Anyone else angry at their ancestors that bought into this bullshirt and then passed it onto us and now we have to somehow straighten things out and rebuild our lives? I am so glad the madness stops with me and I feel really good about that.

Nope. All of my ancestors had the good sense to not be all that religious. I have only my dad and stepmom to blame.

That said, I am pretty much past the anger. It took me a really long time to get past it and then, when I found this and the other board, my whole life changed. Literally! I needed support and feedback from people who had also actually been there and who really GOT it. All y'all get it. Thank you.

So, pleasant journeys dirtbikr. It gets better.

I think many came for the free land without knowing all the mysteries. You could have been born in east europe.

I have recently decided, based on observations of people around me TODAY, that their ancestors and mine were dopes. They bought into a cult and trapped their descendants by their actions. I believe in karma and that we live many lives. I think our actions reverberate throughout time. Their actions certainly have. They have created problems that I view now as challenges to be overcome. I try to look at it that way now.

I just feel so sorry for the group who came as kids and teen girls. They were searching for a better life and were maneuvered into a trap - Itah was hard to leave at that time. It makes me sad that their search for spiritual truth put them under the thumb of scary conmen like Kimball and B Young.

My ancestors were dupes, and I paid for it with an ignorant upbringing.

Yeah, I can't help but blame them for their folly and my subsequent unhappiness at being born into a cult.

Had my ancestors (and dh's) not followed the missionaries to Utah, we both would have been born in Denmark -- a country where, according to yesterday's NY Times, a poor person is twice as likely to rise out of poverty as an equally situated poor person in the U.S.

You know what's weird? Converts who have absolutely no connection to Mormon pioneers, but act like they do.

I'm not talking about anyone, ahem, in my, ahem.....family....