Hi, first time poster long time reader.

Have been in the church for ten years, converted at 18. Had a great time in it but still a lot of ups and downs. Got on well in my Branch, was very close to my Branch President (and still am, actually, he's a great guy who doesn't take shit). Served as the clerk for three years and was called to be counsellor to BP in Dec 15.

In that time I had fallen out with a certain family who had recently returned - the parents were baptised in 60's and had children but fell away. One of the children, now in late 40's complained about what was eventually diagnosed in fibrosis and they returned to church to seek help. Halleluajah, it was a miracle she was ok after a few blessings! But signed off work forever - claiming benefits and generally lazing about getting fatter and fatter. Parents kept claiming they had been in the Church fifty years. Totally stupid people, contribute nothing to society and ignorant to anyone with kids or outside their little bubble. Liked to make everything about them and hungry for praise and publicity. A lot of members did not like them, seen right through them. Constantly having a go at me over the smallest things, if a hymn book was out of place or nursery a mess or chapel not warm etc he'd be moaning. Really thought he was in charge, and his dopey wife and fat daughter would order him around and complain aswell. Came home from church most days with a headache it was such a struggle to put up with them.

After a few months of being a counsellor, I started to hear about essays the Church on written and investigated further them, and following that peoples reasons for leaving. The evidence stacked up and I admitted to myself in March 2016 that the Church was not true. I quit paying tithing and obeying the rules. Ended up on a lads holiday to Poland where I get so drunk I was in the back of a police van, what a fucking great night we had!! Was ill for days after and spent quite a bit but I was happy to be enjoying myself, and missing church that Sunday.

I wanted to leave, but I think a hell of a lot of my Branch President, he is a genuinley good guy in a very difficult position, and has helped me out a number of times. I consider him a good friend. I didn't want to leave him to deal with all the shit alone, so I kept my rule breaking a secret and went through the motions for the remainder of the year. It was easy enough to do, I became very good at it. I still believed in Jesus, just not in the Mormon Jesus! I even got into the temple a number of times. There were still a lot of members I liked and got on with, so had fun doing things with them. Some of them knew I was a non-believer but we glossed over it. The holy family continued to give me a hard time most weeks, I just came to ignore them and fight it out when needed. The dopey daughter loved to argue and tell me what I was doing wrong - especially the time we held an open day and I spent time at the publishing company I worked for having a flyer designed and put in paper then printing copies. When she seen it, she hated it and criticised many details, saying we'd have to create a new one. There was nothing wrong with it, she just didn't like not receiving praise and me - some 28 year old single guy with no 'life experience' getting it all. They do not see me as the model mormon based on that. Well shit the bed.

Anyway it all came to a head over last few weeks when the BP gave a talk about forgiveness, fat daughter walked out of Sacrament because he felt it was directed at her (and it was, but not just her, everyone). The family lit the whole thing up and complained to the Stake President.

Yesterday, the BP was released, along with me. The other counsellor is good friends with this family and his wife and the fat daughter are best friends. So he was not released. The new branch president? You guessed it, the dopey publicity hungry Dad. I told the Stake President counsellor in my release interview what I thought of whole thing before it went down, he appreciated my comments (he is another genuinley good guy and wants best for me). I had been living outside boundaries of my unit for a couple of years due to work, but said I would stay to help the BP. The stake said they were now assigning me to my correct unit, to which I replied no, I go where I want and I will maybe go to correct unit, or might not go at all, but as of today I won't be coming here again. In my mind, this family will ruin the branch and alienate everyone outside of their bubble.

I spoke with BP on the Sat and he told me what would be going down, I knew it spelt the end for me. For the record, he likes them even less than I do, they make his life hell aswell. Talk about being in a difficult position. The Sacrament meeting where they were called was awful. BP gave his endorsement to new one, but could tell he didn't mean it. Its just standard to do. New BP wife spoke, kissed so much ass and litreally kissed each SP member on the cheek, was waiting on her getting their cocks out and sucking them off just to put cherry on cake. The dopey dad - new bp - spoke, can tell hes going to be a real jerk. And fat daughter gushed praise on her dad, shes going to love being able to be centre of attention and get everything her way.

All the while this went on, I unfriended them on facebook and posted a pic - the scene from Harry Potter where Harry confronts Snape in the second to last film and shouts "How Dare you stand where he once stood!". Funny, I wanted to get a rise from them and I did - the wife of second counsellor, who has not been to church in months due to 'anxiety and sleep deprevaion" (really she is just lazy and feeding off of state benefits and her husband benefits, he is in a wheelchair). She claimed it was not christian of me, yet she has slagged off the old BP numerous times on facebook. She emailed the screenshot to fat daughter, who promptly replied to me saying why did you delete me and what are you a child or a christian. I simply replied - i am a realist.

And that was that, it's a sad end to something that was once so great. Even though I stopped believing last year, I had more great moments as the year went on and enjoyed bits of the calling and events. I've no issue being released, no issue with my friend being released as BP, and neither does he. I just can't stand that all the ass kissing and sucking up has got this family called to lead, they have no social skills or education to speak of, no leadership qualities and no humbleness about them. And people say thats why they are in the role, to learn. Bull-shit. They'll never learn, its his way or the highway.

I now look forward to spending saturday nights doing something fun and spending sundays relaxing or hanging out with friends, maybe even taking a trip somewhere for the weekend!! And nobody pestering me about being at church.

Give it six months, that branch will be closed down. What a way to go.

Welcome to the forum.

This sounds like a UK branch you are discussing. Most branches in the UK seem to have people just like you describe.

Thanks for sharing your story. It helps demonstrate how politics and cronyism are the main driving forces in the administration of the Mormon church.

It sounds like you got some good closure and will be able to move on now. Good luck!

Tbh I love the craziness that is personal connections in church.

I wish that I could be a part of it again. When I go back to the old ward and see the people that were a part of my life it brings back good memories.

But let's be real, the meetings are super boring and your life is better for not having them.

I'm glad you enjoyed your time there, but honestly, from here it sounds like a long, protracted nightmare. You might find yourself being much happier once you're really away from these sociopaths. Best of luck to you in your new, mormon free future!

Welcome! Thanks for sharing your story. It sounds like a good time to make your exit. It also sounds like you may not be the only one.

Don't be surprised when evil roots produce poison fruit. Those Mormons you described are following the example of Joseph Smith, who was probably the most arrogant, most perverted, biggest liar of them all.

If the Mormons followed Christ, they would love one another. What you described is very far away from Love. I'm glad you still believe in Jesus, who taught some very nice principles, until JS plagiarized that part of the Bible, and used it to make money and rape women.

Make the effort to keep that good Branch President in your life. There are good people out there! The bad ones aren't your friends, and they aren't your problem.

It seems to me that the Mormons reward the most aggressive among them. The priesthood leaders who hit and kicked my sons, they were all promoted up the ranks to Stake President, Mission President, and Temple President. The bishop's ugly older son who tried to molest my little girl, he got married in the temple and was promoted to EQ President. Our neighbors left to be mission president, and their son and wife moved into their house. The widowed First Counselor to the Stake President had an affair with the son's wife. The son was prompted to go home early, and caught them in bed together.

Morality, honesty, love, even obedience to the laws of the land (for example, being honest with the health-care system)--these are not requirements for Mormon leadership positions.

My children were threatened not to tell about the Mormon abuse, but one day I asked them why they hated church so much, and I pressured them, until I got an answer. We all cried, and I said, "You never have to go to that church again."

I'm saying to you, "You never have to go to that church again." Evil, manipulative sociopaths are best put out of your life. Stay unattached, until you meet a nice non-or ex-Mormon to share your life with.

Meanwhile...smart move! Congratulations on getting out of that mess.

Thanks for messages of support - can't reveal where I am as want to protect identities.

Can tell you its UK though!

Haha.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/12/2017 07:43AM by thegame2017.

I'm from the Dundee Stake.

Not living there anymore though.

I used To attend a ward there when I worked for HP on a Defence project.

Yes, there have a been one or two Americans roll through the stake over the years working at the US military base in the stake boundary. I think it was based at Edzell if I remember correctly.

We have some good family friends that are back in Utah from that time.

The US military folks usually meet up in the Montrose ward.

There's a secret facebook group for UK exmos if you're interested, here's a link to Mormon Spectrum where you can find details of who to contact.
Scroll down and expand UKformerLDS

http://www.mormonspectrum.org/post-ex/facebook/

Sounds a lot like a family I had to deal with when I was a teen. The guy became bishop and told all the young men in the stake to stay away from me and my sisters. My parents are divorced and we come from a broken home. This according to him, meant we would want to have sex due to our dad not being around anymore. Makes me wonder if he raped his daughter...

I've had great ward bishops, and then some louses.

A branch president was perhaps the worst of the whole bloody lot of them. He was a bitter old man, who enjoyed ripping people apart through malicious gossip and slander.

Encounters with asshats like him and others of his caliber are what led me to question the church in the first place. Men like him ruling over us, and dictating it was their way or the highway ... because? They were the elders in charge, and to them our thoughts or opinions weren't given dignity or respect. As a single mom, they especially took liberties with me to dictate my life. I was able to thankfully stand up and say "Hell no," back to them, on account of my being assertive.

I realized God is no respecter of persons, male or female. And to have a relationship with God was separate from my standing in the church. It was getting the rug ripped out from under me as a Mormon that led me to realize what a sham it was. God was there with me through it all, to see me through. And met me on the other side. The LDS church is a man-made institution and a farce at that, led by false prophets and teachers. God is realer than Mormonism can ever aspire to be.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/11/2017 09:44AM by Amyjo.

Sounds like you left because you were offended

Name one thing about mormonism that isn't offensive.

Stopping believing is hardly the same as being offended.

And yet, Mormonism excels in offending what's sensible and honest to the core. It breeds dishonesty as it teaches false dogma. What could be more offensive than this?

To an honest person that is.

It's being brainwashed, indoctrinated, and a servant to the corporation that is LDS, is why people stay glued to it. They simply haven't found an alternate path to spirituality. It's outside their comfort zone for the morgbots to do this. They're perfectly happy to be content in blissful ignorance.

Try asking a challenging question at your next priesthood, RS, or gospel doctrine class. Be prepared for the blank stares and glazed over eyes that await you as deafening silence replies. In the silence maybe then your eyes will be opened.

Hint: you aren't going to find the big answers there. You'll need to do that on your own. They were never there all along. That is part of the deception at the heart of Mormonism. A church coined by a false prophet, built on a plagiarized and otherwise false scripture has done more harm than good to the souls of sincere but deluded believers.

don't look back, mate, all the more time for the wrestling!

Haha my screen name gives it away!!

Oh man... I was hoping this topic bump would include an update. :(

Well...i made a new post a few days back saying about handing in my temple recommend with a letter explaining why I am leaving to the Stake President, which can be found here...

http://exmormon.org/phorum/read.php?2,1961200

I've been by the church twice this week but locked. Will try tonight as Thursday is usually stake leader night (you know, where they go talk about what everyone is doing wrong and what they need to do more of). Will dump it on Stake Presidents desk and walk away, never to return...!

Ah, ok. I'll give it a read.

I wasn't able to read your whole post because I was so turned off by your judging of the daughter who gained weight while receiving disability payments. She could have very well been on medication that caused weight gain. Some of these medications can cause significant weight gain. And she might not have been lazy at all--she could well have been struggling to survive emotionally, and people who her judge harshly could be making her struggle that much harder.

Meant to write "judge her harshly"

Scotland isn't known as the "heart attack capital of Europe" because they eat healthily there. Just sayin'

Eating haggis three times a day will do that, I hear.

And if this really is Scotland, the term "fat daughter" is wholly inappropriate. Wouldn't the correct phrase be "stout lassie"?

Same some of it was brutal

Watching her at the buffet table at branch parties was brutal haha.

I wrote an exit letter to the Stake President and handed in at the start of April, details of which can be found here...

http://exmormon.org/phorum/read.php?2,1961200,1968987#msg-1968987

I received a reply last week, which was actually mostly pleasant, nice and inviting but still laced with some bullshit.

He basically said he was sad that I had left and wished me luck in whatever I do in life (which I think he genuinely meant). Lot of wording about inviting me to stake conference or to the local ward where 'i can settle in with ease to many welcoming members'. And asked me to think of my baptism, covenants I made at temple and to study the BOM again.

The only comment he made on my hatred of the family in previous branch, especially his calling as BP, was that changes take time to settle down, and the Stake Presidency agreed together it was the right decison (which I happen to know is BS, they were never consulted - SP made the change because the guy likes to suck his cock and is a yes man).

In another update - the week before last I managed to get all of the young adults from the Branch (and most of them left when I left, only a couple still go, even though it is not often) out drinking. We started at one members house for predrinks, and it was flowing hard. We even had pics taken of us holding drinks and stuck up on facebook. Ended up in the pubs and nightclubs and all in a bad state, but man we had so much fun. The legend that my previous branch president is even took the pics we had on facebook and shared them to the Branch page, with the caption "Good to see the young ones together again even if it's not at church!" or something like that, I can't see it I'm blocked from the page for causing trouble hehe. Anyway apparently the new branch president wasn't happy about us all being out and can see it's crumbling. He is apparently not well and struggling to cope. I have no guilt in saying I wish him and his family dead, world would be so much better off without them.

The counsellor to BP is hating every moment of it (and his wife was one of the ones I had out drinking!) and decided he can no longer deal with it and asked to be released and leave the Church. This was to happen tomorrow, however has been talked round. I'm confident he will leave in time.

Without any young people, the Branch will never grow. It's a darn shame as we had it working great for a couple of years. Amazing what one peice of shit family can do to destroy something.

Hanging out with Mormons is a lot like hanging out with monkeys, in my experience.

I lived in Central America for a couple years and spent some time in the jungles and parks where monkeys are common and, being used to human beings, will come close, even take food from your hands.

Interesting creatures, those monkeys. However, after awhile the novelty wears thin. Their thinking is really simplistic, they spew a string of unintelligible chatter, and soon they're merely boring. Not being a biologist or primatologist I discovered that I could easily blow a couple hours being around monkeys and have nothing to show for it. Also, monkeys will steal you blind if you give them the opportunity.

Sound familiar?

I have more important things to do with my life than spend it with creatures who, truth be told, I can't take seriously, or who are more trouble than they're worth. Which is why the non-human animals in my house are cats and dogs rather than monkeys, and why the humans in my life are ex-mos and nevermos, not Mormons.

But monkeys don't throw as much shit.

An old saying, "Laws are like sausages: it is better not to see them being made." Many Church members are not ready for their ideal image of the Church to be shattered by learning how their ward or stake *really* operates. How can THAT happen at Church?

I was a ward clerk for many years for diverse bishops. We had members who felt it was their "duty" to report member's actions to the bishop. A wise bishop never acted on any of these reports. First, this was one person's impression that may not be completely factual and may be self-serving. Second, the bishop believed that he could only help people who brought problems to him voluntarily.

It's been a few months since you wrote your post.You said the branch would fall apart within 6 months. How is it doing now? How r u doing?

I'd be interested in an update too.

Britintexas - i'm pretty sure i know you. Much of my family live in that State, but i suspect i saw a photo of you recently with a buddy or two of mine dressed in cowboy boots and shirts.

I could be wrong as i'm sure there is more than 1 brit in texas.

What region of the UK are you from OP? If you're out can you say now? It is a small place so surprising how many of us might know each other, especially if you were in the Youth or YSA in the last 30 or so years.

Yes, there are at least 2 of us. ;o)

***Update As Requested***

I wrote an exit letter to the Stake President and handed in at the start of April, details of which can be found here...

http://exmormon.org/phorum/read.php?2,1961200,1968987#msg-1968987

I received a reply last week, which was actually mostly pleasant, nice and inviting but still laced with some bullshit.

He basically said he was sad that I had left and wished me luck in whatever I do in life (which I think he genuinely meant). Lot of wording about inviting me to stake conference or to the local ward where 'i can settle in with ease to many welcoming members'. And asked me to think of my baptism, covenants I made at temple and to study the BOM again.

The only comment he made on my hatred of the family in previous branch, especially his calling as BP, was that changes take time to settle down, and the Stake Presidency agreed together it was the right decison (which I happen to know is BS, they were never consulted - SP made the change because the guy likes to suck his cock and is a yes man).

In another update - the week before last I managed to get all of the young adults from the Branch (and most of them left when I left, only a couple still go, even though it is not often) out drinking. We started at one members house for predrinks, and it was flowing hard. We even had pics taken of us holding drinks and stuck up on facebook. Ended up in the pubs and nightclubs and all in a bad state, but man we had so much fun. The legend that my previous branch president is even took the pics we had on facebook and shared them to the Branch page, with the caption "Good to see the young ones together again even if it's not at church!" or something like that, I can't see it I'm blocked from the page for causing trouble hehe. Anyway apparently the new branch president wasn't happy about us all being out and can see it's crumbling. He is apparently not well and struggling to cope. I have no guilt in saying I wish him and his family dead, world would be so much better off without them.

The counsellor to BP is hating every moment of it (and his wife was one of the ones I had out drinking!) and decided he can no longer deal with it and asked to be released and leave the Church. This was to happen tomorrow, however has been talked round. I'm confident he will leave in time.

Without any young people, the Branch will never grow. It's a darn shame as we had it working great for a couple of years. Amazing what one peice of shit family can do to destroy something.

thegame2017 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>
> Without any young people, the Branch will never
> grow. It's a darn shame as we had it working great
> for a couple of years. Amazing what one peice of
> shit family can do to destroy something.

I'm surprised this branch could ever be considered as "working great". It was always struggling to get by, dominated by a couple of devout families that kept it ticking over - just.

The folks you took out for a fun time sound like a lot of the Mormons I know in Scotland, they are really in it for the social club aspect, they don't really know much about the actual doctrine or history of the church. They don't really read their scriptures, say their family prayers, etc.

Oh it was on fire for a couple of years! And I was tbm at the time so dedicated a lot of time to it - we had baptisms every month, classes going well and lots of them, activities were brilliant (maybe blowing my own trumpet there, I was in charge of them haha) and got whole branch united to promote and run a showing of "Meet The Mormons". It was the biggest event we ever did.

But somewhere along the line it all went wrong and down the Branch is decaying. The youngest person there is in her 40's. There is a child of 9 years old though but wonder how long he will last with no other kids there. I forsee him being taken somewhere with more his age. His grandmother saw her daughter (ie his mum) go inactive because there was no-one her own age. I doubt she would let this happen again. Once the older generation tarpers off, there will be no Branch.

Yeah the people I went out with are great fun and we had a wild time! We always did at church too. Some other members in Scotland are boring though, just want to play warewolf or sit about. We never did anything fun.