otherwise I have
no future and I really need you.
And and I instantly had allthese angels gather around me
and, just like with theexperience with my grandmother,
I never saw them, but I feltthem and I knew that they were
(29:49):
there and it was like I couldsee them and I felt them
completely gather around me andjust the love.
You know the love and the andthe spirit said to me it's going
to be fine, it's going to be somuch better than you can ever
imagine, the lord is on thy sideand I knew in that moment that
(30:10):
everything was going to work outreally, really well and I
didn't honestly know how itseemed like this impossible
thing, task, like how can thisbe okay, how can it work out?
And um, for the, for the weekthat went by, where all this
trauma was still going on, withlawyers and everything else,
(30:32):
every time I would wake up andfeel panicked.
The same thing happened.
I felt the angels, I felt thespirit, the feel panicked.
The same thing happened.
I felt the angels, I felt thespirit.
The spirit said fear not, theLord is on thy side, it's all
going to turn out so much betterthan you've ever imagined.
And I kept getting told thisover and over again and it did.
I can't tell you the miraclebecause I just can't from a
(30:55):
legal perspective, but Ireceived this enormous amount of
miracles.
I was saved.
Things did turn out a thousandtimes better than I could ever
have imagined.
I had so many miracles come tome that were staggering, you
know like, some of themimmediately and some of them
that took around 12 months someof them immediately and some of
(31:19):
them that took around 12 months.
So that was that part of thedivorce and everything else that
then ended up being so muchbetter than I could ever have
imagined and I ended up in areally good place and, you know,
really, really happy andeverything.
During this process, I waspreparing to go to the temple
and praying about it, trying toget myself, you know, in the
(31:42):
right place.
And when I went to bed oneevening you know how sometimes
you're just half asleep, youknow you're lying there and
you're, you know, half asleep,half awake, half awake, and I
sleep on my stomach and I feltmy body getting pushed into the
(32:03):
mattress.
I had my head to the side and Iwas attacked by this evil
spirit.
And you know, look, this is nota story that you tell people
because they'll think you'recrazy, but this happened to me
and I felt this evil entity pushme into the mattress.
I couldn't breathe, all of theoxygen sort of went from my
(32:24):
lungs and this evil spirit wasright beside me saying the most
vile things and I immediatelysaid you know, heavenly Father,
and I didn't even have to get tothose words, I didn't even have
to get the words out and thisevil entity was just whisked
(32:45):
away like it was nothing.
And immediately taken from mymind were the words that the
evil entity said to me.
That was immediately erased.
All I know what it was.
It was extremely vile, but Idon't know what it was.
I couldn't even remember onething, I don't know.
(33:06):
But I lay there and I wasscared to go to sleep and I just
kept praying.
I said please, heavenly Father,don't let any evil spirits be
in my room.
Um, I I've wondered honestlyover a long period of time, like
why that would be allowed tohappen, and I the only thing
(33:29):
I've kind of come up with isthat it really showed me the
difference between good and evil.
It was like, um, like thestrongest example you could ever
have, where, you know, satan ispathetic and means nothing and
our father in heaven is the kingof the universe and is all
(33:49):
loving, and the contrast was,you know, enormous.
Then, for the first four timesthat I went to the temple, the
contrast was, you know, enormous.
Then, for the first four timesthat I went to the temple, you
know, melbourne is a really bigcity and I had no idea how to
get there.
I sort of knew the generaldirection, but without Navman,
you know, it's almost impossible.
(34:10):
And I'd get in my car.
My Navman wouldn't work, and italways works.
My iPhone't work and it alwaysworks.
My iPhone wouldn't work and italways works.
You know, when it comes tonavigation, and it was like
Satan was just like I'm going tointerfere with this and I was,
you know, getting upset becauseI really, really wanted to get
(34:32):
there.
So I just would pull over andpray, and then I would get a bit
further down the road.
I'd pull over and pray and youknow what I found it.
I found it the first four timeswithout any navigation, and
that in itself is a miracle,because this is a very big place
and I these are all suburbs inthe suburb that the temple's in
I am not familiar with, I don'tknow them at all, but I found it
(34:56):
.
And then after that it's likehe gave up.
He didn't try.
He didn't try after that.
One other thing I forgot tomention is that during the
period that I was away fromchurch I, you know, because I
mourned the loss of it so much,you know, and I felt such
(35:17):
immense guilt.
And I, you know, because Imourned the loss of it so much,
you know, and I felt suchimmense guilt and I, you know,
tend to beat myself up overthings I prayed constantly for
forgiveness for not being there,for not living, you know, a
gospel style lifestyle,everything else not being who I
really should be.
I, you know, prayed constantlyabout this and I went to the
(35:37):
bathroom at work one day I wasworking in a dental practice,
went off to the bathroom and I'msaying this little prayer and I
heard this voice and it was soloud but it was, um, and it was
kind of forceful but kind, and Iknew at that moment that the
(36:08):
Lord was kind of maybeunderstood my situation and that
had that I had repented enoughand I didn't need to keep going
on.
And, quite frankly, he'sprobably I was sick of myself
and I'm sure that he was sick ofme as well by that point.
So, you know, it kind of made alot of sense, um, each morning I
(36:28):
would take my dog and do this.
You know, now I've got a littleEnglish bulldog and I take her
to the park for a play with hertennis balls.
And it's a time where, you know, I just enjoy nature, the birds
, the trees, you know, beingoutdoors and I pray and I hear
the spirit talk to me and tellme things, and it's just a very
(36:53):
revelatory sort of experience,you know, moment for me.
And recently I was there and Isaid to Heavenly Father, I just
don't quite understand why.
You know, I feel like I'm thethe one in 99 and I don't kind
(37:14):
of understand why, why, when Imoved away from the church, why
would you bother to, you know,work so hard to get me back?
Because he did, and, um, and youknow, I heard, I heard Jesus
(37:35):
say to me um, I've always beenwith you and you are mine, and
you know just, you know, I haveum such a lot of love for the
Savior and and his atonement andeverything he did for us and
(37:57):
continues to do each and everyday.
And it just kills me that welive in a world where, you know,
everybody takes his name invain and speaks about him like
that and he, you know, doesnothing else but love us and
come for us when we do thingsthat are wrong and we turn
(38:20):
against him and we do thingsthat we shouldn't do, yet he
just forgives us and he justwants us to try.
He just wants us to try and tryto find our way back to him.
And, heavenly Father, try tofind our way back to him.
(38:40):
And, heavenly father, and um,you know, I, I, you know, I've
been to the temple, gone intothe celestial room and I've
heard, you know, the voice of um, family members, things like
that that have passed away, um,speak to me.
My dad died about two years agoand I've heard him speak to me.
I heard him say to me onemorning I was up really, really
(39:02):
early in the freezing cold goingto work and, um, I heard him
say I'm really proud of you.
Um, you know I've got a lot ofScottish ancestors and, um, you
know I've got a lot of Scottishancestors and I heard one of
them say to me are we male?
You know, which was always ourthing growing up?
You know, that's how they wouldtalk.
(39:25):
You know, I didn't even knowwhat you're talking about.
And, yeah, and I just thinkthat, you know, the veil is, um,
a lot thinner than we think.
And when I hear about, you know, president nelson, when he said
, um, that we would be, you knowI'm not saying it verbatim, but
(39:46):
you know, um, that we wouldreceive countless miracles and
privileges in these last days,and you know I can really
testify to the truth of that.
Another thing that has happenedis I had a like once again, I
know I'm being a little bitnonspecific, only to protect
other people, but I have afamily, a very dear family
(40:09):
member, who is sick anddesperately needed a blessing.
I knew that that was not goingto be logistically possible, so
I prayed to Heavenly Father andI asked for angels to minister a
blessing.
The next day I get a phone calland this dear, dear family
(40:32):
member was healed.
And this sort of thing hasactually happened twice through
this prayer and through thisrequest, and I know that
Heavenly Father is not a slotmachine that we don't just, you
know, obviously get.
Sometimes we're not meant to behealed, sometimes we're not
meant to get what we're askingfor, but this was just like an
(40:56):
instant miracle and a hugeblessing, and I know that
everything is possible with thelord and I have.
I've really, really realized oneof my biggest lessons in all of
this is that you know, we, wego on directions in our life and
we think that we know what'sbest for us and we try and I
guess we're human beings, that'snormal.
(41:17):
However, you know, when HeavenlyFather puts roadblocks in our
way and this certainly happenedto me when I first came back I
was going some directions that Ishouldn't have gone and I kept
getting roadblocks.
I think we have to look and go.
Okay, we're not meant to dothat.
We are not meant to do that andwe need to have faith that the
lord will guide us and listen tothe spirit and our lives become
(41:40):
so much better for it.
I have really learned to dothat in the last two years, to
really really listen to thespirit, to seek prayerful
guidance in everything that I do, and, even though you're not
going far from perfect and Iknow all the things of myself
that I have to work on, um thatwhen we try, akia just wants to
(42:03):
give us these blessings.
He wants to enrich our livesand show us the right way and
wants us to come home to livewith him right, and I am so
thankful for that.
What an amazing gift it is toknow who we are, you know yeah,
so can I ask how?
Alisha Coakley (42:22):
how long was it that you were like away from the
church?
Melanie (42:28):
oh, um well, I'm 59, I'm almost 60 in and so I joined
the church when I was 21.
Oh no, I was older than that,sorry, I was about 25.
I think I was in the churchuntil I was about 30.
So yeah, almost 30 years, 30years away, yeah.
Alisha Coakley (42:50):
Wow, and you never really lost your testimony
, never Kept praying.
Melanie (42:55):
Yes, yes, yes, yes, I've always known that it's true
, always, never, never.
Like when I first learned aboutit it was like, yeah, I already
know this, even though I'dnever been shown it, never been
brought up with religion.
I mean, I did go to an Anglican, um sort of Sunday school,
which is a little girl, whichwas really about coloring and
you know, and things like that.
(43:16):
It wasn't.
We didn't really learn anything, so I really didn't know
religion.
And but when I was aroundLatter-day Saints and I was
certainly exposed in New Zealand, you know, you have a big
exposure to Latter-day Saints Icertainly always felt well, not
with everybody, but, you know,with a lot of people, felt that
(43:36):
spirit, felt the difference, um,and yeah, so most of my life, I
mean, and I've never because myson at one point said to me oh
mom, why don't you go to?
He had a friend that was goingto this particular church and
we're quite a few New Zealandersthere and he said, oh, why
don't you go to that church?
And I said, well, no, becausewhat would be the point?
(43:57):
You know, like I, I know what Iknow is true and other
religions might be easier.
Yeah, it might be easier.
You know, um, from aperspective of, well, you know
me and no offense to otherpeople, you know I might go to
church at Christmas and Easter.
I don't really have to, youknow, serve and do things and
(44:19):
all these things.
So it's not, you know, in thatregard, I mean, when you don't
grow up with it and you don'thave friends in the church and
you are very alone in it it is abit confronting.
Um, I have found, though, thatin my ward that I have joined, I
have made some great friendsand I love my ward.
(44:40):
Um, sorry, I'm sweating andcarrying on.
I should have got the tissuesthat you mentioned, alisha.
I didn't, I didn't, I didn'tthink I would need them.
Honestly, um, uh, and yeah,I've met some, just some
beautiful people, absolutelybeautiful people, and you know,
and there's this genuine love.
You know we have it's a verydiverse group of people.
(45:01):
I think we have, like peoplewho speak like 16 languages in
our ward, but everybody's justfabulous and together as one and
very connected, and you knowthat.
Know, if you need help,everybody's there to help each
other and love each other.
And you know, I think, toonon-judgmental, which I think we
(45:27):
had a little meeting on Sundayabout.
You know, what can we do tomake sacrament more inviting for
new people and these things?
And I just said well, one ofthe things I think is when
people give talks is that youknow they are Christ-focused.
And I just said, well, one ofthe things I think is when
people give talks is that youknow they are Christ-focused.
And I know everyone tries to dothat, but without judgment,
because I think if you bringalong people, people who don't
understand the gospel, who arelearning the gospel and we have
(45:49):
a lot of new people coming inand learning it's really
important that nothing's saidthat can kind of offend people,
because I think it wouldn't.
It doesn't take much, does it,you know, to one person to say
something and then they think,oh no, this isn't for me or you
know things like that yeah
Scott Brandley (46:07):
so yeah, yeah, 30 30 years of wandering in the
wilderness.
Melanie (46:10):
Sorry, sorry scott what are you?
Scott Brandley (46:13):
what's your?
What have your kids journeysbeen?
Because you've kind of been outof the church a lot of their
lives right, yes, yeah, yeah, no.
Melanie (46:21):
Well, um, unfortunately , my daughter, um, who's this
beautiful girl and she's a hugehumanitarian, um, gives to
charity constantly.
She's this beautiful mother ofa gorgeous eight-month-old
little girl.
She's just wonderful and she'smarried to a beautiful catholic
husband, um, and.
(46:43):
But she has listened to a lotof podcasts, a lot of, uh,
ex-members of the church, andshe's listened to these things
and thinks that it's a bit cultyand um, so, you know, I mean,
she's 32 and I have never beenable to talk her into anything.
So, um, that's, you know,that's kind of her journey,
(47:03):
unfortunately, um.
However, you know, I hope thatand pray about this, that you
know that you know, one day,when our lives are all over,
that she gets a second chance,because you know she has missed
out on the opportunity to reallyknow the truth and has been,
you know, influenced, um byoutside people.
(47:26):
Um, unfortunately, that do putthese things out there.
Um, my son, he he's not in theleast bit interested in religion
, but, once again, he's abeautiful boy with a big heart,
and he had the missionaries walkup to see him recently and he
said to me oh, mom, you sent themissionaries to my house and I
(47:48):
said I didn't and I didn't sendthem there.
I think I had put his name downfor family history so that he
could log on, you know, to gethis church member number for
family history site.
And I think they must have sortof seen his address and gone
round.
And they were these great boyswho, um, one of them was from
Hamilton in New Zealand, whichis where we spent the last seven
(48:09):
years of our life in NewZealand.
Um and Harrison got on really,really, really well with them,
loved them.
Harrison was like oh, they'regreat guys.
I wanted to invite them in fora beer, harrison.
Alisha Coakley (48:21):
I go A root beer .
Melanie (48:24):
No.
But you know, I mean, all youcan do really at the end of the
day is pray.
They have their own agency andI just try to be an example and
hope that, you know, one daythey feel the spirit.
Um, you know, I feel a littlebit guilty because I did have
them baptized, like my parentsdid with me, but without them
(48:45):
really knowing why, and I didget my children have, my
children did have lessons, butit's not.
It's not enough at that age tojust learn a couple of things
and then somehow be expected tounderstand the gospel.
So I feel that that sin's kindof on me, not on them.
(49:08):
So I'm hoping that you knowthat's just for the
circumstances that we had at thetime.
Like I said, my husband justwouldn't.
It wasn't.
He was okay with the kids toget baptized, but nothing else.
Alisha Coakley (49:20):
Yeah, I wouldn't , I wouldn't think that it was a
sin or anything like that.
Like I know there's kind oflike that, that thought of, oh
well, if you're baptized andyou're held to a higher standard
, and so then you know, if you,if you're baptized, then you're
held to a higher standard.
And so then you know, if you,if you do sin or whatever, then
(49:41):
because you made these covenants, you're going to have a greater
um you know consequence on you.
But also heavenly father takestakes into consideration, like
what you knew.
And if you're, I feel like backthen that was something that
just a lot of people did.
Like I feel like a lot of peoplejust baptized their kids just
for the heck of it.
And, and over the last decadeit's really changed to where the
(50:02):
kids, they want them tounderstand more.
You know, like they they don'tjust want to hurry up and get
them baptized, they really wantthem to like have more of those
basic fundamental beliefs in thegospel of Jesus Christ.
And so I think you know Iwouldn't, I, I wouldn't worry
about that at all yeah, thingswill work out as they meet you
(50:24):
in the end, hopefully.
Melanie (50:25):
You know that's all you can do.
It's all you can do.
And I think I had a talk to myson, um, last year we we went on
a road trip together and I hadtook the opportunity.
You know that they say that thebest thing if you want to have
a conversation with your adultchild is to get them alone in
the car for a period of time,because they can't escape.
You know, they're sort of stuckwith you in that moment.
(50:46):
And so we had a little bit of atalk about life and he loves,
you know, the planets and he's athis massive telescope and he
goes out stargazing and allthese things, and I had a little
chat with him about that andabout, you know, the fact that
heavenly father created this.
You know this planet and others, and this was created from
other planets and all thesethings.
(51:08):
And you know, and I talked tohim too about the tribulation
period a bit, because I do verymuch feel with every fibre of my
being that we have entered it,that we are in the last days and
that you've just got to see thecraziness in the world.
The world's gone mad.
(51:30):
I mean, it's just everywhere.
And I just said to him you know, there's just.
If you don't want to join areligion, you don't want to join
my faith or whatever that's.
You know that's up to you.
But I said, you know, just,please learn to pray and
recognize that Christ is realand that he loves you.
And I really want you to trywith that, because I said there
(51:53):
is going to come a point whereyou are going to need him,
you're going to need the saviour, we all will.
And as things get worse and youjust have to look and see
what's happening and you can seeit ramping up, probably faster
than we even anticipated, youknow.
So we kind of had that momentto have that discussion.
(52:14):
And it's a hard discussion tohave, especially with someone
who doesn't have a lot of youknow well really much in the way
of faith.
Yeah, I think if things weredifferent, I think if Harrison
had been brought up in thechurch, I honestly think that he
would be an active member.
I sort of see it in him.
Him and I are very much alike,but I am super proud of my kids.
(52:38):
You know they're really greathuman beings.
Yeah, and both of them.
You know, they're both justwell.
My son got married a few monthsago.
My daughter got married a yearand a half ago.
They've both got, you know,lovely partners and they're just
you know, lovely partners and,um, they're just, you know,
amazing human beings.
Scott Brandley (52:56):
So I guess that's what you can ask, most
you can ask for in life, reallyfor sure, yeah well, and I I
think we're all on our ownspiritual journey in life, right
, and we each have our owncircumstances.
I mean, if, if they part oftheir lives was growing up in a
difficult time, if there wasabuse and things in your
(53:17):
relationship, I'm sure thataffected them too, and you know
so.
there's probably things thatthey've got to work through on
their side as far as faith.
Yes, yes, you know so, but yourexample now, I think, can make
a huge difference in their lives.
I think I hope so yeah, and younever know.
Melanie (53:37):
Yeah, yeah, that's right.
And I think, too, you know thepower of prayer.
You know I just, I have alwaystaken comfort, you know, ever
since I had my children, that I,you know the power of prayer,
like praying for protection ofour children and praying for
these things, and having that isso important and I can't, you
(53:58):
know, even imagine life withouthaving that, because at the end
of the day, it doesn't mean thatbad things are not going to
happen.
But I do believe we are givenlevels of protection and I think
that, you know, being a motheris a sacred thing.
You know it's a sacred honorthat we have to be a mother and
I think that you know, as such,our prayers for our children are
(54:20):
answered.
And it's not being anti-fathersin any way, scott, but I think
there is a thing with mothers.
You know you give birth, youhave this child inside your body
, you give birth to them and youknow I feel like we have you.
You know this specialconnection with heavenly father
from the fact that we are ableto, you know, give birth to his
children and and raise them andlove them, and yeah, yeah that's
(54:45):
awesome.
Scott Brandley (54:46):
Well, from what I can tell from our, from
knowing you for an hour, itreally feels like you have a
gift where you're close to thespirit right and close to the
veil, and that's very unique.
I mean I don't have those kindof experiences, but I mean we've
(55:09):
had other people on the showthat have had those kind of
things happen to them and youknow, I think that's a wonderful
thing that that god's given youand it's special and I really
appreciate you being willing toshare it thank you.
Melanie (55:24):
Thank you, scott.
Yes, I think so too.
I think that I think thatheavenly father knows our
situations you know obviously,um and I think he gives us the
gifts that we're meant to haveyeah, you know that we're meant
to have, and and I, you know,and this is gonna I've got to
try and get this acrosscorrectly um, I sort of I've
never, ever, ever had a fear ofdying, apart from when my
(55:46):
children were little.
I had a fear of dying thenbecause I didn't want them to be
motherless, um, but I've neverhad it, and I think it's because
I just know that this is not myhome and and and I know that
you know, and I want to livewith my heavenly father and
heavenly mother and Jesus, andyou know I want to go home and I
(56:06):
don't mean that to soundungrateful about life, but I, um
, I kind of, you know, I miss, Imiss home and sort of always
have.
And, as bizarre as that sounds,it's not something I could say
to many people, but in thispodcast, in this audience, I
think it's okay to admit to that, you know.
(56:27):
Yeah, but I'm thankful for whatyou do too because, honestly,
it's things, programs like this,that can change a person's life
.
You know, you, you hearpeople's stories, you, it
resonates so much more with youand I think what you're doing is
invaluable, it's so importantand I I really thank you and um
for what you're doing because Ithink it's, you know, really,
(56:49):
really important well, wecouldn't do it without guests
like you.
Alisha Coakley (56:53):
So, thank you, we would have nothing to share
if you guys didn't come on here,so we really appreciate it.
Yeah, yeah, thank you.
Wow, so you had mentioned, umearlier at the beginning of the
show, that that you did write abook about your experience with
domestic abuse and everythinglike that is that, something
that like is it out there wherepeople are able to find it and,
(57:13):
and you know, grab a copy ifthey're interested?
or is it something that like isit out there where people are
able to find it and, and youknow, grab a copy if they're
interested?
Or is it something that you,you just kind of have yourself
off to?
Melanie (57:20):
the side.
I'm going to get it published,but I just I haven't finished it
yet.
I, I, I know, I know there'ssomething missing and I just
haven't been able to.
Well, up until about a monthago I just I didn't know what
the missing piece was because Ididn't want to rave on too long
in each chapter.
But the spirit's kind of beensaying to me that whilst it
(57:44):
really focuses around you knowhow you find yourself in a
situation of abuse and thedifferent forms of abuse and
these things.
What I missed out was thespiritual element, which
actually is the biggest part,because to me, for me, it's the
thing that has healed me themost.
Without the spiritual element,I would not be healed and.
(58:07):
I would still be in a state oftrauma.
So I feel like I need to writethat in and acknowledge that
that's the message that I'vebeen getting, so once.
I finish doing that, then I'mgoing to you know, attempt to
have it published, because Ijust really wanted to help other
women recognize that it's.
You know, if you're in ityou're not alone and it's okay
(58:28):
and you can get through it.
Alisha Coakley (58:30):
Well, keep us updated for sure, and you know
when that time time comes.
If you want to let us know, um,we can always share a link and
update the, the comments and anddescriptions and stuff like
that, so people can can accessthat if they want, thank you,
thank you, I really appreciatethat.
Melanie (58:47):
Thank you so much yeah of course yeah, thank you so
much.
If you're ever in australia, Ican be your tour guide in
Melbourne.
Scott Brandley (58:57):
Deal.
So do you have any lastthoughts that you'd like to
share before we wrap things up?
Melanie (59:04):
I guess I just want to bear my testimony.
You know that this church istrue and I have heard, you know,
plenty of people out thereputting things out, saying we're
a cult and we're this and we'rethat, and you know, and I can
100% say that you know, nobodyhas taught me the gospel.
I have never been talked in ortalked into doing things or
(59:24):
anything else like that.
100% comes from the spirit andthe spirit is there for each and
every one of us and it's just amatter of really wanting it in
your heart.
And and if you want it in yourheart, then heavenly father will
speak to you but hear it andyou will know it and that our
love of our heavenly father andJesus Christ are real and
(59:44):
they're there for us and I leavethat with you in the name of
Jesus Christ, amen.
Alisha Coakley (59:49):
Amen.
Melanie (59:50):
That's so.
Yeah, thank you so much.
I've really enjoyed talking toyou both, yeah.
Alisha Coakley (59:57):
Thank you too, and and a big thank you to our
listeners, um, for tuning in.
We, you know, just ask you guysto do your five second
missionary work.
Make sure that you um like andshare this episode with others.
Go ahead and leave a comment,let Melanie know what part of
her story just touched you orresonated with you, and if you
(01:00:21):
yourself, of course, have astory that you'd like to share
as a listener.
We're always looking for moreguests all over the world.
Maybe one day, even outside ofthe world.
Maybe one day we'll get likesome alien planet guests.
Wow, yeah, one day, evenoutside of the world.
Maybe one day we'll get likesome alien planet guest wow,
yeah, alisha we're done edit no,I'm just kidding.
Scott Brandley (01:00:45):
Thank you, yeah, thanks everyone for tuning in.
Thanks, melanie, for being onthe show and for sharing your
story, and it's been great.
Thank you so much we'll see youguys next week with another
episode of latter-day lightsthank you, thank you, thank you.
Hi everyone, I'm Scott Brandley.
Alisha Coakley (00:02):
And I'm Alisha Coakley.
Every member of the church hasa story to share, one that can
instill faith, invite growth andinspire others.
Scott Brandley (00:10):
On today's episode, we're going to hear how
one woman's experience finding,leaving and returning to the
church has shown her that ourlives are filled with angels and
miracles.
Welcome to Latter-day Lights.
Hey everyone, welcome back toanother episode of Latter-day
(00:38):
Lights.
We're so glad that you're herewith us today.
We're really excited tointroduce our special guest,
melanie, today.
Welcome to the show.
Melanie (00:43):
Hi, it's great to be with you both.
Thank you for having me.
Alisha Coakley (00:46):
Yes, of course, and if anyone's listening right
now, they hear a little bit ofan accent.
Melanie is coming to us all theway from the future.
She is tomorrow for many of uslisteners here from Melbourne,
australia.
Correct, melanie, that'scorrect.
Yes, awesome, I get so excitedwhen we have listeners from,
(01:08):
like, outside of the US.
It's just, it's so like I don'tknow.
It's just amazing to me the waythat the world is and with
technology, and how far reaching, you know, our show has grown
over the last couple of yearsand wait, is it?
three years now.
Yeah, we're coming over a thirdyear.
Holy moly.
(01:28):
It's just crazy to me that youknow that we're like just
getting people from all over theplace now and I'm I love it
because accents are like myfavorite thing.
I am terrible at understandingthem most of the time, but like
I had no problem with yours andI, it's just just, it just draws
me in, so I'm so excited to oh,that's good, thank you, thank
(01:48):
you yeah, for a long time I haduh siri, be an english woman
when I talk to siri fromaustralia I I sometimes have to
change my accent to get her tounderstand what I'm saying.
Melanie (02:12):
Oh, really yes, yes, I have to try and sound a bit more
australian because I was bornin new zealand, so sometimes I
have to alter it a wee bit toyou know, get the name, places
and things correct to get toknow where I'm going.
Alisha Coakley (02:24):
So yeah, oh man, that's so funny.
Yeah, yeah, accents are aresuch a cool thing there it's.
It's amazing how, even likeeven the same state or the same
country, you can have so manydifferent like little tweaks.
You know, like here in texas,like we know, we know if you're
from dallas, we know if you'refrom you know, like here in
Texas, like we know, we know ifyou're from Dallas, we know if
you're from you know, way downsouth on the border and wherever
(02:47):
else, just just based on howhow much of a draw you have yes,
yes, I noticed that Americanstend to not pronounce t's like
yeah, it would be Sutton sort ofthing.
Melanie (03:01):
I listen to that quite often.
I think where did the T go?
Alisha Coakley (03:05):
Yeah, in Utah they kind of do.
They go mountain, mountain andI'm like Mountain mountain.
Mountain, mountain, mountain,or maybe that's the opposite.
Maybe they do less, I can'tremember Mountain mountain.
Anyway, utah's weird Utahdoesn't know how to pronounce
hurricane either, so they sayhurkin Hurricane, hurricane,
(03:25):
okay, I'll say hurkin, hurricane, hurricane.
Melanie (03:26):
Okay, I'm going to test you on that later, scott.
Scott Brandley (03:30):
I'm not actually from Utah, I'm from Canada, so
I get an exception to that.
Melanie (03:35):
You do, you do.
Scott Brandley (03:35):
Yes, yes.
Alisha Coakley (03:36):
No, this is kind of fun.
Canadian, Australian andAmerican walk on a show.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, oh my gosh,All right.
Well, tell us a little bit moreabout yourself, Melanie.
Melanie (03:52):
Okay, so I grew up as an only child in New Zealand in
a really small town called Waihi, and I sort of grew up, you
know, swimming in the ocean froma really, really young age you
live on an island, so you haveto know how to swim from a
really young age Biking aroundwith my friends living on farms
just a very basic life where weate all our vegetables out of
(04:13):
our garden, and we had asimplistic lifestyle, which was
really nice.
I'm really happy to have grownup in that sort of environment.
I, unfortunately, have beenmarried twice.
I've got two beautiful childrenmy beautiful son, who's turning
29 shortly and he lives here inMelbourne, and my daughter
(04:35):
lives in Southeast Asia.
They're both married and I'vegot a beautiful grandchild.
I immigrated to Australia sortof 14 to 15 years ago, which was
an amazing, amazing move.
I never wanted to leave NewZealand.
However, you know, I loveMelbourne.
Melbourne is an amazing city Idon't know if you know, many
listeners have been here, butit's amazing and when I came
(04:58):
here it felt like home to me.
You know, I really loved it somuch and I will spend the rest
of my life here.
So, yeah, that's the very, veryshort version of my life.
Alisha Coakley (05:08):
Nice.
What do you do as far as likecareer?
Melanie (05:13):
hobbies.
So I worked in dental for mostof my life.
I have worked in lots ofdifferent fields.
I did work at the JusticeDepartment when I was young.
I worked in dental for many,many years.
Hobbies are interior design.
I've got a diploma in interiordesign and I love decorating
things like that.
I had a small interior designbusiness with a friend.
I'm now just doing a bit ofagency dental work, but I've
(05:37):
kind of taken a bit of time outin the last 12 months to just
work on different things Ineeded to do.
I wrote a book on survivingdomestic violence because that
ended up happening to me in mylast marriage.
And yeah, I've just been tryingto heal and go through a
healing process.
Gotcha, yeah, wow.
(05:58):
So yeah, that's about it really.
Very short nutshell.
Alisha Coakley (06:04):
Yeah, yeah, great.
It really very short nutshell.
Yeah, yeah, great.
Well, we would love to go aheadand turn the time over to you
and just kind of let you tell uswhere your uh story begins.
Melanie (06:16):
Yeah, sure.
So when I grew up in a smalltown in new zealand, we sort of
grew up really without anyreligion.
So my mother taught me twothings in life and one was to
always pray.
The other was to never take theLord's name in vain, which you
know I'm very thankful to herfor.
But it was kind of unusual tohave religion.
(06:38):
We lived in a town where wedidn't really know people that
were religious and if they werereligious they kind of stood out
.
It was sort of like more theabnormal than the normal.
Um, it was a very much.
My parents were much at a partylifestyle.
You go to each other's housesand drink and play guitars and
you know that was kind of thethat got to the beach.
That was sort of the lifestyle.
Um, my auntie is a member of thechurch of jesus christ of
(07:01):
latter-day Saints and she livedin Calgary in Alberta and so
every birthday and Christmas shewould send me church magazines,
church books and, you know,chocolates and things which I
thought were pretty sensationalbecause we didn't have things
like that in New Zealand.
It was a treat.
But at one point I rememberthinking what am I getting this
(07:25):
sort of just stuff, thinking, ah, what, what am I getting this
bit of just stuff for?
Like what, what do I have thisfor?
And I flicked through uh, Ithink it was a hymn book.
I can't be 100 sure, but Ithink it was a hymn book and I
saw Christ and I saw him withhis arms wide open to me.
(07:46):
Well, that's what it felt liketo me and my entire body I felt,
you know, this immense sense ofguilt for having that thought.
You know, it really pierced methrough my body and I looked
back through that hymn book, youknow, a thousand times to try
to find this image of Christagain.
(08:06):
And it was never, ever there.
So it sort of started myspiritual experience.
I recognized in that momentthat, you know, christ was real
and even though I never reallyknew about him, my parents, my
mother, wanted me to be baptizedin the church and she had me
baptized, but I never hadlessons or anything.
I I never knew, why, you know,and as a child that lived in the
(08:30):
water and all I wanted to dowas swim, um, getting into a
font and being in the warm water.
To me it was like, oh yay, I,you know, and I just remember
looking at my mother and she wasgiving me a dirty look like no,
you're not there to swim,you're there to be baptized.
Yeah, so but I never, you know,honestly, didn't understand it.
(08:51):
Um, really had no idea so, butthere were some weird things
that happened to me as a child.
I, um my mother, loved me tobits and looked after me really,
really well, but she was verynarcissistic and very
emotionally abusive.
Life with her was, you know,very difficult, and I think that
(09:12):
because I believe, looking back, that Heavenly Father knew this
was going to be my situation.
It was like he gave me thisgift and I wondered why I lived
in my body.
It never made sense to me, Icouldn't understand it and I
never really felt like I was athome.
I felt like an outsider in thislife.
(09:33):
And you know, it always seemedvery strange to me.
I couldn't figure it out and Ialmost and I feel looking back,
that I sort of craved myheavenly parents, without
realizing that.
That's the emotions that I washaving at the time that I craved
this other mother.
It was like I craved heavenlymother before I even knew that I
(09:54):
had one.
You know, I had this hugecraving for her and the years
went by.
The years went by and I grew upand I wanted to go and see the
world, like most New Zealanders.
You get a passport.
Young, you travel.
Young, everyone wants to go toEurope.
We all do the OE thing go andlive abroad, see as many
countries as you can.
(10:14):
You do this, this is what youdo.
So I did all of that.
I traveled.
I came home and I startedworking at the Justice
Department and in the witnessstand one day was my husband.
He was giving evidence for acar crash that he had witnessed.
So we were very young, but wegot married quite quickly.
(10:38):
After we were married, differentthings started happening.
I had a friend that was killedin a car accident.
My grandparents started to dieand I really, really, really
wanted to know who I was.
I wanted to understand, youknow, life, what had happened,
what's happening.
So we started meeting with themissionaries.
No intention for my husband atthe time to be involved in the
(11:03):
church, it was just really mewanting to know.
But when he listened to thelessons, the Spirit was very
strong to him and he decided tojoin the church.
When the missionaries taught methe lessons, I absolutely knew
and it was like I had alwaysknown that everything they were
telling me was true and that,you know, I, I loved it.
(11:25):
I felt the spirit, I felt peacethat I'd never, ever,
experienced in my life.
It was enormous peace.
Um, when I went to church, whenI went, sorry, when I went to
work and I would talk to myfriends at work who were members
of the Baptist church,evangelistic Christians or
non-religious, they just, youknow, I got a really hard time a
(11:49):
really hard time and I gothounded over Trinity and I just
remember saying to them like Idon't even remotely understand
you know that I mean nodisrespect, but I don't believe
that Jesus was praying tohimself when he's calling out to
his father.
(12:10):
That doesn't make sense to me atall and I just I don't believe
it.
I know that they're separate.
I know that he is the son ofGod, that Heavenly Father, jesus
Christ is two separate beingsand I have always known that.
I can't say how I've alwaysknown it, I just know it.
And I have always known that.
I can't say how I've alwaysknown it, I just know it.
And the other thing that Iwould say to them is that when I
talk to them, as much as I lovethem and as much as their
(12:35):
friendship is very important tome, I say to them you know, I
see darkness when you talk aboutthe subject, but when I'm with
the missionaries, I see and Ifeel peace.
And back in those days, you know, we didn't have the internet,
we didn't have, you know, theopportunity to learn a whole lot
more and I really knew nothing.
I read the Book of Mormon.
I didn't understand it but Iliked it.
(12:56):
But my testimony has and hasalways been not sourally based,
but from just knowing inside.
I know it inside and I sort ofsomehow always know it inside.
It very much comes from theHoly Ghost and from that sense
of peace.
And back then the missionariesgave me some talk tapes and I
(13:19):
listened to the prophet andapostles on talk tapes.
And gosh, you really show yourage sometimes, don't you say
these things?
You know, um, so, um, but whenand when I would listen to these
things, you know, I just feltthe spirit and I felt this peace
that I'd never known in my life.
It was amazing and um, so myhusband got baptized and that
(13:43):
was in itself, you know, thishuge testimony building
experience.
The spirit was so strong,everybody was crying.
He said, when he got out of thewater that he literally felt
all his sins wash away.
You know, it was a literal.
He said, from the top of hishead to the tips of his toes, he
the physical, you know, removalfrom his body of all his sins.
(14:06):
And it was, you know, reallyamazing.
Um, we sort of went through someyears where all these things
happened to us.
Like I started, um, dreamingabout everything that was going
to happen to us in advance so Iwould go to sleep, to sleep at
night, and we were going to goten pin bowling the next day and
(14:27):
I knew that our car was goingto break down and we were going
to have a flat tyre.
It was like my mind expandedand I just had all these visions
and all these things happened.
My grandmother had passed awayand my grandmother started
coming back and visiting me.
She'd come to me when I wasupset about things.
(14:50):
Um, I I never I couldn't seeher.
But it was exactly the same asseeing her.
I felt her, I could smell her,I could literally put my hand
out and touch her.
It was this incrediblespiritual experience.
We would walk under lightstogether in the street and they
(15:11):
would go off.
It was very strange, verystrange things happened when I
got pregnant.
I couldn't touch a supermarkettrolley because I would get
electric shocks.
I had no problem.
I was very blessed in gettingpregnant twice very easily and
no problem during my pregnancy.
But giving birth was difficult.
(15:34):
Before I had my first child, Iwas almost killed in an accident
.
A drunk driver came towards meand I saw it like sort of like
in a slow motion movie, and sohe came to sort of drive into
the side of my car and he and Iremember seeing his face and I
(15:55):
could tell that he was drunk,that something was really wrong
and it was frozen in the moment.
But it was like his car wasshifted away from us and that I
was protected and I believeangels shifted his car and
protected us During my birth.
It was very well, you know,alisha, it was very painful.
(16:15):
I was induced and the pain wasjust.
You know it was, and in newzealand there's not great
antenatal uh, yeah, it's notgreat and um, I was just
screaming in pain the whole time, um, but I was praying at the
same time and, and at one pointI I honestly felt like I was
(16:35):
going to die.
I really felt like my life wasleaving my body.
I couldn't push my baby out.
I felt like I was dying butmiraculously they got my
daughter out and she was amazing.
And once again I felt thisincredible blessing as my little
(16:58):
girl grew and she talked from avery young age.
She had an amazing vocabularyfrom a very, very young age and
I would have her in a car seatand I would think about
something and she would answerme.
We had this strange telepathicconnection between us.
It was all these things thathappened.
(17:19):
But during this time too, youknow, we had two children.
We faced constant opposition,you know, not just from friends
but from our families, who didnot want us to belong to the
church.
We didn't really have friendsat church.
It was very different in NewZealand.
(17:40):
We just culturally differentand we never entirely felt like
we could fit in, so much um.
So we made the decision to moveaway from the church.
Um, but I did have my childrenbaptized, you know, when they
were old enough, and I wanted tocome back to church at that
point and I talked to my husbandabout that and said I want to
(18:00):
go back to my faith.
But he was like no way, no,it's not happening.
We're not.
I'm not staying married to youif you go back to your faith.
So you know that was not.
It wasn't even a thing.
So so I didn't.
I never stopped mourning it,you know.
(18:21):
I knew that it was wrong.
I knew that leaving was wrongand I mourned it constantly,
constantly.
And I?
Um woke up one morning and Isaw this evil spirit standing
beside my bed and I knew youknow, obviously straight away
that that me leaving my faithwas wrong.
It was wrong.
So our marriage broke up and weboth three married different
(18:46):
people.
My husband married a Canadianwoman and I married a boy that
I'd been to school with.
Unfortunately, I made a reallybad choice.
Um, on one hand, he was, youknow, he loved my children and
he was a.
He was a very good stepfather.
He had many, many greatqualities and I did really love
(19:09):
him, but he was very much atelestial being, um, very much
so.
So the years went by, thechildren sort of became
teenagers.
We moved around a lot becauseof his job, um, he got offered a
job in australia.
We decided to take it.
We came here.
We then got offered a job.
(19:30):
We were living in alban, wherehe got offered a job in
queensland.
We moved to queensland and,unbeknownst to me, he started
living this double life.
There were years of trauma.
He became this completelydifferent person and I was
(19:54):
extremely confused.
I felt trapped, I didn't knowwhat to do and, because I had
been married before, Idesperately wanted this to work.
I didn't want to give up.
So, yeah, so I didn't know.
He was working all the time,travelling all the time,
unbeknownst to me.
(20:14):
He had become a cocaine addict,and I never in my wildest
dreams I mean, we were, you know, a pretty normal family,
anti-drugs.
You know, um, that you know myhusband would drink heavily, but
I never, ever, dreamed that hewould do anything like that ever
.
It took me years to find out.
(20:41):
So, as the years are going byand he started becoming
extremely abusive and lifebecame, you know, it was living
in a torture chamber I started.
Heavenly Father started givingme personal revelation, this
personal revelation that wouldcome to me in dreams.
So I started dreaming that, um,that he was up to no good, and
(21:10):
I genuinely it wasn't like thatcame from a place in my brain
where, deep down, I knew it,because I didn't, I absolutely
didn't know it.
It came to me in my dreams andI could see that he was up to no
good, but with no specifics.
I also dreamed that I was goingto go to the temple.
And this went on for a reallylong time.
(21:33):
These dreams, this went on for aa really, really long time and
I it became louder and louder.
It started off soft and itbecame louder and louder and
then to the point that, you know, sometimes I would wake up and
I would not know what was realand what wasn't.
I felt like I was living insome sort of bizarre twilight
(21:54):
zone and very confused, veryconfused that as I look back at
that now, I think if I had beenshown the truth, the extent of
the truth of all the evil thingsthat he was doing behind my
back and I don't hide myfeelings very well, so he would
have known that.
I knew that I think that Iprobably would have lost my life
(22:17):
.
So Heavenly Father gave meenough to give me some warning,
but not enough that I would havebeen killed.
So he gave me the perfectbalance.
So life went on and thingsbecame more terrifying and I
knew that my life was at risk.
(22:39):
In the last weekend I was withhim.
You know he almost killed meand I was beyond traumatized.
He was taken away.
I phoned, I escaped my daughterand I escaped and we packed our
dogs in the car.
We pretended we were going tothe beach.
We had hidden an overnight bagand as soon as we got around the
(23:05):
corner we phoned my GP and shecalled an ambulance and the
police, who went to our home andbasically arrested him.
He ended up getting put in amental health facility for three
months and during this time Ihad no idea whether they would
just lead him out, because thishad happened once before, about
(23:28):
a year previously, and he toldme he would kill me if it
happened again.
So I was so scared.
I was so scared and my son cameto Queensland, hired a twin cab
ute and we put as manybelongings as we could in the
back and he drove for 24 hoursstraight and we stopped at one
point to have a little sleep butmy children literally lifted me
(23:52):
into the vehicle and put myseatbelt on me because I
couldn't function.
I just I had absolutely nothingleft, nothing.
I was just completely,completely traumatized and I
first came back.
I couldn't eat.
The only thing that made mefeel better was drinking wine,
(24:15):
I'm ashamed to say, but I livedon it because it, because, you
know, I couldn't.
I was just so traumatized.
Um, quite a lot of time went byand I was not in a I was not in
a good place.
I I couldn't, I didn't know howto function, didn't know how to
get myself through the traumaof it all and to finalize
(24:36):
divorce proceedings, to gothrough all this while he's
suffering with mental health,and there's just a lot.
There wasn't one thing therewas a mountain of things.
There was a mountain to climband a mountain of obstacles.
And my son said to me Mom, whydon't you look at going to
church?
Why don't you listen topodcasts?
So I started listening topodcasts, initially about nature
(25:00):
, bees, things like that.
And then I came across thispodcast which was what's it like
to be or in the church of JesusChrist of Latter-day Saints,
and I started listening to it.
And as soon as I startedlistening to it, all of my
feelings, about my faith,everything came back.
It was like a fire underneathme.
(25:22):
That just was like yes, this isreally amazing, but I was very
scared to walk back in the door.
I thought, you know, I justcan't go back and have something
happen, or if I go back, I needto know that it's forever and
I've never, ever once questionedmy testimony.
(25:43):
I've never once questioned thetruth.
I have always known it.
I don't need to pray and ask ifit's true because I know that
it is.
I feel like heavenly father hasblessed me with that gift of
knowing that it is.
You know, just, it's a hugeblessing.
So I really worked on myselfbefore I walked in the door and
I spent a lot of time prayingabout it, getting that feeling
(26:08):
from the Holy Spirit.
So I walked into the CaulfieldWard here in Melbourne and it
was a fasting testimony meetingand I am not someone who's ever
wanted to talk in public.
I, you know, when I was youngerand joined, I wouldn't even get
up and say a prayer, like Iwouldn't do it.
And I yeah, it was just like no, no, no, no, um, but I
(26:30):
literally felt the spirit liftme off the chair, I felt myself
get lifted up and I got up and Iintroduced myself to everybody,
gave a blurb about myself.
I can't remember but, um, and Ijust felt the spirit so
strongly it was, it was just,you know, it was absolutely
(26:53):
amazing.
And I'm I'd phoned an oldneighbor who was a Latter-day
Saint in Brisbane.
I said, look, I am thinkingabout, you know, going back to
church.
However, I love coffee and Ilove wine and none of my friends
are members.
What do you think?
And she said who cares?
Just go, don't even worry aboutit.
(27:13):
She said everything else willcome in time and it was the best
if she'd been critical, um, orjudgmental.
You know, it might have been alittle bit different, but I
think it's really important forpeople who are coming back or
looking at the church that it'snot.
You know, it's a process, it'sthe process and you know you
(27:36):
improve and you improve yourselfalong the way.
So I started doing that and myfirst thing was I said to
Heavenly Father, look at themoment.
I cannot stop drinking with myfriends.
However, I will not open aglass of wine in my house and
this is what I'm going to do,and you know, I felt the spirit
(27:57):
and I just went through aprocess, and it was another two
years of a lot of trauma.
My ex-husband would not settlewith me.
He almost left me homeless andwhen I had gone into his bank
accounts, when he was in themental health ward, I had
discovered that he had withdrawnover half a million dollars of
(28:19):
our savings to spend on hisillicit lifestyle without me
having any idea.
Yeah, and and and you know,look, there's a whole lot more.
That's the.
It's like the tip of theiceberg.
Um, so I was trying to savemyself and what I had left, and
save myself at this age, and itwas really, really difficult,
(28:44):
and so I felt like the only wayI got through it was prayer.
And I came to a bit of apivotal moment that I can't kind
of get into in a public forum,but I was at a point that I
desperately needed HeavenlyFather's help.
I needed a miracle, I needed tobe saved and I needed this so
(29:04):
badly.
And I got the phone call fromsome lawyers and it just crushed
me and I cried, I screamed outto Heavenly Father.
And I'm not a screamer, I'm asuffering, silent person.
If I've got huge emotions, Ihold them in myself, but I'm
just crying.
And I said to him I don'tunderstand.
I'm doing everything I can tobe the best person I can be.
(29:27):
I don't want more I can do, butI need this.
I need this to happen for me,for my future, otherwise I have
no future and I really need you.
And and I instantly had allthese angels gather around me
and, just like with theexperience with my grandmother,
I never saw them, but I feltthem and I knew that they were
(29:49):
there and it was like I couldsee them and I felt them
completely gather around me andjust the love.
You know the love and the andthe spirit said to me it's going
to be fine, it's going to be somuch better than you can ever
imagine, the lord is on thy sideand I knew in that moment that
(30:10):
everything was going to work outreally, really well and I
didn't honestly know how itseemed like this impossible
thing, task, like how can thisbe okay, how can it work out?
And um, for the, for the weekthat went by, where all this
trauma was still going on, withlawyers and everything else,
(30:32):
every time I would wake up andfeel panicked.
The same thing happened.
I felt the angels, I felt thespirit, the feel panicked.
The same thing happened.
I felt the angels, I felt thespirit.
The spirit said fear not, theLord is on thy side, it's all
going to turn out so much betterthan you've ever imagined.
And I kept getting told thisover and over again and it did.
I can't tell you the miraclebecause I just can't from a
(30:55):
legal perspective, but Ireceived this enormous amount of
miracles.
I was saved.
Things did turn out a thousandtimes better than I could ever
have imagined.
I had so many miracles come tome that were staggering, you
know like, some of themimmediately and some of them
that took around 12 months someof them immediately and some of
(31:19):
them that took around 12 months.
So that was that part of thedivorce and everything else that
then ended up being so muchbetter than I could ever have
imagined and I ended up in areally good place and, you know,
really, really happy andeverything.
During this process, I waspreparing to go to the temple
and praying about it, trying toget myself, you know, in the
(31:42):
right place.
And when I went to bed oneevening you know how sometimes
you're just half asleep, youknow you're lying there and
you're, you know, half asleep,half awake, half awake, and I
sleep on my stomach and I feltmy body getting pushed into the
(32:03):
mattress.
I had my head to the side and Iwas attacked by this evil
spirit.
And you know, look, this is nota story that you tell people
because they'll think you'recrazy, but this happened to me
and I felt this evil entity pushme into the mattress.
I couldn't breathe, all of theoxygen sort of went from my
(32:24):
lungs and this evil spirit wasright beside me saying the most
vile things and I immediatelysaid you know, heavenly Father,
and I didn't even have to get tothose words, I didn't even have
to get the words out and thisevil entity was just whisked
(32:45):
away like it was nothing.
And immediately taken from mymind were the words that the
evil entity said to me.
That was immediately erased.
All I know what it was.
It was extremely vile, but Idon't know what it was.
I couldn't even remember onething, I don't know.
(33:06):
But I lay there and I wasscared to go to sleep and I just
kept praying.
I said please, heavenly Father,don't let any evil spirits be
in my room.
Um, I I've wondered honestlyover a long period of time, like
why that would be allowed tohappen, and I the only thing
(33:29):
I've kind of come up with isthat it really showed me the
difference between good and evil.
It was like, um, like thestrongest example you could ever
have, where, you know, satan ispathetic and means nothing and
our father in heaven is the kingof the universe and is all
(33:49):
loving, and the contrast was,you know, enormous.
Then, for the first four timesthat I went to the temple, the
contrast was, you know, enormous.
Then, for the first four timesthat I went to the temple, you
know, melbourne is a really bigcity and I had no idea how to
get there.
I sort of knew the generaldirection, but without Navman,
you know, it's almost impossible.
(34:10):
And I'd get in my car.
My Navman wouldn't work, and italways works.
My iPhone't work and it alwaysworks.
My iPhone wouldn't work and italways works.
You know, when it comes tonavigation, and it was like
Satan was just like I'm going tointerfere with this and I was,
you know, getting upset becauseI really, really wanted to get
(34:32):
there.
So I just would pull over andpray, and then I would get a bit
further down the road.
I'd pull over and pray and youknow what I found it.
I found it the first four timeswithout any navigation, and
that in itself is a miracle,because this is a very big place
and I these are all suburbs inthe suburb that the temple's in
I am not familiar with, I don'tknow them at all, but I found it
(34:56):
.
And then after that it's likehe gave up.
He didn't try.
He didn't try after that.
One other thing I forgot tomention is that during the
period that I was away fromchurch I, you know, because I
mourned the loss of it so much,you know, and I felt such
(35:17):
immense guilt.
And I, you know, because Imourned the loss of it so much,
you know, and I felt suchimmense guilt and I, you know,
tend to beat myself up overthings I prayed constantly for
forgiveness for not being there,for not living, you know, a
gospel style lifestyle,everything else not being who I
really should be.
I, you know, prayed constantlyabout this and I went to the
(35:37):
bathroom at work one day I wasworking in a dental practice,
went off to the bathroom and I'msaying this little prayer and I
heard this voice and it was soloud but it was, um, and it was
kind of forceful but kind, and Iknew at that moment that the
(36:08):
Lord was kind of maybeunderstood my situation and that
had that I had repented enoughand I didn't need to keep going
on.
And, quite frankly, he'sprobably I was sick of myself
and I'm sure that he was sick ofme as well by that point.
So, you know, it kind of made alot of sense, um, each morning I
(36:28):
would take my dog and do this.
You know, now I've got a littleEnglish bulldog and I take her
to the park for a play with hertennis balls.
And it's a time where, you know, I just enjoy nature, the birds
, the trees, you know, beingoutdoors and I pray and I hear
the spirit talk to me and tellme things, and it's just a very
(36:53):
revelatory sort of experience,you know, moment for me.
And recently I was there and Isaid to Heavenly Father, I just
don't quite understand why.
You know, I feel like I'm thethe one in 99 and I don't kind
(37:14):
of understand why, why, when Imoved away from the church, why
would you bother to, you know,work so hard to get me back?
Because he did, and, um, and youknow, I heard, I heard Jesus
(37:35):
say to me um, I've always beenwith you and you are mine, and
you know just, you know, I haveum such a lot of love for the
Savior and and his atonement andeverything he did for us and
(37:57):
continues to do each and everyday.
And it just kills me that welive in a world where, you know,
everybody takes his name invain and speaks about him like
that and he, you know, doesnothing else but love us and
come for us when we do thingsthat are wrong and we turn
(38:20):
against him and we do thingsthat we shouldn't do, yet he
just forgives us and he justwants us to try.
He just wants us to try and tryto find our way back to him.
And, heavenly Father, try tofind our way back to him.
(38:40):
And, heavenly father, and um,you know, I, I, you know, I've
been to the temple, gone intothe celestial room and I've
heard, you know, the voice of um, family members, things like
that that have passed away, um,speak to me.
My dad died about two years agoand I've heard him speak to me.
I heard him say to me onemorning I was up really, really
(39:02):
early in the freezing cold goingto work and, um, I heard him
say I'm really proud of you.
Um, you know I've got a lot ofScottish ancestors and, um, you
know I've got a lot of Scottishancestors and I heard one of
them say to me are we male?
You know, which was always ourthing growing up?
You know, that's how they wouldtalk.
(39:25):
You know, I didn't even knowwhat you're talking about.
And, yeah, and I just thinkthat, you know, the veil is, um,
a lot thinner than we think.
And when I hear about, you know, president nelson, when he said
, um, that we would be, you knowI'm not saying it verbatim, but
(39:46):
you know, um, that we wouldreceive countless miracles and
privileges in these last days,and you know I can really
testify to the truth of that.
Another thing that has happenedis I had a like once again, I
know I'm being a little bitnonspecific, only to protect
other people, but I have afamily, a very dear family
(40:09):
member, who is sick anddesperately needed a blessing.
I knew that that was not goingto be logistically possible, so
I prayed to Heavenly Father andI asked for angels to minister a
blessing.
The next day I get a phone calland this dear, dear family
(40:32):
member was healed.
And this sort of thing hasactually happened twice through
this prayer and through thisrequest, and I know that
Heavenly Father is not a slotmachine that we don't just, you
know, obviously get.
Sometimes we're not meant to behealed, sometimes we're not
meant to get what we're askingfor, but this was just like an
(40:56):
instant miracle and a hugeblessing, and I know that
everything is possible with thelord and I have.
I've really, really realized oneof my biggest lessons in all of
this is that you know, we, wego on directions in our life and
we think that we know what'sbest for us and we try and I
guess we're human beings, that'snormal.
(41:17):
However, you know, when HeavenlyFather puts roadblocks in our
way and this certainly happenedto me when I first came back I
was going some directions that Ishouldn't have gone and I kept
getting roadblocks.
I think we have to look and go.
Okay, we're not meant to dothat.
We are not meant to do that andwe need to have faith that the
lord will guide us and listen tothe spirit and our lives become
(41:40):
so much better for it.
I have really learned to dothat in the last two years, to
really really listen to thespirit, to seek prayerful
guidance in everything that I do, and, even though you're not
going far from perfect and Iknow all the things of myself
that I have to work on, um thatwhen we try, akia just wants to
(42:03):
give us these blessings.
He wants to enrich our livesand show us the right way and
wants us to come home to livewith him right, and I am so
thankful for that.
What an amazing gift it is toknow who we are, you know yeah,
so can I ask how?
Alisha Coakley (42:22):
how long was it that you were like away from the
church?
Melanie (42:28):
oh, um well, I'm 59, I'm almost 60 in and so I joined
the church when I was 21.
Oh no, I was older than that,sorry, I was about 25.
I think I was in the churchuntil I was about 30.
So yeah, almost 30 years, 30years away, yeah.
Alisha Coakley (42:50):
Wow, and you never really lost your testimony
, never Kept praying.
Melanie (42:55):
Yes, yes, yes, yes, I've always known that it's true
, always, never, never.
Like when I first learned aboutit it was like, yeah, I already
know this, even though I'dnever been shown it, never been
brought up with religion.
I mean, I did go to an Anglican, um sort of Sunday school,
which is a little girl, whichwas really about coloring and
you know, and things like that.
(43:16):
It wasn't.
We didn't really learn anything, so I really didn't know
religion.
And but when I was aroundLatter-day Saints and I was
certainly exposed in New Zealand, you know, you have a big
exposure to Latter-day Saints Icertainly always felt well, not
with everybody, but, you know,with a lot of people, felt that
(43:36):
spirit, felt the difference, um,and yeah, so most of my life, I
mean, and I've never because myson at one point said to me oh
mom, why don't you go to?
He had a friend that was goingto this particular church and
we're quite a few New Zealandersthere and he said, oh, why
don't you go to that church?
And I said, well, no, becausewhat would be the point?
(43:57):
You know, like I, I know what Iknow is true and other
religions might be easier.
Yeah, it might be easier.
You know, um, from aperspective of, well, you know
me and no offense to otherpeople, you know I might go to
church at Christmas and Easter.
I don't really have to, youknow, serve and do things and
(44:19):
all these things.
So it's not, you know, in thatregard, I mean, when you don't
grow up with it and you don'thave friends in the church and
you are very alone in it it is abit confronting.
Um, I have found, though, thatin my ward that I have joined, I
have made some great friendsand I love my ward.
(44:40):
Um, sorry, I'm sweating andcarrying on.
I should have got the tissuesthat you mentioned, alisha.
I didn't, I didn't, I didn'tthink I would need them.
Honestly, um, uh, and yeah,I've met some, just some
beautiful people, absolutelybeautiful people, and you know,
and there's this genuine love.
You know we have it's a verydiverse group of people.
(45:01):
I think we have, like peoplewho speak like 16 languages in
our ward, but everybody's justfabulous and together as one and
very connected, and you knowthat.
Know, if you need help,everybody's there to help each
other and love each other.
And you know, I think, toonon-judgmental, which I think we
(45:27):
had a little meeting on Sundayabout.
You know, what can we do tomake sacrament more inviting for
new people and these things?
And I just said well, one ofthe things I think is when
people give talks is that youknow they are Christ-focused.
And I just said, well, one ofthe things I think is when
people give talks is that youknow they are Christ-focused.
And I know everyone tries to dothat, but without judgment,
because I think if you bringalong people, people who don't
understand the gospel, who arelearning the gospel and we have
(45:49):
a lot of new people coming inand learning it's really
important that nothing's saidthat can kind of offend people,
because I think it wouldn't.
It doesn't take much, does it,you know, to one person to say
something and then they think,oh no, this isn't for me or you
know things like that yeah
Scott Brandley (46:07):
so yeah, yeah, 30 30 years of wandering in the
wilderness.
Melanie (46:10):
Sorry, sorry scott what are you?
Scott Brandley (46:13):
what's your?
What have your kids journeysbeen?
Because you've kind of been outof the church a lot of their
lives right, yes, yeah, yeah, no.
Melanie (46:21):
Well, um, unfortunately , my daughter, um, who's this
beautiful girl and she's a hugehumanitarian, um, gives to
charity constantly.
She's this beautiful mother ofa gorgeous eight-month-old
little girl.
She's just wonderful and she'smarried to a beautiful catholic
husband, um, and.
(46:43):
But she has listened to a lotof podcasts, a lot of, uh,
ex-members of the church, andshe's listened to these things
and thinks that it's a bit cultyand um, so, you know, I mean,
she's 32 and I have never beenable to talk her into anything.
So, um, that's, you know,that's kind of her journey,
(47:03):
unfortunately, um.
However, you know, I hope thatand pray about this, that you
know that you know, one day,when our lives are all over,
that she gets a second chance,because you know she has missed
out on the opportunity to reallyknow the truth and has been,
you know, influenced, um byoutside people.
(47:26):
Um, unfortunately, that do putthese things out there.
Um, my son, he he's not in theleast bit interested in religion
, but, once again, he's abeautiful boy with a big heart,
and he had the missionaries walkup to see him recently and he
said to me oh, mom, you sent themissionaries to my house and I
(47:48):
said I didn't and I didn't sendthem there.
I think I had put his name downfor family history so that he
could log on, you know, to gethis church member number for
family history site.
And I think they must have sortof seen his address and gone
round.
And they were these great boyswho, um, one of them was from
Hamilton in New Zealand, whichis where we spent the last seven
(48:09):
years of our life in NewZealand.
Um and Harrison got on really,really, really well with them,
loved them.
Harrison was like oh, they'regreat guys.
I wanted to invite them in fora beer, harrison.
Alisha Coakley (48:21):
I go A root beer .
Melanie (48:24):
No.
But you know, I mean, all youcan do really at the end of the
day is pray.
They have their own agency andI just try to be an example and
hope that, you know, one daythey feel the spirit.
Um, you know, I feel a littlebit guilty because I did have
them baptized, like my parentsdid with me, but without them
(48:45):
really knowing why, and I didget my children have, my
children did have lessons, butit's not.
It's not enough at that age tojust learn a couple of things
and then somehow be expected tounderstand the gospel.
So I feel that that sin's kindof on me, not on them.
(49:08):
So I'm hoping that you knowthat's just for the
circumstances that we had at thetime.
Like I said, my husband justwouldn't.
It wasn't.
He was okay with the kids toget baptized, but nothing else.
Alisha Coakley (49:20):
Yeah, I wouldn't , I wouldn't think that it was a
sin or anything like that.
Like I know there's kind oflike that, that thought of, oh
well, if you're baptized andyou're held to a higher standard
, and so then you know, if you,if you're baptized, then you're
held to a higher standard.
And so then you know, if you,if you do sin or whatever, then
(49:41):
because you made these covenants, you're going to have a greater
um you know consequence on you.
But also heavenly father takestakes into consideration, like
what you knew.
And if you're, I feel like backthen that was something that
just a lot of people did.
Like I feel like a lot of peoplejust baptized their kids just
for the heck of it.
And, and over the last decadeit's really changed to where the
(50:02):
kids, they want them tounderstand more.
You know, like they they don'tjust want to hurry up and get
them baptized, they really wantthem to like have more of those
basic fundamental beliefs in thegospel of Jesus Christ.
And so I think you know Iwouldn't, I, I wouldn't worry
about that at all yeah, thingswill work out as they meet you
(50:24):
in the end, hopefully.
Melanie (50:25):
You know that's all you can do.
It's all you can do.
And I think I had a talk to myson, um, last year we we went on
a road trip together and I hadtook the opportunity.
You know that they say that thebest thing if you want to have
a conversation with your adultchild is to get them alone in
the car for a period of time,because they can't escape.
You know, they're sort of stuckwith you in that moment.
(50:46):
And so we had a little bit of atalk about life and he loves,
you know, the planets and he's athis massive telescope and he
goes out stargazing and allthese things, and I had a little
chat with him about that andabout, you know, the fact that
heavenly father created this.
You know this planet and others, and this was created from
other planets and all thesethings.
(51:08):
And you know, and I talked tohim too about the tribulation
period a bit, because I do verymuch feel with every fibre of my
being that we have entered it,that we are in the last days and
that you've just got to see thecraziness in the world.
The world's gone mad.
(51:30):
I mean, it's just everywhere.
And I just said to him you know, there's just.
If you don't want to join areligion, you don't want to join
my faith or whatever that's.
You know that's up to you.
But I said, you know, just,please learn to pray and
recognize that Christ is realand that he loves you.
And I really want you to trywith that, because I said there
(51:53):
is going to come a point whereyou are going to need him,
you're going to need the saviour, we all will.
And as things get worse and youjust have to look and see
what's happening and you can seeit ramping up, probably faster
than we even anticipated, youknow.
So we kind of had that momentto have that discussion.
(52:14):
And it's a hard discussion tohave, especially with someone
who doesn't have a lot of youknow well really much in the way
of faith.
Yeah, I think if things weredifferent, I think if Harrison
had been brought up in thechurch, I honestly think that he
would be an active member.
I sort of see it in him.
Him and I are very much alike,but I am super proud of my kids.
(52:38):
You know they're really greathuman beings.
Yeah, and both of them.
You know, they're both justwell.
My son got married a few monthsago.
My daughter got married a yearand a half ago.
They've both got, you know,lovely partners and they're just
you know, lovely partners and,um, they're just, you know,
amazing human beings.
Scott Brandley (52:56):
So I guess that's what you can ask, most
you can ask for in life, reallyfor sure, yeah well, and I I
think we're all on our ownspiritual journey in life, right
, and we each have our owncircumstances.
I mean, if, if they part oftheir lives was growing up in a
difficult time, if there wasabuse and things in your
(53:17):
relationship, I'm sure thataffected them too, and you know
so.
there's probably things thatthey've got to work through on
their side as far as faith.
Yes, yes, you know so, but yourexample now, I think, can make
a huge difference in their lives.
I think I hope so yeah, and younever know.
Melanie (53:37):
Yeah, yeah, that's right.
And I think, too, you know thepower of prayer.
You know I just, I have alwaystaken comfort, you know, ever
since I had my children, that I,you know the power of prayer,
like praying for protection ofour children and praying for
these things, and having that isso important and I can't, you
(53:58):
know, even imagine life withouthaving that, because at the end
of the day, it doesn't mean thatbad things are not going to
happen.
But I do believe we are givenlevels of protection and I think
that, you know, being a motheris a sacred thing.
You know it's a sacred honorthat we have to be a mother and
I think that you know, as such,our prayers for our children are
(54:20):
answered.
And it's not being anti-fathersin any way, scott, but I think
there is a thing with mothers.
You know you give birth, youhave this child inside your body
, you give birth to them and youknow I feel like we have you.
You know this specialconnection with heavenly father
from the fact that we are ableto, you know, give birth to his
children and and raise them andlove them, and yeah, yeah that's
(54:45):
awesome.
Scott Brandley (54:46):
Well, from what I can tell from our, from
knowing you for an hour, itreally feels like you have a
gift where you're close to thespirit right and close to the
veil, and that's very unique.
I mean I don't have those kindof experiences, but I mean we've
(55:09):
had other people on the showthat have had those kind of
things happen to them and youknow, I think that's a wonderful
thing that that god's given youand it's special and I really
appreciate you being willing toshare it thank you.
Melanie (55:24):
Thank you, scott.
Yes, I think so too.
I think that I think thatheavenly father knows our
situations you know obviously,um and I think he gives us the
gifts that we're meant to haveyeah, you know that we're meant
to have, and and I, you know,and this is gonna I've got to
try and get this acrosscorrectly um, I sort of I've
never, ever, ever had a fear ofdying, apart from when my
(55:46):
children were little.
I had a fear of dying thenbecause I didn't want them to be
motherless, um, but I've neverhad it, and I think it's because
I just know that this is not myhome and and and I know that
you know, and I want to livewith my heavenly father and
heavenly mother and Jesus, andyou know I want to go home and I
(56:06):
don't mean that to soundungrateful about life, but I, um
, I kind of, you know, I miss, Imiss home and sort of always
have.
And, as bizarre as that sounds,it's not something I could say
to many people, but in thispodcast, in this audience, I
think it's okay to admit to that, you know.
(56:27):
Yeah, but I'm thankful for whatyou do too because, honestly,
it's things, programs like this,that can change a person's life
.
You know, you, you hearpeople's stories, you, it
resonates so much more with youand I think what you're doing is
invaluable, it's so importantand I I really thank you and um
for what you're doing because Ithink it's, you know, really,
(56:49):
really important well, wecouldn't do it without guests
like you.
Alisha Coakley (56:53):
So, thank you, we would have nothing to share
if you guys didn't come on here,so we really appreciate it.
Yeah, yeah, thank you.
Wow, so you had mentioned, umearlier at the beginning of the
show, that that you did write abook about your experience with
domestic abuse and everythinglike that is that, something
that like is it out there wherepeople are able to find it and,
(57:13):
and you know, grab a copy ifthey're interested?
or is it something that like isit out there where people are
able to find it and, and youknow, grab a copy if they're
interested?
Or is it something that you,you just kind of have yourself
off to?
Melanie (57:20):
the side.
I'm going to get it published,but I just I haven't finished it
yet.
I, I, I know, I know there'ssomething missing and I just
haven't been able to.
Well, up until about a monthago I just I didn't know what
the missing piece was because Ididn't want to rave on too long
in each chapter.
But the spirit's kind of beensaying to me that whilst it
(57:44):
really focuses around you knowhow you find yourself in a
situation of abuse and thedifferent forms of abuse and
these things.
What I missed out was thespiritual element, which
actually is the biggest part,because to me, for me, it's the
thing that has healed me themost.
Without the spiritual element,I would not be healed and.
(58:07):
I would still be in a state oftrauma.
So I feel like I need to writethat in and acknowledge that
that's the message that I'vebeen getting, so once.
I finish doing that, then I'mgoing to you know, attempt to
have it published, because Ijust really wanted to help other
women recognize that it's.
You know, if you're in ityou're not alone and it's okay
(58:28):
and you can get through it.
Alisha Coakley (58:30):
Well, keep us updated for sure, and you know
when that time time comes.
If you want to let us know, um,we can always share a link and
update the, the comments and anddescriptions and stuff like
that, so people can can accessthat if they want, thank you,
thank you, I really appreciatethat.
Melanie (58:47):
Thank you so much yeah of course yeah, thank you so
much.
If you're ever in australia, Ican be your tour guide in
Melbourne.
Scott Brandley (58:57):
Deal.
So do you have any lastthoughts that you'd like to
share before we wrap things up?
Melanie (59:04):
I guess I just want to bear my testimony.
You know that this church istrue and I have heard, you know,
plenty of people out thereputting things out, saying we're
a cult and we're this and we'rethat, and you know, and I can
100% say that you know, nobodyhas taught me the gospel.
I have never been talked in ortalked into doing things or
(59:24):
anything else like that.
100% comes from the spirit andthe spirit is there for each and
every one of us and it's just amatter of really wanting it in
your heart.
And and if you want it in yourheart, then heavenly father will
speak to you but hear it andyou will know it and that our
love of our heavenly father andJesus Christ are real and
(59:44):
they're there for us and I leavethat with you in the name of
Jesus Christ, amen.
Alisha Coakley (59:49):
Amen.
Melanie (59:50):
That's so.
Yeah, thank you so much.
I've really enjoyed talking toyou both, yeah.
Alisha Coakley (59:57):
Thank you too, and and a big thank you to our
listeners, um, for tuning in.
We, you know, just ask you guysto do your five second
missionary work.
Make sure that you um like andshare this episode with others.
Go ahead and leave a comment,let Melanie know what part of
her story just touched you orresonated with you, and if you
(01:00:21):
yourself, of course, have astory that you'd like to share
as a listener.
We're always looking for moreguests all over the world.
Maybe one day, even outside ofthe world.
Maybe one day we'll get likesome alien planet guests.
Wow, yeah, one day, evenoutside of the world.
Maybe one day we'll get likesome alien planet guest wow,
yeah, alisha we're done edit no,I'm just kidding.
Scott Brandley (01:00:45):
Thank you, yeah, thanks everyone for tuning in.
Thanks, melanie, for being onthe show and for sharing your
story, and it's been great.
Thank you so much we'll see youguys next week with another
episode of latter-day lightsthank you, thank you, thank you.
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