A couple of months I posted about my daughter’s friend who was love bombed into going on a mission to Mexico, then wasn’t allowed to get her passport back and fly home when she realized she didn’t want to be there anymore.

http://exmormon.org/phorum/read.php?2,1352798,1352798#msg-1352798

Last night my wife, daughter and I went to dinner with her for her 21st birthday. Despite being told by her mission president that she would be miserable if she went home early, she is doing great. She is a nurse’s aid at a rest home, and she is in nursing school. She has a very nice never-mo boyfriend who was her best friend before she left. She has her own apartment and car, and she is back with friends who accept her the way she is. Last night she had her first drink, a lemon drop martini, and she was smiling from ear to ear. It made my heart happy to see how well she is doing. She has asked me how to resign her membership and also wanted to know of a book that might help her boyfriend understand what she has gone through. I gave her this book as a birthday present: Recovering Agency: Lifting the Veil of Mormon Mind Control by Luna Lindsey. I told her it would also help her understand how smart people like her are sucked into a cult and how to process the psychology of it in order to heal and learn from the experience.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/30/2014 02:24PM by pathdocmd.

Fantastic!

I love stories like that. :)

Yipee!

Great story, and I'm very happy for her.

It's obvious that the real reason that they take a person's passport is to keep them from bolting. You know who else does this? Human traffickers. Yes, Mormons are human traffickers, involved in what is known under the quaint pseudo-technical name of "white slavery." So long as they keep confiscating missionaries' passports, this is not an exaggeration.

But you are right. I am glad that this girl is thinking for herself and making her own decisions.

For the life of me I don't understand why the church has not been sued for this and lost their tax status.


Kathleen Waters



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/30/2014 07:26PM by anagrammy.

Right on the nail, Cludgie:

"You know who else does this? Human traffickers."

Scientologists do it too.

It's illegal and a major sign that you're in a CULT!

Tom in Paris

Wonderful story. Thanks for sharing! Praise to her bravery and being true to herself.

What a wonderful update!

I am so happy for her!!

:)

I love that Luna's book is rapidly becoming the go-to reference source for exiting the church. She really wrote an amazing piece of work, so comprehensively well researched and thorough. I'm so proud of her.

Now that's something really uplifting. Hooray!

If you ever hear of a missionary or any other person whose US passport has been taken from them, to prevent them from moving freely about or for any other reason:

Immediately urge them to contact, via email, in person or by phone, the nearest US embassy or consular office. Or, tell them to directly report this to The US Department of State, Bureau of Consular Affairs:

http://travel.state.gov/content/passports/english/passports.html

http://www.usembassy.gov/

Embassies and consulates, when you show up in person and are in line to enter the building or go farther than the front vestibule, have security personnel who ask to see your passport or you can't go any further inside the building.

When you first arrive, simply tell the first security officer you see that you are a US citizen, but that your passport has been taken from you and you want to speak to someone in the citizen services department, without delay.

If it is after posted business hours for passport services or before or after normal building hours, just ask to speak to the duty officer. Each embassy and consular office has an after hours number you can call to do this, if you can not get there to do this in person during normal hours.

Good advice.

I think this oughta be posted someplace prominent for the benefit of mishies like your friend who may not know what to do and are feeling very much alone.

The morg mission people have NO right to take your passport away and forbid you to leave. Where I come from that's called illegal restraint at the very least!

Love,
Reggie
The Anti-Bullying StalkerDog™




bookratt Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> If you ever hear of a missionary or any other
> person whose US passport has been taken from them,
> to prevent them from moving freely about or for
> any other reason:
>
> Immediately urge them to contact, via email, in
> person or by phone, the nearest US embassy or
> consular office. Or, tell them to directly report
> this to The US Department of State, Bureau of
> Consular Affairs:
>
> http://travel.state.gov/content/passports/english/
> passports.html
>
> http://www.usembassy.gov/
>
> Embassies and consulates, when you show up in
> person and are in line to enter the building or go
> farther than the front vestibule, have security
> personnel who ask to see your passport or you
> can't go any further inside the building.
>
> When you first arrive, simply tell the first
> security officer you see that you are a US
> citizen, but that your passport has been taken
> from you and you want to speak to someone in the
> citizen services department, without delay.
>
> If it is after posted business hours for passport
> services or before or after normal building hours,
> just ask to speak to the duty officer. Each
> embassy and consular office has an after hours
> number you can call to do this, if you can not get
> there to do this in person during normal hours.

Excellent news. Sounds like she is on the road to a happy life. And that book is a must read for all ex-Mormons. It's one thing to know the problems with the doctrine and history but it's another to really understand how Mormonism messed with our minds.

You and I live in the same town, and I've noticed that the enthusiasm of the members around here has waned some. I have young Mo neighbors who are very obviously garment free during the sweltering heat of summer.

I didn't know there were any other posters from around here. Cheers!

The ExMo population here isn't growing by leaps and bounds,yet, but it's a start.

AN OUTRAGE!

Folks remember how parents were going loonie cause their kids were kidnapped by the moonies.

Ya think if the world knew the rest of the story....

Meet the Mormons Who Practice Kidnapping, Chattel Slavery + Child Abuse!

Coming soon to a barrio near you!

Sad thing is the perps are doing their dastardly dirty deeds for one reason and one reason alone:

there is NOTHING to stop them!

;(

There IS something to stop them. People waking up and voting with their feet like this girl has done. LDSInc thrives because people are afraid to wake up and speak out.

Well you're right Susan.

As always :o)

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Former "Moonies" can sue the Unification
Church for alleged deception and brainwashing because freedom of
religion does not protect fraudulent recruiting, the state
Supreme Court said in reinstating two suits.

A lawyer for the National Council of Churches called Monday's
6-1 ruling "a real blow" to freedom of religion.

"The challenge here ... is not to the church's teachings or to
the validity of a religious conversion," said Justice Stanley
Mosk in the decision.

"The challenge is to the church's practice of misrepresenting
or concealing its identity in order to bring unsuspecting
outsiders into its highly structured environment. That practice
is not itself belief -- it is conduct subject to regulation for
the protection of society."

Reversing two lower court rulings, the high court decided that
two former church members who brought their cases could seek to
convince a jury that they had been brainwashed and were unable to
exercise independent judgment when they joined the Rev. Sun
Myung Moon's church after being told of its identity.

In dissent, Appeals Court Presiding Justice Carl Anderson,
assigned to the Supreme Court for the case, said religious
conversion -- whether or not it involves "brainwashing" -- is
constitutionally protected from court scrutiny.

"`Brainwashing' and religious conversion are not really
distinguishable," Anderson said, noting there were no claims of
force or threatened violence in the case.

Shummy Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> "`Brainwashing' and religious conversion
> are not really
> distinguishable,"

Ha Ha! I love it!

Double post



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/31/2014 05:50PM by pathdocmd.

What a wonderful story! That courageous young woman is on the path to a happy, productive live. Thank you so much for sharing her progress with us.

I decided to write to State Dept. (NPIC) about this at their "contact us" page, asking whether it is legal or not. We'll see what happens, like if they answer me or not, and what they say. This has been a question here before, and I'd like to see how it is remotely legally possible for a mission to confiscate a missionary's passport and deny it if the missionary gets cold feet.

How bout a class action suit for tithing monies (back paid) to ex-members? I mean, it was essentially a fraudulent scheme as to how that money was obtained.

From the original Thread:

"Re: A sister missionary wanted to come home from Mexico but wasn’t allowed to

If this story as posted is correct, the young woman should contact the nearest federal prosecutor to determine if charges can be filed against the mission president for stealing her passport, trying to force her to stay in Mexico against her will and human traficking."

I couldn't agree more. Glad she's home and safe, but the MP should be held accountable..

That is great!!! So happy for her that it has worked out and that her family is so supportive of her.

I just wanted to bump this thread to the benefit of any guests reading the forum. The abuse of missionaries has to be made public. Had I known about what really goes on in the mission field I would have never been baptized.