I know a woman who joined TSCC because she was desperately poor and she thought they would help her. I lost track of her, so I don't know how it turned out.

But...it reminded me of this story: Many years ago, in the 50s, my aunt married a Jack Mormon from Vernal, Utah. He came from an old pioneer Mormon family there. Her family was upset, but she declared she would never convert to TSSC, she just loved the guy. They made a beautiful couple and were very active in the dancing and parties, very popular and partied before they had their kids.

Well, five kids later (she came from a big family, too, so probably not just the Mo influence per se), they're very poor and have hit rock bottom and decide to return to the family farm near Vernal. He lost his job due to the economy.

His parents would not help them. So...they went to TSCC, asking for help to feed their kids, just enough to get back on their feet. TSCC refused unless they would join. My aunt was thus pressured to join, just to feed her kids, which she did (who wouldn't?). After joining, his family then let them come and help work the farm.

After awhile, he got work in the oil field and they left. Their kids weren't raised Mormon, and they always resented TSCC for how it treated them. I guess after they joined, they still weren't really given much help and my mom and her sister ended up sending them money, they hadn't even known about it.

I've always wondered if this was typical of TSCC or not...

I've never heard of a similar circumstance, but this story doesn't surprise me. Those in the church seek converts by hook or by crook; it doesn't matter how they get people to join, just so that they join. It's about numbers, and to show that they're 'growing.'

My heck. At the church I go to they would never turn anyone away,for any reason. If they couldn't help they would find someone that could. Like a church is supposed to do.

That's really sad. Did the wife ever think of resigning afterward?

I don't know if my aunt ever resigned, but she never attended again, nor did my uncle. She died at 65 of heart disease (smoker) and he got Alzheimers and hopefully forgot he was ever a Mormon. :)

"he got Alzheimers and hopefully forgot he was ever a Mormon"

LOL - That's good!

If only we could selectively forget those things in our past that burden us so much later on...

Actually, you kind of can. My motto is "Just Fling It."

Unfortunately, there are some things I cannot fling. I have 'demons' from my past that haunt me every day. I've been thinking about sharing them in a future post, and ask advice as to how to deal with them.

Go for it guy! It's amazing how much a fellow poster can help, sometimes by saying exactly the right thing to bring a little enlightenment to our thinking. It often helps to see something in a different light, after which the way forward seems more clear.

One thing that really helped me was a poster quite a long time ago making the comment that she welcomes disillusionment as it brings reality into focus for her. I was shocked as I had always felt (literally) that being disillusioned was very painful and I even tried to avoid it (by putting things on a deep back shelf and consciously pushing them even further back when necessary). After her comment, I came to see that experiencing a disillusionment can be a positive in that I could see things more clearly and accurately, not a bad thing.

So, from one comment that helped me take a different approach and start to see things more clearly, I became less fearful of the pain I had previously associated with disillusioning experiences and more attuned to the facts I could learn. I'm happy with that.

Even if it's just to hear some words of understanding and support it can really be worth opening up a little and discussing what's on your mind with others who have been there. Good luck with that!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/16/2011 03:58PM by Nightingale.

I've heard many similar stories over the years.

I know a couple who were faithful TBMs. The husband became ill and ended up in a wheel chair. They asked for help to convert there house to be wheelchair accessible and were refused. They ended up leaving the church.

Another TBM friend (convert, single mother) asked for help with funeral expenses for her mother and was refused. A few months later another family in the ward asked for help with funeral expenses and were given it. My friend rationalizes it away and manages to remain a believer.

Several years ago the SLTrib ran a story about a single woman who had adopted her sister's five children after their parents were killed in a car wreck. Not sure if the woman was ex-mo or never mo, but the deceased parents were TBMs. Anyway, she asked the bishop for help and was refused unless she agreed to start bringing the kids to church.

I've had never mo's comment to me how they respect the LDS church because they "take care of their own". I'm sure to set them straight that there are ALWAYS strings attached and help is usually granted to the more "connected" and denied to the "less important".

Sounds typical of the RC Church as well, and even they do not help their own. My Dad's best man is 100% Italian, and United Church of Canada. His mother had 11 kids to feed in 1930s Montreal and was refused help by her own Church, which as we know is rolling in money, both now and then. So she sought help elsewhere, getting it from a Protestant waspy mainline type church, and in the process converted her entire family out of the mess that was the Catholic Church in pre-1960 Quebec. You thought the LDS Church was a crooked enterprise????!!!

I didn't join because I was financially desperate, but I joined because I was emotionally desperate.

My twin sister had just died in a car accident, and in came the Mormons with the "family is forever" stuff. I didn't pay much attention to the stuff about Joseph Smith or the BOM. I was in desperate need of a way to make sense of my loss and find some comfort, and these nice guys in ties seemed to have answers to my questions. My parents didn't know any better, they let me join TSCC because it seemed to bring me comfort.

I look back now and realize I was taken advantage of in a time of emotional distress.

I wish I had a nickel for every version of such sad tales.

It is deplorable, the way missionaries and members alike misrepresent Mormonism to potential converts.

They offer to help and make sad people believe they are a place of refuge emotionally and, if faithful, financially.

The stark reality is that Mormonism wants slaves who work themselves to death for the cult

And what they are really doing to their victims amounts to emotional rape.