Now that my wife has given the green light and the latest family wedding is past, yesterday was the last straw...

WML (also now our home teacher since they had to monkey with this by reassigning away a guy that I had a perfectly good understanding with who would call me every so often with a fifteen second "Hi. Yeah, we're good. Thanks, Bye." call) dropped by with no appointment. He's been told that any home teaching conversations would need to be at church and not in the home. He came by under the guise of asking about another less-active family in the ward. Really? That family lives two houses down from him. (We're three streets away which might as well be on the other side of town here.) Oh, and by the way, how are you guys doing?

This really got under my skin.

So, it's done. I sent in my resignation letter. I sent it via email with delivery and read receipts requested. We'll see how that works.

It's pretty much a standard verbiage letter with a dash of "up yours" thrown in. Here is a copy of it...

______________

Bite Me
Address
DOB
MRN

August 13, 2013

Member Records Division, LDS Church
50 E North Temple, Rm 1372
Salt Lake City, UT 84150-5310
email: msr-confrec@ldschurch.org

To whom it may concern:

This letter is my formal resignation from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and it is effective immediately. I hereby withdraw my consent to being treated as a member and I withdraw my consent to being subject to church rules, policies, beliefs and 'discipline'. As I am no longer a member, I want my name permanently and completely removed from the membership rolls of the church.

I have given this matter considerable thought. I understand what you consider the 'seriousness' and the 'consequences' of my actions. I am aware that the church handbook says that my resignation "cancels the effects of baptism and confirmation, withdraws the priesthood held by a male member and revokes temple blessings" I also understand that I will be "readmitted to the church by baptism only after a thorough interview". (Quotes from the current Church Handbook of Instructions.)

My resignation should be processed immediately, without any 30-day or other ‘waiting periods'. I am not going to be dissuaded and I am not going to change my mind.

I expect this matter to be handled promptly, with respect and with full confidentiality.

After today, the only contact I want from the church is a single letter of confirmation to let me know that I am no longer listed as a member of the church. There is no need to have anyone come by to talk at me about why I am leaving. It would just be an exercise in futility. I am not going to debate my leaving of the church, nor will I ever consider coming back without having a frontal lobotomy first.

In the end, my reasons for leaving don't really matter, and honestly, no one really cares beyond it being a loss of tithing dollar revenue to the corporation. The church will believe what they want to believe, say what they want to say, and it will probably be something along the lines of "I left and went to get more beer, smoke a joint, sleep around a bit, shoot some heroin, spend a few nights in the gutter, kill someone, contemplate suicide, steal a bagel, kick an old lady while she is crossing the street, lie with my hand on the bible, starve a puppy, and watch a few hours of porn."

So, what's the point. Let's just keep things simple and leave it at, "Going to get milk, never coming back."

Sincerely,

"Bite Me"

_______________


I'll let you all know how sending this via email works as far as response time frames go.

Excellent. Congratulations.

Well done.

Sorry about the crackpot home teacher guy.

I'll be officially nine years out this October.

Funny. I don't think you're going back.

Thanks.

It's too bad about the WML. He's actually one of the people I was closer to in the ward. Maybe one of only a couple that I would let in my house. Unfortunately, he's being used as a pawn by the inspired leadership in the ward.

My wife deliberately set the boundaries with the bishop regarding contact with us, specifically me. She couldn't have been more crystal clear. This is not the first violation.

I have done my best to refrain from discussing anything about where I'm at with anyone from church. This is why I wanted no contact. I'm not interested in initiating the conversation. I'm just as happy to just fade away and let them continue in their delusion. Part of the reason for that is I'm not one who shuts up very well once it is started and I know that. The other reason is that it is just plain pointless until they are ready. Everything up to that point is simply them talking "at" you not "with" you.

Not interested in that.

Congratulations! I loved your witty letter.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/19/2013 02:50PM by releve.

Great last line! Congratulations!

Bite Me Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> nor will I ever
> consider coming back without having a frontal
> lobotomy first.

Hahaha. This is a pre-cursor to a burning in the bosom.

> watch a few hours of porn.
>"Going to get milk, never coming back."

Something tells me these two are connected. haha

"milk" ;-) ;-)

Congrats, BiteMe.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/19/2013 03:35PM by Jesus Smith.

Too funny!


As of 1:23pm today, I am legally out. Just checked my email and there was a read receipt for my resignation email.

Wahoo!!!!!

I know that there is still their BS to go through, but at least legally I'm out.

Oh, and as an FYI for everyone, some things to keep in mind...



[the following was Posted by Oliver on the NOM board]

Here are the nuts and bolts of these letters. They will reply as stated above, saying that they are sending your letter to your Bishop and stake president because they consider it a local ecclesiastical matter.

Back office steps:
1) Bishop - Your bishop will be sent your letter through LDS.org. In order to see it, your bishop will need to sign into the site, click on the drop down menu and select "Leader Resources". In the upper right corner of the screen there is a link with a small red dot next to it that says "Confidential Records".

He needs to click on that link and answer the following questions:
- Has the person committed known or suspected transgressions that are unresolved?
- Has the person joined another church and advocated its teachings?
- At the time of he request the person was serving as [Insert Temple/Mission/Stake Pres., Patriarch, Bishop or Missionary]
- Has the person threatened legal action?
- Has the person requested immediate name removal?
- Additional Comments from the Bishop

If your letter was sent from Salt Lake, then there will be a pdf attached. If not, then the Bishop has to upload something or the request won't go through. If the Bishop never signs into LDS.org, or doesn't visit that one particular screen, then he will never know your letter exists. I've seen name removals held up for months because the Bishop doesn't even know to look there. This isn't something most are trained to do.

2) Stake President - Assuming the Bishop has found your letter and filled out the form correctly, you have to hope the Stake President knows to look at LDS.org and knows where to find the form. If there's a mistake, then it goes back to the Bishop, if he gets to it. If not, and the stake president approves, then he can click a button and send it back to Salt Lake.

Since there is no e-mail notification or anything, it's real easy for this process to take many months. If you want a guaranteed process, then you have to call and speak to the Bishop to shepherd the thing through.

I emailed my resignation July 9th and received the Letter 5 business days later! I was so annoyed that it said the church would still be contacting me, but funny thing happened...

I stopped giving a crap and just smiled and said, "Yes, thank you! Remove those records!" to the mishies and the Bishop when they stopped by to ask if I was sure.

Ah, isn't having a choice wonderful?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/22/2013 05:12PM by healyourpast.

I doubt that the folks in records read too many letters, but I have a feeling that your last paragraph will be copied into an e-mail that will go upstairs to provide new ideas of whisper/gossip campaigns.

Congrats and Good Job!

Yay! Congratulations, Bite Me! :-)

It's nice to have that part of it done. I'll be even better when I have the letter that the church's BS run-around is done.

Hysterical laundry list of post-Mormon sins! Nice job and congratulations.

;o)

+1

I really enjoyed your letter. Thanks for posting it, and congratulations!

GREAT end of the letter. Congrats....you are out. Happy trails.

CoNgRaTiOnS!!!

Just a quick update on timeframes so far...


Resignation Letter submitted via email: 8/19/2013 10:38am

Email Read Receipt received from TSCC: 8/19/2013 1:25pm

Received "An Invitation" pamphlet and official letter of acknowledgment from TSCC via USPS: 8/21/2013

Received Voicemail Message from bishop asking for a return phone call: 8/21/2013 7:37pm


Seems to be moving along nicely so far.

If he protests too much, be sure to remind him he still has several people fooled by faith.

You are faster then we are. We send in our resignation 7/14/2013 and still haven't heard from the bishop we did get the pamphlet about 2 weeks ago or so.

Maybe they move faster with those of us who haven't paid tithing in decades. :-)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/22/2013 05:14PM by healyourpast.

Just got off the phone with him. He was hesitant to even call in the first place because he wanted to respect the "no contact" request in the letter. He didn't ask for a meeting and just wanted to let me know he received it and would make sure his part was handled and forwarded on to the SP before he left town for several weeks.

He has family who are exmos and tries to be pretty sensitive to boundaries.

Sounds like you have/had a nice bishop.

He's a pretty good guy. He's from Brazil and thinks a bit different. Don't get me wrong, he's still a bishop and believer but he's a bit more normal than what many of us typically experience.

Congratulations on being out. Enjoyed your letter, particularly the quotes around doctrine.

What a coincidence.
I sent mine on aug 13th too, and just got my invitation letter a couple of days ago(20 th).
Haven't heard from the bishop nor sp. I'm assuming they are respecting the no contact request.

I love your letter!

Best wishes to you and your family.