Come Back Podcast

"There are going to be things that we don't know, whether it has to do with policies or church history, we may. never have the answers. But that doesn't mean we need to throw away the things that we do know." Come Back Team: Director, Founder & Host: Ashly Stone Producer and Senior Editor: Lauren Rose Outreach Manager: Jenna Carlson Editor: Michelle Berger Art Director: Jerem...

"They sang this song called 'Jesus Comes to Fight For Me' and when I heard that song it was the first time I had felt the spirit in ten years. It was very emotional for me. I had not felt the spirit for a really long time and had been through many trials and tribulations. I was lost and to feel that again was rewarding and it meant there was something out there, that being sober was g...

"I ran track so I would go on long runs out in the country by myself. On one run I had stopped to walk for a little bit and I could feel God's presence. I just knew God was trying to say something to me. I felt that He knew me and that He loved me, and that He had a plan for me. There were going to be some scary things that He was going to ask me to do, but I just had to face my fears and...

"For the first time in my life I decided to humble myself and say a sincere prayer. I just wanted to know God, are you there? What can I do, what do I need to do? Immediately after saying that I heard a voice "you need to go back on your mission." All of the feelings of anger, frustration, and confusion that I had felt from many past years were gone. I will never forget how at peace...

CONTENT WARNING: This episode contains sensitive content that may be triggering or offensive to some audiences. Parental discretion is advised.  "Learn to give what you can and stick with it. There are going to be dark valleys but there is light and hope on the other side of them. We're going to have to do some work but balance that with compassion. Move forward and go back to the things...

"I love watching Jesus Christ work in the hard things. I love watching Him heal others from these hard places. I can go to the temple and feel the spirit, I know I can and I should be there. In the heavy I know I can bring my 5 loaves and 2 fishes. I have so little things that I can offer. My husband and I are in no way perfect foster parents, but our heart is there. If we bring what we have...

"I was seeing all these things where I was like 'Wow - what is the Nauvoo endowment doing in the Book of Mormon?' I had been convinced that Joseph Smith didn't know anything about the endowment until he became a freemason in 1842, instead I was seeing it all over the Book of Mormon. I was seeing it in accounts of Joseph Smith's first vision and acquiring his seer stone. I was...

"It was as if I was sitting in this mist of darkness and it was like he lifted me up. I saw myself lifted out of this dark cloud and I was up above in the sky and could see the light. I was given a whole new view, all the sudden he was teaching me and he was showing me how he loved me. All the things that I had struggled with I was finally seeing through God's eyes." Come Back Team:...

CONTENT WARNING: This episode contains sensitive content that may be triggering or offensive to some audiences. Parental discretion is advised.  "It doesn't matter if it's a baby step or if we are sprinting. He just cares that we are moving forward so that He can bless us. I was standing still and allowed dark thoughts to creep in and lose faith in my Heavenly Father. But the moment I...

"In class we had the stake president talking. He was shorter in stature, but just a spiritual giant. I could feel it as he started talking. I was on the fence if I really wanted to investigate the church. He started going back and forth, pacing and talking about Joseph Smith and The Book of Mormon and all these factual things. He is a very successful person and I was thinking "How could ...

"Be open to other people's opinions. I used to think "this church is either true or it is not." I never thought there could be any grey area. The way I saw everything was so black and white but that is something I have learned, is to be open to other possibilities. Don't just cut everything off because one thing doesn't make sense." Come Back Team: Director, Founder...

"If this is a paragraph from your book of possibilities then the only way you get to read the rest of the book is if you record the feelings that you have when you seek revelation from it. So you should start asking questions." Come Back Team: Director, Founder & Host: Ashly Stone Producer and Senior Editor: Lauren Rose Outreach Manager: Jenna Carlson Editor: Michelle Berger Art Dire...

"The witness more powerful than sight applies especially to the roles of actual, demanding experience and developing a witness that one knows the Savior. It's one thing to know about Him, or even to see Him, but quite another to know Him. And that higher degree of knowing usually comes after complexity - often it comes because of the complexity." Come Back Team: Director, Founder &am...

"I remember listening to the story "Seventeen Points of the True Church" and thinking that I believe this is all true. I don't need the proof. I knew the church was true and that I needed to come back. That was the beginning of my journey." Come Back Team: Director, Founder & Host: Ashly Stone Producer and Senior Editor: Lauren Rose Outreach Manager: Jenna Carlson Edito...

"The church is alive, it is a living gospel. The way to know the difference between a live houseplant and a fake houseplant is that the real one has brown spots and dead leaves. There's going to be imperfections in anything that is alive and growing and living. It's just a fact of life. We are all human and make mistakes. The church is a living organism." Come Back Team: Director...

"Getting endowed was the most special day in my life. I had never felt so whole inside as a person, without needing someone else's approval. I myself did this, and I am ok with being who I am. I have God with me all the time now, and there is nothing else that you really need. That feeling alone was worth anything." Come Back Team: Director, Founder & Host: Ashly Stone Producer a...

"In my patriarchal blessing I was told that my health wasn't going to be an issue, that I was going to be strong and have the strength necessary to serve a mission. There were some great promises about me being able to bear my testimony in another part of the world. The spirit was so strong during that blessing and I knew what the patriarch was saying was coming from my Heavenly Father. T...

"One day in sacrament meeting I was worked up about some doctrinal question and the frustration of still not feeling I could get answers to prayer very well. They had announced the closing hymn was "How Firm A Foundation" which is precious to me, I had memorized all 7 verses. As soon as that was announced I had a question in my mind "Heavenly Father, I am believing and I am goi...

"I was playing football with my boys and my oldest said "Dad, I really want to go back to church. I miss it." And I asked "Why do you miss it?" And he says "I miss the feeling I had there." Then the other boys chimed in and said they really wanted to go back to Scouts. Then we all hugged and had that moment and they just said "Dad can you take us back to chu...

"If I intend to make a difference in this dispensation, it's gathering together in one all things in Christ. And I need the understanding of my LGBT brothers and sisters. I need the understanding of ex latter-day saints, because they can show us our blind spots in ways no one else can. I need the experiences and perspectives of everyone, until we form one great whole of truth. Until we ca...

CONTENT WARNING: This episode contains sensitive content that may be triggering or offensive to some audiences. Parental discretion is advised.  "I had never really completely lost my testimony. It was always back there, I would always say I didn't want it. I didn't want my testimony, it was so inconvenient. It frustrated me so bad that I couldn't shake it! I wanted to be able to...

"I was at a friend's house and on my way to a church activity and I had my scriptures. My friend asked me "What are those?" And I said it's my Bible, Book of Mormon, Pearl of Great Price, and Doctrine and Covenants. These are our sacred books in my faith. And he goes "What's the Book of Mormon?" I started to describe what we believe about the Book of Mormon. I...

"We all have the ability to impact one another's life. Life is full of making human connections, interacting with people, and helping one another. We all have trials and different experiences, but at the end of the day, we are here to love one another. We are here to lighten each others burdens. And when we see past ourselves that is when I think our Heavenly Parents are the happiest.&quo...

"I don't like things that are casual about freedom and I don't like things that are casual about the testimony of the gospel. It is real and it is true. There's no doubt in my mind." Come Back Team: Director, Founder & Host: Ashly Stone Producer and Senior Editor: Lauren Rose Outreach Manager: Jenna Carlson Editor: Michelle Berger Art Director: Jeremy Garcia

CONTENT WARNING: This episode contains sensitive content that may be triggering or offensive to some audiences. Parental discretion is advised. "So I go into disobedience council and I told them my story. The love that these brethren had - how they treated this sinner, how they treated this gay man, was probably the most spiritual experience I have had, and I have had some big ones. These peo...