David A. Bednar gave a Missionary Devotional in August 2021, asking listeners not to write down what he said. This echoes other Apostolic Firesides and Devotionals, where members in attendance are specifically requested not to record or share the message. The leaders presumably want to keep the meeting intimate and casual. They want to be …
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Meet Erica, a woman with deep spiritual roots and pioneer ancestors. Raised as a devout Mormon, Erica valued her spirituality and sees it as a vital part of her identity. However, her journey took an unexpected turn when a prayer about tithing led to a surprising answer that she did not need to pay money …
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Camille Johnson, Relief Society General President, made waves with a talk at the BYU Women’s Conference where she also talked about career, motherhood and following the living prophet. Her address is featured on the official Church instagram. She was born in 1962, earned her bachelor’s degree in 1985, married in 1987, and her law degree …
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Brother Ahmad S. Corbitt, the then First Counselor in the Young Men General Presidency, gave a talk to LDS Chaplains, on October 4, 2022, in which he teaches against activism directed towards the church. He doesn’t want members getting any ideas that they can influence or change things the church does by criticizing, complaining, or …
Continue reading “Church Claims Activism a Tactic of Satan and Gaslights Members”
Nearly every speaker in a testimony meeting says “I know the church is true.” This is a nonsensical statement, but considering the Illusory Truth Effect we can see what the church may be after. We know that repetitions don’t make statements any more true, but psychologically we do tend to believe things we’ve heard repeatedly. …
Walt Whitman Walt Whitman (1819-92) is considered to be the most important American poet of the 19th century. He published the first edition of his major work, Leaves of Grass, in 1855 and updated it throughout his life with updated editions. Whitman’s work broke away from traditional poetic forms, embracing free verse and celebrating the …
Continue reading “Examine What You Know – Dismiss What Insults Your Soul”
Troy was happy as a Mormon and sees Mormonism as part of Christianity. He saw extreme examples of leader worship that led him to see cult-like behavior in the church community. He’s not sure if it goes all the way to the top, but he saw enough to understand the church as being a corrupt …
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In November 2015 a new church policy was leaked and upset many members of the church and those outside the church. It became known as the November Policy of Exclusion. It affected those who are LGBTQ+ allies and family and friends by prohibiting children of same-sex married couples from being baptized or blessed at church …
Continue reading “November Policy of LGBT Exclusion, The Reversal, and Mormon Mental Gymnastics”
Lorenzo Snow coined a couplet that famously explains a complex doctrine of Mormon theology which is closely tied to the idea of eternal progression. It also gets Mormon theology in deep water with most other Christian denominations. It challenges (or changes) the nature of God and our relationship with him as mankind. It proclaims that …
Continue reading “As Man Now Is, God Once Was; As Now God Is, Man May Be – Lorenzo Snow”
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 …
Continue reading “Never Take Council From Those Who Do Not Believe – Says Russell M Nelson”
Joseph Smith’s early stories involve the visitation of a specific angel in his bedroom. The current narrative states that this was the angel Moroni, the same Moroni that tops all the temples. He was the last writer of the Book of Mormon. However, some records indicate that it was the angel Nephi who first visited …
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Russell M. Nelson would have us believe he is in direct conversation with Jesus and with God the Father. Neil Anderson recounts a story from Wendy Nelson (Russell M. Nelson’s second wife) on his Facebook page which details Russell M. Nelson’s frequent practice of receiving revelation. It’s so frequent that he keeps a lined yellow …
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In 1945 the Improvement Era shared the now-ingrained Mormon mantra “When our leaders speak, the thinking has been done“. J Raymond Cope In response to this message, a Christian minister was troubled by what control the Mormon church leaders had on the people of Utah. He was not a Mormon, but a Unitarian minister in Salt …
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In the Mormon community, the practice of putting questions on a shelf refers to the act of setting aside doubts or concerns about the faith in order to maintain belief and avoid conflict with church teachings. Mormons are encouraged to trust in the leadership and authority of the church and to believe that answers to …
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This idiomatic phrase relates to one who does not understand or appreciate a larger situation, or problem because they are considering only a few parts of it. If you can’t see the forest for the trees, you are too focused on small details or parts and so you are missing something more important; you fail to understand …
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The church is working hard to inoculate the youth from the disease of church history. They are teaching seminary students in the scripture mastery program that historical details are not important since they can’t provide salvation, so let’s not get distracted by these less significant details. This conditions young members to ignore the troubling issues …
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This faith crisis report next lists many anonymous faith crisis profiles each detailing the exit story of the member (along with precious statistics and demographics the church cares deeply about such as household income). Not to be confused with the actual faith crisis profiles shared on wasmormon.org.
Garrett stumbled into the rabbit hole of doctrine inconsistencies while doing his best to teach the youth of the church. He studied deeply and what he was finding troubled him enough to stop. He felt the prompting to continue to “seek truth. [He] felt assured that if the church was true, if the restoration was …
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![“[We] have continued to seek the Lord’s guidance and to plead with Him in behalf of His children who were affected by the 2015 policy. We knew that this policy created concern and confusion for some and heartache for others.” - Russell M Nelson, regarding the November Policy Reversal, BYU Devotional, September 2019 | wasmormon.org](https://i0.wp.com/wasmormon.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/nelson-policy-reversal-Lords-guidance-2015-policy-created-concern-confusion-heartache.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1)
