“I was a Mormon” Stories – Faith Journey Memoirs

Hosting stories of faith deconstruction, crisis, and transition out of the Mormon church. Consider creating your own profile and adding your own story to the growing collection. We’re on a mission to destigmatize doubt and normalize those who leave the church by providing a platform for all of us to tell our own story – if we don’t share it, they will. What you have learned about Mormonism? What broke your shelf? Where are you now and how did you get there? wasmormon.org is the new mormon.org, patterned after the old one where we used to share.

Latest Profile Updates

Telling your story and learning about others’ experiences are both therapeutic and cathartic. Be part of improving the harmful stigma around doubt in LDS culture and your own healing. Check out these latest profiles – they speak for themselves:

Each of us has an important, interesting, and valid story. Participate and share your feelings, beliefs, and experiences with the community. It’s easy: just register, optionally upload an image and/or video, write a little about yourself and your journey. There are even prompts to follow. Come back to it later to add more or change it as needed. Share it with those you want to see it and stand proudly with others. Learn more about this site’s mission or browse contributed answers to specific questions.

Have Questions about the Mormon church?

Are you interested to learn first-hand answers to common Mormon questions from those who have lived it? See the list of questions and dive into user-contributed honest answers. Do you want to answer these questions yourself? Create a profile and answer as many questions as you’d like and see them included in the list.

Latest Spotlights

Latest Blog Posts

  • “Dissenters within the Church and opponents outside the Church brought about the martyrdom of the Prophet Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum Smith. Their deaths added a powerful seal to their testimonies of the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. A study of the life and martyrdom of the Prophet Joseph Smith will help students consider the many blessings the Lord has given them through the ministry of the Prophet Joseph Smith, through whom He restored His gospel in the latter days... Joseph Smith laid the foundation for God’s work in this gospel dispensation. The Prophet Joseph Smith was innocent at the time of his death, and he had faithfully fulfilled the mission given to him by God.” - Foundations of the Restoration Teacher Manual, Lesson 22: The Martyrdom of the Prophet Joseph Smith | wasmormon.org
    Joseph Smith’s Martyrdom Grew Church
    Historians generally agree on a distinction that is crucial for understanding Mormonism’s survival: martyrdom is not evidence of truth, but it is powerful social capital. Joseph Smith’s death did the opposite of what his enemies intended. It turned him into…
  • ”Now in terms of how do our covenants help us if someone is wandering? ... Church leaders have talked about a pull — a bit of a spiritual tug, if you will. Orson F. Whitney referred to it as “the divine tentacles of providence.” It is not the case that the faithfulness of parents can save a wayward child, but the faithfulness of the parents in honoring covenants exerts a bit of a spiritual tug. Now I don’t know how that works, but it’s a part of the covenant connection.” - David A. Bednar, LDS Apostle, October 31, 2025 | wasmormon.org
    Church Tentacles Reach For Wayward Children
    Elder David Bednar recently received pushback for his response to a question posed during a devotional about families and the gospel. The question asked, “How do temple covenants help us when someone in our family uses their agency to reject…
  • “The Book of Abraham - Translated from the Papyrus, by Joseph Smith - A Translation of some ancient Records that have fallen into our hands from the catacombs of Egypt. The writings of Abraham while he was in Egypt, called the Book of Abraham, written by his own hand, upon papyrus.” - The Book of Abraham, Pearl of Great Price, LDS Scriptures | wasmormon.rg
    The Book of Abraham Translation is Fraudulent
    For generations, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have been taught that the Book of Abraham in the Pearl of Great Price was translated from ancient Egyptian papyri by Joseph Smith, “written by his own hand…
  • “Artificial intelligence is not God and cannot be God.” - Gerrit W. Gong, LDS Apostle, BYU Education Week Devotional, August 19, 2025 | wasmormon.org
    Mormon Apostle Gong Hopes AI is Not God
    At a devotional during BYU’s Education Week, Gerrit W. Gong, LDS Apostle, speaking to an audience in the Marriott Center on Tuesday, August 19, 2025, preached against artificial intelligence (AI) in a gospel context. Artificial intelligence is not God and…
  • “The many religions we see around us today emerged in different societies at different times as mechanisms to solve problems of trust and cooperation... The application of evolutionary theory has really revolutionized our understanding of the origins and functions of religion.” - Azim Shariff, Social Psychologist, Professor of Psychology at the University of British Columbia | wasmormon.org
    Inventing God: The Human Origin Story of Religion
    For those of us raised in Mormonism, we were taught that our faith is the “one true church” restored through a prophet who saw God the Father and Jesus Christ in a grove of trees. Christians more broadly believe that…
  • “As we humbly search the scriptures, we will come to know both Jesus Christ and his servant, Joseph Smith. In this connection, may I offer a suggestion to all of us? If we truly desire to know the Prophet, we must go to the right source—and that is not a Google search.” - Jayson Kunzler, Business Management Faculty Member, BYU Idaho, 2015 | wasmormon.org
    Millions Shall Worship Brother Joseph Again But Don’t Google Us
    In his BYU–Idaho devotional Millions Shall Know Brother Joseph Again, Jayson Kunzler urges students to reject any information—inside or outside the Church—that might “humanize” Joseph Smith or acknowledge his flaws. He warns that those who study inconvenient history “serve the…

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