Hi again Sisters! Today we get to learn a little more about Kayla Meldrum. Kayla and her husband John have been in the ward for several years now. Kayla grew up in the tiny town of Bangor, California near Oroville. She is a massage therapist for a local health spa and also handles the company's social media. That job has spurred her on to start BYU's pathway program, where she is currently working on a degree in communication.
Here are two things that I love about Kayla: First, even though she expresses struggles with anxiety I love the resilience and optimism that Kayla exudes about life. Second, I love that Kayla is very real in her conversations and doesn't shy away from talking about genuine issues and problems that we all face. Today her faith journey and how God showed up in her life amidst divorce, anxiety, stepping away from the church for a decade, and LGBT issues in her family. I appreciate her honesty and desire to tackle subjects head on.
On that note, most of the people that have been featured on our podcast have told us stories about very difficult experiences in their lives. I’m sure it can be hard to recount these personal and sometimes painful stories. But there is purpose in this sharing. I recently heard a quote from Sister Reyna Aburto, a former member of the Relief Society general presidency. From the pulpit and in church videos she has shared many difficult times in her life: about her father’s alcoholism, mental illness and suicide, the death of her brother when she was young and the traumatic effect that had on her. She shared about how her first marriage failed and how scary it was to start over while caring for her young son all alone. Man- talk about keeping it real!
She was asked by an interviewer once if sharing her story was hard. This was her answer:
"Yes, it is hard. In fact, I always cry when I tell the story of when my brother died, and all the things that we went through. But then I realized that there is power in telling our stories. That when people tell me their stories, something happens, we become more relatable. And I realize that they are just human beings like I am. And I think that others can see that we are not alone. Of course, we need to follow the Holy Ghost in the way and the time and the context that we tell our story, but at some point I realized that my story does not belong to me. It really belongs to God because He is the one who made me and I also need to be able to testify about the miracles that He has made in my life, and hopefully that can help other people. That God is always around us, that He never leaves us alone, and that we can be the means to help others.”
Isn’t that beautiful? That is my hope for this podcast, sisters. That as we share our stories and what we have learned about God and ourselves along the way, we will be able to connect better with each other, we will see each other as fellow travelers along the covenant path in all our human messiness, and that we will be inspired by each sisters’ strength and courage.
So with that as our purpose, I hope you enjoy the following interview with Kayla Meldrum.
