[Spelling and grammar not corrected]
Jan. 2003
I just wanted to write and thank you for all you have done for me over the years. I first came in contact with you, a few years back when I started to have doubts about the mormon religion. Your materials answered many of my questions, and I was able to defend myself from critical family members and friends, once I let them know I no longer was following the mormon church. I am very comfortable and happy with my life away from the church and proud of the choice I made.
I never saw a reason to go through with a name removal until the recent debate over main street repeaked my interest. This last week I sent in a request for name removal and am also preparing a request for a roommate of mine, to be sent this week. Thank you for providing the procedure for accomplishing this on your web pages.
Jan. 2003
Subject: I discovered their lies 9 days after my baptism
. . . . Early last November I met a very decent young man who said “We are all one, so we ought to be nice to each other.” At his invitation, I started visiting the Davis, California LDS Church on the 17th of last November. I was baptized on Dec. 21. I started coughing badly and having trouble breathing from time to time since early last December. I asked the missionaries to postpone the baptism, but was told it could not be done. One of the missionaries assured me that my health would improve after baptism.
. . . Had the Mormon Church truly abolished polygamy, the Sect.132 doctrine would have been removed from its canonized scriptures long time ago. Since then I have been researching the documented Mormon history through books, articles, and the Internet. The Mormon dirty laundry on polygamy alone was appalling, frightening, and disgusting enough! I have also discovered what I was told by by missionaries regard to polygamy, etc. (it was probably the official lines) was a blatant lie and misrepresentation. The beautifully-packaged “Six Lessons” were halftruth and misrepresentation too. Instead of being the “restored church of Christ”, Mormonism is non-Christian and it is nothing but a man-made institution. The Mormon empire is a multi-national corporation, and it is wealthy, powerful, and fast-growing. . . .
. . . I mailed my resignation letter on Jan.11 (three weeks after my baptism). According to the return receipt, the bishop received it on 1-13. Legally starting 1-13, I am no longer a member of the Mormon Church.
I was such a fool that I let them rush me into baptism. I should have started my research at least one month earlier. Yet I was fortunate that I discovered their lies before investing more time and energy to that organization.
Jan. 2003
Hi. Just a suggestion. I was reading your FAQ’s about Mormonism and noticed that you mention the Deseret News published a statistic that the LDS church has a membership of 10 million or so. You might want to mention somewhere on this web page that many of these 10 million do not consider themselves Mormon, such as myself. I was raised Mormon, but grew to despise that church. When people ask me is I am Mormon, my response is a definite “NO.” However, the LDS Church has me on record as a member still (see what I’m saying?).
Jan. 2003
I HAVE LOTS OF LDS FRIENDS, WHY DON’T YOU LAY OFF. GOSSIPING (WHAT YOU ARE DOING) IS A SIN TOO, OR DON’T YOU READ THE BIBLE.
Feb. 2003
The Utah Lighthouse Ministry has to be one of the laziest and most delusional group of people anywhere. Imagine not being able to “hack the standards” so much that you spend your whole life trying to prove a religion is false, just so you can convince yourself that your actions and conduct, which is apostasy, is justified.
Folks like you can’t give [up] a simple cup of coffee, so you try and poke holes and President Hinckley. Folks like you at some point, can’t pay their tithing, so they try and disprove the First Vision. Folks like you can’t understand the language of the Spirit, so you try and re-invent what revelation really is. Folks like you would rather rely on your own supposed intellect, rather than the promptings of the Spirit. Is that not the easy way out? Folks like you can’t follow simple laws pertaining to copyrighted materials, so accuse the Lord’s Kingdom of being a multi-billion dollar empire picking on a small ‘ministry’. Folks like you can’t obey the Lord’s commandments, so you call President Packer a bigot.
When it comes right down to it, this is way Joseph Smith inquired of the Lord to answer his humble prayer. He saw the Tanners and the Deckers and the Maxine Hanks of his day. He saw their true apathy towards revealed religion. He saw how they would re-invent religious feeling to manipulate the untaught . . . .
If there were a definition to all of your sick disorder, it would be: Tannertantium…(t n r-t n tr – m) . . . . A not so subtle mannerism and sickness displayed in those who are repeatedly shown to be wrong. They vigorously pursue half truths, especially when discredited. Rather than acknowledging any mistake or wrongdoing, those who suffer from this debilitating disease become even more engaged. In severe cases, some of these die-hard anti-mormons have been known to develop a form of color blindness. They see all that is white as black, and vice-versa. The only known relief has been found in the Book of Mormon. Unfortunately, this remedy is rarely accepted due to another anti-mormon disease known as pridecomethbeforethefallitis.
Feb. 2003
First of all, great job on a very informative website that fairly presents both sides of the story. My wife converted to Mormonism in 2000 and has spent the last 2 years trying to convert me to this faith. Prior to this conversion, we attended several churches in our joint search for faith. This conversion, as you might expect, has caused great divides in our relationship. My wife is also ready to baptize our daughters into the faith and I am adamantly opposed and have let her know my opinions. Her response is that I “obviously haven’t prayed enough to know the truth”. . . Thanks for your time
Feb. 2003
I just wanted to say thanks to you all for the work you do. Thanks for your recent e.mail, and thanks also for the book “Major Problems with Mormonism” which I am half way through reading.
I went to the Mormon Church for the last time yesterday, and being the first Sunday of the month I was able to get up and share my testimony of the Saviour and explain why I would not be going to that church again. I kept it short as I wasn’t sure the bishop would let me say too much, but I used 2 Cor 6:17 as my text and then left the chapel. The only surprise was that around 15-20 people said amen. I’m not sure whether they meant it, or were just not listening.
Still, I feel I have much to thank you for. I’m sure you’ve had your share of abuse for what you do and thought it only proper to say how grateful I am. Many thanks. may the Lord continue to bless you and your work.
Feb. 2003
Your website is untrue. The things that you say about Joseph Smiths words are false. Surely, knowing that you are relating lies and calling them truth should cause fear in your very soul. . . . May God forgive you.
Was it not Jesus, whom you say that you know, that said “A prophet be without honor in his own country?” Thank you for your persecution. By it, I know that I am founded in true doctrine.
March 2003
I read a statement in one of your articles a while back, that totally explains the way the LDS church explains there theolgy, and having believed in the LDS church for 34 years, until the Holy Spirit opened my eyes, (6 years ago I became a baptized LCMS Lutheran). The statement you claimed is totally, 100% spot on: “LDS test the Bible by their prophets. Christians test prophets, pastors and teachers by the Bible.”
March 2003. I am so very sorry that you have never been properly informormed on the topics of which you write. I am sure [you] know full well what you are doing and that no good will come from it.
March 2003
hey! . . . thanks to the fact that i have finally decided to answer the numerous questions that i was told to “put on a shelf”, I AM FREE!!! I am especially thankful to your site for opening the “can of worms” for me! it seems that each time i have a thought or a question about “the church”, i can turn to you for the answers. my life-long goal is not to bash “the church”, but to open the eyes of my blind, programmed friends that i (we) had to leave behind. . . .
March 2003
You two are so utterly ridiculous. You have no idea what you are talking about. The only reason you have the faith that you have is because of the church that you grew up in. And in the very time when you could show your grattitude for those teachings, you turned your backs on the truth. I feel so sorry for you both.
April 2003
Hi. It’s funny. I had heard horrible things about you guys my entire life. I was raised LDS and then I went on a mission. I came home only ten months into said mission, mostly because I didn’t feel good about what I was doing there, and I then proceeded to heavily research the truthfulness of the Mormon church. After many years of study and thought, I came to the conclusion that my assumptions were right and I left the Mormon church for good.
However, I always sort of wrote you guys off as vindictive liars, presumably because that is what I had always been told, so I didn’t use any of your resources in my years of research. Damn. Many items that it took me some time to find were readily available through your ministry. I only recently visited your website, prompted mainly by the article in the City Weekly, and I feel moronic for not seeking out your resources earlier.
I commend you for your decades or honest research and courage. I only wish that I would’ve found you sooner. I would like any materials that you could send me, as my father and I, who is an LDS Institute Director in a major city on the East Coast, continue to have lively discussion about the validity of the Mormon faith. He’s a well-spoken man and I need all the help I can get. I would also like to receive your newsletters. Thank you and good luck in passing the torch of your ministry.
April 2003
I find it funny how Mormons assume you’re full of hate because you tell them things they don’t want to hear. When I was a questioning Mormon I visited your bookstore and met Sandra. What a gentle soul! Thank you for being the face of Christ to people who don’t even know how desperately they need Him.
April 2003
. . . We were recently saved 2 years ago. My husband is a direct descendant of Hyrum Smith. I come from a big Mormon Family also generations back, . . . We were born and raised in Mesa Az, I still sound mormon. But by Gods Grace we were brought out. . . . We were temple, returned missionary mormons. We were married in 1987, I saw the changes to the ceremony in 1990. That really disturbed us back then. It still took years to open our eyes.
God Bless you. Our Family thinks we went nuts and are angry about life. Just the opposite holds true, peace and hope and faith came to us for the first time through the beautiful Lord Jesus Christ.
April 2003
I was born and raised in the “Church” and rose to the rank of Priest before becoming an infidel. Several years ago I found that reading the 7-volume History of the Church straight through to be sufficient for completely destroying the remains of any former testimony I might have had. Now I’m discovering that the huge work is a horrible misrepresentation of the tip of the iceberg of all that’s wrong, stupid and insidious about the Church. . . . I was always under the impression that the Anti-Mormons were telling lies and being downright mean to the Mormons for no good reason. Its weird to find out that so many of the most Anti-Mormon texts are written by Joe Smith, Brigham Young, et al. Most of the material on this site is simply a straightforward presentation of Mormon tenets; . . .
April 2003
Go Tanners! You guys are the best. Your research is thorough (despite Mormon criticism), your responses are professional (despite Mormon criticism), your motive is compassion (despite Mormon criticism), your patience is unbelievable (despite Mormon criticism), and the truth is on your side. . . . I guess that leaves them with no response . . . other than criticism. It’s got to be frustrating when your beliefs collide with truth. In all seriousness, it is truly sad to consider the hold this religion has on so many and how deeply the convictions are held.
I had a Mormon missionary once tell me to go about studying Mormonism “as if” I believed it to be true, rather than from a pre-disposition of it being false. Interesting concept! I wonder if he could agree to study “Apostate” Christianity in the same manner?
Nevertheless, many people have studied the Bible in an effort to disprove it and ended up embracing it! The trouble with Mormonism is even if you set out to study it in an effort to strengthen your faith, you keep running into annoying facts that contradict the “truth”! (As I know you well know.)
I will add my voice to the many who rightly observe: You have done an excellent job over the years. You have been and will continue to be blessed. (Despite Mormon criticism!)
May 2003
I have read your book The Changing World of Mormonism off the internet and it really opened my eyes. It didn’t take me long to write the letter to the Bishop to have my name removed from the records of the church. It wasn’t easy; I’ve been an active member for 25 years (convert 1978), married in the SLC temple and the father of 5 children, ages 14 through 21. But my eyes are now open and I feel real joy and freedom in my life as never before. I feel like I’m breathing fresh air for the first time in many, many years. Thanks to you I am rediscovering the real Word of God!
May 2003
Thank you for all of your hard work and ministry! I am just another jewel in your crown, as much of the information on your site served to confirm my decision to leave the Mormon church. I have attached a copy of the letter to my bishop requesting that I be removed from church records.
June 2003
I was just reading some letters that you have received and am very sad that some Mormons think that you hate them. I admire that you LOVE them enough to show them the other side of Mormonism that the LDS church doesn’t. So I just wanted to say thank you for loving the LDS people. My prayers are with you and your ministry. God bless you.
June 2003
Thank you so much for this information! What a blessing from God at just the right time. I just know the Holy Spirit took me to your web site. I’m a pastor of a very small SBC in Virginia. The LDS have just built a large church here in our area and our members are being called upon weekly by LDS missionaries. . . . Thanks you again for this work of God and the help it will be for those of us who don’t have the insight, resources or staff to compile this great work of truth you have done.
June 2003
How sad it is that you waste so much time in the pursuit of hate. Surely there are more devious things to investigate than Members of a Church. What if the Mormons are right? I know . . . but what if?
June 2003
I was a Mormon from 1986 to 2002. I am so thankful to the Lord that there are people with so much courage and determination like you. God has put you guys on earth at this point and time to unmask Mormonism. You have been so far of great help for me to get out of Mormonism which has created a lot problem in my marriage since my wife and my 3 children . . . believe blindly in Mormonism. But I certainly hope someday the spark light of the Holy Spirit will come to their minds and hearts so that they too will help themselves test all things and see if Mormon Christianity will pass the test.
June 2003
You might be pleased to know that I accepted Christ as my personal saviour in 1983 after being in the world of Mormonism for 8 years. I served as a member of the Elders Quorum Presidency, as Sunday School President, Elders Quorum instructor, Investigators class instructor (Gospel Essentials), Ward Inservice director, and Executive Secretary to the Stake Presidency. The issue for me at the end was the issue of “What had I done with the blood of Jesus Christ and did it avail for me?” I had to answer no! and upon doing so, I immediately repented and left the church that very day.
Originally appeared in:
“Extracts From Letters and Emails,” Salt Lake City Messenger, no. 101, October 2003, 12-15.