Former Mission Companion Asked Me if Rumors were True
Posted: Tue Dec 09, 2014 6:33 pm
Less than 40 minutes ago (10:55 MDT) a former Missionary friend of mine stopped by my office to confirm whether the rumors that he had heard about me were in fact true. We had both served as AP’s in our mission at different times although we were never companions. He said that he had heard from mutual friends and former missionaries that I have had my name taken off the church records and couldn’t imagine that this was true…knowing what he knew about me.
I got a huge smile on my face and chuckled at the thought of the things Mormon’s talk and worry about and then thanked him for coming to my office and asking me point blank rather than assuming or being afraid to ask me his question.
I then confirmed that it was true, that I am no longer a member of the church, that I had a faith crisis years ago that resulted in my loss of belief. I informed him that I had met several times with our former Mission President who had also served full time as a General Authority…but that he had been unable to successfully resolve my crisis. That as a matter of integrity…I could not live what I had concluded as a lie just to please others…and that I’ve found happiness living authentically as a non-Mormon. I offered to go into any details of how I had come to my decission but he unsurprisingly declined my offer.
He’s a good man and I appreciated him having come to me rather than taking the easy way out and just passing along the rumor…at least he can now say…Yes its true, I’ve heard it directly from his mouth, he's happy and I respect his decision cuz I know it came from a place of honest study and a desire to maintain his integrity….whether I agree with him or not.
I got a huge smile on my face and chuckled at the thought of the things Mormon’s talk and worry about and then thanked him for coming to my office and asking me point blank rather than assuming or being afraid to ask me his question.
I then confirmed that it was true, that I am no longer a member of the church, that I had a faith crisis years ago that resulted in my loss of belief. I informed him that I had met several times with our former Mission President who had also served full time as a General Authority…but that he had been unable to successfully resolve my crisis. That as a matter of integrity…I could not live what I had concluded as a lie just to please others…and that I’ve found happiness living authentically as a non-Mormon. I offered to go into any details of how I had come to my decission but he unsurprisingly declined my offer.
He’s a good man and I appreciated him having come to me rather than taking the easy way out and just passing along the rumor…at least he can now say…Yes its true, I’ve heard it directly from his mouth, he's happy and I respect his decision cuz I know it came from a place of honest study and a desire to maintain his integrity….whether I agree with him or not.
