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

"We can go through hard things. We can be the most horrible or the worst human. Christ still loves us and He still waits patiently for us to come back. It's been awesome going to the temple. It's been amazing! I ended up recently speaking at stake conference because addiction is rampant. I don't know any household that isn't either being touched by it in one way or another. It's either somebody in their family or something. And I feel, almost a duty, if you will, to want to try and help. I want to help people see it differently. I'm an ex-convict. I'm a felon, you know, but those words typically have a negative connotation, right? They stand for something negative. And I think we need to teach our kids or even just within the church that you know what? Good people can also struggle."

Come Back Team:

Director, Founder & Host: Ashly Stone

Producer: Lauren Rose

Outreach Manager: Jenna Carlson

Editor: Cara Reed

Assistant Editor: Michelle Berger

Art Director: Jeremy Garcia

Episode sponsor: Serve Clothing

⁠⁠⁠https://serveclothing.com/?gad_source=1

"So here I am just one after another. I was smart enough to recognize Satan should have been a little more subtle because this was way too obvious. It was clear that I was under attack and especially that my husband had just been called to be Bishop. I'm like, okay. So I had enough wisdom to step back and recognize that. It still didn't take away from the fact that I cried myself to sleep every night. I didn't know the answers to all this information that I had been overwhelmed with. And my husband could answer some of it, but not all of it. He was a new bishop and I just didn't know what to do. For the first time, my faith was really shaken."

Come Back Team:

Director, Founder & Host: Ashly Stone

Producer: Lauren Rose

Outreach Manager: Jenna Carlson

Editor: Cara Reed

Assistant Editor: Michelle Berger

Art Director: Jeremy Garcia

Episode Sponsor: Brick House Recovery

https://brickhouserecovery.com/

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

Come Back Team:

Director, Founder & Host: Ashly Stone

Producer: Lauren Rose

Outreach Manager: Jenna Carlson

Editor: Cara Reed

Assistant Editor: Michelle Berger

Art Director: Jeremy Garcia

Episode sponsor: Serve Clothing

⁠⁠⁠https://serveclothing.com/?gad_source=1

⁠⁠https://mikesautoshack.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠

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

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/abuse-how-to-help/preventing-and-responding-to-abuse?lang=eng

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/callings/safety/protecting-children-and-youth?lang=eng

https://thirtyoneeight.org/

@jen_forhealthychurches

https://mikesautoshack.com/⁠⁠

Come Back Team:

Director, Founder & Host: Ashly Stone

Producer: Lauren Rose

Outreach Manager: Jenna Carlson

Editor: Cara Reed

Assistant Editor: Michelle Berger

Art Director: Jeremy Garcia

Episode sponsor: Serve Clothing

⁠⁠https://serveclothing.com/?gad_source=1

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

"The trial is going to be coming up either at the end of this year or possibly at the beginning of next year. So I'm still going to be going through this. I still have to sit through a full trial. But now I have a lot more strength and armor on me. I am preparing for it to be hard, so I just have to find strength in the Savior. I remember praying one night about forgiveness and how sometimes when you hold that stuff inside it can eat away at you. It's like poison inside of you. And I thought, 'how could I ever pray to allow forgiveness for murder? That one's too big.' So as I was praying about it, I just thought, 'All I can do is pray that the savior will carry the burden that I feel from losing someone to murder.' And in that moment that's what I did. I said, 'I don't know what this looks like, but I need you to carry this for me.' The Savior never once has let me down with asking Him to carry a burden. It doesn't matter what kind, whether it's overcoming depression, losing people or financial loss, the Savior's love is there, He carries all burdens. So I've learned through all this that he can carry anything."

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/copy-of-come-back-to-christ-tickets-1209945723229?aff=oddtdtcreator⁠⁠

⁠⁠https://mikesautoshack.com/⁠⁠

Come Back Team:

Director, Founder & Host: Ashly Stone

Producer: Lauren Rose

Outreach Manager: Jenna Carlson

Editor: Cara Reed

Assistant Editor: Michelle Berger

Art Director: Jeremy Garcia

Episode sponsor: Serve Clothing

⁠⁠https://serveclothing.com/?gad_source=1

"Just as the Psalmist said, 'pride goeth before the fall.' And boy, did I learn that lesson. If I were to boil it down to what is the one thing that is different about me from before my crisis and after my crisis, it is that I was stripped, completely stripped, of my pride. The Lord needed to compel me to be humble. I was one of those foolish ones that needed to be compelled to be humble. I think of all the things I learned through that experience, I'd like to think that now I am a more humble person. I no longer aspire for those callings, which was a big part of who I was through most of my adult life. I now see other people in a different way. I see people with greater love and greater compassion. I just feel the love of the Savior as I look at each person. I just see people through a different lens because that pride is being stripped away."

Rico's Book: Enduring a Crisis of Faith

https://amzn.to/4342sg3

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/copy-of-come-back-to-christ-tickets-1209945723229?aff=oddtdtcreator⁠⁠

⁠⁠https://mikesautoshack.com/⁠⁠

Come Back Team:

Director, Founder & Host: Ashly Stone

Producer: Lauren Rose

Outreach Manager: Jenna Carlson

Editor: Cara Reed

Assistant Editor: Michelle Berger

Art Director: Jeremy Garcia

Episode Sponsor: Brick House Recovery

https://brickhouserecovery.com/

"When President Nelson came out and said to repent daily, I'm like, how about hourly? Or every 15 minutes for a while. That's when I realized, after going through all of this, that I was a better cop. I had learned an empathy that I didn't know existed in me and I realized that most people are good, even when they're doing stuff that's not. I realized that a lot of people were going through things that led them to deal with us. That they were broken too and this is how they coped with being broken. I wasn't in a different place than they were. My outlet was just different than theirs. But that brokenness was still the same."

Brent's Podcast: Covered With the Utah FOP

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/97-the-other-side-academy-with-dave-durocher-part-2/id1491615677?i=1000676224062

https://utahstatefop.com/10-about-the-association

https://www.utahstatefop.com/images/Home-officers-in-distress/Officer-in-Distress_-The-Real-EnemyC2A0C2A0_C2A0C2A0The-Salt-Lake-Tribune.pdf

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/copy-of-come-back-to-christ-tickets-1209945723229?aff=oddtdtcreator⁠

⁠https://mikesautoshack.com/⁠

Come Back Team:

Director, Founder & Host: Ashly Stone

Producer: Lauren Rose

Outreach Manager: Jenna Carlson

Editor: Cara Reed

Assistant Editor: Michelle Berger

Art Director: Jeremy Garcia

Episode sponsor: Serve Clothing

⁠https://serveclothing.com/?gad_source=1

"Don't put blame on anyone else. If you've done things that are wrong, fix them. If things have been done to you that are wrong, forgive them. Which is so hard to do, depending on the situation. I've had to do that with people in my past. it's the most liberating thing that you can do to let go of that hate and let go of blaming them. Because you can blame them all you want, but it's not going to allow you to progress. And so be honest with yourself. Be honest with what you need to change and take back your power. You have all the power in the world. God has given you this free agency. You can do whatever you want with it. Why not do something amazing that brings you so much joy and happiness? And it's so liberating to let go of what everyone thinks about you. It's so liberating. I literally do whatever the heck I want, which happens to be living the gospel. And living the gospel and living the standards of the gospel has made me the most free person I've ever been in my life."

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/copy-of-come-back-to-christ-tickets-1209945723229?aff=oddtdtcreator

https://mikesautoshack.com/

Come Back Team:

Director, Founder & Host: Ashly Stone

Producer: Lauren Rose

Outreach Manager: Jenna Carlson

Editor: Cara Reed

Assistant Editor: Michelle Berger

Art Director: Jeremy Garcia

Episode sponsor: Serve Clothing

https://serveclothing.com/?gad_source=1

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

"I will tell you that when you give up 'the things' and trust Heavenly Father, Miracles happen. Absolute miracles happen. I always thought that supporting my family and working for my family was the best thing that I can do. I never realized that quitting my job and becoming sover was the best thing that I could do. I just thought 'I have to work, there's no way around this.' Quitting my job was terrifying! I read the Book of Mormon during that time and my bishop had given me a blessing that said my ancestors and my posterity were watching over me. So even my children's children were aware of what we were going through."

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/copy-of-come-back-to-christ-tickets-1209945723229?aff=oddtdtcreator

https://mikesautoshack.com/

Come Back Team:

Director, Founder & Host: Ashly Stone

Producer: Lauren Rose

Outreach Manager: Jenna Carlson

Editor: Cara Reed

Assistant Editor: Michelle Berger

Art Director: Jeremy Garcia

Episode sponsor: Serve Clothing

https://serveclothing.com/?gad_source=1

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

"One thing I had never shared with anyone about my near death experience, but now I do is, my brother said to me, 'see, Marcy, it's real.' And I knew he wasn't talking about heaven. He was talking about our temple covenants and I knew it. I just knew that is what he was talking about! And I had not told anyone this. Then my mother was in the temple on a separate occasion, and she saw my brother and he said the same thing to her. 'See, that it's real.' She told me this and I said, mom, that's one of the things that he said to me. It made me realize I need to speak to that. I need to tell people this. He wasn't talking about heaven. He wasn't talking about the spirit world. He was talking about our temple covenants."

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/copy-of-come-back-to-christ-tickets-1209945723229?aff=oddtdtcreator

https://mikesautoshack.com/

Come Back Team:

Director, Founder & Host: Ashly Stone

Producer and Senior Editor: Lauren Rose

Outreach Manager: Jenna Carlson

Editor: Cara Reed

Assistant Editor: Michelle Berger

Art Director: Jeremy Garcia

"The purpose of the gospel is to restore ourselves to God. And time and time again, Christ has taught that. He's taught that this is why He did what He did. This is the whole reason why we're doing this, is to restore you to Me. So it's about love. The expectations can come later. Once we restore that prodigal hug with the father on the road, once we find that coin, once we put that sheep on our back, then we can bring them back and talk about some expectations. But initially, that first meeting especially is so powerful because it has to be about love. I suggest this not to just church leaders, but also to parents. Just put your arms around them, love them. If that first meeting is an expression - or any type of an expression - of a failure of commitments or a failure of expectations, love can't fully enter into that person's heart. So I would say to anyone who's scared, I hope you understand the gospel is about what you're about to do. Go and see your bishop and know that God is proud of you and he's already at the end of the road waiting for you."

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/copy-of-come-back-to-christ-tickets-1209945723229?aff=oddtdtcreator

https://mikesautoshack.com/

Come Back Team:

Director, Founder & Host: Ashly Stone

Producer and Senior Editor: Lauren Rose

Outreach Manager: Jenna Carlson

Editor: Cara Reed

Assistant Editor: Michelle Berger

Art Director: Jeremy Garcia

Episode sponsor: Serve Clothing

https://serveclothing.com/?gad_source=1