Episode 653: Cole Conner, Age 22, Left Church and Returned

Listen, Learn & Love Hosted by Richard Ostler

Richard Ostler

Religion & Spirituality

4.8 • 839 Ratings

🗓️ 8 June 2023

⏱️ 70 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

My friend Cole Conner joins us to share his remarkable story. Cole talks about being bullied and realizing his same-sex-attraction. Cole talks about coming out to his parents/bishop and finding support—but also feeling some anger towards the Church. That led to Cole leaving the Church, returning to the Church, again leaving the Church and returning again. Cole talks about his life outside the Church being involved in the LGBTQ community—and why he couldn’t find sustained happiness. Cole talks about the constant love he feels from his Heavenly Father and Savior and their foundational role to give him hope and perspective. Cole also talks about working through two periods of being suicidal. Cole talks about finding sustained peace and joy in the Church and why his spiritual identity is straight. He talks about his hopes for the future including marrying a woman and having a family. Each story we share on this platform is unique and valid. I was deeply moved listening to Cole’s story and his journey. The gospel principles in Cole’s story help each of us find hope, peace, and the role of our Heavenly Parents and Savior in our lives. Thank you, Cole, for being on the podcast. You are a remarkable man. Your story will help so many! Cole is on Instragram @colerussellconner Podcast Links: Ministering to LGBTQ Latter-day Saints Facebook Group: www.facebook.com/groups/1433556613672143 Richard Ostler Book: Embracing LGBTQ Latter-day Saints: Deseret Book: www.deseretbook.com/p/listen-learn-and-love-embracing-lgbtq-latter-day-saints Amazon: www.amazon.com/dp/1462135773

Transcript

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0:00.0	Listeners to another episode of Listen, Learn, and Love hosted by Richard Osler.
0:09.2	My guest on today's podcast, Juni, joining me on a Sunday afternoon from his home in Arizona's my friend, Cole Connor.
0:18.8	Welcome to the podcast, Cole.
0:22.8	Thank you so much, Richard, for having me.
0:24.7	I really am so grateful to be here.
0:30.1	And Cole spells his name with C, so don't put K's in there on Connor or Cole.
0:33.9	This is Cole, Connor with C on both names.
0:35.0	Yes.
0:42.4	Cole is age 22 and is going to share his story of his journey with the sexual orientation. Cole identifies a straight. That hasn't always been how Cole has identified,
0:51.6	and he's going to share that journey. Every story is different, and this is a
0:55.7	platform that honors all stories, and this, like all stories, will probably be unique and have
1:01.8	some principles and perspective that help us learn and grow and how to better support each other.
1:07.5	Cole will talk about a couple of times leaving the church and coming back to the church
1:11.8	and why he is in the church and his hopes for the future. He hopes to marry woman. He'd love to
1:17.1	he's in the process of writing a book. He'd love to go to BYU. So he just has this bright life
1:23.4	ahead of him. He's been through the temple. And it's just in a wonderful spot. It's a great
1:27.7	relationship with his parents, with his bishop. And I'm just honored that Cole would come on the
1:32.1	podcast and bravely share his story. I think this is the first time he's sharing it broadly,
1:37.3	and that takes courage. My heart kind of goes out to anybody that gets so vulnerable and talks
1:42.4	about their life. And so is that okay for an introduction, Cole?
1:46.9	Yes, that's perfect.
1:48.6	Okay, we will turn it over to you.
	...

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