Yearly Archives: 2023

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"My first real crisis with church stuff came when I attempted to serve a mission... I was never getting these hyper spiritual experiences when everyone else was claiming to get them. I was doing the right things, and I desperately wanted to get them, but never did. All of those things led to me basically having a nervous breakdown in the MTC. So after about five weeks, I went home." - Andrew | wasmormon.org
"My first real crisis with church stuff came when I attempted to serve a mission... I was never getting these hyper spiritual experiences when everyone else was claiming to get them. I was doing the right things, and I desperately wanted to get them, but never did. All of those things led to me basically having a nervous breakdown in the MTC. So after about five weeks, I went home." - Andrew | wasmormon.org
"Then one Sunday, someone mentioned the Gospel Topics Essays. I had never heard of these. So after church, I went home and looked them up. These were essays written and published by the church (so they are official) that dealt with many of the messy things in church history. As I looked through the different topics, I realized that I had never even heard of most of the issues, and the ones I had heard of, I was told were anti-Mormon lies. But there they were, essentially an official admission by the church that my church leaders had lied to me. Wow, that hit hard." - Andrew | wasmormon.org
"Then one Sunday, someone mentioned the Gospel Topics Essays. I had never heard of these. So after church, I went home and looked them up. These were essays written and published by the church (so they are official) that dealt with many of the messy things in church history. As I looked through the different topics, I realized that I had never even heard of most of the issues, and the ones I had heard of, I was told were anti-Mormon lies. But there they were, essentially an official admission by the church that my church leaders had lied to me. Wow, that hit hard." - Andrew | wasmormon.org
"I began my deep dive. The more I read or listened, the worse the church sounded. It soon became apparent to me that not only was the church not "true", it wasn't even remotely "good". It was founded by a power hungry sex predator with a long history of being a con-artist. It holds bigoted and racist views. It caters to right-wing violent extremists. It breeds sexism and misogyny. It protects and enables abusers and predators. It fights against equal rights for the LGBTQ community. It hoards money, exploits tax loopholes, and lies about how its finances are being spent. " - Andrew | wasmormon.org
"I began my deep dive. The more I read or listened, the worse the church sounded. It soon became apparent to me that not only was the church not "true", it wasn't even remotely "good". It was founded by a power hungry sex predator with a long history of being a con-artist. It holds bigoted and racist views. It caters to right-wing violent extremists. It breeds sexism and misogyny. It protects and enables abusers and predators. It fights against equal rights for the LGBTQ community. It hoards money, exploits tax loopholes, and lies about how its finances are being spent. " - Andrew | wasmormon.org
"I am an airline pilot who enjoys traveling the world. I was born in to the church, and raised in a small New England college town, where my sister and I were the only Mormons in our school. Although my parents were faithful, they were extremely progressive and nuanced Mormons. They raised me to be a free thinker, to follow my own path, be a hard worker, and to be loving and accepting. I so wanted the church to be true. I was a Mormon." - Andrew | wasmormon.org
"I am an airline pilot who enjoys traveling the world. I was born in to the church, and raised in a small New England college town, where my sister and I were the only Mormons in our school. Although my parents were faithful, they were extremely progressive and nuanced Mormons. They raised me to be a free thinker, to follow my own path, be a hard worker, and to be loving and accepting. I so wanted the church to be true. I was a Mormon." - Andrew | wasmormon.org
"I eventually got married in the temple, started a family and a career, and continued my activity in the church. I attended church, kept my temple recommend active, filled my callings, paid tithing, read scriptures, and prayed regularly. But I never got anything that confirmed the church to me. Didn't make sense to me. Eventually stuff like this led to me starting to doubt not just the church, but even the existence of God. But I soldiered on with the church, eventually deciding that it didn't really matter if the church was true, or even if God existed, I liked the church and believed it to be good." - Andrew | wasmormon.org
"I eventually got married in the temple, started a family and a career, and continued my activity in the church. I attended church, kept my temple recommend active, filled my callings, paid tithing, read scriptures, and prayed regularly. But I never got anything that confirmed the church to me. Didn't make sense to me. Eventually stuff like this led to me starting to doubt not just the church, but even the existence of God. But I soldiered on with the church, eventually deciding that it didn't really matter if the church was true, or even if God existed, I liked the church and believed it to be good." - Andrew | wasmormon.org
"I started to listen to A Year of Polygamy podcast on her recommendation. When I got to the episode about Helen Marr Kimball, all of my belief collapsed. How could I follow a man that would do that? My wife told me about her shelf-breaker, the Lowry Nelson letters. Our kids have all left as well. It has been a difficult time leaving, but our little family is happier and more together than ever." – Mike | wasmormon.org
"I started to listen to A Year of Polygamy podcast on her recommendation. When I got to the episode about Helen Marr Kimball, all of my belief collapsed. How could I follow a man that would do that? My wife told me about her shelf-breaker, the Lowry Nelson letters. Our kids have all left as well. It has been a difficult time leaving, but our little family is happier and more together than ever." – Mike | wasmormon.org
"I had plenty of shelf items, but the first time I was honestly and permanently stumped was when we were talking about the Book of Abraham. I never studied apologetics, but I knew all of the "answers" anyway. The problem is, the only good answer for the Book of Abraham is 'wow, that doesn't make sense.'" – Mike | wasmormon.org
"I had plenty of shelf items, but the first time I was honestly and permanently stumped was when we were talking about the Book of Abraham. I never studied apologetics, but I knew all of the "answers" anyway. The problem is, the only good answer for the Book of Abraham is 'wow, that doesn't make sense.'" – Mike | wasmormon.org
"I hit all of the milestones and served a mission at age 19. I married an amazing woman and we had 5 kids. While I never had any super important callings (mostly due to a job that required work on some Sundays) we were one of those stalwart "same ten people" families. I never said no to a calling, even the ones I knew I would hate. My wife did the same and my girls were called into YW presidencies when they got there." – Mike | wasmormon.org
"I hit all of the milestones and served a mission at age 19. I married an amazing woman and we had 5 kids. While I never had any super important callings (mostly due to a job that required work on some Sundays) we were one of those stalwart "same ten people" families. I never said no to a calling, even the ones I knew I would hate. My wife did the same and my girls were called into YW presidencies when they got there." – Mike | wasmormon.org
"My wife preceded me out of the church. Her leaving was like a gut punch. How could we have a celestial family with a non-believing mom. It took me a bit to come to terms with it, and she helped me immensely, but I eventually realized that I married her and not the church." – Mike | wasmormon.org
"My wife preceded me out of the church. Her leaving was like a gut punch. How could we have a celestial family with a non-believing mom. It took me a bit to come to terms with it, and she helped me immensely, but I eventually realized that I married her and not the church." – Mike | wasmormon.org
"I decided to double down and get us all there. At the same time, I tried to understand why she left. I will absolutely admit that I was arrogant enough to think that if she gave me the reasons, I would be able to "reason" her back into the church. Wow was I wrong." – Mike | wasmormon.org
"I decided to double down and get us all there. At the same time, I tried to understand why she left. I will absolutely admit that I was arrogant enough to think that if she gave me the reasons, I would be able to "reason" her back into the church. Wow was I wrong." – Mike | wasmormon.org
"I'd always known I was different than the other kids my age but I didn't quite know why. When I hit puberty, changes that made the other boys in my class happy caused me to feel wrong and uncomfortable in my body. I began to wish that I was a girl even though I didn't have any idea what being transgender was at the time. I prayed every night for God to take these thoughts away from me with no response. I fell into a deep depression." – Willow | wasmormon.org
"I'd always known I was different than the other kids my age but I didn't quite know why. When I hit puberty, changes that made the other boys in my class happy caused me to feel wrong and uncomfortable in my body. I began to wish that I was a girl even though I didn't have any idea what being transgender was at the time. I prayed every night for God to take these thoughts away from me with no response. I fell into a deep depression." – Willow | wasmormon.org
"I finally found the label for the thoughts and unhappiness in my head when I was twenty-three and tried to tell my spouse that I might be transgender. The confession was met with threats of losing access to my child if I were ever to come out. My relationship with my spouse soured as they became neglectful and abusive." – Willow | wasmormon.org
"I finally found the label for the thoughts and unhappiness in my head when I was twenty-three and tried to tell my spouse that I might be transgender. The confession was met with threats of losing access to my child if I were ever to come out. My relationship with my spouse soured as they became neglectful and abusive." – Willow | wasmormon.org
"I started to see problems that I could not accomodate. The LDS church's homophobic and sexist policies became more and more upsetting as I got older and I made more LGBTQ friends and I had a harder and harder time overlooking the historical inaccuracies in the Book of Mormon." – Willow | wasmormon.org
"I started to see problems that I could not accomodate. The LDS church's homophobic and sexist policies became more and more upsetting as I got older and I made more LGBTQ friends and I had a harder and harder time overlooking the historical inaccuracies in the Book of Mormon." – Willow | wasmormon.org
"I stopped going to church entirely and began to resent the LDS church. I finally came out a year after I first realized I was a woman and that signaled the end of my marriage. I have now been on hormones for a year and a half and have never been happier." – Willow | wasmormon.org
"I stopped going to church entirely and began to resent the LDS church. I finally came out a year after I first realized I was a woman and that signaled the end of my marriage. I have now been on hormones for a year and a half and have never been happier." – Willow | wasmormon.org
Episode exploring the origin story behind the wasmormon.org website – "where people who have left their faith tradition can post stories and information to express their feelings and personal journey. Evan wanted to create a safe space to share very personal stories which are cathartic and healing to those sharing the stories, and also a good resource for anyone who wants to gain an understanding of why someone has changed course. His hope is that "I Was a Mormon" will destigmatize doubt and normalize those who leave the church by providing a platform for all to tell their own story." Steven Pynakker, Mormon Book Reviews Podcast | wasmormon.org
Episode exploring the origin story behind the wasmormon.org website – "where people who have left their faith tradition can post stories and information to express their feelings and personal journey. Evan wanted to create a safe space to share very personal stories which are cathartic and healing to those sharing the stories, and also a good resource for anyone who wants to gain an understanding of why someone has changed course. His hope is that "I Was a Mormon" will destigmatize doubt and normalize those who leave the church by providing a platform for all to tell their own story." Steven Pynakker, Mormon Book Reviews Podcast

Explore the Origin Story of wasmormon.org – A Mormon Book Reviews Podcast Episode

A recent episode of the Mormon Book Reviews podcast features an interview with Evan, the creator of wasmormon.org, and his brother Garrett. Evan shares the story of how he came to create the website and why he chose to share his experience of leaving the Mormon church. The interview includes the personal stories of faith …

Continue reading “Explore the Origin Story of wasmormon.org – A Mormon Book Reviews Podcast Episode”

"Having left, I've felt more hopeful, less anxious and freer in these past 4 months than I ever did in the past 49 years of my life. I just wish I had left sooner. I plan on making whatever time left I have being my authentic self and finding happiness outside of TSCC." Gen https://wasmormon.org/profile/genniphersghost/
"Having left, I've felt more hopeful, less anxious and freer in these past 4 months than I ever did in the past 49 years of my life. I just wish I had left sooner. I plan on making whatever time left I have being my authentic self and finding happiness outside of TSCC." Gen https://wasmormon.org/profile/genniphersghost/
"A seeker of the facts. Fascinated by anything paranormal. I recently left TSCC after not being able to stomach the homophobia, bigotry, bigamy, sexism, child abuse, personal trauma and outright damning lies. I was a Mormon." Gen https://wasmormon.org/profile/genniphersghost/
"A seeker of the facts. Fascinated by anything paranormal. I recently left TSCC after not being able to stomach the homophobia, bigotry, bigamy, sexism, child abuse, personal trauma and outright damning lies. I was a Mormon." Gen https://wasmormon.org/profile/genniphersghost/
"I lost my only brother, my dearest friend (oldest sibling) from suicide, due to being diagnosed with AIDS a little over 3 years ago. I know that my parent's beliefs were one of the direct causes of his death. I've felt let down and repulsed by TSCC for many years and now I'm trying to move past the disenchantment and grief of said years and money lost to TSCC." Gen https://wasmormon.org/profile/genniphersghost/
"I lost my only brother, my dearest friend (oldest sibling) from suicide, due to being diagnosed with AIDS a little over 3 years ago. I know that my parent's beliefs were one of the direct causes of his death. I've felt let down and repulsed by TSCC for many years and now I'm trying to move past the disenchantment and grief of said years and money lost to TSCC." Gen https://wasmormon.org/profile/genniphersghost/