“The Happiest Time of My Life,” Liahona, Dec. 2025.
Portraits of Faith
The Happiest Time of My Life
When I asked God if I was making the right choice by changing my life, He answered by sending the full-time missionaries to my door.
Photographs by Stefan Huysmans
For 11 years, I was addicted to methamphetamine. There was so much dysfunction and unhappiness in my life. The people closest to me tried in vain to steer me away from drugs.
I was in a dark place, struggling with severe depression and anxiety, and smoking myself into psychosis. Everything was crumbling around me. I even tried to take my own life. It was a miracle I survived. Afterward, my first thought was, “I’m not meant to leave. I’ve got a purpose.”
My addiction affected all my relationships, especially my relationship with my 13-year-old son, Lincoln. One day he asked me if I could enroll him in kickboxing. I told him I would, but he looked me in the eyes and said, “Dad, I don’t believe you.”
“Why not?” I asked.
“You always do this,” Lincoln replied. “You get my hopes up and never come through.”
My heart broke. I felt horrible. I wasn’t talking to my baby boy anymore. I was talking to a 13-year-old young man who knew what was going on. I vowed to change. I promised myself I would never smoke meth again. Every night, I would say to myself, “I will make better choices.”
Two weeks passed as I worked to improve my relationship with Lincoln. Instead of buying drugs, I signed him up at a kickboxing gym. I felt happy with the progress I was making.
One day while it was raining, Lincoln wanted to make some brownies. He gathered the ingredients and mixed up the batter. As I watched him, my heart swelled with pride. I had a heart full of gratitude that our relationship had improved and grown in trust in just two weeks.
At that moment, I said a silent prayer: “God, am I doing the right thing? Is this what I’m supposed to be doing?”
A Knock at the Door
As soon as I asked God that question, I heard a knock at the door. I looked out the window and saw two missionaries standing in the rain. I recognized them as people who went about preaching of God, so I invited them in. That was when I knew that God was with me. I knew He was watching over me.
The missionaries told me about the Book of Mormon and invited me to church. I went, attending church every week after that. But I wasn’t sure where to start reading in the Book of Mormon. Should I start from the front, the back, or read a few random pages in the middle? When I asked the missionaries what I should do, they invited me to read “The Testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith” near the front of the book and to pray.
One night while I was lying on my bed in a dark room, I picked up my Book of Mormon and said a prayer. I asked Heavenly Father if what I was learning was true and if He would help me know that it was.
I began reading Joseph Smith’s testimony and turned the page. The pages started getting brighter and brighter. Suddenly they were so bright that I had to close my eyes. Under my eyelids, I saw the Christus statue—a silhouette of Jesus Christ with His arms outstretched.
Immediately, I knew the Book of Mormon was true. There was no denying it. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was also true.
I decided I would never turn my back on Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ again. A few months later, I was baptized. My friends, family, and ward have all rallied around me to support me. This has been the happiest time of my life. My heart is full.
“Heavenly Father has helped me create better, more trusting relationships with others—especially with my son, Lincoln,” says Cassidy.
When I sought the help of Heavenly Father, He took away all my pain—the depression, anxiety, and darkness—and gave me the strength to overcome my addiction. He has helped me create better, more trusting relationships with others—especially with my son.
When you “put on the armor of righteousness,” you can “shake off the chains with which ye are bound … and arise from the dust” (2 Nephi 1:23). If you seek change in your life, God will help you. If you ask Him for help to make righteous choices, He will bless you. Heavenly Father’s love gave me the strength to overcome my addiction, repent, and become a new person (see 2 Corinthians 5:17).