Hi, I'm Frey.

I enjoy the culinary arts, theatre, and sewing. I was a mormon.

About me

I was raised in the church, but I'd always felt something was wrong. I went inactive multiple times before leaving for good. The vast majority of my immediate and extended family were mormons and my mom's reaction to any problem I had was to "pray about it" even though I never seemed to get answers to prayer. So far, I think I'm the only member of my immediate/extended family to leave. I'm an atheist as well as an eclectic witch.

On my shelf

On the Mormon Spectrum

^# Why I left More stories of 'Why I left' the Mormon church

First, I'm queer. I'm not cisgender or heterosexual and that was a huge problem in this religion. When I was finally able to accept myself for that, I realized the mormon religion would never accept me for it and I'd never be happy where I'm not even accepted. Second, I had so many concerns and questions that were either not answered, or the answers were not logical. I'd never even wanted to get baptized in the first place, and when I started trying to leave apparently an 8 year old was old enough to make a decision about joining but a 16 year old wasn't old enough to make the decision to leave and I "didn't know what was best for me". Third, I didn't believe it and I couldn't force myself to. I was happier not following that lifestyle. I could see how I'd been manipulated. And I could see how those beliefs were illogical and hateful.

Questions about Mormons My Answers to Questions about Mormonism

^#Link to this answer of 'Did you receive a patriarchal blessing? What did the experience mean to you?' by Frey Higley Did you receive a patriarchal blessing? What did the experience mean to you? See more answers about 'Did you receive a patriarchal blessing? What did the experience mean to you?'

I did. It was generic and the life it foretold made me miserable to think about. The patriarch used what little knowledge he had about me to make a few statements, saying things like "you have the gift of love, service, empathy, and listening", "if you cling to your covenants, you will rise above all your challenges", "when the time comes you will find an eternal companion and enter the temple and get sealed", "you'll have lots of kids who will all look to you as an example of faith" (which was one of my worst nightmares), "you have a duty to do missionary work", and "you'll be resurrected". I was still trying to believe at the time and this "blessing" disappointed me and gave me a lot of anxiety. It didn't mean anything to me and it eventually became one of the items on my shelf.

^#Link to this answer of 'What does the Mormon church teach about LGBT people?' by Frey Higley What does the Mormon church teach about LGBT people? See more answers about 'What does the Mormon church teach about LGBT people?'

They teach marriage is between a man and a woman. They also teach that a person should remain the same gender they were assigned at birth and not socially or physically transition in any way. Members are allowed to call other people by requested names and pronouns but I experienced a lot of homophobia and transphobia in the church regardless. A conference talk once included the phrase that the 3 greatest threats to the mormon church were the homosexuals, the feminists, and the intellectuals. Look at that, I'm a triple threat! 😂