I woke up one morning, and I was just crying.
I remember going to brush my teeth,
and I looked in the mirror.
I remember just looking at myself
and just like, "Really, this is who you are?
This is what you want to be?"
I kind of made a decision for myself
that I wanted to be done, I wanted to end my life.
My name is Dominic Still, and I'm
from Tri-Cities, Washington, born and raised.
I've been pole vaulting for probably nine years now.
With pole vault, you always go out on a miss,
because that's how the competition ends.
And so you're going to fail over, and over, and over again.
And as long as you pick yourself back up
and you're willing to keep striving,
things will fall into place, but you've
got to be willing to make the sacrifice.
After graduating high school, I had an opportunity
to go vault collegiately.
Really, my focuses were not on what they should have been.
Before I found the Church, I was going down a pretty dark path
dealing with some mental stuff, whether it
was depression or some anxiety.
And the way I really dealt with that
was drinking, going out and partying,
or going to find some other outlet to, in a way,
numb myself.
I actually had a friend who went to church,
and she was out of town that time,
but I was like, "I need something
more than what I have right now, and I need to go to church."
So, I walked in a little late to the sacrament
meeting on a Sunday, and I'm in black skinny
jeans and a black shirt and all pierced up.
And I just remember sitting next to this lady,
and she really reminded me of my grandma.
She seemed so sweet, and she had a big smile on her face.
And then I remember her just looking at me
and going, "I just want you to know we're
so happy that you're here."
And I smiled and something clicked,
and I was just like, "Wow, this feels right."
After going to church, things started getting a lot better.
I started having more structure, something I could hold on to.
But the thoughts of suicide kept getting more and more strong.
One night, I kind of made a decision for myself
that I wanted to end my life.
I walked out of my house.
I had started writing a big group message
to all my friends and family--
that it wasn't their fault, and that I loved them,
and that I just feel that this is for the best.
And I've been walking for probably an hour and a half,
and it was snowing and it was cold.
And there was maybe one car that passed the whole time.
And then out of nowhere, I just see a truck fly by me,
and the truck slams on his brakes,
and then the truck backs up, and then looks over at me
and says, "Hey, are you doing okay?
Do you need a ride anywhere?
Because there's nothing going that way.
Everything's back that way."
And I said, "I was just getting ready to turn around."
Kind of looking back at it, I'm walking towards darkness.
I'm walking towards a decision that ends everything,
and for that man to point out nothing's
down there because everything's back there.
And I know with all my heart that
was Heavenly Father's doing, that He probably
gave that man a prompting to check on me
and to make sure I was okay.
And so I started walking back and made it all the way home.
And I woke up the next morning, and I
got the strongest prompting in the world
that I needed to fast.
I just put down my phone; I didn't
want to touch any technology.
And so I pulled out my scriptures,
and I prayed and prayed.
I'd go on a walk, and I'd pray in my heart.
I'd come back, and I'd read scriptures.
I remember getting down on my knees
and praying, "Heavenly Father, just take this pain away
from me, please?
Teach me what I need to know.
Is the Church true?
Was Joseph Smith a Prophet?
Are you real?
Is Christ real?
Is this the Spirit that I'm feeling?"
And I just got the sweetest confirmation in my heart,
the most beautiful feeling of peace,
and just an amazing thought in my head that said, "It is.
It all is.
This is the right thing I'm doing.
This is the Spirit, this is Heavenly Father,
this is Christ.
And this is Christ's Church."
Having the restored gospel on this earth
has changed everything for me.
It has taught me to come to know my Savior, my Redeemer Christ,
and to learn more about Heavenly Father.
It taught me how to humble myself,
how to be meek, how to care about other people
and learn to love.
And He's given me everything I feel
I need in this life and more.
I'd say now when I look in the mirror, I'm so happy.
I see light in that person's eyes.
I see a smile.
I see someone who's striving.
And I see someone who can still be better,
and I want to keep striving to be better.