Questions for Former LDS Members

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TexanKnight

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I am very glad to be out of the Church. I cant ever see myself going back. The odd thing is, though, I never had had a bad moment in the LDS Church, till I went inactive due to my research that eventually led me to leave the Church completely. I loved being a missionary, I loved the closeness and camaraderie of the membership (something I do not get much of in the Catholic Church).

So, here are my questions.
  1. Did you serve a mission
  2. If so, did you enjoy it?
  3. Do you ever miss the LDS Church?
I just am curious if I am the only person with these feelings. I left the LDS in 1990, so I have been gone a long time, but, every now and then, I miss it.
 
I left when I turned 18, so I never served a mission.
I can honestly say, I haven’t missed the LDS church, at all.
Particularly since joining the church. I am always learning,
always growing, there’s still something new all the time.
I never had that experience as a LDS.
Michael
 
I didn’t grow up LDS but became one for a bit. I was even homemaking leader of the ward. There are certain aspects which was nice and I agree that while I was married and in that faith there was a lot always going on with meetings, hosting missionaries over for dinner and other ladies group things. But, the hypocrisy of the faith really got to me. I was bad for enjoying an occasional glass of wine while people in that ward owned restaurants which served it. I also didn’t like the annual tithing meeting where you were given pressure of how much money to give to the Church and why was I working when my husband was supposed to be the sole bread winner (I was very much looked down on for that one). I love the Catholic faith because it is less judging (even though it does happen and I get to feel it alot). I love the knowledge of the Holy Trinity and knowing that when I speak with a Priest I’m speaking to someone who has come from a line directly descended from the Apostles.
 
In my heart I left in '91 though I still lived in Provo until '96. I formally resigned in '98.

Never served a mission.

Loved being LDS. It was a very productive and formative time in my spiritual life.

But, it wasnt true. It was that simple. All that it taught, all of it’s teaching are not truth. Just a man-made religion. But in an odd way, even that would be a gift. I would make me more discerning, use critical thinking skills to a great degree when looking at any given situation rather than just believe in a “feeling” to know what “truth” is.

Do I miss it? No, I dont. But I do appreciate the fruits I was left with. The WoW protected me from falling into the genetic disease that plagues both sides of my family. Alcoholism. THAT is a great gift for me.

Also, love of scripture reading. Many Catholics have not discovered this profound gift that we have to guide us, to strength us, to enlighten us, etc etc.

Do I regret ever having been LDS? Nope. The only thing I would change is that I would have left UT earlier than '96 if I could do it all over again.
 
I’ve never been mormon.

I did go to one service, a very, very, very long time go. (1975 ish)

I have some relatives that have recently left (past year or so), and they tell me it is like a breath of fresh air after leaving.
 
twopekinguys said:
I’ve never been mormon.

I did go to one service, a very, very, very long time go. (1975 ish)

I have some relatives that have recently left (past year or so), and they tell me it is like a breath of fresh air after leaving.
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It really is. I agree with them. But sometimes, the good memories and the camadarie make me miss it. The Catholic Church, for all it’s wonderfullness, has never given me the feeling of camaraderie. We go to mass and go home. No Sunday School, no socializing.
 
TexanKnight said:
I am very glad to be out of the Church. I cant ever see myself going back. The odd thing is, though, I never had had a bad moment in the LDS Church, till I went inactive due to my research that eventually led me to leave the Church completely. I loved being a missionary, I loved the closeness and camaraderie of the membership (something I do not get much of in the Catholic Church).

So, here are my questions.
  1. Did you serve a mission
  2. If so, did you enjoy it?
  3. Do you ever miss the LDS Church?
I just am curious if I am the only person with these feelings. I left the LDS in 1990, so I have been gone a long time, but, every now and then, I miss it.
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  1. Yes, Munich Germany.
  2. For the most part yes. Only one of my companions absolutely got on my nerves.
  3. Nope. For me, there’s nothing to miss that I don’t already get in the Catholic Church. To top that off the Catholic Church has the following which are lacking in the LDS Church:
  • the Sacraments
  • much better music and hymnody
  • more freedom. Don’t get me wrong, the fellowship is nice, but the cult-like “checkin in” by home teachers and random, unannounced visits by the bishopric were rude and down right creepy. It’s also nice knowing they aren’t taking roll at Mass.
 
TexanKnight said:
I am very glad to be out of the Church. I cant ever see myself going back. The odd thing is, though, I never had had a bad moment in the LDS Church, till I went inactive due to my research that eventually led me to leave the Church completely. I loved being a missionary, I loved the closeness and camaraderie of the membership (something I do not get much of in the Catholic Church).

So, here are my questions.
  1. Did you serve a mission
  2. If so, did you enjoy it?
  3. Do you ever miss the LDS Church?
I just am curious if I am the only person with these feelings. I left the LDS in 1990, so I have been gone a long time, but, every now and then, I miss it.
Click to expand...
  1. Nope, but I had planned on it my whole life. Up until the point that this pesky Catholic asked me to marry him, that is 😉
  2. I really enjoyed sharing the faith, to the extent that it was one of my favorite things to do. Our YW leaders would take me out to visit less active young women and they’d start coming to church again, every time.
  3. I can’t say that I do. The only thing I REALLY miss is the music; but that’s because I’m still not as familiar with Catholic hymns as LDS ones. I still love it when I hear a familiar tune at Mass so I can sing along. LDS music was a HUGE part of my life growing up. However, I do still teach my kids “popcorn popping on the apricot tree” and “the snowman song”. 🙂
I had a pretty positive experience growing up in the church. There were some hiccups that are inherently related to being part of the LDS community, but I always knew that was the people, not the church itself. Even after marrying my husband, I was pretty much active until the day I decided to join the Catholic Church. A fairly large part of my conversion was when I found myself more excited to go to Mass with my husband than I was to go to my ward’s sacrament meeting!
 
Good questions!
  1. I did not serve a mission. Like the previous poster, I had this pesky Catholic man ask me to marry him. 👍
  2. I enjoyed everything social about the lds church. I enjoyed every activity and the comradarie… until I got engaged to that awesome Catholic and things started to turn on me…
  3. The only thing I miss is everyone singing in 4 part harmony in the congregation. I’ve heard Lutherans do that very well also. 🤷 I miss the Assembly of God fellowship more than the lds church’s. I made a stop there along the way to converting.
I am very involved in my parish. All the activities are optional, unlike the lds church OR the assembly of god I went to. But for me… I need to carve out those relationships. I have to make the effort to start up a bible study when I didn’t want to. Now there are many. (I’ve been Catholic for 13 years this Sat! ) I volunteer for the spring clean-up. I go on mission trips with the youth. The church is my life sooooo much more so than it was when I was LDS living in Utah.

Steph
 
  1. Yes. Dominican Republic
  2. Yes and no. It was a transformative experience living for 2 years in a poor country and I got to know some truly wonderful people. On the negative side, I am an introvert and talking to strangers about my own deeply held spiritual beliefs was always a challenge. The first thing I did when I got home was to go up into the mountains and spend some time alone. To be honest, I regret serving a mission because I now know that I was spreading a false belief system. I was promoting a false prophet and a false god. God be merciful to me a sinner
  3. No. The social aspect of Mormonism was always more of a burden than a comfort. I also do not miss the 2 hours of ‘milk’ of the typical Sunday School and Priesthood lessons. However I can understand how more socially inclined people may miss that aspect of Mormon culture. They do tend to be a pretty tight-knit group, which certainly comes in handy you have to move 😃
I promised my wife that I would attend Easter Sunday at her LDS ward this year. I’m not particularly looking forward to it, especially since it will be with her parents who think I am an apostate pawn of Satan. But it should provide an interesting contrast with Saturday’s Easter Vigil where I will be baptized and received into the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church. Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ! 😃 😃
 
I also want to add that except for being bored I did not have negative experiences in LDS church meetings or with LDS members. Don’t want anyone to think I fall into the dreaded ‘offended’ category of apostates. I left the Mormon faith because I do not believe that it is true and the truth matters to me.
 
I served my mission in Honduras, so I understand “living in a poor country”.

I absolutely loved being a missionary. I grew up Lutheran and had always wanted to be a minister, so being a missionary was a great experience. I have nothing by great experiences and even some miracles.

I also baptized a LOT of people. We baptized at least one person almost every weekend of my mission.

After I left the LDS Church, I began to worry about those I had baptized. I felt horrible for leading them astray. When I was in the Army, I ended up being stationed in Honduras for one year. During that year, I was able to talk to MANY of the people I baptized and apologize to them. Some had already left the LDS Church. Others, no. But, at least I was able to speak to as many as I could find and apologize to them.
 
Nevadaborn. May God continue to bless you. I will keep you in my thoughts this Easter Vigil. Also greetings from Nevada.👍
 
TexanKnight said:
I served my mission in Honduras, so I understand “living in a poor country”.

I absolutely loved being a missionary. I grew up Lutheran and had always wanted to be a minister, so being a missionary was a great experience. I have nothing by great experiences and even some miracles.

I also baptized a LOT of people. We baptized at least one person almost every weekend of my mission.

After I left the LDS Church, I began to worry about those I had baptized. I felt horrible for leading them astray. When I was in the Army, I ended up being stationed in Honduras for one year. During that year, I was able to talk to MANY of the people I baptized and apologize to them. Some had already left the LDS Church. Others, no. But, at least I was able to speak to as many as I could find and apologize to them.
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That’s cool you were able to talk to some of those people you had baptized. I have not been able to do that. Its been so long since my mission that I don’t think I could find anyone if I tried. Ironically, this week my LDS mother sent me a letter suggesting that I spend some time in the Dominican Republic to rekindle my Mormon testimony. If only she knew how I would spend the time if I did go, trying to reverse the damage I did as a missionary!

By the way, my wife served part of her mission in Honduras and the rest in Guatemala.
 
nevadaborn said:
That’s cool you were able to talk to some of those people you had baptized. I have not been able to do that. Its been so long since my mission that I don’t think I could find anyone if I tried. Ironically, this week my LDS mother sent me a letter suggesting that I spend some time in the Dominican Republic to rekindle my Mormon testimony. If only she knew how I would spend the time if I did go, trying to reverse the damage I did as a missionary!

By the way, my wife served part of her mission in Honduras and the rest in Guatemala.
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When?
 
Will be praying for you, Nevadaborn, this Easter Vigil… :)🙂

Will be praying for your family too, that their hearts may be softened so that they arent so stressed over your becoming Catholic, and that this doesnt cause a rift in the family…
 
TexanKnight said:
When?
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Since she is still an active Mormon and isn’t really proud of the fact that her returned missionary husband is now an apostate, I probably shouldn’t give too many specifics. Maybe I’ve divulged too much already 🤷
 
Marie5890 said:
Will be praying for you, Nevadaborn, this Easter Vigil… :)🙂

Will be praying for your family too, that their hearts may be softened so that they arent so stressed over your becoming Catholic, and that this doesnt cause a rift in the family…
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Thanks! I’m counting on the whole ‘communion of the saints’ thing for some extra help.
 
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