I have stayed friends with a former missionary that served in a ward I lived in. We have stayed friends for close to 20 years. We had dinner with him and his wife last week and he started a discussion with me about the church's dishonesty in membership numbers.

I try to stay completely out of anything church related - for or against. Religion discussions can be friendship killers if you disagree with each other.

Anyway, he started talking out how he thinks the church is not honest in they way they report membership numbers year after year. Then he said - "If they are not honest about something so insignificant, what else are they not being honest about?"

We were with both our wives, which are both TBM. I thought he was TBM, just a little liberal.

I stopped the conversation by saying it was a subject that since I have left the church I am fully aware of, but didn't really want to discuss it. If I do discuss it, I tend to start coming across as anti. Which I am, just not openly active anti.

I asked my wife later about him. My wife told me that his wife was disappointed because he had not been going to church for a while now.

I am going to be spending a little time with him in a couple weeks without our wives. I will have to find out where he stands. It was quite a shock to find out he may be done with the church.

There is hope for everyone I guess.

Another mind escapes the cult. Cool!

Now if your wives would just "see the light..." ;-)