I just took down that last piece of LDS art. It was a Washington at Valley Forge by Arnold Freiberg. I had left it hanging far too long because it was large and I didn't know what to put in it's place. I finally put together something I liked and that project is done.

Now I need to clean out my closet. How many mid-calf skirts and matching jackets does a women who doesn't attend church need? I need to revamp my wardrobe. I would look silly at my age in and in my shape in many of the new trends, but there has to be a middle ground between looking like a wanna be and looking like a Mormon matron. Even if I don't find a new look, at least I'll have more room in my closet.

The Mormon books and manuals were cleared out long ago, but I have been the keeper of the family history. I have all of the certificates, histories and genealogy. I'm not sure what I should do with it. Do I keep the records of my dad's service in the Merchant Marines in World War II and throw away his priesthood ordination certificates? Do I just put it all in a box and let my kids sort it out? My kids have also left TSCC, so it isn't like any of it means anything to them. I'm just not sure what to do.

Every time I clean out a drawer, or a closet, or a file cabinet, I find more Mormon crap. Does it ever end?

Releve, I got out of the mormon church 18 years ago. I'm the only exmo in my TBM family, but for some reason I'm the only one who's interested in our family history. My Dad died last year. Now, whenever someone has an old family photo, document, or computer file they come across they'll send them on to me.

If I were you I wouldn't throw away anything connected to your family history. Last year I finished a couple of big family history projects. I published a book of the history of my Dad's side of the family. Then a few months later I published a history of my Mom's side. On my Mom's side there are mormons, exmormons, and nevermos. I asked one aunt what she thought of me including all the references to Mormonism in the history. (I thought she'd probably be one of the most exmormon people in the family.) She said to include it all. It's all part of our history, whether you believe in it or not. And by including those things you get a better idea what our ancestors were like and how they thought.

Part of the fun I have with family history is finding all the non-faith-promoting stories, and including them in the books I published. My great grandparents got divorced in the 1920s, and I included their divorce decree in the book. (My great grandfather divorced my great grandmother, in part, because she threatened to knock his brains out with a teacup.) Her mother (my great-great grandmother) ran a boarding house for the federal marshals prosecuting the polygamists in Utah.

I included genealogies and family trees in my books, but I left out all the info on the temple ordinance foolishness. Mormons can look that stuff up easily enough if they want to.

If you're worried about things taking up space, buy a scanner and digitize everything. I've done that with everything I have. So if someone is interested about our family history I can just burn them a disc so that they'll have everything I have.

There's one regret we have. When my Dad was in World War II he wrote a letter home to his Mom every day (for three years or so). His Mom saved all the letters and gave them back to him in the 1970s. Dad didn't see any reason to keep them and threw them away. Years later he really regretted it. And I'd LOVE to have a day-by-day account of my Dad's experiences in World War II (even if there was mormonism here and there in it.)

Bezoar- several years ago, after we moved my mom and cleaned out her house, I came across a box of letters that my dad had written to his mother while he was in the army during WWII. I transcribed them all and gave a copy to each of my siblings for Christmas that year. I'm sorry you don't still have your dad's letters. While my dad's were full of lots of mundane stuff, like 'please send me some more socks and I'm still waiting for that box of candy to arrive', it was very interesting insight into life in the army. I cherish them since he died 35 years ago and I never got a chance to ask him about his time during the war.

I imagine there would have been a lot of mundane stuff in my Dad's letters as well. But it would have been fun to know what he was thinking, and how he viewed life in his late teens and early twenties.

"I have all of the certificates, histories and genealogy."

I could BURN them all...but that's just me!

Nevermo here. Most of the things that my TBM neighbor gave me I took them to the DI. There were lds DVD's (never open), figurines of JS (disgusting), and painting of mormon jesus! She also gave a BofM in tagalog version that I've been highlighting some of the pages, so I can show her the highlighted part is a blasphemy to the God of Abraham, Jacob, Isaac and all Christian believer!

Yup, I've been very unpopular in my neighborhood lately...But I still walk around with my head held up high!!! LOL

I got rid of everything.
I had some mormon company that accidentally left a pair of their Jesus Jamies. It made me cringe to touch them, and made me kinda sick to see them. Those things are awful.

Want to make a quick payday?

Sell any used womens' garments on Craigslist. You are guaranteed to find a buyer. Just don't ask any questions unless you really want to know the answers.

You need zero jackets (except for chilly weather or too strong air conditioners) and zero sleeved dresses to attend other churches. Liberate yourself. Shoulders CAN be uncovered. Skirts, if you wear them, don't need to cover where the garmies were, thank God.

I converted when I married my husband to fit in with his family. My DH's mom gave me a BOM with my name engraved on it. I recently put it in the trash. It was still like new. It felt great! I also got a framed picture of Christ, which wouldn't bother me except for the fact that it's a Mormon picture given to me by the missionaries. I took out the picture and repurposed the frame. That's pretty much all the Mormon stuff we had in our home. :)

I have a whole closet full of skirts and dresses that have hung there, untouched. Not sure what to do with them. I actually like a lot of them, but I never have any occasion to wear skirts and dresses anymore. I wear shorts and a t shirt on my days off.

I've been getting into all the nooks and crannies of my room, clearing out the junk. I just cut up an old Salt Lake Temple place mat that I'd bought on a trip to SLC in 1977.

You Greatgrandchildren may curse you if you throw anything related to your family history away. It hasn't to be about Joe's stupid idea of baptizing the dead, it's about how your family has came to be.

I would kill for anything related to my ancestors even if I'm atheist.

The prayer a valley forge picture might fetch a good price depending on its size and condition. May be worth looking at simular paintings on ebay or amazon.

You may want to scan important documents and send copies to relatives.

My TBM sister made my other non-member sister and me a statue of Jesus in Gethsemane. It was plaster of paris or something. My non-member sister said, "Oh wonderful! I Love Elvis!"

I put mine back in the box in the closet. Wish I'd said the Elvis line.

Good advise here. I'll keep the family history, throw out the mid calf skirts and I've already traded the Washington picture for the labor involved in cutting down the frame to fit a different print.

I need fashion advice. I would like to look appropriate, yet in style. What does an ex-Mormon woman wear to a Mormon funeral? I kept one long black summer skirt and one long black winter long skirt, to wear with any of my work tops that I wear with pants. I threw out the panty hose, because I hate them so much, and still have nightmares of hurriedly wriggling those over my garments, then sitting in Primary chairs with my skirt scrunched up to my thighs, and those white things hanging out. I wear thigh-highs now. No more heels to throw my knees and hips out of alignment and cause me to slip on the ice. I wear Sketchers flats with rubber soles to work.

It was actually fun to get rid of all my church clothes. They were slave uniforms. "Frump" didn't fit into my new lifestyle. When I go to a party, now, it is usually a real party, or a nice wedding reception with dancing, and I like to dress up as much as possible. Bling, jewelry, makeup, perfume, nice hair, and nails done. (Cuter flats, as flats are best for dancing and running around.) I love all that feminine stuff anyway, and a party is a good excuse. Party outfits would be too dressy for church.

At home, I wear jeans or cargos and athletic shoes, because I clean and paint and garden and hike and play with the grandchildren. When I go to bed, I wear sexy pajamas in winter, a skimpy nightgown in summer.

I think what confused me so much about clothes, is that they are an expression of yourself, and I have a lot of different roles. I like pretty colors.

No one would believe how many Mormon books I had--received as gifts, books from my parents, needed for classes--and I had read every one. Not wanting to soil any good minds with the likes of "The Miracle of Forgiveness", I recycled them, to save a tree.

Getting rid of the garments was the most fun of all, in the trash with coffee grounds and kitty litter, and watching the garbage truck load up, and drive away. Gone!

In my decluttering mission I have come across my temple sealing certificate, our children's blessing certificates and a letter from my stake pres (1981)congratulating me on passing my school exams and telling me I passed because of my faithfulness to the gospel and other puke worthy nonsense. It brought a wave of pure disgust and anger over me and had great pleasure in ripping the piece of shit up. I have also dumped my mission journals and photos. Seeing all the baptism photos, brrrr gave me the heeby jeebies. Also dumped my scriptures. I feel so much better

I still have that very same Friberg painting hanging in my living room. I don't really view it as a "Mormon" painting though. I can still look at it and appreciate the depiction of Washington in his darkest hour, the birth of the nation, and his example of perseverance in the face of nearly impossible odds. Even in my post-Mormon life, I can still draw inspiration from it.

I threw out the vast majority of my Mormon library pretty quickly after concluding that it was all a sham. I want to barf when I think about how much money I've given to Deseret Book over the years on top of the tens of thousands that I've given directly to the cult.

The white dress shirts were probably the first thing to go. I immediately thought about how I used to wear one of those God-damned things every fucking day for two years when I should have been having the time of life. I vowed that I would never wear another white dress shirt again.

I threw out most my garments (and I didn't cut out the symbols) right along with the white shirts but I did hold on to a couple of pairs just in case I needed them to keep up appearances. About a month after that, I got rid of those too.

The mission journal got tossed out about a year after I left. That one was much more personal and harder to give up. The mission remains a significant event in my life and one that forever altered who I am...in ways that were both positive and negative. However, reading the pages of my journal just made me sad. It made me sad to think of how gullible I was. It made sad to think about how repressed I was. It made me sad to think about all of the manipulation - how I was manipulated and how I manipulated others. I eventually chucked it in the trash as well.

Things still turn up around the house from time to time. I just came across an old book from Mark E. Peterson down in my basement last week. In the trash it went without a second thought.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/24/2014 06:49AM by Strength in the Loins.

Relieve - have you thought of donating your old church clothes to Goodwill or to a women's shelter? People don't dress up much anymore, but they could be quite an asset for women in job interviews, etc.

Don't you guys realize that these old books by apostles are valuable?

Go to eBay and look at what Mormon Doctrine early editions go for. The Mormons are buying them up to protect the church. When the GA's are trying to collect up the old Family Home Evening manuals, ferChrissake, you can imagine how much they'd like to recall the blatherings of Bruce R. McConkie and other "stalwarts" who thought they were channeling a mean Jesus.

HANG ON to your Mormonalia - and sell it all in a BIG LOT value pack on eBay.

LDS, Inc, once went to a great deal of trouble, well trouble isn't the word, lying is, to get my copy of Dwayne Crowther's "Thus Sayeth the Lord." They had the bishop ask for it to review it and then later say I never gave it to him. Seriously, I never got it back.

As far as the priesthood ordination and baptism documents, save them all, even if just for laughs for future generations.


Kathleen Waters

I keep family history information on both sides, LDS and non LDS in my house in a bookcase which is easily accessible. I have used that information many, many times.

I also keep an LDS library and a religious hymn book collection in a large stored dresser, and a small box of the temple robes.

I never did have LDS art work or CTR rings .

I sold a lot of old LDS books many years ago to an LDS bookstore in Provo. (His check bounced but I eventually got the money!)

My wardrobe is much the same, predominately: 3/4 length blouses- shirts/jeans/ tie up shoes/tennis shoes,etc. No dresses or skirts or heels anymore.
I walk with a cane as I am partially handicapped now, so I wear comfortable clothing that allows me to walk more easily.

There is nothing in my home that has anything to do with religion. I prefer to look at my books, box collection, other items and my floral arrangements in every room,which are a tribute to my husband who took thousands of photos of flowers!

I live in a community that does not allow solicitation. I have wonderful neighbors which I appreciate greatly! I have no idea what their religious views are and don't care.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/24/2014 01:55PM by SusieQ#1.