Ashly Stone hit rock bottom while living in a drug house in Arizona. Addicted to heroin, she realized she was going to die or end up in prison if she didn’t get help. Since she had already been in and out of 15 rehabilitation facilities before, however, she didn’t have much hope that one more time would be different.
But it was, because this time, she relied on God’s power.
Aiming for a Temple Recommend
Following a spiritual experience in rehab, Ashly decided to “do everything the Church asked me to do.” She wanted to see if living the gospel would truly make her happier.
Part of this was attending church and going through the repentance process—with the goal of getting a temple recommend to do baptisms for the dead. Her goal to have a temple recommended shifted her focus from what she shouldn’t be doing to the person she wanted to become.
Ashly gained a sense of purpose she hadn’t had when her goal was singularly about staying clean. “That experience in my life illustrated the Savior’s enabling power of His Atonement so clearly,” she says.
The purpose Ashly felt led to a strong sense of belonging in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Coming back to the gospel helped her find strength she hadn’t had before to stay on the path of sobriety and faith.
“The act of being in the Church, they wanted something from me, they asked things of me,” Ashly explains. “I needed that responsibility. I needed somebody to need me and need my efforts. And I needed to participate in something by choice, not because I had to, that was transformative for me.”
The Long-Term Blessings of Consistent Spiritual Effort
Ashly noticed such positive changes in her life from church and temple participation that she wanted to keep progressing. “Life just kept getting better and better,” she explains. She went on to receive her own endowment and marry her husband in the temple.
“This Church expects something of people,” said President Gordon B. Hinckley. “People respond to that. They welcome the opportunity to be of service, and as they do so, they grow in their capacity, in their understanding, and in their qualifications to do things and do them well.”
The restored gospel of Jesus Christ requires effort on our part, which leads to personal and spiritual growth. The Savior says in Matthew 16:24-25 that, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.”
Ashly shares, “I have never felt more free in my entire life than when I have been putting my entire heart and life into the gospel of Jesus Christ. ... Coming back to the Church ... saved my life.”
Church attendance, a calling, and temple worship may seem like small things, but their impact for good in our lives is immeasurable.
Hear more of Ashly's story on the Magnify podcast.
More articles for you about the temple and temple worship:
▶ An insight about the locker room to elevate your next temple trip
▶ The verses President Freeman reads to her granddaughters
▶ She interviewed 100+ people who came back to the Church. Read her hopeful perspective
