We are back today with Part 2 of our epic interview with Heidi Bruno. In Part 1, Heidi shared her story of suffering sexual abuse as a teenager at the hands of the Elders Quorum President in her ward. In Part 2, we shift the focus to Heidi’s daughter, Holly, who was diagnosed with cancer at the age of eight and tragically passed away in March of 2018. Heidi describes the inspiring movement that Holly started during her treatment, called “Love Is Everywhere,” and the wide-reaching impact it had on many communities. While the gospel was a great comfort to Holly and her family during this heartbreaking time, Heidi also shares how her views on the LDS Church began to shift after experiencing the death of her daughter as a devout Mormon mother. We are extremely grateful to Heidi for her strength in sharing this sobering story and hope that it resonates with all of you as deeply as it did with us. Show notes can be found on the Mormon Stories blog here: https://www.mormonstories.org/when-your-child-dies-as-a-mormon-mom/ Timecodes: 00:00:00 Introduction 00:02:28 How did her faith progress from this point? 00:02:52 Baptism of her 8-year-old daughter 00:03:40 The start of her daughter's illness 00:05:11 Learning that her daughter had cancer 00:08:28 Community support at this time 00:12:42 Making the impossible decision to discontinue treatment 00:16:59 Heavily relied on the idea of the eternal family at this time 00:18:48 Someone re-did their yard for them, and it was published on the church website 00:30:08 Video of Holly & her sisters singing 00:35:35 Beauty in the childhood cancer community 00:39:00 How it is offensive when people try to make sense of Holly’s death 00:40:42 How they helped Holly feel comfort in her death 00:44:16 Holly’s funeral 00:52:47 Realizing the church puts parameters on being with family forever 00:59:52 Began to see how women are treated in the church 01:00:46 Wrote a letter to the first presidency about women in the church 01:03:11 Discussing the 2015 LGBTQ exclusion policy 01:05:26 Gave a talk about Heavenly mother 01:08:32 Felt so much peace away from church during covid 01:09:29 Asked to be released from her callings 01:12:08 Her husband felt uncomfortable doing worthiness interviews 01:13:58 Her husband lost his temple recommend over support of LGBT members 01:22:11 Their Stake President reached out to their son’s Mission President to say they left 01:27:27 To “stay sane” their only option became to step away from the church 01:31:08 What are her beliefs now about Holly and the afterlife? 01:36:32 Wants to share the there is still happiness outside the church 01:41:53 Loss of community 01:43:45 Feeling bad that they taught their kids to live the gospel and now they have left 01:44:43 Feels her relationship with her kids is better without the expectation for them to be on the covenant path 01:46:47 Being intentional about finding joy now 01:49:24 What does she do to cope when she is suffering? 01:52:46 Final questions for Heidi 01:57:08 Looking for more guests over the age of 50! How to apply ___________________ At Mormon Stories we explore, celebrate, and challenge Mormon culture through in-depth stories told by members and former members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as well as scholars, authors, LDS apologists, and other professionals. Our overall mission is to: 1. Facilitate informed consent amongst LDS Church members, investigators, and non-members regarding Mormon history, doctrine, and theology 2. Support Mormons (and members of other high-demand religions) who are experiencing a religious faith crisis 3. Promote healing, growth and community for those who choose to leave the LDS Church or other high demand religions 🤝Help us continue to deliver quality content by becoming a donor today One-time or recurring donations: https://donorbox.org/mormon-stories?default_interval=m Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/mormonstories Venmo: https://account.venmo.com/u/mormonstories Paypal: https://paypal.me/mormonstories Join this channel to get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCx6OgmoqJbOVRq-Lv1P7SzA/join Our Platforms: 🌐Mormon Stories Blog: https://www.mormonstories.org/episodes 🎙️Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/mormonstories ✳️Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4sDzk7dRjODTSEqzZKZJzk?si=148b0efc1ccc4404&nd=1 🍎Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mormon-stories-lds/id312094772 🖼️Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mormstories 📱TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mormonstoriespodcast 🎮Discord: https://discord.com/invite/kuX5p6yyjF Contact us: 📧 MormonStories@gmail.com 📬PO Box 171085, Salt Lake City, UT 84117