Lucky was troubled with questions about the Mormon faith of her upbringing. She researched her questions and came to the conclusion that “Mormonism was not something that I could believe in.” She feels lucky that she left home and created her own life and is now loving the life she has and wouldn’t change it. …
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Marc Oslund and John Dehlin discussed Russell M. Nelson’s “Victory for Satan” talk on Mormon Stories Episode #1424. They discuss that the blind belief in only the living prophet’s words is unsustainable and Nelson’s war on ‘Mormon‘ has been his own personal pet peeve from the beginning. The message from President Nelson that using the …
Mike was raised in a part-member family but never had missionary aspirations. Instead, he wanted to get an education and “fly jets.” He found immense pressure to serve a mission from ward members and was surprised when his Bishop presented him with mission papers. He declined and has been on a road to personal growth, …
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One could define a faithful perspective as supporting the church’s truth claims at all costs. Anything that is outside of that faith-promoting mindset could be argued to be anti-mormon, because it doesn’t align with promoting faith in the church at all costs. We aren’t willing to sacrifice everything (as Elder Oaks says is his Apostolic …
Latayne converted to Mormonism and was swept up in the fullness of the Gospel. She attended BYU and loved it. She came to a realization though that she trusted the Bible first and foremost, and began to study the church closer. As she studied she was startled by the “contrast between what I’d been taught …
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In the October 2023 General Conference, President Russell M Nelson spoke to the church membership by way of a previously recorded message. He was unable to attend the conference because he’d injured his back when falling. He was not able to be miraculously healed and even mentioned the considerable pain he was in due to …
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Brooklyn grew up in the church and considered her testimony “unbreakable”. She served her country in the armed forces and saw among the LDS while she was deployed that they did not live by LDS standards but she needed to rely on them for priesthood services (blessings and sacrament). Later she worked as a police …
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There are reasons to believe, and there are reasons to doubt. Can we simply choose to believe? Can’t we just stay in the pews even though our conscience and judgment tell us not to? What about tradition? What about the kids? Leaders tell us that we have a choice, and even a duty, to choose …
Patrick served faithfully and notes that his “faith defined every decision of [his] life.” He was successful at putting his issues on the shelf for decades until he wasn’t and it came time to understand and accept his own gay child in the context of the church. He found the church position lacking when studying …
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How does the church instruct the members to deal with their doubts? First, we do have an admission that we have legitimate reason to doubt. But First Doubt Your Doubts Even if there are legitimate things that may cause us to doubt, doubt these legitimate reasons before giving into any actual doubting. It’s natural to …
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Sam Young discovered that his children had been asked sexually explicit questions by Bishops in worthiness interviews. This troubled him and he discovered that it is commonplace among Mormon Bishops to ask these questions, which lead to real harm. He advocated for protecting children from this harm and campaigned for church leaders to stop the …
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Elder Dieter F Uchtdorf remarked that as members leave the church, they leave the “light of the gospel,” wherein these exmormons find themselves questioning why they ever believed in the church and their previously clear knowledge would even seem foolish in retrospect. Here he contributes to the narrative that church leaders enjoy telling about those …
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Ken converted to the church and then faithfully served in church callings and as a CES Educator. Over his 27 years teaching for the church, he grew increasingly uneasy with the whitewashed history the church teaches and took notes along the way. Eventually, this led to a tipping point where he “just couldn’t violate [his] …
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Brent was raised in the church and served faithfully. Over time his shelf items overloaded his testimony. He was particularly distressed after leaving to find out that issues he dismissed as anti-mormon lies were confirmed to be true by the church gospel topic essays. He left the church with his wife and joined his 4 …
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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 …
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Emma didn’t feel right or safe at church. She struggled with the dissonance until she stumbled on ex-Mormon creators and community and knew she’d finally found her people! I was born into the church. I left the church in 2020, after taking a hiatus from church for about a year. I decided I didn’t want …
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Madison found she always had questions, but was forced to them off. She told herself, that she’d “figure it out later.” She did figure it out eventually through her experiences in the church and the temple to know that the church is not true. She felt connected to diety and felt confirmation that she was …
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Jeff was all-in and served with gusto. He learned to overlook things on his shelf and assumed that since others who knew more than he did could stay, he should trust them. Over time the issues on his shelf piled high until he learned more about “the treatment of and attitude regarding LGBQT+ people.” He …
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Teddi chipped away on her Mormon checklist, repented when guilt and shame told her she needed to, and thought that without the rules and teachings of the church, she wouldn’t be happy. Over time she found herself disillusioned from the church, and still happy. She recognizes there is still healing on the other side, but …
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Christopher’s path within The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints encompassed doubt, growth, and eventual departure. Born into the faith, he faced critical information as a teen and young adult. He grappled with church history, racial issues, and doctrinal conflicts. His departure from the church marks an authentic pursuit of personal truth and growth …
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Daniel was raised Mormon and cruised along the Mormon conveyor belt in life. He’s also a physician and was educated to “research and investigate, to seek truth from reliable sources”. He suffered from religious scrupulosity and constantly felt like a sinner. He came across the Gospel Topic Essays though and quickly felt “uneasy with the …
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John was a golden convert. He found comfort in the certainty. He also found the authority of the church exacerbated his anxiety into a real OCD and religious scrupulosity. The high-control authoritarian system was incredibly unhealthy for him throughout adolescence and a mission. John acknowledges that some may blame his OCD, but he knows it …
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Tom discovered that he does not need special qualifications to analyze the text of the Book of Mormon. He found plenty of simple evidence that shows it is “easily seen as a product of its time.” He feels that the lack of support from church leadership negates any claims from apologists and cites that the …
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Simon was an active, believing member serving as a Bishop. While reading the Ensign he came across some interesting statements regarding the Flood which led him to research more about it. He came upon “volumes of scientific research” that contradicted things he believed at church. Then he applied his own scientific training in molecular genetics …
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Brigham Young was the second leader of the Mormon church. He wanted no dissension among the ranks and taught that members who openly disagree with church leaders are cursed. He said that any who reject Mormon doctrine or the absolute authority of the church leaders are apostates. He shared what he thinks of an apostate. …
Micah was all in and fully believed in the church. He lived every bit of it. To be more prepared for the second coming, he studied church doctrine deeply. But as he studied church history, he learned that what he’s always been taught wasn’t exactly an honest representation of history. In fact, he found that …
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Lyndon Lamborn served well in the church. But as he served he found himself examining the beliefs he was taught and found some issues that seemed not to add up. This troubled him, but he continued on until he reached a tipping point he describes perfectly: “The desire to know the truth at whatever cost …
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Among the first votes of dissent in the modern Mormon church occurred in 1977, in opposition to the church doctrine banning blacks from any priesthood ordination and temple endowment. A member voted opposed to sustaining church leadership in General Conference 1977 and was subsequently excommunicated. Then less than 1 year later the church downgraded the …
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Richard Packham is a founding father of the ex-mormon internet. He tells his story of diving deep into church history in order to spread the gospel. He found troubling issues and even wrote to Joseph Fielding Smith to make sense of it all. Everything clicked one moment when he realized all his questions and problems …
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Church leaders proclaim that the Book of Mormon is sacred and untouchable. They will tell that it has not been disproven and lay a case that it is impossible for you or anyone to create such a book without divine guidance. They claim it is historically accurate and that it has never been altered. It …
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![[In Seminary,] I put up Nelson's talk that he gave in [1990], and I contrast it with his talk in 2018. I say, "What's different?" and it's like "using the word mormon is bad," and the other one is "using the word Mormon is a victory for Satan." I'm like, "What do you guys see as different?" The kids were like "yeah, that's kind of interesting." Then, I literally put up pictures of the London Underground that had "I'm a Mormon" and Times Square with "I'm a Mormon" and I asked my students the question, "Tell me what you guys think about this?" They were very clear, "I don't think that's a victory for Satan, or else Monson would have been doing Satan's work, and how does that make sense?" I'm like, "Yep, sounds about right. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen" - Marc Oslund, Former Seminary Teacher, Mormon Stories #1424 | wasmormon.org](https://i0.wp.com/wasmormon.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Marc-Oslund-Dont-Say-Mormon.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1)
