How did you feel and what did you experience as a result of your loss of faith?

Losing my faith was scary, because it called into question everything I'd ever believed. Some of it - such as the blatant lies Mormonism tells to justify abuse - was pretty easy to cope with and kind of expected, honestly. Some of it was more subtle and surprised me - such as the concepts of every religion being basically the same concept, just with different levels of correct and incorrect ideas. Some of it came completely out of left field and was devastating to come to terms with - like the fact that the people that had loved me had done so conditionally, and I no longer met those conditions.
I lost my entire support system as a result of leaving. I chose to stop interacting with my friends, because I knew they wouldn't understand and would do anything to bring me back. I couldn't bring myself to put us both through even more heartbreak.
So, if you grew up in Mesa, Arizona, and were friends with a young woman who seemingly dropped off the face of the earth, and then found out that she ran away from home, never to return... that was me. I'm not a woman, and I'm sorry things had to be that way. If you've since left Mormonism and you think you might've known me, please, by all means, reach out to me on my Bluesky or on my tumblr. Just send me your name and how we would've known each other and I'd love to reconnect.
Just... don't tell anyone who's still Mormon about me.

Anonymous

I felt angry and was easily triggered whenever the church was brought up. I cried a lot and I couldn't figure out why I had these strong feelings for a church, even though I didn't associate myself with it anymore. At my most desperate I had a revelation. I was in mourning. I may have felt resentment toward the church for most of my time in it. But I did believe in the church once upon a time. Once I recognized that, I was finally able to let go, move away from the church, and heal.

proudxmo

I discarded and re-examined most of my most fundamental beliefs. I did not do this because I wanted to. It is a painful and laborious process to change one’s total worldview.

frank

After walking away, we are surprised to see that the world is not as decadent as the church told us. Even more of a surprise is that we are far from alone. We’ve met many Mormon seniors who have similar stories. There are far more EX-Mormons than believing Mormons, even where we live in the Salt Lake Valley. We have found a welcoming new community.

We have been traveling a lot and enjoying a much more abundant life, with real agency. Just being honest about everything has been a blessing and eliminating the monthly 10% tithe of our retirement income has too.
Now that we don’t have to be perfect, we can just be good. We are happier that way.

jensens