Chad's Redemption; Embracing Faith and Support to Overcome Addiction

Meet Chad, whose life story is an undeniable testament to hope, resilience, and the transformative power of faith and friendship. Chad bravely recounts his journey to reconversion, following a tumultuous period of addiction and despair. His narrative is laced with raw emotion and triumph, a poignant reminder of the human capacity for recovery and redemption.

This episode delves deep into the themes of friendship and its influence on our lives, underscored by the biblical tale of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Their unwavering faith in the face of adversity, and the impact of their choices on those around them, offer valuable lessons on the crucial role of companionship in our lives. We explore how good friends can anchor us, providing critical support and guidance during our darkest hours.

Chad offers a candid account of his battle with addiction and the vital role his support system played in his recovery. His thoughts on the significance of a strong support network and the paths to overcome life's most challenging obstacles are enlightening. Tune in as we discuss the power of friendship, faith, and support in changing one's life trajectory. This episode is a reservoir of hope and inspiration, reminding us that it's never too late to turn a new leaf.

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:23

Hey everyone, welcome back to the Remember Podcast. I'm your host, Daly Butler, and I'm kind of running solo today, but I'm here with an amazing guest. I'm here with Chad, and Chad has reached out to us. He's got an amazing story to share. He's a recent convert. In the last it's been like less than 10 years, right?

Speaker 2: 0:45

Yeah, so I converted about six years ago.

Speaker 1: 0:48

Six years ago Awesome. Well, I'm happy to hear your story and I'm sure our listeners are excited as well, so go ahead and further introduce yourself, chad.

Speaker 2: 0:57

Yeah, thanks a lot. So my name is Chad. I've grown up and lived in Utah the majority of my life and I'm just currently a working man and also trying to get the school thing done to better myself there. But with my story with conversion it's a little bit different than some of the other people. So when I say conversion, it's actually more of a story of reconversion.

Speaker 2: 1:22

So when I was growing up, I was a member of the church. I did get baptized when I was eight. I went to young men's on and off as a teenager and had great examples in my life growing up. But then, when I turned 18, I decided to leave the church and I remember that being a very conscious decision for me. I felt that at the time it wasn't something that I needed and I decided that I was better off with it at that time. And upon leaving the church at that time, life got a little hectic for me and things kind of spiraled out of control.

Speaker 2: 2:03

After leaving the church, I got involved with the wrong crew, I got involved with drugs, I battled addiction to multiple substances and I lived that lifestyle for for a few years and, honestly, there was some really crazy times, some really scary times. I remember at one point in my life I didn't think I would live to see 25. And one of my biggest fears was my parents would get a call either saying that their son is dead or their son's in jail. And it was a really, really hard time in my life. And so going through all of that is when I hit for myself what I describe as rock bottom. And rock bottom for me was I was in a hospital bed in a suicide ward, and I was addicted to painkillers and I was ready to take my life. And that is what I would define as rock bottom for myself. And it was a really, really dark time in my life. And so I was able to get my life put enough together.

Speaker 2: 3:12

Where I got out of the hospital and as I was going through and putting the pieces together of my life, I received a call from one of my friends. He sent me a message on Facebook and said hey, chad, I just got back from my mission in Cambodia and your dad's from Cambodia, so we're basically cousins. And I was like, all right, not really that's not how that works, but close enough, right, and that's how I was able to reconnect with him. So we reconnected and after a couple months of us being reconnected, he asked me if I wanted to go to church one day with him and I said, sure, no problem. Honestly I didn't really want to go, I just wanted to go hang out with him because he was at that time one of the few friends I had in my life. But through him I was able to connect with him.

Speaker 2: 3:57

I was able to connect with other friends, other previous friends that I had in my life, and very shortly it turned into me asking. It turned into him asking if I wanted to go to church, to me, asking if I could go with them, and I started going back to church. It initially was a just for more social reasons, but very slowly, over time, I started to go from myself and I saw a lot of growth and a lot of change happen in myself, even just within the first few months that I started going back to church. I remember I'd been going to church for maybe five or six months at this point and I bore my testimony in sacrament for my first time in my entire life and I remember being that and a really amazing experience for me. And through the whole time, that whole time I had my close friends with me. They were there to answer questions for me, they were there to take care of me and they showed me what living a godly life looked like and also showed me what's what it meant to be a good priesthood holder.

Speaker 2: 5:06

And since then I've never really looked back. It's been an absolutely life changing experience coming back to the church after being inactive. So I guess I should say I was inactive for about for about six years of my adult life and now, looking back on it, it's, it has been absolutely amazing. I was able to go through the temple, I was able to be ordained, ordained an elder, and I've just been able to see so many blessings come from, coming from God. And you know, I I for myself, I can very literally say that the gospel of Jesus Christ saved my life. That's, that's not what God saw. God saw that I I probably needed to go through those hard times to have a personal appreciation for the gospel, but now, looking back on it, I I'm incredibly thankful for for those friends and those guys reaching out to me and it's, it's been amazing ever since, and that's kind of my story in a nutshell.

Speaker 1: 6:22

Awesome. Thank you so much. I love I mean it's terrible the experiences that you had. I can only imagine I actually had. So over the summer I went and worked in Alaska with a bunch of crazy individuals and I was around drugs and stuff a lot, but like I never partook of them, but just a couple. Like a week ago I heard that one of the kids that I worked with actually overdosed and so it's a hard, it's a hard thing to be wrapped up around and I think I think that that focus that you kind of had as you were sharing your story, your focus on the people around you, is a huge, huge thing and that's something that a lot of, especially teenagers, when they're getting you know, experiencing the world, they kind of like get into their clicks and they don't realize either the good impact or the bad impact that those clicks, those groups of friends, can have on them. So I love your, I love your story for being an example of that. What were the biggest changes that you saw immediately after your friend reached out to you?

Speaker 2: 7:50

Well, first I want to say I'm sorry to hear that you lost someone to it. It's definitely a terrible lifestyle. It's really hard. It affects not just the people doing it but everyone else around them as well. Honestly, I can say I'm very happy and very fortunate that I was able to get out. So again, I'm sorry to hear that you lost someone to that battle.

Speaker 1: 8:14

Thank you.

Speaker 2: 8:15

But for me, the biggest thing that I noticed right off hand I would probably definitely have to say it was kinship. You know, the second great commandment we were taught is to love that neighbor, as I self, and I definitely felt that through them because it made me feel that all of my past sins and my past experiences they didn't matter, because they were seeing me as the person as I was in that moment, but also seeing the person that I could be. And it was really really incredible and I feel very fortunate that I was able to have people like that in my life, because not everyone does and it's really hard to go forward in life in general without having a good support system. So I would say the first thing I felt was kinship and just love.

Speaker 2: 9:05

I remember going back one of the Bishop Rick members. He I wouldn't necessarily say that he took a personal interest in me, but he definitely took time out of his way to get to know me and that really made a big difference for me. So to this day, after all these years, I'm still in contact with him because he he left a big impact in my life and that's something I'll forever be grateful for. So yeah, definitely, probably, probably, definitely. Love would be the biggest one for me after coming back.

Speaker 1: 9:35

It's awesome. I somebody that I met on my mission. He's a convert as well. He had an amazing family, but he told me that he would always tell me that the reason why he goes to the LDS Church is because when he walks into that chapel, it's not some, some priest or anything that you know just teaches the congregation and he walks in and the Bishop is his friend, his Bishop, no thing.

Speaker 1: 10:12

And I love that. You had that. That experience with, with someone from the church. It's that they I love that they took the time out of their day in order to get to know you as an individual. That's really and, like you said, you know, not everyone is fortunate to have that. I've also met a lot of people that that's the reason why they've left the church is because nobody did that, and I think that that's such an amazing experience. I'm glad you shared that and this conversation makes me think of have you ever heard of let's see, who was it that told this story? I think it was Brad Wilcox. It wasn't John, by the way. I think it was Hank Smith. Have you ever heard of Hank Smith before?

Speaker 2: 11:04

Yeah, I've heard of Hank Smith.

Speaker 1: 11:08

So he teaches the youth and things like that and he's got an amazing podcast, the follow him podcast, that they go through the Come Follow Me program. But he tells the story of these three boys I forget. We're trying to look it up. But Shadrach, meshach and Abednego I'm trying to find the story but I can't quite look what part of the scriptures it was in the Old Testament but the like. Are you familiar with that story? Shadrach, meshach and Abednego?

Speaker 2: 11:57

I've heard the names, but I'm not terribly familiar with the story.

Speaker 1: 11:59

no, yeah, so I'm like me. It's been a long time since I've thought of it too, bear with me. But it's a great story because these three boys, very young individuals, they get brought before the king, which, at this time, they, the Israelite nation, they've been taken over by I can't remember if this particular time was the Babylonians, or anyway they were. They were in bondage and the king of this foreign nation, they, he instigated, or instigated a law that prevented everyone from worshiping our heavenly father the way that they were originally supposed to. And these three boys, they wouldn't stop worshiping God the way that they were supposed to, and I'm probably butchering the story but they're brought before the king and the king is like well, you guys are terrible, I'm going to throw you into the, into this fiery furnace, because you're not obeying my law, right. And so he tells them you're going to basically be burned to death unless you renounce your religion and join mine, right. And these three boys, three young boys, they, they get thrown into prison overnight so that they can think it over and make their decisions. And they, the three of them, agree that they're not going to renounce their religion, they're going to hold fast.

Speaker 1: 13:35

And I think that the the speaker, I think it was Hank Smith, he, the way that he talked about it to the youth was very interesting, because he, he talked about what it would be like to be in that prison cell as one of those three boys, Like, just imagine the conversation they might have had with each other. Like, hey, like, like, are you going to like renounce it? No, no, like, I want to be kind of cool, right, I want to be with my buddies, right. And so, like the three of them which might have taken an opportunity to say, like no, I'm going to, I'm going to hold true to what you guys do, is like, yeah, like heck, yeah, let's stay together. And so they, they all agreed that they wouldn't renounce their faith. And imagine if, like, one of them decided, no, like I would rather live, like I'm going to renounce my faith, than the other two probably would follow. And so who you have as a friend may make such a big impact on your life, on what you're going to do, on who you choose to be.

Speaker 1: 14:51

And and I think that story is such an amazing example of it because after these boys are, then you know, the night passes and they're brought before the king again. And they they say like hey, like we're not going to renounce our faith. And the king is like okay, you're going to this furnace. And so he throws them into this fiery furnace. And the furnace was so hot that the guards that threw them in there actually died because it was so hot. And then the king, he's standing pretty far back and he's looking into this furnace and he sees four people inside the furnace just walking around and talking, and he threw three of them in there. But there were four of them, and you know, we can only speculate that our heavenly father, or Jesus Christ, I mean, and then Shadrachmi, shachanabindigo because they chose to to not betray God, god was with them and, I think, with your friends. I mean, I'm only speculating, but when you're surrounded by people that are doing good and treating you good, it feels like God's with you, doesn't it?

Speaker 2: 16:15

Yeah, absolutely. I would definitely say that they, in a way, definitely reintroduce the spirit to my life, because what you were saying, what you were with the story about the conversations that they had, but also what would it feel like to not have the spirit of the Lord with you? And I'm not going to try and keep the story minimal so I don't incriminate myself, but I was participating in some activities and I remember very vividly as we were doing it. We were going somewhere and I felt the spirit leave my life. I remember it being a very physical feeling. I can take you to the spot on planet Earth where that feeling happened for me and I remember, after feeling really, really empty, I didn't really know what to do after that because I thought that during that time I had fallen too far away, that I wouldn't be able to come back.

Speaker 2: 17:18

Like I said, I didn't think I was going to make it, and so it's definitely the Lord's hand in my life. That's why I'm here and looking back on it now. Without my friends I definitely wouldn't be here, and being able to see their great influences on my life, even years later, it's still impacting me because they've been with me through every step of the way they were in the circle when I was ordained an elder and they were with me when I went through the temple. So I agree with that story 100%. It's who you surround yourself with that helps keep you going forward. You know, denzel Washington once said you know you hang around the barbershop, you're bound to get a haircut. So make sure that you, you know you hang around a good barbershop, because it's the difference between you looking good in life and you not looking good, but also the difference between where you'll go in life and how you'll get there.

Speaker 1: 18:17

Absolutely, and it's amazing how these principles, they they not only you know, it's not only true in a gospel sense, but in like a like, a success, like a life success that I don't know if that makes sense, but like, if you want to live your life a certain way, if you want a particular future, find somebody that's living that, maybe somebody that you know they're.

Speaker 1: 18:49

They're still married to the person that they their first wife. You know they and their marriage is amazing. They love each other. Find those friends and then, if you're surrounded by those people that probably don't talk about, about their wives or their spouses and their kids, they're probably an amazing stand up individual and they support their families and they love their family. And then you will then continue that within your own household. And or like when you go to church and you you sit in the row of people that are always raising their hands and they're talking that it's so contagious. Like these principles not only do they relate to the gospel, but but they relate to everything else in this world, like getting a haircut. I love that story.

Speaker 2: 19:45

Yeah, I agree it's. It is very much just who, who you surround yourself with, just definitely just affects the trajectory of your life. I remember hanging around with with the crew back in the day, and you know, I'll admit I don't, I don't think we were going anywhere. You know we were, you know, doing just enough to get by, we were Doing just the things to just make us happy in the moment and, you know it, there was a lot of self harm that came with it. But also, living that lifestyle, it started to affect other people around us.

Speaker 2: 20:18

It, you know, it's really scary. You know, when you start going down some of those darker paths of humanity where you can see where what you're capable of and you know I've, you know I can say that I've heard some people and I feel terrible about it and it, even to this day, is still eats at me and I know that with the way that I'm living my life now, living trying to do my best to live congruently with God, it's helped me in such a way of Not only being able to let go of the past but also just prepare a better future for myself. You know I haven't talked to you, those old group of guys in a really, really long time. But I, you know, part of me is kind of interested in to see where they're at, to see what happened, because it's it's a hard thing to get out of and you know I was fortunate. I can say that whole hard thing. I was fortunate I got out because there's not a lot of people that do.

Speaker 1: 21:19

Definitely, definitely, what? What advice would you give to somebody that maybe is listening to this episode and, like they're, they're in a place that they, they don't want to be and maybe they they know that it's their friends and maybe that they don't know it's their friend. But what advice would you give to somebody that that might be in a really dark place right now?

Speaker 2: 21:47

So, if you're in a really dark place and if you think that it might be your friends influence, honestly I would choose the loneliness over over bad influences. Because, yeah, it feels good to be included, it feels good to be a part of something, but Over time it's going to eat at you. Over time You're going to make questionable decisions, things that you told yourself but you wouldn't, you wouldn't do in your life, and the next thing you know, in order to just either be part of a group or be accepted or, you know, try to make a joke or something you're, you're compromising your, your own integrity, and your moral compass gets really twisted really quick. So I would say if you have the opportunity, don't start, and if you're, if you're in that situation now, just sit down one day, just think to yourself Is this really what I want to do for the rest of my life? And Then probably ask yourself realistically, if I keep doing this, how long is the rest of my life going to be? Because it's the longer you, the longer you do it, the harder it is to get out. I mean, to this day, I would.

Speaker 2: 23:05

I can, I can definitely say I still get cravings for, for some substances, but also, at the same time, it's very much out of sight, out of mind. And I've Come. This December I'll be. I'll be drug free. How many years now? You know I'll be, you know I'll be. I'll be free from paint. I'll be addiction free from painkillers for for eight years and completely substance free for seven. And Even after all that time, like I said, I still still get cravings here and there. So you know, just surround yourself with people who care, that want to help you get out. You know when I, when I was in, when I was in the ward, my parents visited me every day and I don't really have words to describe how much that helped me, because there's people that I was in there with I don't think they had anyone come visit them and that you know that's really hard. That's really hard to go through the dark phases of your life all by yourself and.

Speaker 2: 24:13

If you don't have a good support system, then it's really hard to to get out and to keep moving forward. So I guess, ultimately, if you have the choice, don't start, but if you and if but if you are in trouble, try find people that care about you and they'll help you get out.

Speaker 1: 24:35

Definitely. I can definitely agree with that. I think I think when we want, when our desires change from wanting the things that you know brought us pain and sorrow To wanting to be with God or wanting, you know, a better life, god puts people in into our lives to help us, and sometimes it just takes that, that, that step of faith, you know that that lead To to get out of the situation that you're in and then all of a sudden be met by all these people that just kind of miraculously come into our lives. I know I've got a lot of friends that are just like little miracles, that got me through something. You know, they just appear out of nowhere.

Speaker 1: 25:29

I think God sends angels and sometimes we're those angels. For other people and I think that's another part to it is Is, once you get yourself out of a situation like that, like You're so much, it's so much easier for you to help those that that are around you, that might be either looking or leaning towards the path that you just came back from, or that are there already. You know how. Have you had any Experiences with that?

Speaker 2: 26:07

Could you say that one more time experiences of what specifically?

Speaker 1: 26:09

Experiences of like being able to use. I might rephrase that terribly. Have you had any experiences of being able to use the experiences that you've had since coming back to your heavenly father and feeling the spirit, any experiences that you've had to help other people.

Speaker 2: 26:34

Yeah. So one of the first things that comes to my mind is, right after I was ordained an elder, my stake presidency asked me if I was willing to speak in my stake conference and I thought that was whoa, that's super, super cool. And I remember just, it wasn't really anything fancy, it was just a quick, maybe four or five minute testimony and I remember there were probably 10 or 15 people that came up to me after and just said, hey, thank you, your story meant a lot. It hits home because it's, you know, not just with a story like mine, but people's story in general. Sometimes it's hard to see hope for yourself, but when you see it in others, it kind of sparks that glimmer inside of you. It says, hey, if good things can work out for this person, then they can definitely work out for me. But a lot of the times it's patience that comes with it, a lot of our prayers and a lot of our blessings. It's delayed gratification.

Speaker 2: 27:39

I remember going back to church and maybe the first probably two or three months of going. I hated it. I felt that I felt very out of place. I felt that I didn't really belong there. I, and even for a long time, for years I felt that I would even corrupt people because you know, just one slip up there or one thing here and you know I would take somebody with me down that path. But I also think that, with me being so aware of it and trying my best not to that it, that was what kept me going forward, because I know what it's like to walk those darker parts of life and it kind of put me in a unique situation to try and help other people from A not only avoiding it but also being the experience for them so that way they can decide for themselves. You know, this is something I want to do and that there are. There are better choices to make, and there's also better things to life than just this temporary gratification.

Speaker 1: 28:46

That's awesome. I'm sure you'll have many, many more opportunities to help others as we go through experiences. It allows us to relate to new people, right, so that's awesome. Well, thank you so much, chad, for coming on, and thank you for sharing your story. It's an amazing story and I'm sure it will help many people that listen to it, and I think the moral of what we've talked about is watch who you're surrounded by and make sure you're surrounded by those who are surrounded by God.

Speaker 2: 29:32

Yeah, absolutely I would, if you were to get anything out of it. I hope you would at least get that that who you surround yourself with Definitely makes a bigger impact in your life than you realize. So just associate with good people, it goes a long way.

Speaker 1: 29:49

Absolutely. I've got a lot of friends that you know. It's amazing, like when you, when you think about things and you like look at, like how it you know plays out in your own life, like when I think about who my friends are and where they put me, like I can just watch my life going like this and that's like I shot this way, met these friends and they pointed me this way and met those friends and they just bounce back and forth. Our lives are made up of connections and those connections should point us to our Heavenly Father. So thank you so much for coming on here and pointing me to my Heavenly Father. Chad, you're the best.

Speaker 2: 30:33

Thanks a lot, deli, and I I appreciate you having me on and I I appreciate the opportunity to share my story.

Speaker 1: 30:40

Yeah, thank you. And to our amazing listeners, thank you so much for for joining and for listening to us talk and and my thoughts just left me Thank you so much for joining us and listening to Chad and I talk about what an impact our friends have made in our lives, and especially Chad's life. And don't forget to follow us on Instagram if you're not already. I remember that podcast and if you have an amazing story like Chad, reach out, and we'd love that to hear from you. So, thank you so much and remember him. Thank you you.