Hello I'm Nelle
I was a Mormon.
About me
I was born in the church into a mixed-active family and raised by my inactive grandparents. This meant that I was always aware of the church but I wasn't baptised until I was 14. I was very much on the outskirts from the beginning but I truly believed in forever families, did confirmations at the Temple, attended Seminary and Institute and YSA activities. I planned to go on a mission but health problems prevented me and was planning for my endowment when I left
On my shelf
On the Mormon Spectrum
# Why I left More stories of 'Why I left' the Mormon church
I always felt on the outskirts of church. I "knew" families were forever but that mine would not be but I was taught God would work it all out so I popped it on a shelf. That was my first thing. I didn't even realise I was doing it. The next thing was the way gay people...in fact anyone who isn't straight, are treated at church. I literally met a gentleman who was divorcing his husband and tearing apart his family to be baptised and did not understand why a place that was actively telling me they were family focused were celebrating the destruction of a family for no reason other than that they weren't a man and a woman.
The shelf broke when I was learning about the temple. About what really happens during the endowment. I felt wrong about the whole thing so stopped going and started researching. All the things came crashing down but I justified it and decided "this is my community" and "they're still Christian" and "my loved ones are here". Then I watched a video that wouldn't leave my mind about the sacrament and how "wrong" it felt and it hit me like a ton of bricks that all of this was wrong and not what Jesus taught. They didn't practice the basic commandments like loving others and I had been lied to my whole life since I was a teenager by people who had been lied to their whole lives.
Questions about Mormons My Answers to Questions about Mormonism
#Link to this answer of 'Did you want to sin? Is that why you left?' by Nelle Did you want to sin? Is that why you left? See more answers about 'Did you want to sin? Is that why you left?'
No. Actually I left because I *didn't* want to sin. As you can see from my story I eventually left because I was persuaded that, even though they really want to be, the vast majority of Mormons aren't Christian and don't follow the command of the Lord to "love thy neighbor as thyself". I believed that staying in a faith that wasnt teaching what Jesus taught and wasnt practising the basics would be a bigger sin than leaving and that all the things they said were sins growing up (like drinking tea or showing my shoulders) were WAAAY less important than loving others and believing in Jesus.