Today we are joined by Deb, our kind, intelligent, and faithful friend! Deb joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as a young adult and experienced many changes in her journey. She was introduced to the church when she met Shane, her (now) husband. Little did Shane know that Deb was more interested in the church than he thought --- he found out about her interest when she announced her baptism!!

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0:00 - Introduction 0:40 - Deb’s background 1:24 - Being raised Christian 2:30 - Death of Deb’s father and reaching out to a pastor 4:30 - Meeting Shane, Deb’s husband 5:55 - Learning Shane’s religion 8:10 - Trying to believe in another testament of Jesus Christ 9:40 - Praying and reading the introduction of the Book of Mormon 12:09 - Calling the local bishop 13:07 - Meets the bishop and starts seeing the missionaries 15:10 - “I want to get baptized this Saturday!” 16:30 - Shane finds out about Deb’s baptism date 17:25 - Sharing the news with her mom 18:30 - Deb reads all the anti-Mormon documents 20:15 - No family support and many challenges 22:45 - Mom’s changed beliefs about the church 23:33 - Daughter teaching mother the discussions 25:17 - Advice 27:17 - No coincidences 28:20 - Go to the source!!

Spencer has an incredible passion for running. While participating in his sport, he began researching more and more about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Jared Ward, Clayton Young, and Conner Mantz being key players in his spiritual journey). Spencer found himself finding an increased interest in wanting to join the church rather than simply studying about the church. This is an episode you don't want to miss!! 0:00 - Introduction 1:50 - Spencer is contacted by sister missionaries on Facebook 3:30 - First meeting with the missionaries in person 5:00 - Keeping the Book of Mormon in his car 5:56 - Faith background 7:48 - USATF Championship 9:24 - Meeting Jared Ward 12:20 - Messaging Jared on Instagram 14:00 - Reading the Book of Mormon and meeting Clayton Young 16:05 - Attending non-denominational churches 17:10 - Learning all about church history 18:20 - Choosing to be baptized 20:45 - Uncomfortable territory 22:30 - There is a place for everybody 24:20 - Going to the Taylorsville Temple dedication 25:38 - Not telling family 27:45 - Layton open house 30:00 - Little rays of light that increase into an outstanding light

Thomas joined the church in the fall of 2023 after moving to Utah and studying with the sister missrionaries. His first ever church meeting was with hundreds of missionaries in the Joseph Smith building in Salt Lake City! He met many missionaries and loved to learn about the gospel.

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Chapters: 0:00 - Introduction 0:48 - Thomas’ background 1:15 - Fraternity summit in Utah 3:55 - Desire to go back to Utah 4:38 - Being let go 5:30 - Deciding to move 6:30 - Learning about Utah and the LDS Church 8:15 - Thomas’ faith background 9:13 - Determining beliefs 12:35 - Things began making sense; moving to Utah 13:25 - Meeting the missionaries on Temple Square 15:15 - Sister missionary sharing scripture 17:00 - Being invited to church and attending church 21:24 - Music and the Spoken Word; continuing to meet the missionaries 22:40 - Book of Mormon experiences 24:00 - First mention of baptism; coming prepared with questions 26:00 - More baptism conversation 28:15 - Thinking about “why baptism?” 29:22 - Writing down reasons to get baptized 33:00 - Attending a baptism 34:50 - Baptism day! 37:58 - First calling, going to the temple, receiving the priesthood 40:25 - Mother’s reaction 43:56 - Advice

**Trigger warning: infant death** Vickie and her husband decided to be foster parents. They had 4 girls biologically and knew there were more children for their family. But when the unexpected happened with their infant, Vickie began questioning everything. 0:00 - Introduction 0:30 - Electing to be foster parents 2:40 - Ending up with 6 kids; 2 through foster care 3:25 - Going to the temple for answers about more kids 5:23 - The sweetest boy passes away in his sleep 6:25 - Investigations 7:40 - Tender mercies 8:50 - So upset and broken 9:43 - Why didn’t my covenants protect me? 10:30 - Building brick by brick 11:30 - Questioning everything 12:50 - Faith becoming holy 13:55 - Taking the blame 15:50 - Giving the rock to Jesus 17:24 - Testimony 18:25 - Going to Gethsemane 21:50 - Advice

Jonathon shares his powerful story of growing up in the church, distancing himself from the church, becoming a comedian, falling into a drinking addiction, losing his dad, and finding God again. Jonathon, you are incredible!
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Chapters:

0:00 - Introduction 0:30 - Parent’s church relationship; coming from a divorced household 2:00 - Dad’s background 3:00 - Baptism inquiries 4:15 - Living two lives 5:52 - Hill Cumorah Pageant and talking to protestors 7:12 - Inoculated to the difficult aspects of church history 8:48 - Testimony based on reason and logic rather than spirituality 9:48 - The prospect of a mission 10:52 - Going to college and dropping out of college and starting a career in comedy 12:00 - Drinking, drugs, and making friends 13:15 - Being hospitalized 14:00 - Alcohol addiction and doing well in comedy 15:55 - Jokes about church history 16:56 - Defending the church with a beer in hand 18:45 - Increase in depression and alcohol addiction 20:05 - Crashing his car while drunk driving and getting arrested 21:50 - Claiming to be Atheist 24:03 - Missing opportunities in comedy due to drinking 25:27 - COVID-19 hits 27:00 - Reaching out to his dad 27:30 - Dad passes away 29:15 - Anger about step mother’s ability to handle grief 30:17 - Moving to Myrtle Beach 31:06 - Getting arrested again 32:30 - Community of men who go through alcohol abuse 34:30 - Learning how to pray again 36:45 - Feeling someone listening to his prayer 38:00 - Praying personal prayers 39:14 - Regaining testimony 40:24 - Reaching out to missionaries 41:45 - Going to back to church 44:00 - Logic and reason weren’t strong enough but faith was 45:08 - Where his faith is now

Pam grew up in a tumultuous household and felt lots of sadness in her youth. She ended up getting into some trouble and found herself in a deep depression while attending college. One day, Pam met the missionaries who started teaching her about Jesus. Despite her Buddhist upbringing, she knew that Jesus had to be the Savior of the world. Pam started studying with other religions as well, determined to learn all that she could about Jesus. The other religions told her to stop studying with the “Mormons,” for they were of the devil.

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Chapters:

0:00 - Introduction
2:00 - Growing up without Jesus and experiencing lots of sadness from divorce of parents
2:55 - Getting into some trouble
3:40 - Starting college and feeling darkness; meeting the missionaries
4:22 - Discovering good and evil in the world
5:35 - Studying with multiple religions
7:30 - Being told she was being deceived
8:55 - Smoking a pack of cigarettes every day since she was 12
10:38 - Is this of the devil?
11:48 - Being confirmed a member of the church
12:45 - Serving a mission in Korea
14:04 - Being taught about baptism
15:00 - Anyone who wants to know will know
16:08 - Feeling the feeling of love
16:54 - How Pam and her family have adjusted to her membership
19:35 - Knowing that Jesus is the Christ
20:25 - Jesus is the way
22:15 - How the devil works
25:50 - Suck it up!

Courtney shares her story of joining the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints after many years of knowing different missionaries and other members of the church, including her now husband. Courtney has had her own share of doubts and questions but her belief in a merciful God has been monumental in her spiritual journey. 0:00 - Introduction 1:03 - Courtney met her now husband and noticed he was different than others 1:50 - Meeting the missionaries 3:10 - Courtney’s husband leaves on his mission and Courtney looks into other religions 5:45 - All religions are good 6:55 - Why so many religions 9:00 - Writing her boyfriend 10:05 - Committing to go to church with boyfriend’s family and started meeting with missionaries 12:25 - Feeling a negative pull from the world 14:25 - Journal entry 15:30 - Having some doubts 16:27 - If God can speak to Joseph Smith, he can speak to me 18:30 - Going to church and setting a date 21:35 - Going on a mini mission, getting engaged 23:00 - Walking downtown and talking about the gospel 24:30 - Marriage putting God first 25:27 - Discipleship and motherhood challenges 26:35 - Close friends leaving the church 28:30 - Asking God again after 10 years 32:55 - The fruits of the gospel 34:10 - Courtney’s sister takes the missionary lessons 37:10 - Plan of Salvation feeling familiar 39:44 - You don’t need to know everything

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Cannon grew up in the church and served a mission. Upon an early return from his mission, he quickly became inactive and found himself in some trouble. He finally started getting his life together when his father unexpectedly passed away. He felt the spirit of his father and felt a love that he had never felt. Don't miss this episode! 0:00 - Introduction 1:20 - Going on a mission 2:25 - Coming home early from mission 2:50 - Going in active and struggling in college 4:00 - Being pulled over by the police and taken to the hospital 6:04 - A song about taking off chains 7:27 - Cannon’s father passes away 9:00 - Feeling the spirit of his father 11:11 - People can change 13:47 - Relying on God 14:32 - Advice for those going through difficulty 16:13 - Experience with the light of God 18:54 - How to remember spiritual experiences

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