The Stake Whozit didn't show up, which worked out very nicely.

The two who remained - the current bishop and a former bishop - were people we have known for years. I know I described the current bishop as Bishop Jackwagon (he used to be such a Nazi he would herd happily gossiping people out of the halls and into classrooms) - seems to have mellowed greatly with age and illness.

There wasn't a word - not a SYLLABLE - of religion. We have all known each other for decades - our kids grew up together - so in a way, it was like a family reunion. We caught each other up on how our children are doing and how many grandchildren we have.

Honest to Pete, if the words "Pray, pay and obey" hadn't kept galloping through my head, I probably would have begged to re-join on the spot. I DO miss the sense of companionship that we all had. I've missed it terribly. but it is too big a price to pay for all the other things you lose: time, money, freedom.

Current bishop has aged terribly over the 20+ years I've known him, and I'm sure that the church has played no small part in his deterioration.

The many memories of watching our children play together at each other's birthday parties over the years was very powerful in a sweet way, but not enough to make me want to go back. Not ever.

Sounds like they were guided to do exactly what was not expected. False friendships are a gut instinct..go with your first thought that something was weird from the first call..they are not genuine, they just want your devotion and tithe.

Sounds like it went as well as could be expected.

catnip Wrote:
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> I DO miss the sense of companionship that we all had.
> I've missed it terribly. but it is too big a price
> to pay for all the other things you lose:
> time, money, freedom.

To me the loss of time, money, and freedom is not a problem.
It's the loss of integrity that's the problem.

The loss of "integrity" is, I think, another way of saying there is no way to resolve the cog diss, or "doublethink" that is required of Mormons.

Nobody is supposed to question anything. And there is SO much that needs to be questioned.

Thank you for sharing those poignant memories.

I feel similar to you in my feelings of loss for people that I raised my children with for so many years. I wish I had chosen to raise my kiddos around a different social structure than the cult. There are some nice people in the church but they are working in a system that is ugly and it is going to fail them in life. Wish everyone could all get out together and the church didn't exist.