Tag: lds

The Nostalgia of Coming Home Family / Music / Personal / Travel / United States / Utah

The Nostalgia of Coming Home

by Jan 21, 2016 10 Comments

We’ve made five visits back to Utah since we moved away six years ago, and our most recent stay was the longest and best yet! There are always an abundance of emotions to process for our traveling family surrounding the idea of “coming home”. What does that actually mean anyway? For us, amid all the places we’ve lived these past several years and with everything we’ve...

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To all the Mormons – I’m Sorry Family / Personal / Spirituality

To all the Mormons – I’m Sorry

by Sep 20, 2015 15 Comments

It’s hard to know what to say when starting an apology. But I’m feeling a kind of tugging sorrow in my heart for the pain I’ve caused my LDS family and friends, and likely many others I’ve never met. If you feel you’ve been affected negatively by something I’ve written, said, or done over the years, then please accept my sincere apology. This post is...

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Making Mormonism More Good Personal / Spirituality

Making Mormonism More Good

by Nov 28, 2014 11 Comments

There is a lot of good in Mormonism. There are teachings of love and compassion, of service and productivity, of humility and integrity. Within its community, there is a sense of belonging and safety. And I see much sincerity in its people. However, I’m concerned that too often, the ability for members to live by these good principles is handicapped by other teachings in the church that...

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Welcoming Difficult Questions Personal / Spirituality

Welcoming Difficult Questions

by Jun 24, 2014 14 Comments

If you’re connected at all with Mormonism, you may have heard about the recent situation in which LDS church leaders have sent letters warning of excommunication to about a dozen members who are publicly asking difficult questions about church history, policy, and doctrine. The two most well-known individuals include Kate Kelly, founder of the Ordain Women movement, which raises questions about gender inequality in the...

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Why I Can’t Leave the Church Alone Personal / Spirituality

Why I Can’t Leave the Church Alone

by Mar 31, 2014 24 Comments

It’s been almost four years since my family and I decided to leave the LDS (Mormon) church, and almost three years since I published my document about Why I Left the Mormon Church. This letter has since been read by tens of thousands of people, and still prompts almost weekly emails from readers, mostly people thanking me for the comfort and courage it provided them on...

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Sal Tlay Ka Siti Family / Personal / United States

Sal Tlay Ka Siti

by Oct 07, 2013 10 Comments

While the memories are still relatively fresh, I wanted to write and organize the thoughts, pictures, and videos surrounding our recent trips to Salt Lake City, the Western Caribbean, and New Orleans. I’ll write one post on each of these. It had been about two years since we last visited our home town of Salt Lake City, Utah. We still have many family and friends...

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Healing Sexual Shame Personal / Spirituality

Healing Sexual Shame

by Jun 28, 2013 39 Comments

It’s no secret that humans are sexual beings. Yet, many of us have been taught from a young age to suppress this part of our nature, to hide it, or to see it as wrong or evil. The negative effects of this conditioning can be far reaching, and can last a lifetime. Not everyone who grows up in a sexually oppressive religion or culture ends...

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Reactions to Radical Decisions Personal / Spirituality

Reactions to Radical Decisions

by Jan 28, 2012 6 Comments

Since I announced recently that I left the Mormon church, I’ve received hundreds of responses from people expressing their opinions, their love and support, and their own journeys with me. The post has been viewed over 2,500 times (most of that within the first 3 days), and there’s a thread about it on my Facebook timeline over 100 comments long. Many people have told me they’ve...

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42 Things I Did in 2011 Costa Rica / Malaysia / Personal / Travel

42 Things I Did in 2011

by Jan 19, 2012 8 Comments

Last year, I wrote a list of 77 Things I Did in 2010. Every time I read through it, I feel amazed at all we were able to accomplish in that short year. Compared to 2010, 2011 seems less exciting and even less productive, but it’s been richer in other ways. For example, this has been a year full of new and wonderful friendships, and we’ve spent...

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Why I Left the Mormon Church Personal / Spirituality

Why I Left the Mormon Church

by Jan 14, 2012 113 Comments

There have been some rumors floating around that we have left the Mormon church (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints). Perhaps you’ve seen the pictures of Jen in sleeveless dresses, or you’ve noticed from my tweets the absence of any mention of church for almost a year, and you’re wondering what’s going on. Some people have approached us about it privately and others...

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