Mission Stories

From Faith Crisis to Atonement's Embrace: Sister Riley Stone

• Shawn Record • Season 1 • Episode 13

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This episode features special guest Sister Riley Stone (affectionately known as "Stony"). The core theme revolves around "Revelation and The Spirit" and how divine revelation grows faith, leads to repentance, and ultimately to "pure joy" through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. The podcast aims to inspire and provide knowledge for those preparing for missions.

Key insights and Riley's story include:

• A Journey from Faith Crisis to Conversion: Riley, from Utah, experienced a faith crisis with her family around age 12, leading to a five-year hiatus from regular church attendance.

• Subtle Beginnings of Discerning the Spirit: At 14, attending EFY (now FSY), she "loved it" because she was "surrounded by the gospel of Jesus Christ". Though she didn't discern the Holy Ghost at the time, she later realized it was God's love bringing her peace and joy. This experience planted a "seed" for future missionary service.

• The "Rock Bottom" and a Divine Call: At 16 or 17, Riley hit "rock bottom," feeling "miserable," "sad," and "anxious," a period where she was "compelled to be humble". In a moment of desperation, after listening to "cringey" youth albums, she heard an audible voice, not her own, command, "Riley, get on your knees and pray". This happened three times, akin to the experience in 3 Nephi 11:3-4, where people initially didn't understand the voice but eventually opened their "ears to hear it" spiritually. Riley initially resisted due to tiredness and having been distant from God.

• The Transformative Prayer: Driven by a deep hunger to do the right thing and escape unhappiness (similar to Enos 4), Riley finally knelt down and sobbed. In that moment, she "knew that God loved me" for the first time in a tangible way. She felt a "burning in my bosom" and a powerful hug, realizing the Atonement of Jesus Christ covers more than just sins, but also heals pain and ache. This profound experience convinced her of God's existence, His personal love for her, and the possibility of happiness.

• Acting on Revelation: This revelatory experience marked the beginning of her true conversion, leading her to consistently attend seminary and young women's activities, and begin studying scriptures. Her story illustrates the principle of Revelation 3:20, where God knocks, but individuals must "open the door" through choice and action.

• Missionary Preparation and Impact: Despite her powerful conversion, Riley felt inadequate for her mission due to her long gap in church attendance and lack of basic gospel knowledge. She overcame this by "feasting upon the words of Christ" in the Book of Mormon and Preach My Gospel in the MTC. This intensive study enhanced her understanding of the Atonement and how to access it, directly confirming her personal experiences. Lauren testifies that Riley became an "amazing" missionary, notably helping an investigator named Nicole, who was at "rock bottom," to also recognize that "Revelation is what leads to our conversion," ultimately leading to Nicole's baptism and a greater understanding of repentance and the Atonement.

• Advice for Future Missionaries: Riley advises listeners to prioritize experiences with the Atonement of Jesus Christ, as it provides healing and enabling power, crucial for navigating the challenges of missionary work and gaining a deeper understanding of life's purpose. The episode concludes by reaffirming that everyone has the right to receive divine revelation that will grow their faith and lead to "pure joy" through Christ's Atonement.

SPEAKER_01:

You all have the right to receive a revelation from God that will grow your faith, lead you to repentance and to the real covenants to where you can fill the atonement of Christ in your life and you'll have pure joy. It's funny, dude, because for so many years it's been mission prep series, but really this is the podcast about mission stories. This is the mission stories podcast. So listeners, I apologize for every single time messing that up. Welcome to the Mission Stories podcast. This is a problem. And Lauren's here. Hey, Lauren.

SPEAKER_03:

Hey, guys.

SPEAKER_01:

How are you?

SPEAKER_03:

Great. Yeah? Sun's out. It's warm.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. It's great to be alive. Too warm.

SPEAKER_03:

What?

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, I mean, great to be alive. Yes. Yes. Yes. And we have a super special guest that we've been waiting for. I've been waiting for for a long time. It's the Stoney.

SPEAKER_03:

Stoney baby.

SPEAKER_01:

Which is funny because I've heard so much about you. You were mission companions with Lauren.

UNKNOWN:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04:

That's true.

SPEAKER_01:

And for so long, I've heard so much about you. And then when I finally got to meet you, it's been a couple weeks or so. And then just today, you were telling me a story. And you're like, and then the Lord said, hey, Riley. And I'm like, who's Riley? What? And you're like, that's my name. That is my name. No, your name is Stoney.

SPEAKER_04:

That's true. That's also my name.

SPEAKER_01:

And then I learned your name isn't even Stoney. It's...

SPEAKER_04:

Stone. Oh, dang. Sorry. That's my bad. Stoney's just... That's who I am

SPEAKER_01:

now. So Riley Stone. Riley Stoney Stone. Sure. Yeah. Good. Give us just a briefest of who are you? Where are you from?

SPEAKER_04:

I'm from Utah. Born and raised.

SPEAKER_01:

And how are you related to Lauren?

SPEAKER_04:

My mommy. We were companions. I second half trained Lauren. And then we just were best friends after that.

SPEAKER_01:

And just look at it. awesome Lauren's face you guys were just the closest of companions so close don't you love when you meet like earlier today I was doing a podcast a different one it's like a political one I do it with two of my mission buddies that now I've known for 35 years they are the greatest like there's such joy in looking at their faces Matt and Levi shout out and it's just so much joy isn't it to just have companions that you have this bond with it's just so powerful

SPEAKER_00:

yeah

SPEAKER_01:

yeah and you guys you guys have that like I can tell

SPEAKER_00:

Thank

SPEAKER_01:

you. It's just like the purest of love, isn't it? Yeah. It's amazing. It's amazing.

SPEAKER_04:

We

SPEAKER_01:

do love each other. Yeah. Very much. Okay. And you had some awesome experiences together. So today we're going to focus on a couple of the principles that we teach. Again, the whole premise of this podcast is to, for you listeners who are preparing for your mission, who need a little motivation, a little inspiration, but also who need some knowledge on how do I go out and have just an amazing spiritual experience that will change my life, set me on a foundation built on the Lord Jesus Christ for my whole life. Well, these are ways to do it. These are ways to do it. And we're going to get into Stoney's story because I love, man, there's one thing that I love so much is I just, just like you, I love the scriptures. And I think they're perfect. And I'm so grateful that we have them. We live in a day where we have so much. And I love learning of the people, the prophets, the people who come to Christ. And they're specifically there to show us how one comes to Christ, the specific steps. And then I love meeting people. like Stoney and hearing your story and going, what? Like that literally is how Enos did it. That's literally how Nephi did it. That's literally how every, like the story that's told over and over again. And it just confirms to me two things. A, the fullness of the gospel of Jesus Christ is contained in the canonized scripture of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. And it is, what is in there is to show us all how to come to Christ. It confirms that. Number two, it confirms that those like Stoney who, who are so humble and so awesome, who decide, make a choice at one point to come to Christ, that's the process you have to go through. And when you do it, it works.

SPEAKER_04:

Truly, it works.

SPEAKER_01:

Does it work for you? Yeah, still to this day. I'm looking at Stoney's happy, glowing face, and it's proof that it works. The joy that comes from coming to Christ and leading others to Christ, there's nothing better.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay, so let's get into your story a little bit. So... give us the briefest of synopsis of like, you told me yesterday, I was in a, I have a great family. You do have a great family, right?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

You were super active, super active. Then you weren't active at all. The whole family.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes.

SPEAKER_01:

Right. So let's start with that premise and you tell us, give us details about how you came to, I guess, came to Christ. Yeah. Okay. Tell us.

SPEAKER_04:

I would love to. Um, my family, you're active. I mean, we're from Utah, so it fits. Um, You're active. And then I'm going to be honest. There was a lot of family problems going on, which then caused myself and my immediate family to have a little bit of a faith crisis, which then when I was about probably 12 years old, we stopped attending church regularly. And I... I still went to girls camp. I still went to young women's every once in

SPEAKER_01:

a while. Mostly because that's the culture, right? All your friends are LDS. They all go to these camps. That's just kind of what you do, right? Yeah. Okay.

SPEAKER_04:

And I did love it. I mean, as a 12 year old having a faith crisis, it was, you know, interesting, but I mean, I wouldn't say I had like a big faith crisis, but just seeing what my parents were going through.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. You're with them, right? Like you're 12, you're with your family and you're doing what they do.

SPEAKER_04:

Just influenced.

SPEAKER_01:

And so for how long, how many years were you guys done out?

SPEAKER_04:

Um, We started going back. Also, COVID was at the tail end of this. But I was probably about 17 when we started going back to church.

SPEAKER_01:

So five years.

SPEAKER_04:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay. So about five year gap where you're gone. And living in Utah, you get exposed to that culture, but you guys are out.

SPEAKER_04:

Yeah. Okay. We were taking

SPEAKER_01:

a break. So you told me about an amazing beginning of your journey started at an FSY?

SPEAKER_04:

Yeah. I mean, it was EFY at the time, but... EFY. Yeah. And how old were you? I went when I was like 14. I think it was 14.

SPEAKER_01:

So what was that about? You had cool friends. They were super impressive. And that was like, okay, the church must be true. No, what was it about?

SPEAKER_04:

Yeah, I went with one of my best friends at the time. And again, with still going to Young Women's, going to church once a year, I still was doing what I could to be involved. Um, and so one of my best friends was going out of time. So we went together to the university of Utah and spent a week at EFY up there. And how was it? I loved it.

SPEAKER_01:

Why?

SPEAKER_04:

Because I was surrounded by the gospel of Jesus Christ.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, is that why? Yeah.

SPEAKER_04:

And I mean, it was fun.

SPEAKER_01:

Did you recognize that at the time that that's what the reason why you loved it? 14 right yeah okay so it's really looking back that you go oh whoa that was a really actually really important experience for you

SPEAKER_04:

yeah back at the time it was just fun and my friends were there and i made new friends and oh cool i get to read the scriptures for five seconds and then i'm done

SPEAKER_01:

which is interesting lauren like how often um how often on your mission do you come across people who just never had a discerning experience of the Holy Ghost, right? Like, Stoney, you're at this experience. You look back and go, my goodness, I was feeling the Holy Ghost that whole time confirming to me that this is righteous, this is good. But not until later did you actually discern that this is Holy Ghost. So how often, Lauren, do you meet investigators who, once you teach them what the Holy Ghost is and they start to discern it, they go, oh, this has been a part of my life. I just didn't recognize it.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, I think a lot of times when people recognize that the Holy Ghost is not the same as Heavenly Father or Jesus Christ, they recognize that that feeling that they felt before when they talk about things like Jesus Christ or they talk about God or they talk about the gospel, that's what they're feeling. Because a lot of people that I taught had Catholic backgrounds. And so they identified the Holy Ghost being the same as Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father. And so how could you feel that? Like they'd be like, oh, God is with me. Like I know God is with me. I talk to God. But when they recognize that God has given us a separate gifts to be able to feel his love and to-

SPEAKER_01:

And presence, right? Yeah,

SPEAKER_03:

is totally something totally different that they had no idea.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, so that was even a new concept where Stoney, you knew the concept from primary up to from zero to 12, but you didn't recognize 14. Who recognizes or understands this stuff at 14? But looking back, you're able to say, I discerned it then. I just didn't know what it was. Now I discern it knowing what it is. It was God's love shed forth in your heart. It was the Holy ghost that was giving you peace and joy.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. Yeah. This is beautiful. Okay. And then fast forward to, as we all do, especially through those formative years, ups and downs and ups and downs. And then it was like your junior year. So like 16, 17 rock bottom time,

SPEAKER_04:

Rocky bottom.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay. Okay.

SPEAKER_04:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

All right. So this is the pivotal point of the story. Yeah. This is key to your, I asked you before, I said, Hey, you know, it's funny. Scriptures teach us that you have to be humble. And then it says, sometimes if you choose not to be humble, God compels us to be humble. And you were telling me that this is a humbling. I

SPEAKER_04:

was compelled to be humble.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay.

SPEAKER_04:

Yeah. So I, you know, went to EFY for like a year or two and then it was great. Whatever. That was when I had the thought. maybe I could serve a mission, which not going to church for a couple of years at that point was like, what the, who said that? Like, where did that not come from? Um, but my counselors were very like outspoken about their missions. And so I, you know, and I looked up to them at the time very highly. And my dad served a mission, but that was the closest thing I had to anyone serving a mission at the time. Um, and also only being 14 and 15, I could put a mission on the back burner and I have no worries.

SPEAKER_01:

But there was a seed planted somewhere at these experiences, right?

UNKNOWN:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04:

Okay. So junior year, I'm probably, yeah, about 16 or 17. And I just remember I, like you said, was at rock bottom.

SPEAKER_01:

Life just got tough.

SPEAKER_04:

And I hate to sound like a negative Nellie, but it just felt like each day was getting worse.

SPEAKER_01:

And you don't have to go into those details. Yeah. many of us have experienced obviously we go through especially through adolescence through the formative years there's a rock bottom sometimes we often hit but you you got to hit this lucky you your junior year and you're just down and it's miserable and you're unhappy there's anxiety in there yeah right there's lots of it there's home personal stuff that's problematic there's all kinds of stuff Don't get into the details, but the picture is painted. We know you're sad. Sad? Is that the right word? What's the word? Miserable? Sad? Depressed? What's the word?

SPEAKER_04:

Just sad.

SPEAKER_01:

Just sad.

SPEAKER_04:

Very anxious.

SPEAKER_01:

Sad and anxious. Okay, perfect. So then something happened one night.

SPEAKER_04:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

All right, let's hear it.

SPEAKER_04:

Yeah, so it had been at this point a couple months since, because again, I went to the occasional... girls camp or the occasional young woman's activity but it had been a couple months since I'd been putting myself in a good place and I remember one night I was literally just getting ready for bed and like I had school the next morning I think I stayed up late doing homework and I was getting ready for bed I'm laying in bed

SPEAKER_01:

miserable

SPEAKER_04:

miserable super sad anxious as I'll ever get and I remember just laying there Oh, and every once in a while, I did listen to the youth albums, which I know is a little kind of cringy. Because, like, yeah, it's cringy. But

SPEAKER_01:

why? I just am curious before you tell the story. Why? Is it because now your story really reminds me of the Book of Mormon story, Book of Enoch's.

SPEAKER_04:

Thank you.

SPEAKER_01:

And how the Enos character, you're welcome, how the Enos character talked about, he says, look, let me tell you about the wrestle, the wrestle, the fight that I had before God, before I was able to come to Christ, receive admission of my sins. And the words that I love that he used were, my soul hungered. Like, you must have been, Lauren, you confirm this, she must have been desperately hungry to be listening to this poppy LDS podcast. music, like that's real desperation. It's

SPEAKER_02:

like the highest form of desperation, voluntarily choosing to listen to the youth album.

SPEAKER_01:

Can I tell you a story? Yeah. Okay, that relates to that? Yeah. Okay, so I was, she's so embarrassed or angry. So when I was preparing for my mission, it's so weird how the temptations hit you differently. I had just spent three months with my best friend Trent in Denver preparing. I had spent two months going to the temple every other day with Ed Jesperson. I sent you a photo of Ed, Lauren. I was on fire, like so fire. And for some reason, out of the just wherever, all these girls started popping up. I don't know if it was temptation or what, but all these girls started popping up. And this one girl asked me out on a date. I'm like, of course, of course. This is equal cheese to what your cheese story was. I'm driving in the car. Now, you guys are too young, but has anyone heard of the, dang it, this is old. Michael McClain's Greater Than Us All.

SPEAKER_03:

You just dated yourself.

SPEAKER_01:

Do you know what that is? No. Yeah, okay. It is cheesy. Cheesy LDS pop. But I'm driving and my soul was so peaceful. I loved it so much. I was willing to do that. And I'm a music person. I got bands like crazy. This is cheesy music. And I'm just listening to it. And when I got up to the house to pick the girl up, I looked at her and I was like, I apologize beforehand. I am so in the mode right now of just, we're going to listen to Greater Than Us All.

SPEAKER_00:

And

SPEAKER_01:

she, I mean, I don't, I didn't, I was going on a mission like three weeks or so. She's like, was super impressed. She was like, whoa, something spiritual is happening right now. So maybe you used it to your advantage in dating or maybe you didn't.

SPEAKER_04:

Not in dating, but you know, I...

SPEAKER_01:

But you're so hungered, and so you're willing to do things like that to just feel it a little bit? Is that what it was? Why? Why did you listen? I never

SPEAKER_04:

played the youth albums for a boy, but I was so, like...

SPEAKER_01:

You're not married yet. Try it. Just try it.

SPEAKER_04:

All right. I'll take note of that. Thank you, Sean.

SPEAKER_01:

You're

SPEAKER_04:

welcome. Yeah, I was just getting it wherever I could. And, I mean, my family at the time is still not active. Like, that was not... I had, like, I... I mean, I had to do what I knew best and I was listening to the youth albums in the car, in the shower, like, and it wasn't consistently, but it was like, I knew that that was like a good thing. I knew that that spirit felt good.

SPEAKER_01:

I love that. Cause when we're sad and when our, our, our souls are empty, we seek and yearn for something and you were just clinging onto whatever you could to feel that Holy ghost. That's awesome. Yeah. Okay. So that night,

SPEAKER_04:

sorry. That was a little bit of an embarrassing tangent. But I, yeah, so that night I had gotten in bed and after just listening to the youth albums.

SPEAKER_01:

I love that part of the story. I'm glad you told, I didn't know that part. That's great.

SPEAKER_04:

I got in bed still. I mean, the spirit is now present somewhat. I remember I was laying in bed and I heard a voice that was not my own. And it said, Riley, get on your knees and pray. And at this point it had been months. Years since I had said a heartfelt prayer. Months since I had maybe said a prayer while I was half asleep. It had been a long time. I pushed it off. Kept trying to go to sleep. And then the voice came to me again. Riley, get on your knees and pray.

SPEAKER_01:

Second time.

SPEAKER_04:

Second time. Again, not my voice. I pushed it off again. Third time. It was as audible as someone else was in the room. Riley, get on your knees. and say a prayer.

SPEAKER_01:

Now, you told me this before, and the first thing I immediately thought of was 3 Nephi 11. Best chapter. It is the best chapter. Why do you say it's the best chapter? Because I agree it's the best chapter.

SPEAKER_04:

My favorite part of the chapter is, well, it took him three times to hear the voice.

SPEAKER_01:

Let's read it real quick. Do you have it, Lauren? 3 Nephi 11, 3 and 4.

SPEAKER_03:

You can stop there.

SPEAKER_01:

That's what the story makes me think of. Yeah. Why didn't they, what do you think? Why didn't they understand it the first time?

SPEAKER_03:

Oftentimes when, you know, we're not in a spiritual mindset or we're not in a position to feel the spirit, we don't recognize it when it comes to us.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. And then they hear it again and they still don't follow through or listen or obey or adhere to it. I think it's because, and it says later on, because they had to get to a point where they could open their ears. and open their hearts. So with you, why did you reject it the first time, the second time? Disbelief, I was really tired. I

SPEAKER_04:

was tired and I didn't, it had been months since I'd done anything to come closer to God. Like why, why would I pray now? Like that's just.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, you questioned it a little bit.

SPEAKER_04:

Yeah. Like what?

SPEAKER_01:

Isn't this fascinating? In our humility, right? That is a requirement for us to get to a humble place before we can actually find the presence of God again. And you were really humbled at this point, but there's still this struggle that exists, this wrestle. I like how Anna said it. There's this wrestle that exists, and you're wrestling a little bit. Like, is this my voice? Am I just tired manufacturing this, or is this a real voice? But by the third time, you were convinced?

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Now, just because you're convinced, do you have something, Lauren?

SPEAKER_03:

I just have a question about when you're done.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay, don't forget. But when you're convinced sometimes, you are now faced with a choice. Yeah. So you were faced with a choice? Yeah. What was the choice?

SPEAKER_04:

To get on my knees and pray or to go back to bed.

SPEAKER_01:

And you fought it three times. Yeah. And then made a choice. Well, before we follow up with that, what's your...

SPEAKER_03:

So you're saying how the story reminds you a lot of Enos. And I agree. And in Enos in verse four, it talks about how his soul hungered and he kneeled down before his maker. And on the footnote of hunger, it links to the topical guide of the topic of motivations. And I love that because I think behind every hunger that we have, there's a motivation. So I wanted to ask Sonny, what do you think was like your motivation to either listen to the prompting to move forward with it?

SPEAKER_01:

Good question.

SPEAKER_04:

Very good question. Deep down, I knew it was the right thing to do. And that's what I had yearned for for so long. I wanted to do the right thing.

SPEAKER_01:

And how powerful is that, that you mentioned that there's these experiences throughout your life where maybe at the time you didn't discern it or recognize it as the Holy Ghost, but they were peaceful, happy feelings.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. And

SPEAKER_01:

now you fast forward to this night where you're the lowest, the opposite of those peaceful, happy feelings. You're sad, you're miserable, right?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

And great question about motivation because you get to a point where you make a choice to obey it and get down on your knees. The motivation was, it seems like I don't want to be unhappy. I don't want to be sad. I want to go back to feelings of joy and peace. And that drives you to your knees. And I love that you brought up that fourth verse. And my soul hungered and I kneeled down before my maker and I cried unto him in mighty prayer and supplication for my own soul. And all the day long did I cry unto him. And when the night came, I did still raise my voice high that it reached the heavens. That is a sincere prayer. Now, I kind of went through something similar. My prayer was not that sincere, but it was the start. So tell me about your experience when you knelt down.

SPEAKER_04:

I got on my knees, which I was never like a knee prayer before this either, so this was new for me. I got on my knees, and I just sobbed. I mean, and I cried. I sobbed. And... I don't remember any specific topic that I took to God. I'm sure there was a lot that I had on my mind and on my heart that I kind of just, within a mix of tears and mumbling, I just kind of let out. It was the first time in my life where I knew that God loved me. It was no longer just a principle that I learned in primary 10 years ago. It wasn't

SPEAKER_01:

conceptual at this point.

SPEAKER_04:

It was a tangible...

SPEAKER_01:

She used the word tangible. And when we talk about faith and we read the scriptural definition of faith, it talks about faith as the substance, the tangible substance of things hoped for, and the tangible evidence of things not seen.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes.

SPEAKER_01:

Now, you kind of skipped over a really important part. Because you went from I'm miserable and then humbled that I make a choice to kneel down and pray to... An

SPEAKER_04:

overwhelming feeling of God's love.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay, tell me about that. You said it went to... I knew God knew me at that moment. What happened in between that proved that to you? Like what was the evidence, the substance, the tangible? What was it? What happened? Was it brain? Did you see something? Was it in your soul, in your heart? Like what was it?

SPEAKER_04:

I knew that the atonement was real, that the atonement of Jesus Christ, it covers more than just my sins. Because even at this time of being, quote unquote, like away from the church, I wasn't actively doing anything. bad things. I just wasn't choosing the good things.

SPEAKER_01:

Lauren, what does that remind you of? Lukewarm. Lukewarm. Hot, cold, or lukewarm. So you were lukewarm.

SPEAKER_04:

Yeah. And so I didn't feel like I felt as though in that moment The atonement covers more than just sins, which glory be to God that it does because I make mistakes every day. But that wasn't what I was looking for at the time. I was looking for a source of healing the pain, healing the ache that just threw out different experiences in my life.

SPEAKER_01:

So what was the discernible expression of that love of God? What did you feel in your heart, in your spirit?

SPEAKER_04:

I felt the burning in... My bosom, as the Book of Mormon would describe it as. I felt, and I'm not a hugger, but I felt like I was being hugged so tightly in that moment by a power beyond any earthly element.

SPEAKER_01:

I love that so much because what you're describing is the Holy Ghost. That is the very nature of how God expresses his love to us. It is through the power of the Holy Ghost and And I love how you've described it better than most people I've ever heard, as far as me trying to comprehend it. It felt, when I was in the Salt Lake Temple, and I felt like I was finally having this experience where I'm communing with the Savior, it felt like a hug that burned in my soul, that was convincing, and it was full of joy and peace and love. And I felt, at that moment, completely convinced in my soul, not in my brain, not from what I'm seeing, but I felt convinced that God lives, and He knows me, and He loves me, And I can have happiness, not just in this life, but eternally. So that's what you experienced. Yeah. I love it so much.

SPEAKER_04:

I just had felt a peace that I hadn't felt for a really long time. And throughout those five or six years of missing out on that, it felt really good to feel it again. And it wasn't just me saying, You know, one night, like, oh, I'm going to pray. Kind of like you said earlier, whether I knew it or not, I was actively looking for that by doing the little things. Not as consistently as one should, but I was doing the little things because I needed that experience later on of that healing and of that spirit at the time that I needed it most.

SPEAKER_03:

And I love... I love stories like this. Like, I love your story, kind of how we mentioned earlier. It's comparable to 3 Nephi 11. And stories like this reaffirm my testimony that the Book of Mormon is truly written for our day. First of all, obviously, with hearing that voice three times, but then you talk about this overwhelming sense of peace and love that you felt as if you were one of the people that Jesus Christ came to visit and he invited you to come feel the marks in his hands and in his feet and in his side and go one by one. Cause this obviously was a one-on-one experience that you had. And I just, Love that the Book of Mormon relentlessly testifies of that, right? Like in our own way, personally, we all have the opportunity to one by one come unto Christ. And this was one of your moments where you were able to come unto Christ. And let me just say for the record, Stoney has the strongest testimony of the Book of Mormon and the Atonement in anyone that I've ever

SPEAKER_01:

met. And we're going to get to that. Because the question becomes, once you've had that experience where you've, where you have chosen to be humble or were compelled, but then you decided to listen to the voice of God, kneel down and plead with him to enter your life. And then you do it and you feel the spirit. This is revelation, right? The second principle we teach is revelation leads to conversion. This is the beginning of true conversion. What do you do after that? What did you do with that afterwards?

SPEAKER_04:

I started going to seminary again. I started going to young women activities consistently. Church was still...

SPEAKER_01:

It took time to get to that. A

SPEAKER_04:

subject in the house that wasn't ready to be brought up.

SPEAKER_01:

What about scripture study? Did you start that anytime soon?

SPEAKER_04:

Here and there, still not as consistently, but more than I ever had.

SPEAKER_01:

And then this, but this will lead into the later part of the story. Okay, so Lauren, I love this because you fast forward now, you're on your mission. And your one purpose, as you listeners are listening, your one purpose as a missionary is to lead souls to Christ. And then the question is, well, how do I do that? How do I lead a soul to Christ? Oh, well, the scriptures teach. You have to do it through faith and repentance and baptism in the gift of the Holy Ghost. Well, how do I lead someone to faith then? Well, you just gave us the story exactly how you are to do it. And because you went through it yourself- you now know how to lead others to do it. You need to help them and invite them and encourage them to feast upon Christ's words, kneel down, and start to feel that Holy Ghost. And when they do, they need to take a step towards God and do a little more, come to church, Read the scriptures now regularly. Give up this thing or that thing. Start repenting, right? And as you do these things, you are making steps to grow your faith unto repentance, which ultimately leads to the covenant of baptism and receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost. But I love that your whole story starts with, it reminds me, Revelation 3.20. Do you have that one, Lauren?

SPEAKER_03:

Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come into him and will sup with him and he with me.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay, cliche verse. I've heard it a million times, but if we break it down, think of how powerful it is. You on your own, Stoney, are miserable. You're living a life on your own, right? No God, no Savior, and you're running into walls with your face,

SPEAKER_00:

right? Face

SPEAKER_01:

on the ground and you're humble. This concept that God is at the door though, like his whole life, he's not abandoned you. He's there and he's knocking. He wants you to be there. But here's the process. If you hear the voice, which at this point you were starting to listen and listen and listen. If you hear the voice, it says, and if you open the door, you have to stand up from that couch, that bed, that chair. You have to walk over to the door. You have to turn the knob. You have to open it. And if you will do it, he says, I will come in and we will sup together together. Me and you. That's the personal one-on-one. He requires of you to make the steps, to choose to come unto him, right? And you were doing that. So after you had this beautiful revelatory experience, which leads to then faith, you started doing more and more things that will grow your faith. So we'll fast forward because ultimately it grew so much that you became active. You went on a mission. It's

SPEAKER_00:

amazing.

SPEAKER_01:

But then you shared something with me. You said, one of the things that worried you the most or you were focused on the most during your mission was, Oh my goodness, there's this huge gap of time where I wasn't in primary. I wasn't even in church. I don't know a lot of the basics of the gospel. And now you find yourself feeling a little inadequate.

SPEAKER_04:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Tell me about that.

SPEAKER_04:

So again, went to primary, all good stuff. I learned the basic, God loves you. Jesus died for you. There's a prophet. All the primary songs are going through my head right now because that was all I knew. And I, again, going into the MTC was like, is this really what I'm about to do? Because I don't know anything. I learned the story of Joseph Smith in the MTC.

SPEAKER_01:

You know that God lives. Yes. Because he revealed it to you. You know he loves you. Yes. You know the source of happiness, joy, and peace. Yes. But you felt like, but I don't know anything else. Yeah. I don't know the scriptures. I don't know the stories. I don't know anything. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04:

Okay. Okay. And that... Hunger, as Enos describes, almost came back, but in a different way, where it was like, if I know what I know I experienced, I know what I experienced is true. I know what I experienced is what brought me out of the worst time of my life. That enabling, healing power of the atonement of Jesus Christ. I need to know what's behind this. I need to know what the purpose of this is, because I knew it was real. And so, although I didn't know Much about the doctrine of the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ, I knew what the atonement felt like, and I knew how to access that in a way that was personal. In a way that was intimate and sacred to me.

SPEAKER_01:

Which, by the way, is really all that matters. Yeah. That's the point of the restoration. That's the point of all the stories. That's the point of the law and the prophets is to get Stoney to humble herself and kneel down and pray so that the atonement can apply.

SPEAKER_04:

Heavenly Father's like, please, Stoney, please.

SPEAKER_01:

That's right. And you listened. Yeah. Okay, but you still felt like, okay, but now if I'm going to go teach this, I need to know more.

SPEAKER_04:

I need

SPEAKER_01:

to know what I'm doing. Okay, so what the heck did you do, Stoney? What'd you do?

SPEAKER_04:

I studied. The Book of Mormon. And I studied, preached my gospel more than I had ever put my heart and soul into anything ever before.

SPEAKER_01:

Starting in the MDC?

SPEAKER_04:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay, what was that? Okay, so you did what the scriptures teach us, which is feast upon the words of Christ. Right? I love 2 Nephi. Feast upon the words of Christ. They'll tell you all things we should do. And if you don't understand it, it's because you don't have the spirit. So ask, and they will show you all things what you should do. Yes. So you started a feast.

SPEAKER_04:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

And how was that experience?

SPEAKER_04:

Wonderful.

SPEAKER_01:

Why? A

SPEAKER_04:

little frustrating. Why? Because again, I feel like I was playing

SPEAKER_01:

catch up. Wonderful or frustrating?

SPEAKER_04:

Can it be both?

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, it can be both. I guess it can be.

SPEAKER_04:

Yeah, both. Yeah, it was wonderful.

SPEAKER_01:

What was it? Was it like, oh, wow, look at all this knowledge and these cool stories? Or were you building upon this spiritual experience you had? And was it a spiritual experience? What would you say?

SPEAKER_04:

It was a spiritual experience that I was building upon because... Again, I knew what the driving force behind the purpose was. I knew that the atonement was my purpose behind the missionary purpose, and I was going to do anything to figure out how to best help people find that as well.

SPEAKER_01:

So as you feasted upon the words of Christ for the first time in your life, did that enhance this atonement experience or the knowledge of the atonement?

UNKNOWN:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

A lot? A little? A lot. Like what I found in the MTC when I really started to feast upon the words of Christ like you for the first time, really feasted, Every page just jumped out, the atonement of Jesus Christ. And not only that, but how do I access it? And it was faith and repentance and the baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost over and over and over again. And the peace that comes from the atonement of Jesus Christ and how to get there.

SPEAKER_04:

It was no longer just a book I read in primary. It was now more or less, oh, this is my life. This is what happened to me.

SPEAKER_01:

I love that. Lauren, I love that. Because that is the whole point of scripture is to teach you how to come to Christ. You go through the process of coming to Christ using the right steps. And now you're reading the scriptures, confirming all of it and showing all of that. Now you are perfectly equipped. Now we'll ask Lauren, perfectly equipped to go be a missionary, to go lead souls, to do this. Cause you came and did it all yourself. Now you're reading the words of the scriptures, God's words that teach us how to do what you just did. So Lauren, you know, what do you think? How'd she do? How'd she do on her mission with all that?

SPEAKER_03:

She was amazing.

UNKNOWN:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

Truly, we had one friend in specific, and I'll tell the story fast. We had a friend named Nicole that we taught, and this area that we're in was boonies, notorious for, oh, people don't really baptize there. Like, missionaries don't really do work there, whatever. And we had someone refer themselves, and her name's Nicole, and she called us. We had our first lesson on the floor of a member's house, and she was at her rock bottom. like totally just like if darkness was a person it was her just so sad so hopeless and i remember our very first lesson stoney's over here just testifying of the book of mormon just like listen to this listen to me nicole she's just testifying of the book of mormon and we started meeting with her three times a week she just starts reading and reading and reading. And she recognizes this principle that revelation is what leads to our conversion. The thing that Stoney recognized was that the revelation that she received from the Book of Mormon led to her personal conversion. And I love that saying. It's kind of cheesy, but it's like, you have to fill your tank before you fill it or fill your cup, whatever it is. But it's true when it comes to conversion. conversion as well you have to be yourself converted to be able to help others become converted but it's not necessarily that you're the one doing the converting but you're giving them the tools to be able to do so and you've used those tools and you've seen that they work

SPEAKER_04:

yeah

SPEAKER_01:

and how did nicole end up

SPEAKER_04:

she got baptized

SPEAKER_01:

that's a quick jump to the end she got baptized

SPEAKER_04:

yeah she she great well she gained a greater for the principle of repentance in specific and how it was the atonement behind that, that not only should she be shameful of her sins, but that she can grow and everything that she's gone through has put her to where she is now. And that, again, she has a choice whether to have set a greater light upon those things or whether or not to just keep going the way that she was going.

SPEAKER_01:

I love it. I wish we had hours and hours. Maybe we'll do another one with you because we can tell more about these mission stories and how this atonement story applies. But why don't we end with you tell our listeners, what's your advice? These kids want to have an experience like you did. They want to come home and have it be life-changing and foundational conversion to Christ. What's your advice?

SPEAKER_04:

Prioritize those experiences with the atonement of Jesus Christ. Because being a missionary can be hard. I'm going to be honest. As someone who struggles with some mental health things it can be hard at times and there's things that are out of your control a lot of the time where you can just be brought down and I know that it is through that atonement of Jesus Christ that is that healing power it's that enabling pure power of Jesus Christ's love which ultimately is God's love for us and through those experiences you will find a greater understanding of not only the missionary purpose but group is all together.

SPEAKER_01:

All together. Thank you. And awesome stories and beautiful message. And I'll just finish and we'll add by saying, look, you guys listening, you all have the right to receive a revelation from God that will grow your faith, lead you to repentance and to the real covenants to where you can feel the atonement of Christ in your life and you'll have pure joy. Like I'm a happy person, not because of anything I do. I'm an annoyingly happy person because Jesus Christ is in my life. I have so much joy from the atonement every day. I know how to repent. I know how to feel the spirit all the time because of him, not because of any worthiness of mine. But you listeners, you have the right to do that. If you will, as you said, take your advice, kneel down and pray, feast upon the words of Christ. And you will feel this revelation so that you become a good missionary. Wonderful, Stoney. Thank you. Thank you for joining us. All right, listeners, we'll see you next week.

People on this episode

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Shawn Record

Host
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Lauren Hendricks

Co-host