Walking with the Savior - Testimonies of Jesus Christ in Christian Lives
Christian guests share their stories, testimonies, and journey with the Savior Jesus Christ. Also on Youtube: bit.ly/44Pm0Ug Testimonies range from lifetime believers to inmates transformed by the power of Jesus Christ. Come join us as real life, everyday saints, share their modern day testimony of the Savior.
Walking with the Savior - Testimonies of Jesus Christ in Christian Lives
From Drugs, Gangs and Prison to Christ: Manny Lopez
In this inspiring episode, guest Manny Lopez shares his incredible journey from a troubled childhood to a life centered around faith, redemption, and service. Manny recounts his experiences growing up in a dysfunctional family, his struggles with addiction and crime, and his time in foster care and prison.
He explains how becoming a father motivated him to seek change and break free from gang life. Manny emphasizes the importance of connection, community, and spirituality in overcoming addiction. Through his work in addiction recovery and his newfound faith, Manny demonstrates the power of God's plan and the possibility of transformation, no matter how far one has fallen. Join us as Manny discusses his hopes for the future, his commitment to helping others, and the profound impact that his faith has had on his life and his family.
This episode is sponsored by Heroic: Personal Excellence. Collective Flourishing.
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Have a story to share? Email John: thisisjesusinmylife@gmail.com
Yeah, unfortunately, yeah, yeah, yeah. No problem, bro.
manny-lopez_1_01-02-2025_120215:a dysfunctional family. My mother was a teenager. She had me when she was 13 years old. so there's a lot of trauma that, that's associated with that. there was a lot of things going on in my family at that time. My father was working, my grandfather was working a job in Albuquerque, New Mexico at that time. And he was really into, his alcoholism had really taken over. And my grandmother, she, she set her foot down and said, Enough is enough, we're going back to Utah. So as an infant, I was packed up. Um, the man that got my mother pregnant decided to go his own way and he was hiding from his responsibilities. My grandmother said, enough is enough. We're going back to Utah. Packed us up. I was an infant, brought us back. So I'm from the Salt Lake Valley. I grew up on the west side of Salt Lake. My mother just had this attraction to men that weren't healthy for her. so that would be her pattern. She, she immediately got involved with, with a man that, that she had, four more kids with, my brothers, I have two brothers and two sisters. They're all younger than me. So by the time my mother was 21 years old, she was a single mother because their father had decided to go his own way and started another family. So, I remember I was coming out of elementary school when I was nine years old and, there was, were some people there to talk to me and they were from the Division of Child and Family Services, DCFS. And they said we were going to go with them. See, my mother was involved in, in addiction, in abuse, in codependency, you know, a lot of things that took her far away from being a healthy parent, a family. let me just go back just a little bit. So right before that, that same year that I got taken into foster care, um, my mother was with a boyfriend they didn't pay much attention to us kids. I had grown up. Um, pretty lonely. I didn't have a lot of friends or anything like that. And then one day there was a knock on the door and it was the missionaries from the church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints. My mother allowed them come in and meet with me. She allowed this to be my journey. They started teaching me the gospel. So when I was eight years old, I was baptized and then the following year was when the Division of Child and Family Services stepped in and took us all away. Now what was rare about when we got taken away was there's five of us and there was a family that was willing to take all five of us.
john_1_01-02-2025_120216:Oh, cool.
manny-lopez_1_01-02-2025_120215:Um, I kind of really knew what was going on at that time because of, uh, I knew that we were being taken away from my mother and me and my mother, we've always had this really, really close bond. And, so I immediately started acting out I would say things like, you're not my mom, you're not my dad. I hate you. Things like that. I was destroying property. I was thinking, I was thinking, you know, everybody in my life pretty much has left. I'll, um,
john_1_01-02-2025_120216:Ugh.
manny-lopez_1_01-02-2025_120215:if I act out, maybe they won't want me and they'll send me back. Well, what
john_1_01-02-2025_120216:You're talking about the, you're talking about the foster homes.
manny-lopez_1_01-02-2025_120215:home. Yeah.
john_1_01-02-2025_120216:Yeah. So they'll send you back to your
manny-lopez_1_01-02-2025_120215:To my
john_1_01-02-2025_120216:birth mom. Yeah. That makes sense. Wow.
manny-lopez_1_01-02-2025_120215:my brothers and sisters. They said, this, this, this needs to happen because if not, he's going to influence the other kids in a negative way. And so that began my journey being bounced around from foster home to foster home. So I, I ended up in a foster home and I continued to go to church. But even though I was going to church, there was still a lot of abuse in these homes. Emotional abuse, physical abuse, you know, mental abuse. Um, And, and I would act out, you know, I think I feel like the more abuse that I, that I, that was I experienced the more that I acted out and then a false drone would be like, okay, we don't want them, send them away. And I'd go to a different one and a different one. uh, eventually when I was 12 years old, I had had enough and I said, you know what? I'm going to take my chances. on my own. I'm going to go look for my mom. And so i, I stole a bike from the bike rack at my elementary school and I rode it from Lehi all the way back to Salt Lake. And for those that don't know where Lehi, Utah is, Or Salt Lake Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah is. They're not like right next to each other. They're not very far from each other but they're, it took me all day to ride my bike.
john_1_01-02-2025_120216:Yeah, that's a wise, that's at least 35 miles.
manny-lopez_1_01-02-2025_120215:Yeah. so one thing that I can say is that I've always been pretty good with numbers and I've always been pretty good with directions. And so I knew about where my grandmother's house was and I remembered her phone number after all the years and I called and my mother happened to be there. They came in, they picked me up and that would begin my life on the run as a juvenile.
john_1_01-02-2025_120216:Wow.
manny-lopez_1_01-02-2025_120215:so I mean, I started smoking marijuana pretty age 12, right, right around that time. I started drinking alcohol ages 12, 13, 14 periodically. Um, I think 14 years old, I tried methamphetamines for the first time. Um, my pattern would become, I would run away from a placement, either a foster home, a group home. Um, I would run to my family and then I would be picked up and brought back or I'd be picked up and taken to secure lockup or I would be, um, put in a group home or something like that. And so my pattern was to consistently run away from, from my placements. That would, that would really jumpstart a pattern for me throughout my whole life was just running, running, running, running, and always being on the run. And, um, Um, you know, I think one of the biggest, one of the biggest barriers for me was trying to figure out, you know, where my place was, where I fit. Now one thing I can consistently say is throughout my whole life, um, I've had a really connection with Christ.
john_1_01-02-2025_120216:Hmm.
manny-lopez_1_01-02-2025_120215:I've had a really strong connection, you know, from, from the moment that I was baptized, I literally felt the Holy Ghost, the presence of the Holy Ghost in my life. Um, And so in my darkest times when I was by myself, like I would pray
john_1_01-02-2025_120216:Hmm.
manny-lopez_1_01-02-2025_120215:I, I, I, I maintain that connection. And, um, so when I was 16 years old, I was involved in a drug deal that didn't go the way that it was planned. And, um, I ended up shooting somebody twice to get out of the house.
john_1_01-02-2025_120216:Hmm.
manny-lopez_1_01-02-2025_120215:Um, I, I went on the run from that. I was arrested about a month later after that. Um, I was taken to the juvenile detention center where I had spent the majority of my, my juvenile life in and out of, I was certified as an adult, um, and sent to the jail, which is directly across the street from the juvenile detention center in Salt Lake County. Um, I, I would appear before the adult judge, and the adult judge, um, would sentence me to one to 15 years in the Utah State Prison.
john_1_01-02-2025_120216:Oh.
manny-lopez_1_01-02-2025_120215:So I turned 17 years old in jail. I was sent out to the prison where I turned 23. So I did six years. and you know, I, I stayed involved in a lot of the same behaviors, the destructive thinking, the destructive cycles that, that I had been in. on the streets. Um, I did attend some of the church services while I was locked up. But for me, they weren't enough to take me away from like the gang activity that I had been involved in the drug activity that I had been involved in. Um, and for me, that would be a pattern that would follow me for the next 20 years. the next 20 years, my pattern was
john_1_01-02-2025_120216:Mm.
manny-lopez_1_01-02-2025_120215:it was in the foster care system. And the juvenile justice system was I would get out and And I would go back to the same environment that I was involved in, the same people that I was involved in, the same behaviors that I was involved in. And I would right back to prison. It was
john_1_01-02-2025_120216:Mm.
manny-lopez_1_01-02-2025_120215:out, in and out. It was a revolving door for me. I had spent more time in the past 20 years in prison than I did outside of prison.
john_1_01-02-2025_120216:Wow.
manny-lopez_1_01-02-2025_120215:In 2017 the
john_1_01-02-2025_120216:Mm-hmm
manny-lopez_1_01-02-2025_120215:with became pregnant with my daughter. She's everything to me right now. But there was a time where I can't say that she was that because not even that was enough. And I remember when I held her in my hands for the first time, I realized that that, that was connection. That was family. That was something that I'd been searching for my whole life. I'd searched for in the drugs I searched for in the gangs. I searched for it. You know, in the streets and I, I never found it. I found what I would consider like a surrogate of it. You know, the gang served a purpose for a time, you know, until I actually experienced the authenticity of it. for the first time. So, but it still wasn't enough for me not to go back to prison. So shortly after she was born, I went back to prison again. And I remember I was thinking to myself, like, I don't want to continue to do this. I want to be a father. Like I had, I have a choice and the choices I want to take care of my daughter. She doesn't have a choice on whether I'm going to be there or not. she's dependent on, on me up. And so, um, When I hit the main yard of the prison, I, I approached my gang and I said, Hey, I don't want to be a part of this anymore. usually they give you a couple of options and that's, you can go be a family man or you can go and be, um, a man of God. And at that time I wasn't a man of God, but I wanted to be a father. Um, however, with me, they didn't really give me that option. They basically said, you know, F you, this is what's going down and you are going to get with the program we're going to send you. off the yard on a stretcher. and I just reached my peak when they'd said that to me. Um, I felt like they were denying me the opportunity to, to, to be a father. And so, you know, I punched the guy that was next to me and I forced their hand. I forced them to jump me out on the main yard and they jumped me out pretty bad. They beat me pretty bad. It is probably some of the most physical pain that I've ever experienced in my life. Um, but I remember as much physical pain that I was in, know, when I walked off that yard, spiritually, I had never felt freer.
john_1_01-02-2025_120216:Wow.
manny-lopez_1_01-02-2025_120215:Now I wish that I could say that that was enough for me to, to turn a new leaf to, to change. But even that wasn't because although I wasn't a part of the gang anymore, I still had my destructive thinking. I still had my destructive behaviors. I still had my disconnect from Christ and, and, and, and from, and from our heavenly father. know, I still had this thing called codependency that I had been really wrapped up in and um, Um, so I would get out and I would continue to go back to prison for a couple more years. I met my wife on one of those times that I'd gotten out of prison and um, I met her in a hotel room and she was selling drugs and I remember the moment that I saw her, I knew that I was in love with her because she was damaged just like me.
john_1_01-02-2025_120216:Hmm,
manny-lopez_1_01-02-2025_120215:And so my codependency was so extreme. that I would, I would literally run away from the halfway house just to spend one night with her
john_1_01-02-2025_120216:hm,
manny-lopez_1_01-02-2025_120215:that next day after that I was going to go back to prison because they were coming for me. And, and, and that's exactly what happened. Now, my wife was a little bit different from all the women that I'd been with before that she stuck around like she, she cared. Like I got letters from her and phone calls and, and things like that. And so I would do a four month parole violation. Um, and then get out to her now. She was still in the same destructive lifestyle of the drug use and things like that. Um, so I would go right back to it her, you know, I'm willing to give up my freedom for you and my life and
john_1_01-02-2025_120216:hm
manny-lopez_1_01-02-2025_120215:Um, because at that, like during that time, I, from what had been given to me growing up, I felt like that's what love was and
john_1_01-02-2025_120216:mm-hmm
manny-lopez_1_01-02-2025_120215:how we communicated love to each other. You know, if I'm willing to sacrifice myself for you, that means I love you. Um, and, and I hadn't really picked up on, you know, I want, I want to live for you. I want to show you I love you by living for you.
john_1_01-02-2025_120216:Love that.
manny-lopez_1_01-02-2025_120215:and so, and so I got out and instead of going to a drug program like I was supposed to, know, we manipulated our way, um, out of adult probation and parole and, you know, we would go on like a seven month, you know, I, I, I would consider this like our time of like the 2019 version of Bonnie and Clyde, just running and gunning, you
john_1_01-02-2025_120216:Oh no.
manny-lopez_1_01-02-2025_120215:all through the Salt Lake Valley,
john_1_01-02-2025_120216:Hmm.
manny-lopez_1_01-02-2025_120215:and, and We had no structure. We had no direction. We had no purpose. We were super codependent. So we were so focused on each other that we neglected the world. We neglected our children. We didn't neglected our responsibilities. I neglected my, my parole, my freedom And that, so that would, and so here's with, with mine and hers relationship is really toxic because we would get together, we would fight, we would run away from each other then we would chase each other and then we'd get back together and we'd fight again. And it was, it was that communication of love. Like if, if you don't abuse me or allow me to abuse you, then that means that you don't love me or that I don't love you.
john_1_01-02-2025_120216:Wow.
manny-lopez_1_01-02-2025_120215:behavior. That's all things
john_1_01-02-2025_120216:Yeah. Mm.
manny-lopez_1_01-02-2025_120215:and so it would end for me. Driving a stolen vehicle in Murray, which is in the Salt Lake Valley, um, on State Street and Vine Street, trying to pull into a liquor store because I couldn't get my hands on what I wanted to numb the way that I was feeling, which was meth, heroin, and bath salt, or fentanyl. And, and so going through the intersection, um, I crashed my, the vehicle that I was in, into a van. And, and I remember some, somebody pulled over to try and help and they're trying to get me out of the vehicle. And I jumped out of the vehicle that I was in and I brushed them aside and then I jumped into their vehicle and I tried to steal their vehicle. Now luckily for everybody involved, they had taken their keys out of the ignition. I remember I passed out in their vehicle. I woke up in the backseat. No, I woke up in the, so I passed out in their vehicle. I woke up in the hospital. I passed out again and I woke up in the backseat of my parole officer's vehicle being driven back to prison for the 11th time.
john_1_01-02-2025_120216:Wow. Mm.
manny-lopez_1_01-02-2025_120215:God, you know, my higher power, who I choose to refer to as God, as, as, This is where he came down and gave me one of those, you know, those silent backhands, you know, that you just, you're like, okay, I have nobody to blame anymore, but myself. have put myself in this situation again. I couldn't
john_1_01-02-2025_120216:Mm. Mm. Mm. Mm. Mm. Mm. Mm hmm.
manny-lopez_1_01-02-2025_120215:do this again. And so I remember in that moment I took real ownership and that really set the pace for everything that would follow in my life. I went back to prison I, and I got on the phone and I called my daughter. So my daughter's three at this time. And so she's starting to talk. she's saying, daddy, where are you? it dawned on me in that moment how selfish I really was. See, I had chose to do all these things, but she hadn't chose to be abandoned. She didn't choose not to have a father. And I realized in that moment that I set the example for the type of men that she's going to allow into her life. if i'm in and out of prison, in and out of toxic relationships, in and out of the streets, then her ending up with somebody like that is very high. That's very likely. You And I couldn't control how much time I was going to get. And I was looking at a lot of time. I was looking at five years to life, attempted carjacking, attempted aggravated robbery, stolen vehicle, running from the police, you know, all these things. And, and, and I chose, you know, to give it to God. If I can't control it, give it to God. What do I have control? What is in my control? And what was in my control was working on myself, reconnecting, rebuilding that relationship with God. reconnecting with Christ. And so that's what I did. And it wasn't easy. It was, it was actually really hard, you know? And, and I feel like like that's how it is for me when it comes to, to this relationship with, with my heavenly father is, uh, you know, I'm constantly in a cycle of either I'm in adversity coming out of adversity or about to go back into adversity, you know, but through that, through that cycle, like I am never alone. I never have to be alone. realized throughout my life, the times that I felt alone the most, I was never alone. You know, the Holy Ghost was right there communicating directly to God for me. And, and so, you know, I focused on, on self development. I, and that was whole person change. You know, I was, I started changing. you know, my, my, the psychological things that were going on with me. I started working, I got into a drug program. I started working on the biological things, you know, started working out, you know, I started working on the social things for me. I started having different relationships with people and hanging out with different people. You know, things that I wanted, people that were the Bible, people that were going to church, people that were holding each other accountable, people that were, that had these like that, that, that wanted something better than, we were accepting there in prison. And I remember after 18 months, I had pled my charges down to one to 15 years, um, for a stolen vehicle and zero to five years for, um, running from the police officers. And um, and I knew like I get, I was in prison, but if I knew that if the judge sentenced me to prison on these charges, I was gonna do a lot of time. with my history. And so, all I could do was
john_1_01-02-2025_120216:Mm mm.
manny-lopez_1_01-02-2025_120215:the judge as a changed man. And this is a time in my life, like, when I say present myself as a changed man, I was a changed man. Like,
john_1_01-02-2025_120216:Oh.
manny-lopez_1_01-02-2025_120215:literally stepped into this new version of myself with conviction. know, I acted as if to become as if. And so what happened was, you know, I, I, I let the judge know, like, if what you want from me is time, that's all you're going to get out of me because I have programmed and program and program. I had read every self help development book I could get my hands on. You know, I was, I was, I was back in into the religious services and, and things like that. Um, and he looked at me for a good 20 seconds, you know, real deep into my soul type of look. And, and when he spoke, He said, Mr. Lopez, you're right. All I can give you is time all you've done the majority of your life is time and time has not served you well. So what I'm going to do is I'm going to send it to you to prison and my heart dropped. He said, but I'm going to suspend that sentence and I'm going to give you 36 months probation and I'm going to send you to a drug program and you are going to do just as well there as you did here because if you come before me for anything, I'm going to give you every day of your sentence. And like that, my life changed.
john_1_01-02-2025_120216:Wow.
manny-lopez_1_01-02-2025_120215:Somebody that I least expected to see anything in me, believed in me, was willing to give me a chance. And I feel like that was the chance. That was the opportunity that I'd been fighting my whole life for. I went to the board two weeks after that. I was released another two weeks after that. It just moved really fast. Now, another cool part of this story my journey is that While I was in prison, my wife had gotten herself into a program as well because
john_1_01-02-2025_120216:Mm.
manny-lopez_1_01-02-2025_120215:saw the pattern that if, if she continues to do what she's doing, she's going to continue living the life she's living. not going to have her kids in her life. She's not, you know, I'm going to get out and chase her and do all these toxic things again. And so she made a decision to change herself. She
john_1_01-02-2025_120216:Mm.
manny-lopez_1_01-02-2025_120215:from me and worked on herself, which I really respect. And when I got out, she had these really cool things that I wasn't familiar with and they're called boundaries.
john_1_01-02-2025_120216:Yeah.
manny-lopez_1_01-02-2025_120215:And so what she, what she did was she said, Hey, look, you're going to go to this program and you're going to run an honest program and then we'll talk. We're not even gonna, gonna move forward with anything and then we'll start talking. And I did, I said, you know what? I trust this process. I trust God's plan. God has a plan. That's, that's one of my things that I say all the time. It's probably, you know, my motto or, or, or, you know, my biggest cliche is like God's plan. Anytime I'm struggling with something, it's God's plan. It's God's
john_1_01-02-2025_120216:Mm.
manny-lopez_1_01-02-2025_120215:plan. Who am I to question God's plan? you know, who am I to try and understand God's plan? I don't have the divine knowledge or capacity to even begin to go down that path. Um, but I choose to just accept it. I trust that process. I don't try
john_1_01-02-2025_120216:Mm.
manny-lopez_1_01-02-2025_120215:that process. it needs to play out the way that it needs to play out because God has a plan.
john_1_01-02-2025_120216:Mm.
manny-lopez_1_01-02-2025_120215:And so, you know, I, I did really well in that program. I was ready. I completed it in, in 90 days. And then I, I got out and we moved in together I began working construction cleanup at the airport. And my wife was, um, she wasn't my wife at the time, but she was working, she was a server at Buffalo Wild Wings. And, um, we rarely saw each other because I worked all day from the morning to, to the afternoon. And then she worked in the evenings. And, um, and I remember thinking like, you know, something's got to give God, God, just trust God's plan. And, um, and so, um, I really wanted to work in the addiction recovery field. You know, I feel like I can help a lot of people just from the lived experience that I have. And so we went to some training to become certified peer support specialists. And for anybody that doesn't know what a peer support specialist is, it is somebody who has walked in your shoes and can help guide you or support you and just stand with you while you're going through it. We don't try and fix you. We don't try and give you the answers. We feel like you have the answers already. You know, we just want to support you through that process. And so we became that, and I started shopping myself around to different programs in the area. Um, and I got an interview at a program called Papillon Integrated Recovery Center. Shout out to Papillon for, for the opportunity that they gave me. Um, and it took me three interviews before I landed the position. The first interview, you know, in the past, I wouldn't being told no or not getting a call back would have, you know, been an excuse for me to just go the other way with my life, you know,
john_1_01-02-2025_120216:Mm hmm.
manny-lopez_1_01-02-2025_120215:to the, to the negative things. Um, but I, I, learned how to advocate for myself to speak up for myself. And so that's what I did. And so I ended up being the house manager for the sober livings that they have for all the men. And then shortly after that I was able to bring my wife Misty on as well. And then we got back into school, um, working on our degrees in human services with a concentration in addiction. know, like I want to be a therapist. Um, and that's what I'm working on right now. my wife, she has goals of being psychologist. She's taken it all the way to the PhD and, and, and you know, just thinking about it and just saying that right there, it just tells me like, man, man, you, you have come so far
john_1_01-02-2025_120216:Mm hmm.
manny-lopez_1_01-02-2025_120215:That's, it's been miracle after miracle after miracle. And I can't take responsibility for that. I can't take ownership for that. That's God. That's Christ working directly in, in, in our lives. Um, then from, from there we, we got on the clinical team working there. And so we started teaching, you know, four groups a week. We started doing 10 individual sessions a week with, with people, our people, you know, people that come from, from the destruction, from the streets, from the homelessness, that from all those things, from the addiction and the codependency and, and the broken homes and the pain and the suffering, we started working with our people. um, I remember we were living in, in apartment in Cottonwood Heights. And. been living there for a couple of years, and my criminal history came back, and they said, Hey, uh, you can't live here anymore.
john_1_01-02-2025_120216:Oh, no. Mm
manny-lopez_1_01-02-2025_120215:brother. Like, so, you know, we started shopping ourselves around to different apartment complexes in the area cause we really liked the area and we were getting denied one after the other. We were getting denied. And I remember we ended up in an apartment complex similar to some of the ones that we used to hang out in and we saw the drug activity and we saw the police activity and we saw, you know, everything that we had fought to get away from. And we were sitting in the vehicle. It was me, it was my wife, myself, and my daughter was in the backseat in her car seat. And I said, babe, I don't think, you know, this is what God has planned for us. I don't, I don't see God bringing us this far and then sending us back. And she said, you know, we should pray about this. And so we prayed. And I asked God, you know, guide, guide us where you want us to be, Lord, you know. And, uh, then we let the spirit guide us. And again, I feel like my spirit has been strong, you know, since the moment that I was baptized and I felt like that, that's been a part of my identity. Um, even when I lost my way,
john_1_01-02-2025_120216:hmm.
manny-lopez_1_01-02-2025_120215:son loses
john_1_01-02-2025_120216:Mm hmm. Mm hmm.
manny-lopez_1_01-02-2025_120215:and so we just let the spirit guide us left here, right there. And she's like, Hey, tell me where to go. And we ended up in Sandy um, um, Looking for a sign and lo and behold, we found a sign in a lawn and it said for rent and which is kind of rare and because everything's online now
john_1_01-02-2025_120216:Yeah. Mm hmm. Mm hmm. Mm
manny-lopez_1_01-02-2025_120215:and our journey and everything and, and this man is willing to take a chance on us. And so we moved into a five bedroom home in Sandy. We have all our kids. We have three kids. We have two teenage boys and my daughter who's seven years old. Um, all our kids have their own rooms. Um, and so I decided to go back to church and I remember going back to church for the first time here in our ward uh, I got the tattoos and I got the dreadlocks and you know, I don't look like anybody else in the church and I was nervous. I didn't know if I was going to be judged or if they were going to be willing to accept me. And, but you know, I was guided by the spirit. And I, and I went into church and I sat alone by myself and I was greeted and welcomed. And I remember in my ward, there's, there's some empty seats and I was just filled with the spirit.
john_1_01-02-2025_120216:Hmm.
manny-lopez_1_01-02-2025_120215:And so If people have lost their way, I hope they find their way back to a, to a church like this, to a ward like this where they're welcomed in and they're not judged. um, and I kept going by myself, you know, for, for some time and then I brought my daughter along. And, uh, you know, it's really funny about when I brought my daughter along, she had never been in, in, in church. And, uh, as soon as the organ played, as soon as she heard the music, it scared her. She started crying. Um, cause it's like that, dun, like stuff. Like she's not, she's not, wasn't used to it. Um, and, and I sat with her and I hugged her and I was like, you're okay. And, and we're singing about God and, and, uh, and now she loves it. She's, she's, she plays with all the other kids. Um, my wife. Um, you know, I got, when, when I got the priesthood reestablished in my life, um, and I started blessing the sacrament, um, my wife came and was a part of that. And uh, my friend Portia Louder was a part of that and, and her husband, Chad, and uh, I believe, you know, Portia, right?
john_1_01-02-2025_120216:Yeah, yeah, yeah. Porsche is amazing. Done an interview with her.
manny-lopez_1_01-02-2025_120215:you know, Chad laid his hands on my head to,
john_1_01-02-2025_120216:Mm
manny-lopez_1_01-02-2025_120215:me with the priesthood, her
john_1_01-02-2025_120216:hmm. Mm
manny-lopez_1_01-02-2025_120215:I've just been so blessed. And then not that long after that, you know, some months after that, um, I got my patriarchal blessing and then, and then not that long after that, you know, I, able to, become an elder to come from where I came from and to be where I'm at right now. Those are miracles. God's hand. That's Christ in my life.
john_1_01-02-2025_120216:hmm. Wow.
manny-lopez_1_01-02-2025_120215:my wife's, um, my wife's journey in her spirituality, um, has been a little bit difficult for her. And, uh, she started meeting with, with the sister missionaries and, and finding her place as well. Um, and, and I just, a couple of weeks ago I was able to baptize her, you know, and then the following week I was able to, um, confirm her with the Holy Ghost. And my life is filled spiritual connection and it's filled with signs of Christ and, and of our Heavenly Father constantly. Constantly every day. I'm a part of a community that's caring and loving and they just show up and say hi or bring bread or invite us to go and to go be a part of something. know, you know, they say the opposite of addiction is connection. And I truly believe that. But it, but it's connection to specific things like community
john_1_01-02-2025_120216:Yeah. I love that.
manny-lopez_1_01-02-2025_120215:to Christ, to spirituality.
john_1_01-02-2025_120216:Yeah.
manny-lopez_1_01-02-2025_120215:of a deck of addiction is connection. But pick your connection wisely because there
john_1_01-02-2025_120216:Yeah. Mm hmm. Mm
manny-lopez_1_01-02-2025_120215:a time when I was connected to gang activity.
john_1_01-02-2025_120216:hmm.
manny-lopez_1_01-02-2025_120215:know, there was a time that I was, that I was connected to all the wrong things. And today I don't have to live like that. I'm happy with the person that I am. work in the addiction recovery field. I started, we started a program called Level Up IOP. uh, and now we're basically, we're bringing treatment, we're bringing the program to the people. We're meeting people wherever they're at, wherever part of the state, we're coming virtually, we're coming into your lives. We recognize that, that you have kids, you have a job, you have a life and those are motivating factors. We want to help you nurture those bring the value up in those things.
john_1_01-02-2025_120216:That's awesome, brother. What was it like? You talked about going back to church and being afraid. How did the people respond? You know, and so that for those out there who are like. You know, coach us along. Guy shows up to church, tatted up, new to the building or the place. How did your word respond? You were like, I wish everybody could have a word like that. Teach us a little bit.
manny-lopez_1_01-02-2025_120215:I mean, they, they, they shook my hand right when I walked in and you know, the Bishop was expecting me and, and I don't know if he gave, you know, anybody a heads up before that. But like, I just felt like I wasn't judged. I wasn't judged. People smiled at me and, and they, they weren't looking at my tattoos or anything like that. When they looked at me, they looked into my eyes. Like I was like, I was a person, like I had value.
john_1_01-02-2025_120216:Hmm. I love that. And after you look back on your journey, what is, If somebody's at the beginning of this journey or in the middle of the mess that you've described What could you teach them about Jesus Christ and might want to inspire them to seek out this Savior?
manny-lopez_1_01-02-2025_120215:I just, I like to tell people like, you are never alone. Like, but you have to choose not to be alone. know, Christ has his hand extended to you. You have to take it.
john_1_01-02-2025_120216:And and what was the process for you to reach out to him?
manny-lopez_1_01-02-2025_120215:I just, I had to tap into, I had to, I had to speak up. I had to speak up and say, Hey, like I don't have this figured out. Hey, like I need help. Hey, please don't leave me. And then I, and now I realize like I was never left. I was never left. I just chose to go a different direction where that connection didn't live.
john_1_01-02-2025_120216:So true
manny-lopez_1_01-02-2025_120215:You
john_1_01-02-2025_120216:and but
manny-lopez_1_01-02-2025_120215:month. And I remember when I, when I went to our Bishop and said, Hey, like I've been asked to speak in state conference. Um, and I, and I always, you know, I always express gratitude and thanks to the ward and things like that. And I'll get comments from, from the word, like, no, thank you. You changed this ward,
john_1_01-02-2025_120216:Hmm
manny-lopez_1_01-02-2025_120215:you know, and maybe someone like me is helping, you know, Um, you know, change the stigma or bias that, that, that we have on, on, on people sometimes, you know? And so I spoke in state conference and, and the people that came up after, after state conference to shake my hand and say, Hey, thank you for sharing your story. And immediately my phone was buzzing, you know, before we even left church, it was buzzing. Like, thank you for sharing your story. Thank you for sharing your testimony. Thank you. Like, I think at this point where the world is right now, we all know somebody. That has been affected by addiction or, or some of these negative things. You know, somebody in our family, or maybe it's you, yourself, you know, and, and you've had to overcome some things. And so it's, it's real, it's touched, it's touched lives and, and we're getting away from like, you know, there's, there's one model for everybody. It doesn't, it doesn't work like that.
john_1_01-02-2025_120216:I think Okay, go ahead. Sorry, I didn't, I thought you were
manny-lopez_1_01-02-2025_120215:ahead
john_1_01-02-2025_120216:done. Are you done with that thought, or?
manny-lopez_1_01-02-2025_120215:I'm done with that
john_1_01-02-2025_120216:Okay, um, I wonder if, you know, sometimes we fall into, when we go to church, Oh, I'm okay. Everything's great. And, when you show up, and you're real, and, you're vulnerable and you're willing to share your story. And. I think that's becomes contagious also takes is one person to be real and then we can get rid of the fake
manny-lopez_1_01-02-2025_120215:Right.
john_1_01-02-2025_120216:But it takes one brave person to start out by being real
manny-lopez_1_01-02-2025_120215:Right, well, and
john_1_01-02-2025_120216:we're just like otherwise we're just like oh, yeah life's great. You know, everything's good later on you learn a month later They're getting divorced. It was like dude, you could have talked to me. Mm hmm
manny-lopez_1_01-02-2025_120215:know, the, for me, the definition of leadership is somebody that's willing to go first. Somebody that's willing to go first. Somebody that's willing to speak up. Somebody that's willing And that's one thing that I learned, you know, when I was in the treatment program. It's called Odyssey House of Utah. Shout out to Odyssey for all they did for me. Um, was, I was willing to go first. I'm from this city, so a lot of the people coming from the jails and the prisons and things like that going into the program. They, I know them and, and they didn't have the best intentions. They were doing it because they wanted to get off the streets or they wanted to, the courts were telling them they had to be there, but they were still doing some of the destructive behaviors and, and I didn't want to participate in that. I wanted to be a father. I wanted to be healthy. I didn't want. you know, I wanted to be trusted. You know, I think time plus consistency is how you build trust. And that's what I was doing. I was trying to do that. And, um, and I had to walk alone for a while. But what I noticed was people started gravitating towards towards me that wanted change. It was slowly, but by the time that I left that house, it was a healthy house. You know, it takes somebody that's willing to go first. That's willing to stand up and say, Hey, I don't want that anymore. to set and maintain healthy boundaries, you know?
john_1_01-02-2025_120216:At the beginning, before we did, we, we hit record on this episode. I said, what do you want to do in 2025? And I was really impressed with your answer, your answer. Would you share what you told me about 2025?
manny-lopez_1_01-02-2025_120215:Yeah. In 2025 I, I want to practice, um, humility, you know, I, I want, I want to practice patience. I, I still struggle with, you know, in my mission statement, um, that I try and read every day. It says, you know, I refuse to judge the worst of someone based off the best of myself. And I found myself doing that because I see people that may have not have struggled as much as I have in their life. Um, have opportunities presented to him and, and, and not appreciate him or not value him or not take advantage of him. And, and so, you know, it kind of triggers something for me to, to look at them a little bit different than I should be
john_1_01-02-2025_120216:Hmm.
manny-lopez_1_01-02-2025_120215:not so welcoming and supportive. And, and I want to, I want to work on that. You know, I want to touch a hundred thousand people this year. know, I do motivational videos and, and, um, and things like that. I do. I speak at different high schools and, and things like that in different places. Um, I, want to be financially secure. I want, you know, um, and I'm on my way. I don't think that, I don't think that it's unrealistic. I think it's realistic, very realistic and, and, and I'm on my way. And I'd like to, what you said, you know, we set that goal and if we don't reach it, that's okay. Let's see how close do we get. And who
john_1_01-02-2025_120216:Yeah.
manny-lopez_1_01-02-2025_120215:we might bypass that goal.
john_1_01-02-2025_120216:Yeah.
manny-lopez_1_01-02-2025_120215:And,
john_1_01-02-2025_120216:Yeah.
manny-lopez_1_01-02-2025_120215:but I'm, I'm, I'm very people focused, know, I, I, I'm very service focused. Um, and, I get to help my people,
john_1_01-02-2025_120216:Hmm.
manny-lopez_1_01-02-2025_120215:you know, the other prodigal children that lost their way,
john_1_01-02-2025_120216:Yeah.
manny-lopez_1_01-02-2025_120215:you know, and,
john_1_01-02-2025_120216:I love that.
manny-lopez_1_01-02-2025_120215:and let them know, like, when you come back, there's a place for you,
john_1_01-02-2025_120216:Yeah.
manny-lopez_1_01-02-2025_120215:you know, we're going to welcome you. We're going to put, go get the biggest calf and we're going to feast. You know, and there's going to be people that, that, that don't understand it and don't agree with it. And we're going to help, you know, meet them where they're at as well
john_1_01-02-2025_120216:Mmm,
manny-lopez_1_01-02-2025_120215:and
john_1_01-02-2025_120216:that's so good. I
manny-lopez_1_01-02-2025_120215:you know?
john_1_01-02-2025_120216:love that. Yeah, you still have an inheritance. God still has a plan for you. Well, you cannot fall farther than the Savior can reach. And that's for you, Manny, and anybody else out listening today. What I'm really impressed, Manny, lean back just a little bit so everybody can see that t shirt again. Level up IOP. Here's the thing that impressed me most about you, Manny, you know, is Is when I reached out to you, you know, and we were looking at our schedule to fit this in, you were a month out, you were booked. You're like helping people. You're doing these sessions every day with these people. Like, I love how you say I'm working with my people. I love that brother. But then I, you know, so I'm, I'm. In my mind, Manny, you are somebody big. I was so grateful to have you on this episode, but then I ask you, Hey, what's something I can pray for you? And you said, well, I'm working on humility.
manny-lopez_1_01-02-2025_120215:Yeah
john_1_01-02-2025_120216:I'm like, that is a. That is a real man right there. He realizes, Hey, life is hard, but I'm still working on the basics.
manny-lopez_1_01-02-2025_120215:I'm still working man. Like there's still a lot of work to do
john_1_01-02-2025_120216:And you're,
manny-lopez_1_01-02-2025_120215:there's still a lot of heavy lifting to do
john_1_01-02-2025_120216:yeah. And you're, you're, you're having this success with these people, but you're like, I'm working on humility and I love that. And brother, I just want to thank you for your testimony and your witness of Jesus Christ and how he's helped you and how he can help anybody and how willing you are to go out and find those people that need your help. I just love it brother. Thank you so much for coming on. I want to tell you listeners out there our friends my people You are my people if you're listening to this podcast.
manny-lopez_1_01-02-2025_120215:Yes,
john_1_01-02-2025_120216:to tell you uh, we love you and uh that the savior's reach Cannot I can can always find you you cannot fall deeper than the Savior can reach And I look forward to seeing you next week Have a great week everybody and enjoy your walk with the Savior.
manny-lopez_1_01-02-2025_120215:take care y'all