email bishop sent out when i resigned
templenameaaron Sep. 2012
Dear Brothers and Sisters of the ... ward,
This is a difficult time for our ward family as some of our fellow ward members whom we love have openly questioned their faith and testimony. As one of the Lord's "watchmen on the tower", I feel impressed to sound a voice of warning. There is safety in studying and living the gospel of Jesus Christ each day, following the prophet and sustaining our Church leaders, and keeping our covenants.
Our prophet, President Thomas S. Monson, has taught, "How can we gain and maintain the foundation needed to survive spiritually? May I offer three guidelines to help: (1) Prayer. When we remember that each of us is literally a spirit son or daughter of God, we will not find it difficult to approach Him in prayer. He knows us; He loves us; He wants what is best for us. (2) Scriptures. Spending time each day in scripture study will strengthen our foundations of faith and our testimonies of truth. (3) Service. There are others who need your help. In the Book of Mormon we read of noble King Benjamin. He declared: “When ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God” (Mosiah 2:17)."
I encourage you to do all that you can to strengthen your faith and testimony. We also have a solumn obligation to stregthen our families, and minister to those around us to build their faith and testimony. Please avoid confrontations, "For verily, verily I say unto you, he that hath the spirit of contention is not of me, but is of the devil, who is the father of contention, and he stirreth up the hearts of men to contend with anger, one with another." 3 Ne.11:39
My dear brothers and sisters, I testify to you that our Heavenly Father, the God of heaven and earth lives! He loves us, and anointed His Son, Jesus Christ, to be our Savior and Redeemer. God the Father, and God the Son appeared to Joseph Smith, and with that visit the great work of the restoration was ushered in; including the translation of the Book of Mormon, the restoration of priesthood authority which allowed for the performance of ordinances vital to our eternal salvation, the establishment of the Kingdom of God on earth, and the great sealing work performed in the holy temples. I testify to you that the prophet, Joseph Smith, sealed his work here on earth with his blood.
In the pre-mortal existence we followed the Son as He fought, and defeated His adversary, Lucifer. That great war between good and evil which once raged in the pre-mortal realms, is now waged here on earth. Remember, my dear brothers and sisters who you are. Stay close to, and follow the Savior here and now, just as you did there and then. Avoid anything that will distract you, and your families from your eternal destinies. Feast upon the words of Christ, as found in the scriptures, and heed the counsel of the living prophets, apostles, and other priesthood authorities. If you have received your patriarchal blessing, review it regularly for guidance, counsel, direction, and comfort.
I testify to you that these things are true, and do so in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen.
With love and appreciation,
Bishop ...
rise
Re: email bishop sent out when i resigned
Ugh what a d-bag
bc
Re: email bishop sent out when i resigned
Oh brother, what a loser.
Of course that pretty much just sounds like what you hear in church EVERY Sunday.
Greyfort
Re: email bishop sent out when i resigned
Yep. That's what keeps some people in the Church long after they should have left, including myself. They make you afraid of the Big Bad Wolf, so everyone huddles in together for protection, in their little straw house.
Stumbling
Re: email bishop sent out when i resigned
The Bishop is panicking in case anyone else is influenced to go looking and to frighten them away from being in contact with you.
It's not a cult, right?
Mormon Observer
But that is the problem! I do read my scriptures!
And what is in the scriptures?
The Book of Mormon?
Inconsistencies that glare out at you!
Warfare where people die and their piled up bones are never found!
Ancient Egyptian scrolls that are found, but were not written thousands of years ago, but, hundreds, and then they are just a funeral text!
Boats that can travel on the water for 365 days that turn upside down, are air tight and no one dies of oxygen deprivation. Did I mention the cows??? Maybe they didn't mind being covered in green goo...but what did they feed the cows? Seaweed? Because that's a lot of hay to feed cows for a year on board ship...and the shoveling...
Okay that is a story told by a six year old..
Or that gem in D & C 132 where all you have to do is desire to have a young new wife to raise up seed. (Not take care of widows and old unmarrieds)
As man is God once was, and as God is man may become.
I don't know that we teach that....
Stumbling
Re: email bishop sent out when i resigned
"Dear Bishop, I read the e mail you sent out. Great, thanks a lot.
I was going to go quietly, but now you've fired the first shot I feel it only fair to warn you that I will be seeking to set the record straight as to why I am no longer active in the Church, with each and every member I bump into."
He will crap his pants.
Mormoney
Re: email bishop sent out when i resigned
I'm kind of surprised that he encouraged in that e-mail everyone to read anti-mormon literature. Namely the BOM, D&C and POGP. I mean, that sh!t is what got me out.
twojedis
Re: email bishop sent out when i resigned
The leaders of the church are panicking and scrambling. They are losing the thinkers, the bright and intelligent members who would have made great leaders, if the church were true. The church is hemorrhaging and not sure what to do about it.
Mormoney
Re: But that is the problem! I do read my scriptures!
Don't you know that it was Mohonri Moriamcumr that invented oxygen masks, like the kind you find in modern aircraft?
imaworkinonit
If you wanted to be a "troublemaker" he just gave you the option to "reply all"
justcallmestupid
Re: email bishop sent out when i resigned
(1)Prayer,(2) scriptures and (3)service
1) keeps your head in the clouds
2) keeps your eyes from the internet
3) keeps you too busy to do your own research
And a personal testimony from one of "the lord's watchmen on the tower" to boot.
Total loser, imo!
gentlestrength
Re: email bishop sent out when i resigned
Validation of your judgement. Limited mentions of Jesus Christ, but he did get mentioned about as much as Jesus Smith.
If you are inclined to help others exit you've been given a great tool.
bc
Re: email bishop sent out when i resigned
Was he stupid enough to put everyone's email cc or was he smart enough to do bcc so you can't see who he sent it to?
If it was the first I would be seriously tempted to write a rebuttal letter staring with a comment about your frustration of lack of privacy and that this feels like gossip.
spaghetti oh
Re: email bishop sent out when i resigned
Bishop d-bag protesteth too much methinks. I think he actually wrote that email to the part of his brain that contains 'the shelf' which might be close to collapsing.
Cheryl
Good grief! Desperation personified!
xyz
Re: If you wanted to be a "troublemaker" he just gave you the option to "reply all"
ROTFLMAO!
Do it! Do it!
Doxi
Re: "reply all"
YES!
DO IT!
Ever so cool and calm, tell the truth.
SerendipityHappensNotLoggedIn
Re: email bishop sent out when i resigned
WOW. What an ASS! I love how the email is intended to keep them from openly questioning as though "openly questioning" is the worst thing that someone can do... Just the mere fact that TSCC is so against openly questioning should be setting off alarm bells to all the recipients of that email.
What's sad is that I'm sure this will be effective for a lot of the members. They'll just put all the things they have problems with on the shelf and continue to "endure to the end"
Greyfort
Re: email bishop sent out when i resigned
Reply all and simply say: mormonthink.com
smith
Re: email bishop sent out when i resigned
That is a great point. The last couple of times I attended, I was taught that we should have livestock (even in an apartment), that the prophet can say whatever he wants (even contrary to the scripture) and we have to follow, that raising children is exactly like taking care of a dog (dude had a PHD), and that doubt comes from GOD.
And while it is glaringly obvious to everyone here how stupid this stuff is (a cow in an apartment, really?), TBMs in my ward are eating this straight up.
This is why more and more people are leaving. It seems like in order to be a bishop today, you need to be the most brain dead person in the ward. My sister was raped as a child and was told by her bishop that it was her fault!
Greyfort
Re: email bishop sent out when i resigned
smith Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
My sister was raped as a child and was told by her
bishop that it was her fault!
Someone like that has no business whatsoever of being in the position of a counselor. Anyone who would say something like that to a young rape victim outta face some sort of consequences for it.
Mia
Re: email bishop sent out when i resigned
You must have pushed his buttons. He has given you a ton of power. Now everyone is going to want to know what you could have possibly done to get a letter like that sent to the entire ward.
The guy is a complete idiot. He knows nothing about psychology and how the human mind works. He just stirred a pot that could have been very quiet.
tofino
Re: email bishop sent out when i resigned
Your bitchup is having nightmares about members wondering why you left. Full scale panic attack... pass the prozac.
Read your comic book of Moron daily and don't forget to write your monthly tithing check to cult.inc.
Mittens is helping to increase the haemoraging of members who are discovering their life has been based on a fraud.
Settle into a comfy couch, put your feet up on the ottoman, and enjoy the spectacle of the hoax religion being exposed.
blueorchid
Re: email bishop sent out when i resigned
Basically the Prophet is asking for three things.
PRAY--A one way monologue with god wherein you thank him and ask him for favors. CULTISH
SCRIPTURE STUDY--wherein you get all your information from one source--always a great idea in a search for truth! CULTISH
SERVICE--Wherein you invest your time and talent to the church which is a number one control tactic for cults. It is very difficult to turn away from something you have invested heavily in. You are much more likely to throw good money after bad.
When you are cleaning their toilets and they own a multibillion dollar mall, you know you have invested too much. CULTISH
Jesus and Satan had two plans. God like one supposedly. If you look at Satan's plan it is just a different way of going about it. Why label it evil? Why not just say it doesn't work?
Satan could not have continued without God letting him do it. He is God after all. So God is Satan's enabler. Right? OR, the whole thing could be folklore.
pigsinzen
Re: email bishop sent out when i resigned
Why do I have the sudden urge to choke that bishop?
adoylelb
Re: If you wanted to be a "troublemaker" he just gave you the option to "reply all"
YES! That's what I thought as well.
Outcast
Re: email bishop sent out when i resigned
In my reply all email I'd say,
"That's right all you sweet little sheep. Be good little sheep so the church can keep fleecing you every year for 10% of your income while it builds great and spacious shopping malls instead of helping the needy of this world."
bc
Re: email bishop sent out when i resigned
Here's what I would have said.
Dear ward family,
As you may or may not know I have recently resigned from the LDS church. I do not appreciate Bishop DB sending an email out to everyone regarding this event. Although he does not specifically name me this feels like gossip and is beneath what a true representative of the Lord should do.
I want you to know that I did not make this decision lightly. It took a lot of study, research, praying, and soul searching to come to the conclusion that I did. In fact I followed the pattern given in D&C 9 to study it out in my mind and then pray about it. As I learned the factual details and prayed I had a stupor of thought in trying to reconcile that the church is true. However when I concluded it was not true and prayed about it I receive a burning in my bosom and it all made sense. So many questions and issues I had taken on faith for so long finally fit into place.
You have been encouraged by the bishop what to do to keep believing. I would encourage you to have the integrity and courage to research and find the real truth. To be willing to look at all of the information and then spend the time and effort to determine what is really true. The real truth is out there and easily available for those you are willing to spend the time to understand it. Especially if you continue to believe faithfully I feel it would be a good thing to learn more about the factual history of your church.
I want to share my experience that I initially avoiding researching and asking questions because when I thought about these things I had an "icky" feeling. I had been taught to believe that meant these things were of Satan. What I have learned is that feeling was in fact because it was uncomfortable to reconsider by beliefs, fear that what I held true may not be true, and discomfort that the LDS history is not as clean as I had previously thought.
I am much happier now that I have left the LDS church. I have felt so much artificial stress, worry, and guilt evaporate. I find I have much more time and energy to pursue a moral, ethical, and meaningful life. I have never been so happy. I will not shove this down your throat, however if anyone wants to discuss with me and understand what I have found I am happy to talk to you. My door is open.
Finally, here is a short little quiz to see how much you know about factual Mormon history. This is the tip of the iceberg, but if you didn't know these facts, what else don't you know:
1) How many teenage wives did Joseph Smith have?
2) How many women did Jospeh Smith marry who were already married to living men, some whose husbands were active in the church, and even some whose husbands were serving missions?
3) What did Joseph Smith use to translate the Book of Mormon after the problem with the lost 116 pages?
4) What is the first recorded documentation that Joseph Smith ever told anyone about the 1st vision?
5) How many different ages did Joseph Smith say he was when he received the first vision?
6) How many people did Joseph Smith shoot with a gun in the process of his being martyred in Carthage jail?
7) In what year do the teachings and writings of Joseph Smith indicate he switched from believing in the orthodox trinity and begin teaching that God the Father and Jesus are distinct beings with physical bodies?
My point is not that any of these facts are damning in an of themselves, simply that you may not know as much about the LDS church as you think you do.
Sincerely,
justrob
Re: email bishop sent out when i resigned
I totally understand that the Bishop had to send *something*... but that felt like the 1st or 2nd draft of a High School paper.
It lacked substance, wasn't compelling, & felt disinterested.
So I see a few options:
1) He was too lazy to write something decent
2) He felt "the spirit dictating" so why change it
3) He doesn't really buy the BS himself
4) He's given up on you, so why waste time rewriting a soon to be fruitless effort
I'd be curious about his reasons/motivation... but we'll probably never know (unless he ends up on RfM some day)
forestpal
Re: email bishop sent out when i resigned
"Avoid confrontation...."
"Avoid anything that will distract you...."
This is a blatant invitation to SHUN those who leave the cult.
It is childish and disgusting. Keep this letter. You have it all in writing! I hope every ward member reads this carefully--every ward member who has had a loved one become "less active", every ward member who has slipped up in some way, not paid tithing because of poverty, not been married in the temple, not gone on a mission, not been able to have children, who was born gay, etc. What a testament to Mormon intolerance this is!
"Recovery from Mormonism - www.exmormon.org"