Hello.
I was a mormon. I am a teacher, a linguist, and shamelessly my authentic self. I am a wife, a daughter, and a sister. I was a mormon.
About me
I was born and raised in the church on the east coast in the USA. I am blessed with the most loving parents and really strong friendships from my childhood ward that have remained intact even after leaving. After graduating high school I went to BYU, served a mission in Russia. I married the love of my life at 22. He was a convert to the church of about a year, didn't serve a full-time mission, but that didn't matter to me. We had a civil wedding in the middle of 2020 during COVID and then a temple ceiling later that year. About a year and a half into marriage, my husband expressed concern with the church eventually deciding to not be a part of it. This was probably the most difficult part of our marriage, but we decided that we still wanted to be together and find a way balance a mix-faith marriage. Throughout this uncharted territory, a lot of my preconceived notions about the church and my beliefs were challenged. I had never studied the scriptures and church history so hard in my life. It was essentially sincere prayer, scripture study, and critical thinking that caused my shelf to break as I discovered for myself that the church is not for me.
On my shelf
# Why I left More stories of 'Why I left' the Mormon church
Oh boy, where to even start? My faith crisis came into full force toward the beginning of 2023. Prior to this, my husband decidedthat
Questions about Mormons My Answers to Questions about Mormonism
#Link to this answer of 'What do you believe now?' by leonora What do you believe now? See more answers about 'What do you believe now?'
This is a tough one to answer. In all honesty, I am still figuring things out, and I think that's okay. Do I believe in a higher power - yes, I do. Whether I label the higher power as being Jesus or God, I do not know. I don't even know what "God" is supposed to look like. Is God a physical being or something that is more fluid and everywhere all at once, or something in between? I like to think that there is a bit of "God" inside all of us that connects all beings and nature together. The thing that I love about "believing" is that it does not equate itself to "certainty" or a "perfect knowledge". I'm still learning to be comfortable amidst uncertainty.
I choose to believe in Jesus from the New Testament because while there is so much that confuses me, I still find myself in prayer when I'm really stressed out or trying to overcome a problem. Whether or not that is the result of conditioning or not, it works for me. It brings me peace, so I'm going with it.
I'm not currently associated with any church/denomination, and organized religion scares me right now. There's nothing wrong with being religious, but I do find organized religion to be scary because that's when it can bring harm to others.
I believe in equity, love, authenticity. I believe that there is a life beyond this one, and that somehow, we are all connected.