Has given me the courage to talk about the last answer to my prayers as a mormon. You know Ive talked alot about the problems Ive had,some personal soame church related. And all the time I felt like God was with me, But the church just seemed to getmeaner. I prayed & prayed asking God what to do(thinking I was living all the laws of the church,& my life just got worse) Heres the answer I got.."LEAVE THE CHURCH! THEY CANT HURT YOU ANYMORE IF YOU LEAVE! I asked again & again to be sure! SAME ANSWER!!

Sounds like some old fashioned common sense to me!! Get away from people who are being unfair, hurting you, not listening, treating you badly (whatever that is-wherever that is).

I found a great relief when I left the LDS Church. I still have loved ones and friends that I am comfortable with, but I sure don't miss the ones that seemed to be out to make my life miserable on some level! (Lots of long stories!)

It's the nature of a bunch of people given a little authority or power: authority-power corrupts, absolute authority-power corrupts absolutely.

I knew it was a trait of humans in general when the same kinds of misuse of authority-power happened to me in the work environment that happened at church. Same stuff, different faces!

So, eventually, I got out of both!... Hip Hip Hurrah!!
Freedom - at last.

I was able to retire and have my own little business, and leave the LDS Church's structure and find a new kind of life where I was treated with respect much more often.

It was never a problem in my home. My husband was not like those with their authority-power button set on HIGH!!

Same here. I was confused about so many contradictions in church teachings, so I prayed every night for several months for God to tell me the truth and not leave me in the dark. I agreed that I would accept the truth no matter what it was, as long as it was 100% clear to me what the truth was. Then I soon read about how the church was actually started and where it's beliefs came from, how the Book of Mormon was written, etc. and saw that everything I believed was wrong. It wasn't the answer that I wanted but I got what I asked for!

DonQuijote Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Same here. I was confused about so many
> contradictions in church teachings, so I prayed
> every night for several months for God to tell me
> the truth and not leave me in the dark. I agreed
> that I would accept the truth no matter what it
> was, as long as it was 100% clear to me what the
> truth was. Then I soon read about how the church
> was actually started and where it's beliefs came
> from, how the Book of Mormon was written, etc. and
> saw that everything I believed was wrong. It
> wasn't the answer that I wanted but I got what I
> asked for!


You too? I was a young woman convert.
The contradictions bothered me for years.

I am a believer in timing. I had to be in the right place/time in my life for the info I needed to get to me and be accepted.

The amazing acceptance of the visions, supernatural, and metaphysical claims didn't astound me as much after I read some of D. Michael Quin's book: "Early Mormonism and the Magic World View" plus some of the series by B H Roberts (I just posted some of the sections from that book).

LDS History from BH Roberts that was a wake up call for me!!

http://exmormon.org/phorum/read.php?2,867152,867152#msg-867152

It all began to jell. Then it hit me: I was asking the wrong questions - it was the beginning that didn't ad up to the way it was being taught. I could trust myself, after all.

Then began a whole new process. (another story for another time)

For sure, timing really is everything. I had to be ready to hear the truth, and it came little by little. If anyone had pushed the truth in front of me a few years ago I would have turned them away without giving them a chance. I've read a lot of "anti-Mormon" stuff in the past but it never got to me much, and I made up excuses and answers for things regularly. I even read Early Mormonism and the Magic World View and concluded that I needed to get into seer stones, magic, dousing, etc. so that I could be as spiritual as Joseph Smith. I was probably a little more dense than most, but since I later found the truth on my own, and confirmed it many times logically with no possible way of denying it, then I was finally able to let go and swallow the truth.

This is why I am really understanding and patient with TBM's, especially those in my family. One day they'll snap out of it (if they want to) and when they are ready I'll help them process the information and get back to real life.

DonQuijote Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> For sure, timing really is everything. I had to
> be ready to hear the truth, and it came little by
> little. If anyone had pushed the truth in front
> of me a few years ago I would have turned them
> away without giving them a chance. I've read a lot
> of "anti-Mormon" stuff in the past but it never
> got to me much, and I made up excuses and answers
> for things regularly. I even read Early Mormonism
> and the Magic World View and concluded that I
> needed to get into seer stones, magic, dousing,
> etc. so that I could be as spiritual as Joseph
> Smith. I was probably a little more dense than
> most, but since I later found the truth on my own,
> and confirmed it many times logically with no
> possible way of denying it, then I was finally
> able to let go and swallow the truth.
>
> This is why I am really understanding and patient
> with TBM's, especially those in my family. One
> day they'll snap out of it (if they want to) and
> when they are ready I'll help them process the
> information and get back to real life.


I love the story of getting into seer stones and dousing... actually that is still practiced.

Yes, I am convinced that believing members, totally immersed, BIC in particular with a long heritage in the LDS faith are likely to skip the "timing" to hear anything different their whole life.

I know that is true of my husband who passed two months ago. He never wavered! And according to his wishes, he was dressed in his temple clothes by two male family members and the bishop, I think, for burial. (We had a closed casket)
I can respect and honor his right to accept those claims as as he claimed a "Spiritual Witness" which, I learned is probably one of the most powerful claims any human can make.

In my process leaving, I knew I needed to give my believing loved ones, especially my husband time and a lot of it to adjust to the changes I was making in changing my mind.
But he finally realized he could accept what I wanted and when he asked what I needed from him, I said: "Live the 11 Article of Faith" which he could quote, and he did! We also had an agreement that worked: we agreed to disagree.

I learned to make religion a non-issue in our long relationship and marriage (over 50 years by the time he passed in January), and if I didn't bring up anything questionable, it didn't rock his world. I respected his right to keep his positive, spiritual beliefs and keep it about him and not me.

I am convinced we often need to give our families a lot of time to adjust to our changing views!

Mormons seem to think that if your testimony of the church isn't strong it's because you've stopped praying. But I think at least for some of us, having doubts about the church makes you pray even more.

When I started to have real doubts about the church I prayed like never before. The answer that always came to my mind was, "Do what's best for you. It just doesn't matter if Mormonism isn't for you."

A true Mormon would say that there is no way that God would answer a prayer in such a way, but I'm sticking with it.

I told my bishop that my decision of removing my name from church records actually came from careful prayer and study. His answer was to wait and pray for another month while reading the BOM only, that is until I got the answer HE thought I should get!