Where I live in northern California, the cult is a slightly noticeable minority. When I was 17 years old, I met a TBM from Europe. Where he was from, there were few members, & his dad was a well known priesthood leader in the country. Many times, he talked about how hard it was to maintain his personal integrity in the face of being surrounded by non members, & in difficult situations. He felt very strongly that being your real self was more important than trying to fit in, which for him meant being a TBM surrounded by a lot of atheists. Even though I'm somewhat far from the Morridor, I was still surrounded by TBMs, to a degree. This young man really made an impression on me that I needed to live my own life, & be my authentic self, which for me meant leaving the cult. I'm sure if we met now he would be shocked that I'm out. I will always be so very thankful for the lessons I learned from him though.

As I was meeting with my bishop about why I never felt my prayers were answered he mentioned that he'd had a hard time with Joseph Smith's polyandry. Hadn't heard of it, researched it, left.

He married women who already had husbands. The women were practicing polyandry.

Which just about violates everything the morg teaches...