May 5, 2025 • 22 mins
I read this article over two weeks ago, and it touched me deeply. I actually felt the spirit 3-4 times while reading it!
Wanting others to hear this miraculous story, I saved the link to later record a podcast episode. I hope you enjoy this story as much as I do and can feel God’s love for us, His children, as you listen.
So many times it is clear that God was in the details and by divine design, the necessary and needed things happened in order for Dusty Smith to find the gospel and later return.
I’m grateful Heavenly Father cares about us individually, and I promise you that as you turn to Him, you’ll see miracles in your life and feel His presence.
Elder Uchtdorf’s Talk:
https://www.churchofjesuschris...
The article I read:
https://www.ldsliving.com/the-...
My table of contents: https://docs.google.com/docume...
Make sure to turn on notifications so you never miss a new episode!
Wanting others to hear this miraculous story, I saved the link to later record a podcast episode. I hope you enjoy this story as much as I do and can feel God’s love for us, His children, as you listen.
So many times it is clear that God was in the details and by divine design, the necessary and needed things happened in order for Dusty Smith to find the gospel and later return.
I’m grateful Heavenly Father cares about us individually, and I promise you that as you turn to Him, you’ll see miracles in your life and feel His presence.
Elder Uchtdorf’s Talk:
https://www.churchofjesuschris...
The article I read:
https://www.ldsliving.com/the-...
My table of contents: https://docs.google.com/docume...
Make sure to turn on notifications so you never miss a new episode!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:16):
Hello, and welcome back to my podcast. So, to be
honest with you, I wanted to record a different episode
today to post for Monday, which I guess is now
today if you're listening to this on the day it
comes out. But honestly, it seemed like a lot of
work and I just wanted something easy. So today I'm
just gonna read something. And it's not something I wrote.
(00:38):
It's something someone else wrote. But I have looked for
the author and I cannot find it. I'm just gonna
tell you what it's called, and I'm gonna put a
link in the bio and you can or in the
description and you can read it yourself if you'd like.
But I came across this two weeks ago and I
just really really liked it. I actually felt the spirit
(00:59):
like three times while reading it, and so I thought,
you know what, I am going to share this. This
is an LDS Living article was published September seventh, twenty eighteen,
and it is titled The Miracles that led One Attorney
to join the Church. He hated. Is this a prank?
Steve Dusty Smith wondered. He was surprised and confused as
(01:20):
he listened to the woman on the phone, telling him
that President Dieter f Uchdorf, then second counselor in the
first presidency, wanted to speak with him. But once a
distinct accented voice came through the other end of the line,
Smith knew it wasn't a joke. He was speaking to
an apostle, and President Uchdorf had just one question for Smith.
Would he share his story? Smith gave a brief overview
(01:42):
of the last quarter century of his life and his
unexpected journey of finding the church, losing his testimony, actively
fighting against the Church, and then returning to the Gospel
once more. When he finished, President Uchdorff asked, is that
the whole story Smith recalls. I said, no, sir, that's
just the reader's digest condensed version. I figured you're a
busy man, and he said, I want to hear your
(02:03):
whole story. Finding the Gospel with the Catholic grandfather, a
Baptist grandmother, and a Lutheran mother, Dusty Smith couldn't help
but believe in God. However, growing up attending three churches
that preach differing beliefs left him confused about who that
God was. But Smith cherished his faith, praying, studying, and
attending church until one day in nineteen eighty when he
(02:25):
received a phone call from a good friend. The friend
informed him that a sweet thirteen year old girl Smith
knew like a sister, had died after she ran into
a glass door and had a piece of glass pierce
her neck. I can't tell you how angry I was
at God, Smith says. I didn't stop believing in him,
but I wasn't real happy with him. Thirty seven years later,
that incident still brings tears to my eyes. I still
(02:47):
see that little girl. Smith couldn't make sense of how
a beautiful, smart girl with the whole world in front
of her was dead while mass murderers like Ted Bundy
could still be alive. Smith stopped praying, he stopped reading,
he stopped attending church, but he could not stop believing.
Three years later, however, Smith discovered something that renewed his
hope in God. After graduating from the University of Texas,
(03:10):
Smith had gone home to visit his parents, and he
was searching for something to read to help pass the time.
That's when a book fell off a shelf in his room,
one he'd never seen before, the Book of Mormon. He
later learned It had been given to his mother while
she was on a trip to Salt Lake City, and
she had stored it untouched in his room. I happened
to open up the book to third Nephi. Smith says,
I read about Jesus Christ's visit to the Americas, and
(03:32):
I went, WHOA, so he visited here? That would make sense.
Smith was so impressed by what he read that he
went straight to the phone book to look up the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints. It listed
wards and stakes that meant nothing to me. But it
was lunchtime, so I called the stake. Smith recalls with
a laugh the stake president, who had briefly stopped in
(03:53):
his office to pick up something he had forgotten, just
happened to be there to answer Smith's call and connected
him with the missionaries. The teachings of the Gospel resonated
with Smith explaining questions and dreams he had had since childhood.
When I was a kid elementary school age, I used
to have this recurring dream every night for a year,
Smith says. In the dream, Peter, James, and John were
(04:13):
in heaven walking away from him as the clouds parted
and the latter descended from the heavens leading to Earth.
Then a voice came speaking to the three men, who
nodded and began descending the latter. I never understood that
dream until I read about the Molchzdic priest did, and
how Peter, James and John came down and restored it
to the earth. Smith says, Suddenly, the nature of God,
the plan of salvation, Smith's purpose on Earth, all of
(04:36):
it made sense. Getting baptized and losing faith. In April
nineteen eighty three, the missionaries baptized Smith a member of
the church. But this new chapter in his life didn't
come without sacrifice. I gave up so much to become lds.
I had been dating a girl for two years and
she left me, he says. My family disowned me. Our
relationship took a beating, but Smith's conviction to the Gospel
(04:58):
was enough to confirm this was the right choice for him.
Just a year later, and already in his mid twenties,
Smith had no plans to serve a mission, no funds,
a new fiance, and ambitions to become an attorney. But
one day in nineteen eighty four, while sitting in sacrament meeting,
Smith says, I just felt this presence, this feeling came
over me, and it said you need to go on
a mission. So I quit my job, left my fiance,
(05:21):
and served a mission. Despite acting immediately on his prompting,
Smith almost returned from his mission before it even began.
When I was in the MTC, my family was against
me being there, my fiance was against me being there.
I felt all alone. I went to a payphone and
I called the church headquarters. I said to the lady
that answered, if nobody cares that I'm a missionary, I
may as well go back home. Nobody cares I'm here,
(05:44):
she said, could you hold please. A few minutes later,
a bariton voice says, Elder, my name is el Tom Perry.
If nobody else cares, I do be my pen pal.
Smith would need Elder Perry's letters of encouragement throughout his
two year mission in Honduras, time during which his fiance
married another man, and his parents' divorce. About the changes
(06:05):
in his family, Smith notes, that was a trip. I
am listening to a letter Cassette and my parents are saying, well,
it's a great day, today's sun, the weather is great,
We're doing great. I'll catch up with you in a
day or two. Click click Son, We're getting divorced, with
his pen pal sending support from church headquarters. Smith made
it through his mission, and life took a positive turn.
When he got home. He dated and married a woman
(06:27):
he met on his mission, began attending Western Michigan University
Coolly Law School full time, and started a full time
job to pay his way through, a feat unheard of
for those in rigorous law programs. It was during this
time that Smith attended the Hillcomora Paget in Palmara in
New York. There were a lot of manti Mormon protesters around,
he recalls, and I debated with them. That was my
(06:48):
third year of law school. I came back from that
wanting to be the smartest Mormon ever, so I could
debate with these folks and show them the air of
their ways. But the more I studied, the more I
discovered things that I didn't believe in, hadn't heard before. Gradually,
Smith descended into a spiral of anti Latter Day Saint
literature and disillusionment, angry toward the faith. He had sacrificed
his family at fiancee and two years of his life
(07:11):
to join Smith poignantly recalls the exact day, November eleventh,
nineteen eighty nine, when he lost his testimony of the church.
Fighting against the church. After losing his faith, Smith not
only stopped attending church, but asked for his name to
be removed from membership records. I spent nineteen eighty nine
on battling against the church. I hated the church. It
(07:32):
had deceived me, it had broken up my family, It
had cost me so much, Smith says. Smith joined several
online debate boards, using his skills as a litigator to
tear down Latter day Saint beliefs. He taught classes in
other churches demonstrating why he believed the church was false
and deceptive. I was very vocally anti Mormon, he says,
even while actively fighting against Latter day Saint beliefs. However,
(07:55):
Smith's connection to the church never fully disappeared. On one
debate board, he met a member of the church named Mike.
Despite debating viciously against one another, the two became friends.
Mike kept saying, you'll be Eldias some day. Smith remembers
at the time, Mike's insistence seemed not only impossible, but insane.
Mike didn't give up on Smith, however, Every week, beginning
(08:17):
in nineteen ninety nine, he put my name in the temple.
Smith recalls his voice breaking with emotion. By two thousand
and five, the deep hatred Smith felt for the church
began to ebb. I started to feel a pole to
come back, he says. But after attending church a few times,
Smith still felt he couldn't belong to the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints. He could not receive
a renewed testimony of those things he once knew. He
(08:40):
still felt the pain that being a member of the
church had brought into his life, but he could not
shake that poll from the spirit. In two thousand and nine,
while Smith was dreadfully ill with the swine flu, his
son brought two visitors into his room, missionaries who had
just knocked on the door. Though Smith told them they
were not wanted, the elders offered to give him a blessing.
At the time time, this wine flu pandemic had terrified
(09:02):
people around the nation, But here were these two young
strangers willing to love him, willing to bless him, willing
to try to heal him, and touched something inside him.
So Smith agreed. They gave me the blessing. I was
healed right then, Smith says, I got out of bed
and walked them down the stairs. After the blessing, Smith
(09:22):
tried attending church again and even met with the state president,
but when he learned he would need to undergo a
church hearing to be eligible for rebaptism, he walked away,
feeling it was unfair to put him on trial when
he felt he had done nothing wrong. But the poll
never went away, Smith says, finding a testimony again. During
his years of fighting against the church, Smith and his
(09:44):
first wife divorced, but by twenty fourteen Smith was happily Catholic,
happily living in a historic district in Dallas, Texas, and
happily remarried. That year, his wife, Susan, had been offered
a promotion in Baltimore if she made it through the
vetting process. With Smith working as a managing attorney in Texas,
the prospect of a promotion that would take his wife
(10:04):
so far away from him was bittersweet. He called up
his good friend Mike, asking him to pray for them
and to put Susan's name in the temple as a joke.
Smith added, however, Mike, if God really wants me to
be Lds again, he will send her to salt Lake.
Smith continues, there wasn't a position open in salt Lake,
so I felt pretty comfortable saying that. But the very
(10:24):
next day, the person in Salt Lake retires and my
wife's paperwork is transferred from Baltimore to salt Lake and
she is hired with no vetting. I called Mike and said,
you were not going to believe this. Susan is going
to Salt Lake. Andy said, well, you know what you
told God. When Smith explained that he had only been joking,
(10:45):
Mike quipped God wasn't. After this exchange, Smith felt shaken
and reawakened to the possibility of returning to the church.
I hit my knees and said, Okay, God, you want
me to be Lds again, fine, but you've got to
do your part. I have a testimony, and I have
these issues that I need answers to. After listing all
his questions and doubts, Smith watched in awe during the
(11:08):
following days. He recalls, one by one, I would wake
up in the middle of the night with an answer
every single night. One of my issues was the lack
of archaeological evidence of the Book of Mormon. One night,
God said to me, does the fact that you can
walk the streets of Jerusalem make the Bible true? And
I said no. He said, but what if somebody uncovered
(11:31):
a sign tomorrow that said welcome to Zarahemla, population four
twenty What would that do to the Book of Mormon?
And I said, then it would make it true. But
he said, then where would be your faith? Still? Smith
had other questions about Joseph Smith's life, treasure seeking, polygamy,
and other difficult topics in church history. These issues were
addressed as well. One night, Smith recalls God said, Okay,
(11:55):
mister attorney, if you are so smart, who would you
choose to be a prophet who doesn't believe anything? A
doctor who needs proof. I happen to choose a young
boy who could accept the impossible, who could dream the unimaginable.
That's the kind of person who was needed to be
able to accept and to believe the visions he was
seeing and act on the voices he was hearing. Would
(12:16):
you have you have spent twenty six years fighting it?
These answers humbled Smith, opening his eyes to the fact
that no matter how much he searched, researched, and debated online,
these answers could come only from his heavenly father. One
by one, his questions fell away, until on March sixteenth,
twenty fifteen, he awoke with his testimony alive and strong
(12:38):
in my mind. I could see the Lord and he
walks up to me and says, okay, I have kept
your testimony warm and safe this time. Take care of it.
Smith recalls the Lord cupping his hands around the testimony
and placing it on Smith's heart. He held it like
a living thing when he gave it back to me,
and I realized that it is a living thing, and
(12:59):
if you don't eat it and nourish it and nurture it,
it will die. Smith returned to the same state president
he had met with in two thousand and nine, asking
to be rebaptized, knowing he would face a church hearing.
But the difference is this time, because I had my
testimony back, I was willing to do whatever it takes.
Smith said, it's cool when you know you have a
(13:21):
church court, but everyone is reading for you. Less than
a week after his church court, Smith was once again
baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter day Saints meeting President Uchdorff before his baptism. While
he was visiting his wife in Salt Lake City during
General conference and Easter weekend, Smith had a strong prompting
he needed to move to Salt Lake City. The only
(13:43):
problem was that Susan was a born and raised Texan
and Smith didn't know how she would respond to the news.
When Smith broached the subject, Susan admitted, I haven't known
how to break this to you, but I want to
live here from now on. I don't want to go
back to Texas. But there was still another problem. Their
historic house in Dallas, built in nineteen twenty nine, was
(14:03):
riddled with foundation problems and nearly every other problem you
can imagine. It was virtually unsellable. Undaunted, Susan responded, we'll
think of something. If the Lord wants to hear, something
will happen. Soon thereafter, Smith received a knock on his door.
A complete stranger offered to buy his house for more
than its value. Even after Smith explained the foundation problems,
(14:28):
the man insisted on buying the house. Yet on a
later trip to Dallas, when Smith returned to his old home.
He learned that the buyer of the house had disappeared
and the house was in foreclosure. For the Smiths, the
sale of the home was a sign and a miracle.
When the Lord wants you some place, he wants you someplace.
Smith affirms it was in twenty sixteen that he received
(14:48):
the phone call from then President Deeter F. Updorf and
an invitation to meet the apostle in person. During their meeting,
President Uchdorf asked for permission to relate Smith's story in
the Priest's Session of the October twenty sixteen General Conference.
In his talk titled Learning from Alma and Amulik, President
Uchdorff said, I was touched by the journey of one
(15:10):
brother who asked himself, when the Lord calls, will I hear?
I will call this fine brother David. After detailing Smith's
unusual story of reconversion, President Uchdorf added, I am happy
to report that this past summer David's blessings were restored
to him. He is again fully participating in the church
and serving as a gospel doctrine teacher in his ward.
(15:33):
He takes every opportunity to speak to others about his
transformation to heal the damage he caused and to bear
testimony of the Gospel and the Church of Jesus Christ.
Shortly after sharing this incredible story, President Uchdorf ordained Smith
a high priest before the ordination. He asked if he
could speak with Smith and his wife. While Smith was
expecting some form of apostolic guidance, he was surprised when
(15:56):
President Uchdorf took thirty minutes to talk to Susan, who
wasn't a member of the church. Church he told her,
bring what you have and we'll see if we can
add to it. And I know that your husband wants
to be sealed to you. We'll save a place for
you in the temple. Smith remembers that night, my wife says,
I'm ready for the discussions. On September twenty third, twenty seventeen,
(16:17):
Susan was baptized a member of the church, inspiring others.
While Smith's story has inspired those close to him, it
has also touched thousands across the world in immeasurable ways.
The day after President Uchdorf related Smith's story over the pulpit,
Smith walked past a family on Temple Square who were
and immediately discussing the talk. An older gentleman, I'm assuming
it was. The father said, you heard President Uchdorf's talk.
(16:40):
Anybody can come back to the church, even if they've
been gone for a long time. There's still hope, there's
still prayer. It happens. And the younger man said, how
do we know he didn't just make that story up.
Smith stopped and interrupted the conversation by introducing himself. He
didn't make it up, he explained, I'm the guy he
talked about. Even before the October to the sixteen priested
(17:01):
session of General Conference, Smith's story had a way of
reaching those who needed to hear it. On April Fool's
Day twenty sixteen, he received a call from a sister
missionary asking if Smith had just logged into Mormon dot
org requesting answers to his questions. Smith was out of town,
his laptop hundreds of miles away. There was no way
he could have logged in, but the sister kept insisting
(17:22):
that she could see that Smith had logged in and
requested to talk with the missionary. She could quote all
his information, she could see the conversation, but still Smith
knew nothing about it. Confused and a bit flustered, the
sister missionary asked if Smith knew about the church. I said, well,
let me tell you a little story. Smith says. I
told her my story and she began to cry. She said,
(17:43):
I am at the empty See. I was considering leaving
my mission. I am having a testimony problem. Your story
has restored my testimony. I am going back on my mission.
A year later, at a gun show, Smith struck up
a conversation with another text in about their home state.
When the discussion turned to the gospel, Smith told the
man with a laugh, I'm a member of the church.
(18:04):
In fact, if you listen to President Uchdorf's talk, you've
heard about me. The man suddenly became serious and quiet.
He pulled Smith aside, explaining that he had been on
the cusp of leaving the church when he heard that
very same talk and recommitted himself to living the gospel.
As the two talked more about their lives and backgrounds,
the young man discovered yet another way he knew Dusty Smith.
(18:26):
In two thousand and nine, he happened to knock on
Smith's door as a missionary and healed him with a blessing,
sharing his story. In November twenty fourteen, Smith says, I
was happily living in Texas as an attorney, happily Catholic,
vocally anti Mormon, living in a historic district. Two years
after that, I am living in Salt Lake in an apartment.
(18:48):
Not only am I a member of the church, I decried,
but I was talked about in General Conference and then
ordained a high priest by an apostle. If you just
take that two year time frame, that is insane. That
is just absolutely insane. Many who have heard his story
comment on how they wish they could experience even one
miracle like those that filled Smith's life. His response, they
(19:11):
probably do, you are just not seeing them. Sometimes the
Lord will open the waters, sometimes he'll make the earth shake.
Sometimes he'll cure the sick, sometimes he'll raise the dead.
But sometimes he whispers. Since his reconversion to the church,
Smith has felt compelled to share his story and testimony
through conversation, writing talks, and even firesides. Part of that
(19:34):
desire stems from a blessing he received from President Updorff,
one that said that his story would reach thousands, bringing
them light and hope. But Smith is the first to
recognize that such influence has little to do with him
or his story, and everything to do with the transformative
grace of our heavenly Father. I want people to know
that God loves them and that there is hope, and
(19:56):
that even when people have turned their backs on the church,
there is hope they will come back. Smith says, people
who have loved ones who have gone away from the
church can look at my story and realize you should
never give up. My friend Mike never gave up. Think
about that. From nineteen ninety nine until twenty fifteen, every
week he put my name in the temple. I want
(20:18):
people to know that God loves us, and he is
intricately and acutely aware of us. He knows us, He
waits for us, He doesn't give up on us, even
when we give up on him. Tips for those who
are doubting. President Uchdorf said it best. He said, doubt
your doubts before you doubt your faith. Smith says, when
questions of faith arise and doubts begin to plague you,
(20:39):
Smith knows from experience that is when you need to
go back to the basics. He continues, You can get
caught up in the superflow of stuff. You can absolutely
get caught around the axle about some of the things
church leaders have said or members have said. Yes, those
things can affect you, but they shouldn't. With the Internet
and so much knowledge at our fingertips, Smith knows trials
(21:00):
to our faith will come, but he reminds members that
so much of what we read is taken out of context,
especially when considering church history, which was written in a
different time. While Smith acknowledges members and leaders within the
church or human and make mistakes, he knows those weaknesses
don't less in God's works. Moses disobeyed, Jonah disobeyed, Peter disobeyed.
(21:21):
He says, disobeying does not make you less of what
you are called to be. It means you need to repent.
We shouldn't hold people up to higher expectations than we
hold ourselves. But even with all of the information, arguments,
or questions that can enter our minds, Smith says he
has chosen to believe. I haven't had any doubts since
I got baptized. I haven't let myself get there. We
(21:42):
choose so much of what we feel, do act, and believe.
Every day I wake up grateful that I am alive,
Grateful I belong to the Church, thankful that the Lord,
for whatever reason, has incredibly blessed me. Close quote. I
just want to say that if you feel like you
haven't recent received miracles in your life, check again, because
(22:03):
I know that Heavenly Father waits for you, loves you,
and hasn't given up on you. I'm so grateful for
the opportunity to be a disciple of Jesus Christ and
to share the gospel with others, and I encourage you
to do the same. Thank you so much for listening.
Don't forget to embrace imperfection, find meaning, satisfaction and joy
from the journey. I'm Kira and this is imperfectly broken.
(22:25):
The podcast
Hello, and welcome back to my podcast. So, to be
honest with you, I wanted to record a different episode
today to post for Monday, which I guess is now
today if you're listening to this on the day it
comes out. But honestly, it seemed like a lot of
work and I just wanted something easy. So today I'm
just gonna read something. And it's not something I wrote.
(00:38):
It's something someone else wrote. But I have looked for
the author and I cannot find it. I'm just gonna
tell you what it's called, and I'm gonna put a
link in the bio and you can or in the
description and you can read it yourself if you'd like.
But I came across this two weeks ago and I
just really really liked it. I actually felt the spirit
(00:59):
like three times while reading it, and so I thought,
you know what, I am going to share this. This
is an LDS Living article was published September seventh, twenty eighteen,
and it is titled The Miracles that led One Attorney
to join the Church. He hated. Is this a prank?
Steve Dusty Smith wondered. He was surprised and confused as
(01:20):
he listened to the woman on the phone, telling him
that President Dieter f Uchdorf, then second counselor in the
first presidency, wanted to speak with him. But once a
distinct accented voice came through the other end of the line,
Smith knew it wasn't a joke. He was speaking to
an apostle, and President Uchdorf had just one question for Smith.
Would he share his story? Smith gave a brief overview
(01:42):
of the last quarter century of his life and his
unexpected journey of finding the church, losing his testimony, actively
fighting against the Church, and then returning to the Gospel
once more. When he finished, President Uchdorff asked, is that
the whole story Smith recalls. I said, no, sir, that's
just the reader's digest condensed version. I figured you're a
busy man, and he said, I want to hear your
(02:03):
whole story. Finding the Gospel with the Catholic grandfather, a
Baptist grandmother, and a Lutheran mother, Dusty Smith couldn't help
but believe in God. However, growing up attending three churches
that preach differing beliefs left him confused about who that
God was. But Smith cherished his faith, praying, studying, and
attending church until one day in nineteen eighty when he
(02:25):
received a phone call from a good friend. The friend
informed him that a sweet thirteen year old girl Smith
knew like a sister, had died after she ran into
a glass door and had a piece of glass pierce
her neck. I can't tell you how angry I was
at God, Smith says. I didn't stop believing in him,
but I wasn't real happy with him. Thirty seven years later,
that incident still brings tears to my eyes. I still
(02:47):
see that little girl. Smith couldn't make sense of how
a beautiful, smart girl with the whole world in front
of her was dead while mass murderers like Ted Bundy
could still be alive. Smith stopped praying, he stopped reading,
he stopped attending church, but he could not stop believing.
Three years later, however, Smith discovered something that renewed his
hope in God. After graduating from the University of Texas,
(03:10):
Smith had gone home to visit his parents, and he
was searching for something to read to help pass the time.
That's when a book fell off a shelf in his room,
one he'd never seen before, the Book of Mormon. He
later learned It had been given to his mother while
she was on a trip to Salt Lake City, and
she had stored it untouched in his room. I happened
to open up the book to third Nephi. Smith says,
I read about Jesus Christ's visit to the Americas, and
(03:32):
I went, WHOA, so he visited here? That would make sense.
Smith was so impressed by what he read that he
went straight to the phone book to look up the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints. It listed
wards and stakes that meant nothing to me. But it
was lunchtime, so I called the stake. Smith recalls with
a laugh the stake president, who had briefly stopped in
(03:53):
his office to pick up something he had forgotten, just
happened to be there to answer Smith's call and connected
him with the missionaries. The teachings of the Gospel resonated
with Smith explaining questions and dreams he had had since childhood.
When I was a kid elementary school age, I used
to have this recurring dream every night for a year,
Smith says. In the dream, Peter, James, and John were
(04:13):
in heaven walking away from him as the clouds parted
and the latter descended from the heavens leading to Earth.
Then a voice came speaking to the three men, who
nodded and began descending the latter. I never understood that
dream until I read about the Molchzdic priest did, and
how Peter, James and John came down and restored it
to the earth. Smith says, Suddenly, the nature of God,
the plan of salvation, Smith's purpose on Earth, all of
(04:36):
it made sense. Getting baptized and losing faith. In April
nineteen eighty three, the missionaries baptized Smith a member of
the church. But this new chapter in his life didn't
come without sacrifice. I gave up so much to become lds.
I had been dating a girl for two years and
she left me, he says. My family disowned me. Our
relationship took a beating, but Smith's conviction to the Gospel
(04:58):
was enough to confirm this was the right choice for him.
Just a year later, and already in his mid twenties,
Smith had no plans to serve a mission, no funds,
a new fiance, and ambitions to become an attorney. But
one day in nineteen eighty four, while sitting in sacrament meeting,
Smith says, I just felt this presence, this feeling came
over me, and it said you need to go on
a mission. So I quit my job, left my fiance,
(05:21):
and served a mission. Despite acting immediately on his prompting,
Smith almost returned from his mission before it even began.
When I was in the MTC, my family was against
me being there, my fiance was against me being there.
I felt all alone. I went to a payphone and
I called the church headquarters. I said to the lady
that answered, if nobody cares that I'm a missionary, I
may as well go back home. Nobody cares I'm here,
(05:44):
she said, could you hold please. A few minutes later,
a bariton voice says, Elder, my name is el Tom Perry.
If nobody else cares, I do be my pen pal.
Smith would need Elder Perry's letters of encouragement throughout his
two year mission in Honduras, time during which his fiance
married another man, and his parents' divorce. About the changes
(06:05):
in his family, Smith notes, that was a trip. I
am listening to a letter Cassette and my parents are saying, well,
it's a great day, today's sun, the weather is great,
We're doing great. I'll catch up with you in a
day or two. Click click Son, We're getting divorced, with
his pen pal sending support from church headquarters. Smith made
it through his mission, and life took a positive turn.
When he got home. He dated and married a woman
(06:27):
he met on his mission, began attending Western Michigan University
Coolly Law School full time, and started a full time
job to pay his way through, a feat unheard of
for those in rigorous law programs. It was during this
time that Smith attended the Hillcomora Paget in Palmara in
New York. There were a lot of manti Mormon protesters around,
he recalls, and I debated with them. That was my
(06:48):
third year of law school. I came back from that
wanting to be the smartest Mormon ever, so I could
debate with these folks and show them the air of
their ways. But the more I studied, the more I
discovered things that I didn't believe in, hadn't heard before. Gradually,
Smith descended into a spiral of anti Latter Day Saint
literature and disillusionment, angry toward the faith. He had sacrificed
his family at fiancee and two years of his life
(07:11):
to join Smith poignantly recalls the exact day, November eleventh,
nineteen eighty nine, when he lost his testimony of the church.
Fighting against the church. After losing his faith, Smith not
only stopped attending church, but asked for his name to
be removed from membership records. I spent nineteen eighty nine
on battling against the church. I hated the church. It
(07:32):
had deceived me, it had broken up my family, It
had cost me so much, Smith says. Smith joined several
online debate boards, using his skills as a litigator to
tear down Latter day Saint beliefs. He taught classes in
other churches demonstrating why he believed the church was false
and deceptive. I was very vocally anti Mormon, he says,
even while actively fighting against Latter day Saint beliefs. However,
(07:55):
Smith's connection to the church never fully disappeared. On one
debate board, he met a member of the church named Mike.
Despite debating viciously against one another, the two became friends.
Mike kept saying, you'll be Eldias some day. Smith remembers
at the time, Mike's insistence seemed not only impossible, but insane.
Mike didn't give up on Smith, however, Every week, beginning
(08:17):
in nineteen ninety nine, he put my name in the temple.
Smith recalls his voice breaking with emotion. By two thousand
and five, the deep hatred Smith felt for the church
began to ebb. I started to feel a pole to
come back, he says. But after attending church a few times,
Smith still felt he couldn't belong to the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints. He could not receive
a renewed testimony of those things he once knew. He
(08:40):
still felt the pain that being a member of the
church had brought into his life, but he could not
shake that poll from the spirit. In two thousand and nine,
while Smith was dreadfully ill with the swine flu, his
son brought two visitors into his room, missionaries who had
just knocked on the door. Though Smith told them they
were not wanted, the elders offered to give him a blessing.
At the time time, this wine flu pandemic had terrified
(09:02):
people around the nation, But here were these two young
strangers willing to love him, willing to bless him, willing
to try to heal him, and touched something inside him.
So Smith agreed. They gave me the blessing. I was
healed right then, Smith says, I got out of bed
and walked them down the stairs. After the blessing, Smith
(09:22):
tried attending church again and even met with the state president,
but when he learned he would need to undergo a
church hearing to be eligible for rebaptism, he walked away,
feeling it was unfair to put him on trial when
he felt he had done nothing wrong. But the poll
never went away, Smith says, finding a testimony again. During
his years of fighting against the church, Smith and his
(09:44):
first wife divorced, but by twenty fourteen Smith was happily Catholic,
happily living in a historic district in Dallas, Texas, and
happily remarried. That year, his wife, Susan, had been offered
a promotion in Baltimore if she made it through the
vetting process. With Smith working as a managing attorney in Texas,
the prospect of a promotion that would take his wife
(10:04):
so far away from him was bittersweet. He called up
his good friend Mike, asking him to pray for them
and to put Susan's name in the temple as a joke.
Smith added, however, Mike, if God really wants me to
be Lds again, he will send her to salt Lake.
Smith continues, there wasn't a position open in salt Lake,
so I felt pretty comfortable saying that. But the very
(10:24):
next day, the person in Salt Lake retires and my
wife's paperwork is transferred from Baltimore to salt Lake and
she is hired with no vetting. I called Mike and said,
you were not going to believe this. Susan is going
to Salt Lake. Andy said, well, you know what you
told God. When Smith explained that he had only been joking,
(10:45):
Mike quipped God wasn't. After this exchange, Smith felt shaken
and reawakened to the possibility of returning to the church.
I hit my knees and said, Okay, God, you want
me to be Lds again, fine, but you've got to
do your part. I have a testimony, and I have
these issues that I need answers to. After listing all
his questions and doubts, Smith watched in awe during the
(11:08):
following days. He recalls, one by one, I would wake
up in the middle of the night with an answer
every single night. One of my issues was the lack
of archaeological evidence of the Book of Mormon. One night,
God said to me, does the fact that you can
walk the streets of Jerusalem make the Bible true? And
I said no. He said, but what if somebody uncovered
(11:31):
a sign tomorrow that said welcome to Zarahemla, population four
twenty What would that do to the Book of Mormon?
And I said, then it would make it true. But
he said, then where would be your faith? Still? Smith
had other questions about Joseph Smith's life, treasure seeking, polygamy,
and other difficult topics in church history. These issues were
addressed as well. One night, Smith recalls God said, Okay,
(11:55):
mister attorney, if you are so smart, who would you
choose to be a prophet who doesn't believe anything? A
doctor who needs proof. I happen to choose a young
boy who could accept the impossible, who could dream the unimaginable.
That's the kind of person who was needed to be
able to accept and to believe the visions he was
seeing and act on the voices he was hearing. Would
(12:16):
you have you have spent twenty six years fighting it?
These answers humbled Smith, opening his eyes to the fact
that no matter how much he searched, researched, and debated online,
these answers could come only from his heavenly father. One
by one, his questions fell away, until on March sixteenth,
twenty fifteen, he awoke with his testimony alive and strong
(12:38):
in my mind. I could see the Lord and he
walks up to me and says, okay, I have kept
your testimony warm and safe this time. Take care of it.
Smith recalls the Lord cupping his hands around the testimony
and placing it on Smith's heart. He held it like
a living thing when he gave it back to me,
and I realized that it is a living thing, and
(12:59):
if you don't eat it and nourish it and nurture it,
it will die. Smith returned to the same state president
he had met with in two thousand and nine, asking
to be rebaptized, knowing he would face a church hearing.
But the difference is this time, because I had my
testimony back, I was willing to do whatever it takes.
Smith said, it's cool when you know you have a
(13:21):
church court, but everyone is reading for you. Less than
a week after his church court, Smith was once again
baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter day Saints meeting President Uchdorff before his baptism. While
he was visiting his wife in Salt Lake City during
General conference and Easter weekend, Smith had a strong prompting
he needed to move to Salt Lake City. The only
(13:43):
problem was that Susan was a born and raised Texan
and Smith didn't know how she would respond to the news.
When Smith broached the subject, Susan admitted, I haven't known
how to break this to you, but I want to
live here from now on. I don't want to go
back to Texas. But there was still another problem. Their
historic house in Dallas, built in nineteen twenty nine, was
(14:03):
riddled with foundation problems and nearly every other problem you
can imagine. It was virtually unsellable. Undaunted, Susan responded, we'll
think of something. If the Lord wants to hear, something
will happen. Soon thereafter, Smith received a knock on his door.
A complete stranger offered to buy his house for more
than its value. Even after Smith explained the foundation problems,
(14:28):
the man insisted on buying the house. Yet on a
later trip to Dallas, when Smith returned to his old home.
He learned that the buyer of the house had disappeared
and the house was in foreclosure. For the Smiths, the
sale of the home was a sign and a miracle.
When the Lord wants you some place, he wants you someplace.
Smith affirms it was in twenty sixteen that he received
(14:48):
the phone call from then President Deeter F. Updorf and
an invitation to meet the apostle in person. During their meeting,
President Uchdorf asked for permission to relate Smith's story in
the Priest's Session of the October twenty sixteen General Conference.
In his talk titled Learning from Alma and Amulik, President
Uchdorff said, I was touched by the journey of one
(15:10):
brother who asked himself, when the Lord calls, will I hear?
I will call this fine brother David. After detailing Smith's
unusual story of reconversion, President Uchdorf added, I am happy
to report that this past summer David's blessings were restored
to him. He is again fully participating in the church
and serving as a gospel doctrine teacher in his ward.
(15:33):
He takes every opportunity to speak to others about his
transformation to heal the damage he caused and to bear
testimony of the Gospel and the Church of Jesus Christ.
Shortly after sharing this incredible story, President Uchdorf ordained Smith
a high priest before the ordination. He asked if he
could speak with Smith and his wife. While Smith was
expecting some form of apostolic guidance, he was surprised when
(15:56):
President Uchdorf took thirty minutes to talk to Susan, who
wasn't a member of the church. Church he told her,
bring what you have and we'll see if we can
add to it. And I know that your husband wants
to be sealed to you. We'll save a place for
you in the temple. Smith remembers that night, my wife says,
I'm ready for the discussions. On September twenty third, twenty seventeen,
(16:17):
Susan was baptized a member of the church, inspiring others.
While Smith's story has inspired those close to him, it
has also touched thousands across the world in immeasurable ways.
The day after President Uchdorf related Smith's story over the pulpit,
Smith walked past a family on Temple Square who were
and immediately discussing the talk. An older gentleman, I'm assuming
it was. The father said, you heard President Uchdorf's talk.
(16:40):
Anybody can come back to the church, even if they've
been gone for a long time. There's still hope, there's
still prayer. It happens. And the younger man said, how
do we know he didn't just make that story up.
Smith stopped and interrupted the conversation by introducing himself. He
didn't make it up, he explained, I'm the guy he
talked about. Even before the October to the sixteen priested
(17:01):
session of General Conference, Smith's story had a way of
reaching those who needed to hear it. On April Fool's
Day twenty sixteen, he received a call from a sister
missionary asking if Smith had just logged into Mormon dot
org requesting answers to his questions. Smith was out of town,
his laptop hundreds of miles away. There was no way
he could have logged in, but the sister kept insisting
(17:22):
that she could see that Smith had logged in and
requested to talk with the missionary. She could quote all
his information, she could see the conversation, but still Smith
knew nothing about it. Confused and a bit flustered, the
sister missionary asked if Smith knew about the church. I said, well,
let me tell you a little story. Smith says. I
told her my story and she began to cry. She said,
(17:43):
I am at the empty See. I was considering leaving
my mission. I am having a testimony problem. Your story
has restored my testimony. I am going back on my mission.
A year later, at a gun show, Smith struck up
a conversation with another text in about their home state.
When the discussion turned to the gospel, Smith told the
man with a laugh, I'm a member of the church.
(18:04):
In fact, if you listen to President Uchdorf's talk, you've
heard about me. The man suddenly became serious and quiet.
He pulled Smith aside, explaining that he had been on
the cusp of leaving the church when he heard that
very same talk and recommitted himself to living the gospel.
As the two talked more about their lives and backgrounds,
the young man discovered yet another way he knew Dusty Smith.
(18:26):
In two thousand and nine, he happened to knock on
Smith's door as a missionary and healed him with a blessing,
sharing his story. In November twenty fourteen, Smith says, I
was happily living in Texas as an attorney, happily Catholic,
vocally anti Mormon, living in a historic district. Two years
after that, I am living in Salt Lake in an apartment.
(18:48):
Not only am I a member of the church, I decried,
but I was talked about in General Conference and then
ordained a high priest by an apostle. If you just
take that two year time frame, that is insane. That
is just absolutely insane. Many who have heard his story
comment on how they wish they could experience even one
miracle like those that filled Smith's life. His response, they
(19:11):
probably do, you are just not seeing them. Sometimes the
Lord will open the waters, sometimes he'll make the earth shake.
Sometimes he'll cure the sick, sometimes he'll raise the dead.
But sometimes he whispers. Since his reconversion to the church,
Smith has felt compelled to share his story and testimony
through conversation, writing talks, and even firesides. Part of that
(19:34):
desire stems from a blessing he received from President Updorff,
one that said that his story would reach thousands, bringing
them light and hope. But Smith is the first to
recognize that such influence has little to do with him
or his story, and everything to do with the transformative
grace of our heavenly Father. I want people to know
that God loves them and that there is hope, and
(19:56):
that even when people have turned their backs on the church,
there is hope they will come back. Smith says, people
who have loved ones who have gone away from the
church can look at my story and realize you should
never give up. My friend Mike never gave up. Think
about that. From nineteen ninety nine until twenty fifteen, every
week he put my name in the temple. I want
(20:18):
people to know that God loves us, and he is
intricately and acutely aware of us. He knows us, He
waits for us, He doesn't give up on us, even
when we give up on him. Tips for those who
are doubting. President Uchdorf said it best. He said, doubt
your doubts before you doubt your faith. Smith says, when
questions of faith arise and doubts begin to plague you,
(20:39):
Smith knows from experience that is when you need to
go back to the basics. He continues, You can get
caught up in the superflow of stuff. You can absolutely
get caught around the axle about some of the things
church leaders have said or members have said. Yes, those
things can affect you, but they shouldn't. With the Internet
and so much knowledge at our fingertips, Smith knows trials
(21:00):
to our faith will come, but he reminds members that
so much of what we read is taken out of context,
especially when considering church history, which was written in a
different time. While Smith acknowledges members and leaders within the
church or human and make mistakes, he knows those weaknesses
don't less in God's works. Moses disobeyed, Jonah disobeyed, Peter disobeyed.
(21:21):
He says, disobeying does not make you less of what
you are called to be. It means you need to repent.
We shouldn't hold people up to higher expectations than we
hold ourselves. But even with all of the information, arguments,
or questions that can enter our minds, Smith says he
has chosen to believe. I haven't had any doubts since
I got baptized. I haven't let myself get there. We
(21:42):
choose so much of what we feel, do act, and believe.
Every day I wake up grateful that I am alive,
Grateful I belong to the Church, thankful that the Lord,
for whatever reason, has incredibly blessed me. Close quote. I
just want to say that if you feel like you
haven't recent received miracles in your life, check again, because
(22:03):
I know that Heavenly Father waits for you, loves you,
and hasn't given up on you. I'm so grateful for
the opportunity to be a disciple of Jesus Christ and
to share the gospel with others, and I encourage you
to do the same. Thank you so much for listening.
Don't forget to embrace imperfection, find meaning, satisfaction and joy
from the journey. I'm Kira and this is imperfectly broken.
(22:25):
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