Why LDS Polygamy and Joseph Smith Historian Left and Came Back to the LDS Church (Pt One) | E0012

Comments · 739

• BE

  @beau4307 · 2 years ago

  Welcome back Brother Don. I went away from the church for 16 years and came back a few years ago. My wife and I got sealed and the rest is history. I feel like I’m on fire on most days and am so thankful to be a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

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• SU

  @SuttonShimai · 2 years ago

  "These people (in the Bible) were not meant to be our exemplars.  We only have one Exemplar: Jesus Christ."  That is one of the most profound things I have heard.

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• JE

  @jesuschristlives2724 · 3 years ago

  I left and came back to the church of Jesus Christ of latter day saints. The Holy Ghost has testified to me Joseph Smith is a prophet of God.

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• BA

  @barbarasmith6249 · 2 years ago

  My path to excommunication wasn't intellectuual but other points ring so true. My '2nd baptism was the most positively emotional church event I'd bern a part of. My kids and I bawled through their talks through to the closing prayer by my son. But what blew me away was when the Stake President restored my temple ordinances, then said that my sins are forgiven me and are no longer on record. My baptism date was my original baptism back in 1957. It sure feels good, doesn't it?!

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• JB

  @jbailey1898 · 3 years ago

  Don's powers of logic and deduction are just wonderful. Truly a gift. One of my very favorite scholars to listen to.

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• CA

  @capybara1018 · 3 years ago

  At 16, my sweet daughter (who had always wanted to serve a mission) decided to "leave the Church" after having delved into the CES Letter, and several online anti-LDS websites, and groups (including 'Mormon Stories' which is very deliberately focused on influencing Church members and getting them to leave their Faith).  To this day, I'm not sure exactly how or when her journey away from the Church began, but her older sister (with whom she was very close), who had rejected the Gospel/Church a few years prior likely influenced her quite a bit.  So, after being "liberated" from that which "held her back" and "made her feel guilty", she decided that she would experience all the things she was once commanded or counseled to avoid.  These choices led to her being in a very dark place, and even endangered her life.  It breaks my heart to watch her reject that which would bring her true and lasting peace and joy.  Her countenance has reflected an emptiness and a dissatisfaction that rebellion produces.  Letting her (or better said, watching her) exercise her agency, even at 16, was hard for me to do.  I wanted so much to protect her, to guide her, to save her from pain, and to convince her that she was forfeiting blessings and missing out on blessing others, etc.  At the time, she thought I was "angry at her" for leaving the Church.  But it wasn't anger that I felt; it was profound shock and sadness.  Regardless of the sadness I've felt over this, I will not reject her or burn a bridge.  That bridge might just be a path to help facilitate her return.  How I pray she will "come to herself" (a la the 'Prodigal Son' in Luke 15).  How I pray she will return and find true joy.  This brother's story gives me hope!

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• WI

  @willcareterana9186 · 3 years ago

  A few years ago, as I was preparing to serve a mission my cousin visited me at my house one night evening. After learning that I was going to serve a mission, she asked me a pretty compelling question that changed my entire life. &quot;Do you know that the Church is true?&quot; She said, &quot;Do you know that the Book of Mormon is really true?&quot; I was stunned. For the first time in my life, I dug deep into whether I really knew these things to be true or not. I grew up in the church, my dad served as a Stake President before and I&apos;ve always known that I had to go on a mission. I&apos;ve always been taught that these were true but I never really had a solid testimony of these things. My cousin, seeing at that time that I couldn&apos;t answer her straight, she said, &quot;If you don&apos;t know these things yet, please hold your feet that you won&apos;t go on a mission because you will just go home.&quot; For me, that was a really pivotal moment in my life. So I dedicated a year for me to really know if these things I have been taught all my life.<br><br> <br><br>In my search for the truth, I have found out through the Holy Ghost that these are really true. That the Book of Mormon is really indeed a word and a work of God. Joseph Smith was called to be a prophet. I know it and I could not deny it.<br><br> <br><br>It is amazing to search for whether Joseph was a legitimate writer or storyteller or whether the Book of Mormon really does connect with the Bible or gives facts about Jesus Christ but I think the most important thing we can do or what matters the most is we will know if the Book of Mormon is true or not. If we believe in God, then we know that He listens and hears our prayers. We can ask. &nbsp;If God lives, He will answer.<br><br> <br><br>Through the Book of Mormon, I have come much closer to Jesus Christ along with the Bible. I don&apos;t believe it is the work of the adversary himself to make such a thing only for you to have a stronger belief and faith in Jesus Christ. We can always ask, and we can always get answers from the right sources. I used to be a person where everything has to make sense and everything has to connect logically but these things are spiritual, and they can be answered spiritually because Jesus can.

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• KZ

  @kz6fittycent · 3 years ago

  I feel like such a doofus listening to Don speak and realizing that all this has been staring me in the face for so long and I&apos;m just now understanding it....because of people like Don Bradley. It amazes me that the Lord uses &quot;unusual people&quot; to do &quot;unusual things&quot;. So many are worried about fitting into a template that someone else outlined, but the Lord Jesus Christ&apos;s own mortality was not usual. Joseph and Mary had a very unusual story to tell and the outcome of their lives in raising the Messiah, the Son of God changed all of us. Don&apos;s life is not the usual &quot;good Mormon boy&quot; kind of story, and I&apos;m sure he&apos;s got some heartache, like the rest of us, but wow, what a comeback! Thanks Don - for being you and trusting in God.

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• GU

  @GusHdzRuiz · 3 years ago

  Don&apos;s story helped me with my own faith crisis

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• WU

  @wutabeta1187 · 2 years ago

  My mind is blown! I’ve always believed I would learn things in time and when it’s appropriate for me to understand and here we are yet again. It’s amazing how many different ways the truth is beginning to come fourth!!!💯

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• KA

  @kasdanasal · 2 years ago

  What a wonderful conversation. Don Bradley is one of the voices that has helped me to rebuild my testimony after leaving the church 7 years ago. Many of his experiences parallel my own in various ways, and I&apos;ve found his insight very helpful in reconciling questions that once deeply bothered me.

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• BE

  @benjaminmckay8567 · 3 years ago

  Stephen - When you mentioned that you would share something later with him that was too sacred to share publicly, I felt the Spirit so powerfully. &nbsp;That kind of reverence is just not something I see on many Christian podcasts and it reminded me that, as Latter-Day Saints, we truly reverence the things of God and that we always submit to a higher authority than ourselves. &nbsp;I appreciate your humility in all these discussions and your eagerness to learn. &nbsp;It inspires me to dig deeper and have more faith in Christ. Thanks for all you do.

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