Evert accepted God into his life as a young man, met the missionaries, and joined the Mormon church. He served a mission, married in the temple (without his non-member family present), and began a Mormon family. When he questioned his leaders they retorted that they don’t make mistakes. He noticed a lack of the Spirit at church though, along with a lack of depth in the membership so started to focus on serving his community outside the church, and this worked until it didn’t. His wife suddenly saw an ultimatum where she needed to choose between him and the church. Sadly, she chose the church over Evert.
I joined the church at 20 when I felt a call from God, I was an atheist before then. After I accepted God into my life, the missionaries found me and I was baptized. I was a Mormon, then it was forbidden, I am still a Mormon just not a member of the church anymore.
I attended Church regularly, met a girl, fell in love, went on a mission, she went on a mission, we got home and married in the temple. My non-Mormon family was not allowed to come and that created some conflict with my parents but, you know, “The Church is True”, so the sacrifice was supposedly worth it.
I was given a calling in the Bishopric that I was not prepared for and no support was given. On meeting with the Bishop I shared that the ‘call’ was a mistake, I did not get confirmation when I prayed and fasted over the ‘call.’ This kicked off a diatribe where I was told that the Bishop does not make mistakes. I was released promptly and was not given a calling for 6 months.
I stopped attending Elder’s Quorum and Sunday School because I didn’t want to challenge the new leadership (I tend to answer questions a lot in class) and Sunday School was just the same, same each time: read your scriptures, pray, keep the commandments… No substance.
I do not believe the Scriptures are the literal Word of God or even a historical record. Their purpose is to provide a basic knowledge of God and to help us feel the Spirit. There are many Scriptures including the Bible, Book of Mormon, Qur’an, Tripitaka, Gita, Torah, Guru Granth Sahib and others. They teach the basics, Love God and Love your Neighbour.
I started to feel uncomfortable at church, I tried to sit at the back but no good, I put my efforts into community service instead and felt more of The Holy Spirit and love of God there.
It all turned to crap when my wife told me that she was leaving because the church is true. I submitted my resignation the next day. So now I am Mormon with no church. A soon to be ex-wife who broke her Covenants she agreed to at the Alter of God when we were sealed for Time and All Eternity. 4 Kids, 28 1/2 years married, 32+ years together. She still believes, so I am the bad guy for not folding like a cheap sheet of paper. All my dreams gone.
I am happy not to be controlled or influenced by the church. Not happy that my wife chose the church over me. I did not ask her to choose she decided that all on her own, or maybe someone at church did it for her.
Evert
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