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September 2015
I have watched your interviews and I am shocked that more Mormons haven’t figured this out already. I know that now there are more leaving than ever before. . . . I am LDS but not active . . . One day I want to tell my husband of my finding and feelings but I am going to have to have solid facts and understanding to do that.
Searching for truth . . .
October 2015
Being raised LDS I was taught not to just be skeptical of any non-lds material but to flat out reject it because anything that would make “the church” look bad was an obvious lie. It has been through your hard work and dedication that i was able to find so much damaging information through lds sources. I left the LDS church last year and have been running after Christ ever since. Thank you for all you do! God bless.
October 2015
Thank you Miss Sandra for speaking with me today. It is my birthday. You answering the phone was one of the best gifts ever.
I have been obsessively watching anything on YouTube with you in it for the past few months. Thank you for your gracious forgiveness for me thinking evil of you and your ministry for all these years.
I actually tempted the LORD when I dialed the number posted on your site and bet I could never get to talk to The Sandra Tanner. Your accessibility must be exhausting but it meant much. . . .
I have been going off and on to a very small nondenominational church for a while. The strange thing is my former stake president and another former bishopric member . . . are attending on the sly sporadically. . . . These guys are prominent, dept heads in the university of the city’s ward. This church is about 25 miles out.
It was surreal to see them in attendance. This would be HUGE if discovered, but I have assured them it won’t happen because of me. . . . There seems to be serendipitous moments going in and exiting out of Mormonism. It is so difficult to remove the scales off the eyes and unstop the ears. So easy a task, but hard. . . . God bless you.
October 2015
I wanted to first thank you for what you are doing. I am a recent convert and have since been questioning my decision.
October 2015
I’m not sure if this letter will get to Sandra Tanner, but I wanted to send it to thank you. You see, I wasn’t born into mormonism; but it affected my life because it influenced me at a vulnerable young age. I was born a Lutheran, as a kid I was more interested in the Baptist beliefs, but at 18 I converted to mormonism when 2 sister missionaries knocked on my door when I was in a very vulnerable time. I joined in innocent ignorance. I have been a seeker all my life. As a result, I’ve been swept up by the many deceptions that are out there. . . .
Well, I went on a mission, which was disastrous and the beginning of my long exit out. I got married in a temple. But the whole time there was something inside me that told me to flee mormonism. It took me awhile.
In 1992 I finally left Mormonism, but I didn’t know any of the ‘truths’ and deceptions. Then in 2003 I was looking for ex-eastern websites, because I was being lured into eastern beliefs. . . . I was concerned because mormonism was already one strange system that I had released from, and I didn’t want another. So when I looked for ex-eastern forums I noticed an exmormon forum: the recovery for mormonism forum. . . .
Well, I was in shock as I read information. I had no idea that I had been lied to and that it was a complete fraud. I had to go back and re-sort the information that I now knew was deception. . . . I learned of your website and that it was greatly respected for the pioneering work you and your husband had done . . . Now I was suspicious of beliefs again. . . . I never like to use the word God, but I thought there was an energy that created. . . . I thought there was an energy that had been split in two and showed up as good/bad, light/dark. Beyond that I was rather lost. I also had no idea how to stay in the ‘good’ side of this. Everything appeared so deceptive to me. . . .
In fall of 2013 my marriage was at an all-time low. I won’t go into detail, but Satan planned to destroy us through a marriage crisis but God used that to get us back to him. Because we had been so involved in so many beliefs, from new age research, to channelling to you name it, we had become an open receptor and had no way of discerning God’s ways from imposters (except for mormonism, that we knew was a fraud.) Still, leaving mormonism was based on God’s truths, . . .
I still could not connect to God and Jesus in a way I did as a baptist kid, nor as a mormon for that matter. I couldn’t read the bible because I still experienced it with repulsion and distrust. I still had trouble with the name God and really couldn’t use the name Jesus. I couldn’t accept the bible either.
But in april of 2015 everything changed for us. My husband and I, who both work for the same company, got in a work crisis. This crisis involved a serious litigation, as we had been deceived by a co-worker to help her. . . .
We have a history of being entangled with liars (mormonism being the first one) to the point that I became suicidal and didn’t want to live in this world anymore, as I am too innocent and get manipulated. I decided that I didn’t like this world and could no longer live on it. That it wasn’t for me.
But God had other plans. God used this to bring us to our knees and lead us out of the valley. He used it to bring us back to an understanding of God, . . . I also wanted to let you know how much you’ve helped me, as I think that God has pronounced you as a blessing in the exmormon community . . . May I ask you to pray for my husband and I . . . We are newly rescued as of a few months and are getting stronger and stronger with every day, through God’s mercy and guidance.
And that’s where I get a little fear show up, because I’ve been deceived so many times by religious beliefs, I’m concerned to get decieved again so I haven’t found a church to go to. . . . This new found feeling in God and Jesus is so much different than what I experienced in Mormonism. It seems simplified and cleaned up. . . . Let us thank and praise God’s Holy name.
November 2015
You are more than a ministry. You are more than a bookstore. You are a light to the world. You provide not only perspective, but also hard facts. What has impressed me since I learned of your ministry, is that you have had a focus on showing first hand documents. People, if they want to see the truth, can open their eyes, and see the facts for themselves. You cannot change someone’s mind, but you can show them the difference between a shadow and reality.
Thank you for everything that you do. Keep up the ministry of truth.
November 2015
I read the Gospel Topics essays on plural marriage with interest, and believe that they are intended to deceive the faithful who cling to their family legacy and what they’ve been taught since birth (in most cases). With the availability of information on the Internet, Mormon leaders probably felt pushed into a corner to respond in some way.
Sure there are admissions in these essays, but they are couched in carefully crafted rhetoric. Presenting Helen Mar Kimball’s age as “several months before her 15th birthday” (rather than the 14-year-old that she was) was an obvious example of these manipulative disclosures (which are not easily accessed on the church website).
Dieter Uchtdorf’s acknowledgement that some Mormon leaders may have “said or done things that were not in harmony with our values, principles, or doctrine” is somewhat ridiculous given that it was Joseph Smith, their founder, who was a chief perpetrator of these “mistakes.” As a history major at BYU in the early 1970’s, I studied and had access to many primary sources containing Mormon History. If the Mormon leaders truly want to honor the truth and respect the integrity of their members, these primary sources should be fully disclosed. Let the people decide for themselves.
December 2015
I was sucked into the LDS life when my world was upside down. Been out since Nov 19, 2013.
January 2016
I’ve watched so many of your videos and many that others have posted with you in them. I have just become so fascinated with Joseph Smith and Mormonism. I am a born again Christian that attends a Baptist church. I watch a family on YouTube that it turns out are Mormon and I began to wonder what they believe. . . . I just love your videos and the way you explain things makes so much sense to me. I just wanted to tell you how smart and brave I think you are to break away from Mormonism and try to tell people the truth. I really think the head people of the Mormon church use mind games to keep their people in a protected bubble.
January 2016
Sandra Tanner, I owe you an apology. Years ago, I fancied myself an amateur Mormon apologist. I found a cool thing on the Internet newsgroups. . . . I spent hours each day there and thought I was smart enough to defend Mormonism.
During that time, you were often the foil for our apologetics. We lumped you into a derogatory group known as “The Tanners”—you know, those apostate anti-mormons who twist and turn everything. . . .
But my naive focus back then was focusing on arguing miniscule doctrine and things like: does Jesus being born “at Jerusalem” (BOM) really mean “in Bethlehem?” Does “My house has many mansions” refer to the three Mormon kingdoms? There were never any real answers to those questions.
I don’t remember exactly what I knew about you back then—other than that I knew you must be evil and in Satan’s power. I never really read any of your stuff because I knew it would just be rubbish. If I had painted a picture of you, it would have been dark—you as an evil demon sucking peoples souls.
Last year, I heard your interview with John Dehlin on Mormon Stories. To my surprise, you were nothing like my caricature. You were kind, articulate and caring. You were intelligent. You were thoughtful. . . . And you were right.
My journey out of Mormonism has allowed me to open my eyes and my heart to many new things. And I want to thank you for being a pioneer in post-mormonism.
I humbly admit that I am a child among men when it comes to Mormon history. I knew nothing about the real history of the church and its foundations. All I knew was the Pablum I had been taught. The more I learn now, the more I realize how little I knew then.
So, I want to apologize for what I thought of you. I want to apologize because I would have shunned and avoided you at all costs if I had been in the same room. I would have told others that you were full of lies and deceit. I’m sorry that you have had to live with people like me thinking bad things about you.
I was wrong.
Thank you for being true to yourself. I hope that someday I can meet you and thank you in person. I would like to hug you and, tell you that you have a loving spirit and that you are a beautiful child of God.
Someday, I’d like to call you my friend.
January 2016
Dear Sir, allow me the presumptuous assertion of your lack of understanding about the subject of “prophecy.” Also, allow me a few moments of your time to try and educate you, if only merely superficially regarding prophecy. I shall be as brief as possible.
I propose the spirit of prophecy is subject to the true prophets. Implying, generally it takes the spirit of prophecy and being a prophet (i.e. the actual/factual testimony of Jesus) to gain understanding from any prophecy. That there is really no personal interpretation of prophecy, but only truth as it is given by the spirit of God. The spirit of God giving knowledge of things past, present, and future in the correct context for the individual(s). . . . Don’t be too quick to judge the concept of prophecy in light of your own limited understanding. It takes deep philosophy to truly understand it, only imparted by the Spirit of God to His Latter Day Saints.
In your chapter you utilized argumentative constructs to “prove” the Great Seer Joseph Smith was a false prophet. However, by your same reasoning Jesus Christ must have been a false prophet (See Mark 9:1). Now, you may utilize some fancy argument that “explains” away why that verse is being misunderstood by me. But then again I can utilize even more intelligent argument to show why you misunderstand the prophecies of Joseph Smith. But in the end, the only way to KNOW of the truth is by doing the works laid out by Jesus. Hence, you should repent in humility, call for those young unlearned Mormon missionaries to teach and baptize you, then have hands laid upon your head, and the Holy Ghost will teach you about old Joe Smith and his prophecies. If not, you will spend up your time and energy wasted on that which will never satisfy. The Mormon religion is here to stay! It is the Kingdom of God on earth. Intelligent and educated people (like myself) will always flock toward it. It is the most intelligent religion on the planet.
January 2016
Sister Tanner, over a year ago I made an anonymous account and I was incredibly rude and disrespectful towards you. I wish I could convey how sorry I am. I am sorry. I was doubting and afraid.
January 2016
You don’t know me but you have blessed my life so much!!!!! I once believed all of the things I was told about you and a great blessing to me has been to realize I was a brainless, fed, Stepford, shallow, judgmental woman. I now understand what grace means so I am not saying this in a condemning way over myself but a freeing way of thank God I now know more, better, understand the pain those who faced rejection and being lied about so that people like me can be freed and live in this BEAUTIFUL life after the church (which I was taught by the church, would be torment. I receive spiritual experiences though I was taught the Holy Spirit (Ghost) would be sucked out of me and I understand how to really love people without judging them (which I see now as a form of loathing people) and I have learned to be compassionate with myself and others and to meet myself and others where we are in this journey and just love. Work in progress and working a lifetime of false-teaching (which I believed whole-heartedly until I was 40) and I am sure it will take a long time to get it all out but I am finally through the grief stages and it is coming out beautifully. Thank you for being you, for being strong, for facing control I don’t think I would have had the guts to face, for being such a great example of meeting people and loving them where they are at on this journey. So much love and gratitude to you! I am SO thankful you were born!!!
January 2016
Sandra. It was yours and Jerald’s writings that kept me from returning to the Mormon Church after I first came out. So many times I was “this” close to going back. Your devotion and dedication will never be forgotten.
January 2016
I recently finished “Mormonism, Magic, and Masonry,” and . . . it . . . was . . . AWESOME. Those kooky Mormon Glass Lookers. I’m an ex-Mo and I can’t believe I went on a mission to preach about this bat-sh** crazy dude.
Looking back on my mission I laugh now at the memories of those people I ran into that called Joseph Smith, Joe Smith, or John Smith. At any rate . . . I loved M, M, and M by the Tanners, very good. I loved all of it but Abrac was hilarious. Thank you for your hard work in telling the truth about ole’ Joe Smith.
February 2016
Dear Sandra—I have recently been listening to your lectures and interviews on YouTube and want to thank you for what you and your late husband, Jerald, have done in exposing the deceit, corruption and evil of the Mormon religion. I am so impressed by your courage, scholarship and integrity in investigating and how you have stood for the truth of the Biblical gospel.
I’ve always known Mormonism to be fraudulent, but recently have been doing a more thorough investigation because our oldest granddaughter began dating a Mormon and has in fact been baptized into the M. church a few months ago. She was raised in a Bible-believing church and family and yet Satan has been able (thus far) to blind her eyes. We are all heart broken and praying for her salvation and for the young man as well. We have shared loads of Scripture with her and all kinds of links to ministries that are revealing the false teachings of the Mormons. If she were seeking truth, it is everywhere for her to see, but at this point I think she’s so into the guy that she just wants Mormonism to be true. We pray for the Lord to open her eyes, snatch her from the fire.
I especially appreciated your explanation of all the temple rituals. I would think that if [our granddaughter] knew some of this creepy stuff it would give her pause. Maybe the Lord will give me an opportunity to let her in on some of this. I think she’s only hearing the “palatable” stuff at their weekly meetings. Also, from your interviews, I realized how central polygamy is to the teaching of the church. I doubt if [our granddaughter] has any idea of that and probably only thinks that polygamy is part of the history (not current doctrine) and/ or connected with the fundamentalist strains of Mormonism—when in fact, it’s part of the teaching of the mainstream church. . . .
Your teaching also helped me reconcile how intelligent, educated people (Mitt Romney, my husband’s dermatologist, etc.) can hold to Mormonism. I’m seeing now that they may even know it’s false and still cling to it because of the culture, the family ties, etc. So sad that people are willing to value these things before truth!
I’m so happy to learn that many Mormons are coming to Christ! . . . And thank you so much for being one who values and stands for truth. I’m amazed how well you are able to articulate all that you have learned and thank the Lord for your scholarship and clear mind! To me, you and the record of your work are a real treasure.
February 2016
I just finished watching the documentary . . . [The Mormons: Who They are, What They Believe] and wanted to reach out and thank you for the brutal honesty by all of the past members who appeared in the documentary (Sandra especially!!).
February 2016
Sandra, I have watched and read anything and everything that has your name on it. I have learned so much from your videos, Conference talks, your fireside talks, research on Joseph Smith and your interview with Bishop Earl on the ex Mormon files (and many more). . . .
I am 38 years old and came out of Mormonism around the age of 30. I know more about Mormonism now than I did when I was in it. I also realized that I was in a cult all the years I was in Mormonism. I had my Mormon goggles on and pressure from my Bishop dad keeping me in when I knew it was not right. My Mormon temple ceremony was horrible. By the time we were in the second room and chanting everything in me was screaming “this is a cult!!!” The Holy Spirit was telling me that it was not right.
I left the celestial room as fast as I could and ran to the bathroom and cried. When I turned to my Mormon escort through the temple and told her that I felt horrible about what just happened and that it felt cultish she brushed me off with no words of encouragement or explanation. My husband at the time was only a member for one year before we went to the temple. The only part that did not feel like a cult was when we were sealed to our three beautiful children. But my poor husband had to watch me, a member of this church my whole life, cry all the way home from [one state] back to our home in [another state]. I can only imagine what was going through his head. Two months after going to the temple he had an affair and we shortly thereafter divorced.
Since then I have finally opened my eyes and started thinking for myself and reading everything about Mormonism that I can get my hands and eyes and ears on. I am now a Christian who believes that Jesus Christ is my savior and gave me the gift of grace. Grace is not a word to hear in Mormonism. I just felt like I needed to reach out to you and tell you how much you have helped me in my journey to better understand that Mormonism is not Christian. And the things about Joseph Smith that are so true that the church hides from the members. What a horrible horrible man he was. Again I thank you for all the research and information that you give people and I’ll pass it on to everyone that I now witness to. You and your husband truly have done the work that God will be proud of.
March 2016
I am a member of the Church of Latter Day Saints. I am so sorry that I had never heard of the Tanner’s before now. Unbelievable I know.
Anyway, I have been contemplating leaving the church ever since the announcement came about the children of Gay couples. . . . So I began doing research on the church. I came across a nice young man called Jeremy Runnels. It is through him that I heard of Sandra Tanner.
I have found all of the information about the church history fascinating. But what I really found so awesome was the information about Jesus being all we really need for our salvation
As I am sure you know, Mormons have a very different view of being “saved” We are taught to suspect anyone who uses that term. lol. I bought a bunch of Bibles because I wanted to “start fresh” as it were and not have all of the commentary and footnotes that I have in my quad. I bought a KJV Bible, a NIV Bible and a big nice fancy leather bound one for my front room so that when the visiting teachers come over we can read from the Bible instead of from the Ensign.
I have not “officially” left yet. My husband is totally done with the Church at this point and he is being incredibly supportive and patient as I go at my own pace. I thing after this Easter Sunday I will try to find a nondenominational church around where I live. I watched your “fireside” just recently. I can’t believe I never heard of you. 😊
March 2016
Thank you Sandra. So much information you’ve shared here. I really appreciate your time. I’ve studied probably 20 hours and learned probably more than most Mormons know about their religion at this point. The problem is, my [19 year old] son [with a Mormon girlfriend] will not listen to any of it, will not look at anything on the internet, does not want to talk to anyone about it. He says it’s between him and God and he will pray whether or not it’s true. (I’m sure you know where that idea came from). I’ve encouraged him to talk to his pastor about it as he had just been baptized the week before he was given the BOM by a non-denominational pastor. He hasn’t done that either. He’s afraid he will be influenced by outside resources and he believes this needs to come from the Holy Spirit.
I never in my wildest dreams thought about this type of thing happening to him. He’s been raised in a Christian home his whole life and all of our extended family are Christians, all grandparents, etc.
March 2016
[From the granddaughter of longtime friend]
Thank you for praying for my salvation before I was born. Thank you for loving me and my family. I will be forever grateful for you. Would appreciate your continued prayers for the Lord to save the rest of them. Blessed Resurrection Sunday! I thank the Lord for you and your ministry.
April 2016
Oh yeah of little faith…… convert to Islam please.
April 2016
I am a fairly young college student, . . . I did not know anything about Mormonism until about 2 and a half years ago when many of my LDS friends left for their missions. A few of them shared their beliefs with me before they left. Ever since, missionaries have been showing up at my door constantly. I was later introduced to some friends from church that use their home in Utah to evangelize during the Manti Pageant. This has become an annual mission trip for me, and this past year I had the pleasure of visiting the Utah Lighthouse Ministry and meeting Sandra Tanner. I learned so much just from visiting, and from the books I have purchased since. I’d like to make sure that those involved with this ministry know that people are thankful for them and their work.
Additionally, I want those involved in this ministry to know that it is making a difference. One of my closest friends, who is LDS, revealed to me, and me alone so far, his questioning of the Book of Mormon, particularly why it seems to support the Trinity. I know that the past two and a half years of us discussing Mormonism and Christianity have influenced his doubts. I have this ministry, and others like Mormonism Research Ministry to thank for equipping me for this kind of ministry, and God of course.
April 2016
Hi, over there!
I’m just a little curious. I am (was) a mormon untill a couple of weeks ago. I am a convert who joined the church here in Norway when I was in my teens. All the candy flossed information that is surrounding an every day mormon is fine to live with until you get to know what is really going on.
I really felt, when I was looking into the internett on other information about the curch, that I was doing something terribly wrong. Everybody within the church is saying that we must stay away from all that kind of info since it is antimormon. NOBODY has ever told me about the church essay’s. Feel like I have been played for a fool by those who have red them. Is there a lot who knows but don’t have the courage to speak out about it or are they just really well flossed with all the easy going things?
It is incredible how this organization is able to endure with all this evidence that the church is way of track. And they have been that way ever since Joseph Smith found out he could write a book and make money on it. He should have continued with his moneydigging and we would have been spared for all this trouble.
There is a lot that could have been said but I am wondering if there is other norwegians that have made contact and are curious on what’s going on? There is about 2000 active members in Norway. But I think more and more will be informed with the dreadful things of what they have believed in.
I want to thank you, Sandra, for your steadfastness in the truth. You and Jerald are giants. You have made it possible for us to go deeper into the material. When I first found out, I wanted to know everything, and sat up late at night to watch your interview with John Dehlin. It was great. And I also listened to Lee Baker. I have now bought Shadow or reality on PDF and look forward to increase my knowledge. . . .
Though it must be said it is probably easier to leave church here in Norway then it would be in the LDS capitol. Luckely, but the feeling of betrayal is ever present.
Originally appeared in:
“Excerpts from Letters and Emails,” Salt Lake City Messenger, no. 126, May 2016, 14-18.