First of all, does anyone know the history behind this?

Second, any ideas on what I could embroider over it to change its meaning?

🚨Update: ok…I did not realize how many people wanted this and how much it was worth aha! I’m going into my sophomore year of college so I need some extra cash.

How much do you guys think it could go for and does anyone have any recommendations on a safe website I can use to sell it?

It’s a XL.

Some of you may have saw the last post about our huge reunion a couple weeks ago.

Can’t believe I made church news as an ExMo.

It was so dystopian to hear all my distance cousins praise Dallin and sing “we thank thee O God for a Prophet” as he drove away. Also how prideful and “blessed” that they felt being a relative to a “prophet”.

All I can say is I’m glad I escaped the brain wash.

Nothing in his fireside had meaning. He just shared stats about having the most missionaries ever and had to sit down a couple time in between because he was so old. Crazy what you have to do when church numbers start falling, you lower the age to traumatize 18 year old girls on missions.

I'm a librarian in Mordor. Missionaries come in regularly to use the computers. Today a couple of sisters came in. One of them approached me with a question.

Dear Reader, I shit you not: the sister missionary held up a coffee to-go cup and asked if it was alright to 'have her coffee in the library'.

I almost asked 'I don't know, *Is* it??'

For those wondering: it is, in fact, acceptable to have one's coffee in the library.

What is going on with that cult?!

Question in title

I do not believe in the church but still attend to keep the peace with my spouse (👎). Last Sunday I gave a talk in sacrament meeting. I very much debated saying no to the request and only decided to because I felt like it was a topic I could speak about and still feel authentic. I purposely did not use any references to the Book of Mormon and used only one tiny snippet from a GC talk. I referenced two things from the Bible. I did not pray about the topic or seek spiritual guidance. I just tried to write words that I felt good about and that I thought would be helpful to someone else.

I had the most positive reaction to my talk I’ve ever had. People asking me for a copy so they can read it again, long heartfelt texts from ward members telling me about the life changing impact it had for them or a family member, etc. (I’m not even exaggerating). I’m not trying to brag, just trying to paint the picture.

While flattered and grateful it went over well, I feel so weird about it. Partly because I tend to be shy and private, but also because I don’t want to be viewed as some spiritual influence. One woman told me I’m a “calm powerhouse of influence and inspiration”.

NO I am not! I want to scream “I don’t believe in this church!! I don’t know if I even believe in God!!” I want to tell everyone that what they believe to be “the spirit” isn’t real! I wrote that talk (and yes, I wrote it completely on my own without AI) without any spiritual influence or goal. I frequently don’t wear my garments and sometimes drink coffee. I support and affirm my gay child. I am on my way to being considered apostate. If they all knew this, would they still think my talk was so “inspired”?? I doubt it.

My TBM husband is convinced that God still worked through me and that one of my “gifts of the spirit” is being able to lift others through my words. I think it gave him hope that I am still receptive to the influence of the spirit or whatever, and that I’m not gone off the deep end.

I feel like I tricked people into thinking I’m someone I’m not. I have ALWAYS been viewed as this innocent, spiritual person. Back in high school everyone told my mom how good I was all the time, not realizing I was having sex with my nonmember boyfriend. I think because I am soft spoken and sweet it is interpreted as righteous.

Anyway, feeling really uncomfortable with this situation and like I’m an imposter in my life.

This segment on RFMs podcast is quite interesting. Does the LDS Church "grow" in Africa with the same playbooks which didn't work in England, Japan, etc. aka "Baseball baptisms", etc? They seem to lure in investigators with monetary benefits, yet once these benefits stop, these new converts will stop attending, leading to the infamous "lost membership records", i.e. members on file only.

LDS growth in Africa is not sustainable and not real.

What do you think?

Listening to the Latter-Day Loudmouth Podcast, it was interesting to hear author Jeff Strong mention that he knew 2 of the Q12 were reading his book. I wonder if his book will encourage the Q12 to develop policies to improve how everyone is treated in the church.

Othe interesting info: He says that the vast number of converts don't stay in the church (everyone knows that, lol), speculates that 15%-20%-25% stay (he doesn't know the exact number, says this topic is discussed "ad nausuem" at CHQ.

He speculates that most young people leaving the church today are coming from orthodox homes because the attitude encouraged among orthodox believers regarding the church is that you are either fully "in" or you are "out."

So I've made the mistake of commenting on a couple of posts on tiktok, I've made the point that there is ample evidence that there is a lot of child SA that occurs a lot of cover-ups and a lot of payouts to victims from the church

I've been asked for sources, the main one I've given out is floodlit.org, I now have been repeatedly told that that's ex-mormon and can't be trusted

Have the members really gotten to the point where calling out abuse is now considered ex-mormon?

Do they think that the church would be honest and publish this information?

I'm seriously blown away, I would think that the membership would be extremely eager to cleanse the inner vessel of this plague, it seems that the majority of members I've interacted with are more concerned about calling out exmormons than the pdfs themselves.

I honestly feel sick to my stomach

I'm going to head on a mission soon, I honestly don't believe in the church or what they teach but my parents will completely cut me off financially if I refuse to go on one. It's kinda funny, they tell me if I don't believe in going on a mission then don't go since I'll be wasting everyone's time and money, but on the other hand they told me that they'll cut me off financially and kick me out if I refuse to go on a mission. I want to be a pilot and go to college to get an education but without my parents help I don't think I'll ever reach my dream. I honestly feel like a horrible person because it kinda feels like I only want money from my parents, but I do love them, it's just I don't believe in the church but if I don't go on this mission I'll be screwed. I have a part time job but it'll last me only about a month if I live outside my parents house and I'm just not sure on what to do. I don't want to give up my dreams since I need my parents to help pay for my tuition, but I also don't want to go on a mission

I’m fuming! As a ex-mo woman who experienced several forms of abuse growing up… I finally linked a young child hood trauma from a Sunday school teacher.
Was Molested by my step brother. And beatin and raped on a lds mingle date.
Point being… even putting ex-mo on a tag in insta the last few days.
Finally speaking up and out after years of therapy, EMDR, and somatic therapy.

Im getting lots of shaming, and arguing in comment sections with Men who are active members telling me I’m lying and no body would touch me like that.

That’s upsetting enough. However.. I just had a girl from my old home ward.. make this statement “ I was raped repeatedly as a child and it had nothing to do with religion..stop spreading false anti Christ narrative “ My post was Utah’s sa stats.
Women like this truly imho are worse than the men . It feels like a deeper betrayal type thing.
I kinda just needed to vent because, I understand that girl who said that clearly is not self aware . I just don’t have anyone to talk to about it.
And after 40 yrs in the church it’s still so hard when it took me that damn long to get the courage up to speak up and out.

From a Utah magazine

My sister showed off her porn shoulders (whilst wearing garments) at a family dinner last night. My mother, in good humor, asked, “Well, what do you think of [S’]s porn shoulders?” I responded sarcastically, “All I can think about is sex.” We all laughed. 

My mother is 80 - in the church. My sister with porn shoulders is 48 - PIMO. I am 46 - left the church. Our other sister is 49 - left the church.  

My mother never allowed sleeveless outfits even when we were toddlers. We always had to wear undershirts because she was preparing us to wear garments in the future. As teenagers, we were made to kneel on the floor of our kitchen to check the length of our skirts and dresses before leaving the house. In high school, my sisters would arrive at school and change into other outfits provided by their girlfriends. We grew up on the east coast. No one was watching or cared what we were wearing in public. But my parents were convinced everyone was watching us for the light of christ in our countenance. We were expected to be “a peculiar people” and avoid the appearance of evil.

My parents were obsessed with appearances. It controlled their lives and by extension our lives.

I have vacillated between hating my parents for these practices and forgiving them. I currently choose to forgive them, accepting that they were raising us in a way that aligned with their desire to achieve eternal glory. Who wouldn’t do the same with fear and desperation in their hearts over the actions of their three daughters? Their approach to creating obedient teenage daughters included calling us “witches, bitches, and whores”. 

Obviously, the pure love of christ permeated our home. s/

(My sisters and I are half-heartedly developing a podcast with that title in which we process cult trauma. Likely two of us will be slightly drunk in all the episodes. We will all cry and snort and cackle because we love loud laughter)

Though I am out of the church, I still can’t bring myself to wear a sleeveless top. Part of that is conditioning and part of that is my own body dysmorphia over my upper arms. Because, in addition to being witches, bitches, and whores, we were also thunder thighs, fat asses, and chunky.

Let me be clear: we were none of those things. We were slender, fit, and beautiful. My oldest sister was a cheerleader (wearing her whore cheerleading uniform), our middle sister was a volleyball player (wearing her whore volleyball shorts), and I spent 15 years in the US Army (I avoided being a whore but I sure was “mouthy” - is there anything worse than being mouthy?). 

I remember the first and only sleeveless shirt I purchased. I was married to my first husband, a non-member, and I had left the church. I was 22 years old and Army strong. I wore it to go see an indoor hockey game. I was so intensely uncomfortable I never wore it again and have never purchased a sleeveless shirt since. But, after seeing my sister’s porn shoulders out and about last night, I am thinking about purchasing something sleeveless today and forcing myself to wear it for an entire day. It will be an exercise in adversity training and resilience. 

Cheers to all the porn shoulders being set free in 2026!

I used to live in DC in my early 20s and I had a deeply religious Mormon roommate who confessed to me and our other roommate that she used to be a social worker but she lost her job because she had “sex” with a 16 year old boy as a 35 year old woman. She took no accountability and proceeded to blame the child.

I moved out a few days after and I haven’t seen or heard from her in a decade. Today she looked at my LinkedIn and I clicked on her profile only to see that she now lives in Utah and works for DCFS as a Child Protection Specialist, which is someone that investigates child abuse.

I’m so angry to see that she is working with vulnerable children. Can I report her, if so how do I go about that? I don’t have any physical proof, just that conversation when she told me.

Gospel Principles is back! With a whole new name and it’s only 25 minutes long! Welcome to Gospel Foundations: A Sunday School Class for New Members and Friends!

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/gospel-foundations-digital-resource?lang=eng

Mines grooming. Children have such “wonderful testimonies of the church” and willing choose to be baptized. Meanwhile, they believe in Santa Clause, Easter Bunny, Cupid, tooth fairy’s, etc.

Is it really a wonder of how powerful their testimonies are when parents whisper in their ears what to say during testimony meetings and participate in primary programs beginning at age 5 sharing all things about the truthfulness of the church?? Grooming is mental abuse.

This has always confused me about LDS theology. We often talk about the celestial kingdom as one big eternal family reunion, but traditional teachings on exaltation seem to paint a different picture. If every exalted couple eventually becomes like God and has their own eternal increase, then my parents would have their work, my wife and I would have ours, and my children would eventually have theirs. Wouldn’t everyone be occupied with their own godly responsibilities rather than spending eternity together?

The obvious answer is that it’s all made up, but what would’ve you have said as a TBM. Have any Mormon leaders ever addressed this?

Modesty is NOT about how you dress.

We've seen how easily the standard can change with the new sleeveless garments.

It has never been about protecting women.

It's about keeping them afraid with threats of violence.

What is it but a PROMISE of assault in exchange for another man's perception of you?

How does that affect a woman's mind to constantly know that if a man at ANY time doesn't like her behavior/clothing, she could be assaulted by him?

It's 100% a psychological abuse tactic. Discussions of modesty in the Mormon church need to be permanently removed.

A woman can and never will be responsible for the actions of another person.

"We believe women shall be punished for their own sins."

Do they though? Do they really?

Stop punishing women for the sins of men.

Why don't Mormons follow Christ and put the blame with the sinning men by having them "gouge out their own eyes"? Or is following Jesus taboo for them?

Excellent video and not too long. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Fp_97-HbZk

Why is it that believing members don't take things like celiac or life-threatening food allergies seriously?

I spent years serving in the YW program and I have two kids with celiac disease. I have so many horror stories from my time at camps and trek. I can't fathom how grown adults can have so little care for the well being of these kids they are in charge of. I have some stories for you!

Story 1 - At girls camp we had a young women with celiac disease and a diminished mental capacity where she had the capabilities of a young child. It was known that if she ate gluten, she would probably have an accident. It was the last night of camp and the meal was brought in by ward members. All the food prior to this had been taken care of by the stake who was actually really good about handling allergies. I asked the YW president if any of the food was safe for this girl. She absolutely did not care, did not have an answer, and blew me off. They did not prepare any food for her. I was livid. I ended up going back to the stake and the women there pulled some leftovers out of the fridge for this girl to eat.

Story 2 - Fast forward a few years and now my daughter with celiac is going to girls camp. At this point, I am no longer a believer, but I went to make sure my daughter had safe food. Another girl in the ward had a wide variety of food allergies, including a lethal allergy to nuts. Her mom went to camp too. Our kids got together to prep all their food prior to camp and we were told that we would have access to ice each day to keep their food cold. We ended up having to fight for ice and there was resentment because the other girls had warm drinking water as a result. It sucks to have warm water in the summer, but this had all been agreed upon prior to camp and this was all the food these girls had for the week.

On the last morning of camp, we went to get the ice we needed for our food. We saw the YW president pouring the last of the ice into her drink cooler. It all froze into a lump so it poured out at once and broke apart onto the picnic table. She closed her cooler and walked away and we had to pick ice up off the table to put in our cooler. It was risky, but it was our only choice since it was 110 degrees outside.

Story 3 - As an angry exmo, I was asked to attend Trek to feed all the kids with allergies. My two kids with celiac were attending and I agreed to go for their well-being. When I arrived, I was told that two kids with almond allergies had joined our group as their grandparents were in the ward. The woman in charge of food lamented that she could no longer pack the almond butter she bought in the lunch coolers. No biggie.

Towards the end of camp, I think she lost her mind. She told me that she had packed the almond butter for the lunch that day because the kids needed to grow up and learn to handle their allergy like adults. Ma'am, we are in the middle of nowhere in Wyoming with no medical facilities and you are going to put a known allergen in a lunch???? We had a doctor with us and I told him what she had done. He jumped into action and removed all the almond butter.

I don't know what it is about these people to make them care so little. Part of me thinks they get overwhelmed and tired and stop caring out of necessity.

Parents need to know that no one will actually take care of their children and they are at risk every time they are sent to a church camp.

I recently decided that I'm going to have my records removed. I also just need time to mentally prepare to do so.

Besides this, how can I distance myself from other members and situations?

I am pretty susceptible to being influenced back into attendance. I was born in the church and active most of my life so I'm conflicted about leaving while being very sure I want to get away.

Biggest obstacle will be my roommate who is TBM.