Monthly Archives: December 2023
René Was a Mormon, an Ex-Mormon Story Spotlight
René was Mormon through and through. Married a return missionary in the temple, and mother of six children, she was defined by the church before even reaching maturity, as she says, “When my frontal cortex matured and I really began to form my own self, it was too late.” She was kept busy, by design, …
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![Deseret News in 2015 claims the term Mormon can only refer to the largest LDS church, and that Mormons have a problem controlling the public's opinion of them due to bad actors like Warren Jeffs. By 2018, new church president Russell M. Nelson said "If we allow nicknames to be used or adopt or even sponsor those nicknames ourselves, He is offended... To remove the Lord’s name from the Lord’s Church is a major victory for Satan." | wasmormon.org](https://i0.wp.com/wasmormon.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/deseret-news-term-mormon-not-applied-to-other-splinter-groups-major-victory-for-satan.jpg?fit=640%2C640&ssl=1)
![“Meet the Mormons” is a feature-length documentary film produced by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that will be released in select theaters on 10 October 2014. Four years later, in October 2018, new church president Russell M. Nelson said "If we allow nicknames to be used or adopt or even sponsor those nicknames ourselves, He is offended... To remove the Lord’s name from the Lord’s Church is a major victory for Satan." This documentary was a major victory for Satan, not only sponsored by but also produced by the church, which generated proceeds donated to the American Red Cross. Living prophet insists that God was offended. | wasmormon.org](https://i0.wp.com/wasmormon.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/meet-the-mormons-major-victory-for-satan.jpg?fit=640%2C640&ssl=1)
![After The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints launched its “I’m a Mormon” media campaign in Great Britain in 2013, LDS officials say they are seeing significant increases in British interest in the church. These campaigns ended abruptly in 2018 when new church president Russell M. Nelson said "If we allow nicknames to be used or adopt or even sponsor those nicknames ourselves, He is offended... To remove the Lord’s name from the Lord’s Church is a major victory for Satan." | wasmormon.org](https://i0.wp.com/wasmormon.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/mormon-org-ad-campaign-london-major-victory-for-satan.jpg?fit=640%2C640&ssl=1)
![In New York City, the Church launched the “I’m a Mormon” campaign in 2011. The campaign ended abruptly in 2018 when new church president Russell M. Nelson said "If we allow nicknames to be used or adopt or even sponsor those nicknames ourselves, He is offended... To remove the Lord’s name from the Lord’s Church is a major victory for Satan."](https://i0.wp.com/wasmormon.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/mormon-org-ad-campaign-times-square-major-victory-for-satan.jpg?fit=640%2C640&ssl=1)
![I'm a Mormon was an advertising and outreach campaign by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 2010 to 2018 that aimed to combat stereotypes and misconceptions about the church by featuring short profiles from church members (also known as Mormons) on the mormon.org website. In October 2018, the church president Russell M. Nelson said that the use of nicknames such as Mormon was "a major victory for Satan." The outreach campaign thus ended. | wasmormon.org](https://i0.wp.com/wasmormon.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/mormon-org-website-major-victory-for-satan.jpg?fit=640%2C640&ssl=1)
Convince Mormons of Delusions and Errors
Orson Pratt, an Apostle in the Mormon church once invited others to “teach us our errors; convince us of our delusions.” He thought that the church was walking in true Christianity. This echoes a statement from Joseph Smith asking others to “convince us of our delusions,” and claiming that “we will be ever grateful for …
Faith in Fiction is a False Hope
Having faith in something which is not true, is just a false hope. A real search for truth cares more about the truth than the faith. Facts matter! To those searching for truth – not the truth of dogma and darkness but the truth brought by reason, search, examination, and inquiry, discipline is required. For faith, …
![This is a spotlight on a profile shared at wasmormon.org. These are just the highlights, so please find René's full story at https://wasmormon.org/profile/graydame/. There are over a hundred more stories of Mormon faith journeys contributed by users like you. Come check them out and consider sharing your own story at wasmormon.org!](https://i0.wp.com/wasmormon.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/wasmormon-graydame-08.jpg?fit=640%2C640&ssl=1)
!["I'm so happy now. Fitness and aging gracefully are important to me so wearing 3 layers of clothing doesn't jive with respecting and adoring my healthy body. My husband took a minute to cross over to the new me and though he is a TBM he loves me for who I am." - René's 'I was a Mormon' story | https://wasmormon.org/profile/graydame/](https://i0.wp.com/wasmormon.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/wasmormon-graydame-07.jpg?fit=640%2C640&ssl=1)
!["I started an Instagram @gograydame to express my freedom and to acknowledge that getting old is my only option and I intend to live it to the fullest! I began a podcast under the umbrella of Mormon Discussions (shebecamevisible.org), I only interview women where we discuss the freedom of leaving this misogynistic cult and finding our selfs!" - René's 'I was a Mormon' story | https://wasmormon.org/profile/graydame/](https://i0.wp.com/wasmormon.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/wasmormon-graydame-06.jpg?fit=640%2C640&ssl=1)
!["My last and sixth child was born when I was 32 and his traumatic birth and resulting disabilities formed my future path. My severely disabled child died on Christmas day 2022, he was 37. I had resigned my membership 3 years prior from exhaustion and increased knowledge." - René's 'I was a Mormon' story | https://wasmormon.org/profile/graydame/](https://i0.wp.com/wasmormon.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/wasmormon-graydame-05.jpg?fit=640%2C640&ssl=1)
!["I believed Joseph Smith was a prophet and the Book of Mormon but had no historical background and just believed what I was told. I pushed limits and poo-pooed rules that I knew were man made but still obeyed. I took out my second and third piercing and didn't get the tattoo I wanted so badly in the 90's. I was too busy to do anything but routine given to me." - René's 'I was a Mormon' story | https://wasmormon.org/profile/graydame/](https://i0.wp.com/wasmormon.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/wasmormon-graydame-03.jpg?fit=640%2C640&ssl=1)
!["I was twelve when my mother and stepfather joined the Mormon church. My older brother and I had no choice in the matter but I thought the young Elder missionary was so cute, who could say no? I grew up in a family of Methodists so much of the religion didn't seem strange to a me as a child. I was a Mormon." - René's 'I was a Mormon' story | https://wasmormon.org/profile/graydame/](https://i0.wp.com/wasmormon.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/wasmormon-graydame-01.jpg?fit=640%2C640&ssl=1)
![“Come over and help us; teach us our errors; convince us of our delusions, if we have any; set us in the good old paths of ancient Christianity if we are not already walking therein; take us by the hand and lead us into the light, if you consider us in darkness; prove to us that the Book of Mormon is an imposition that we may be justified in rejecting it; convince us that a plurality of wives is contrary to the gospel.” - Orson Pratt, LDS Apostle, The Seer, May 1853 | wasmormon.org](https://i0.wp.com/wasmormon.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/orson-pratt-help-us-teach-us-our-errors-convince-us-of-our-delusions.jpg?fit=640%2C640&ssl=1)
![“Convince us of our errors of doctrine, if we have any, by reason, by logical arguments, or by the Word of God, and we will be ever grateful for the information.” - Joseph Smith, Nauvoo, July 12th 1843 Celestial Marriage: A Revelation on the Patriarchal Order of Matrimony or Plurality of Wives. Published in 'The Seer', January 1853, Volume 1 Number 1, by Orson Pratt | wasmormon.org](https://i0.wp.com/wasmormon.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/joseph-smith-convince-us-of-our-errors-we-will-ever-be-grateful.jpg?fit=640%2C640&ssl=1)
Troy Was a Mormon, an Ex-Mormon Story Spotlight
Troy was happy as a Mormon and sees Mormonism as part of Christianity. He saw extreme examples of leader worship that led him to see cult-like behavior in the church community. He’s not sure if it goes all the way to the top, but he saw enough to understand the church as being a corrupt …
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!["To those searching for truth – not the truth of dogma and darkness but the truth brought by reason, search, examination, and inquiry, discipline is required. For faith, as well-intentioned as it may be, must be built on facts, not fiction – faith in fiction is a damnable false hope." - Thomas Edison | wasmormon.org](https://i0.wp.com/wasmormon.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/thomas-edison-faith-in-ficition-is-false-hope.jpg?fit=640%2C640&ssl=1)
Gordon B. Hinckley 2004 Larry King Live Interview
Gordon B Hinckley was interviewed on Larry King Live in 1998 (see Hinckley’s 1998 Larry King Interview, briefly in 2001, and then again in 2004. Here is the transcript of the 2004 interview. In this interview, Hinckley states that, as the prophet, the Lord speaks through him or makes his will manifest through him, even …
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![King: I know that the Church is opposed to gay marriage. HINCKLEY: Yes. KING: Do you have an alternative? Do you like the idea of civil unions? HINCKLEY: Well, we're not anti-gay. We are pro-family. Let me put it that way. And we love these people and try to work with them and help them. We know they have a problem. We want to help them solve that problem. President Gordon B. Hinckley on Larry King Live in 2004 | wasmormon.org](https://i0.wp.com/wasmormon.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/hinckley-larry-king-live-2004-Mormons-not-anti-gay-they-have-a-problem-we-want-to-help.jpg?fit=640%2C640&ssl=1)
![Larry King: You are the prophet, right? Does that mean that, according to the church canon, the Lord speaks through you? Hinckley “I think he makes his will manifest, yes.” Larry King: So if you change things, that's done by an edict given to you. How do you receive it? Hinckley: “Yes, sir. Well, various ways. It isn't necessarily a voice heard. Impressions come.” - President Gordon B. Hinckley on Larry King Live in 2004 | wasmormon.org](https://i0.wp.com/wasmormon.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/hinckley-larry-king-live-2004-Lord-makes-his-will-manifest-through-prophet.jpg?fit=640%2C640&ssl=1)
![KING: A problem they caused, or they were born with? HINCKLEY: I don't know. I'm not an expert on these things. I don't pretend to be an expert on these things. The fact is, they have a problem. KING: Do you favor some sort of state union? HINCKLEY: Well, we want to be very careful about that, because that - whatever may lead to gay marriage, we're not in favor of. President Gordon B. Hinckley on Larry King Live in 2004 | wasmormon.org](https://i0.wp.com/wasmormon.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/hinckley-larry-king-live-2004-gay-problem-Hinckley-not-an-expert-on-these-things.jpg?fit=640%2C640&ssl=1)
!["KING: President Hinckley, though, couldn't He have prevented this? HINCKLEY: Oh, I suppose so. I believe he's all powerful, yes. I don't know His will. I don't know how He operates. His wisdom is greater than mine. He sees beyond what I see." - President and Prophet Gordon B. Hinckley on Larry King Live in 2001 regarding 9/11](https://i0.wp.com/wasmormon.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/hinckley-larry-king-live-2001-I-dont-know-how-he-operates.jpg?fit=640%2C640&ssl=1)
![I was born and raised in the church. I served a mission in Everett, Washington. I married my wife in the Temple. I always felt I had a strong connection with God. I was a Mormon. The Mormon church’s teachings are, and always have been, centered on the same Jesus Christ that we read about in the New Testament. I don’t know that the whole religion is a cult. But there are wards, families, and communities that have become cults within the religion. Leader worship is a thing in the LDS church. I don’t necessarily think the higher ups promote it, but the culture of church members does. If a bishop or leader says something, whether factual or opinion, it is regarded as absolute doctrine. My wife was raised to believe that her father was given the “gift if discernment”, and that he had the ability to know any persons true intentions and whether they were good or bad. All members of the family, extended family included, would always go to him to inquire about if significant others were worthy or not. He would claim visions. He and his wife would control my wifes life, and attempt to make all of her decisions, claiming they received revelation for her. We are conditioned to worship priesthood holders, and this leads to cult-like behavior. After a series of events, my eyes were opened. I don’t care to speak about the doctrine of the church, because I don’t know how much I still believe. But what I do know is the LDS church is, and always has been, corrupt. Troy's "I was a Mormon" story. Read more at https://wasmormon.org/profile/troyaddington/](https://i0.wp.com/wasmormon.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/wasmormon-troyaddington-4.jpg?fit=640%2C640&ssl=1)