Kris - from Mormonism to Christianity
Thank you for your excellent homepage. As I have read through
the articles in it, I can totally identify with the stories of the other ex-Mormons. It
really helps to know that I'm not alone in this.
I was a Mormon all my life. I was the all-around Mormon girl.
I attended all four years of seminary, I held many church positions. I was ready to serve
a mission when I became the right age. You name it, and I did it.
After I graduated, I decided to go to the University of
Idaho- which was quite far away from my hometown-Pocatello, Idaho(which is very highly
Mormon populated). I attended church in Moscow at their University Institute- the first
one ever established. I was pretty active in my ward, but they didn't put me in a group
for Family Home Evening (a meeting that's held on Monday nights for family-oriented
studies and activities). The girls who lived next door to me had a Christian Bible Study,
and they invited me to come with them- so I went- hoping that I would be able to convert
someone. Well, the exact opposite happened. I started to learn more and more about God,
and I saw something in my Christian friends that I had never seen before. Then one night
when I went out to dinner with my Bible study leader, we started talking about it, and
later that night I invited Jesus Christ into my life.
Now, leaving the church didn't happen very dramatically. I
started taking Christian foundation classes because I wanted to learn how to further my
relationship with Jesus Christ. Eventually I decided that I wanted to get re-baptized, and
did so- also getting baptized in the Holy Spirit. My mom wasn't too happy with my
decision. She had no idea of what was going on while I was away at college because I was
afraid to tell her. I had a Mormon friend who left the church, and her family disowned her
and kicked her out of the house when she was 16. I told my mom that I wasn't sure if I was
going to leave the Mormon church or not, and that I would probably be going back to the
church when I came home for the summer.
I don't think that was God's idea. Through the Holy Spirit, I
came to realize things that didn't quite fit together with the Book of Mormon, the Mormon
prophets, and everything else. I started reading the Bible everyday, and the Spirit showed
me things that made me realize that I would probably never go back.
When I went home for the summer, I found a church that had a
pastor who was ex-Mormon. The more we talked, the more I realized what it was that I
wanted to do. I sent a letter to the Bishop and Stake President in my home town, and also
to the one in Moscow- requesting to be excommunicated. I didn't get a reply for a few
months, but when I did, it was two letters saying that I needed to meet with the Bishop in
my home town in order to have this process done. Eager to sever all ties, I agreed.
When I went into the Bishop's office, I told him the reasons
that I wished to be taken off the records of the church. I told him of what I had learned
in the past year. He told me that he didn't want to excommunicate me because if I decided
to come back it would be a long, hard process- so he wanted to place me on inactive status
instead. I told him that I never wanted to come back, and I wasn't going to change my
mind. He said that he wanted to give me a book that was written by a General Authority,
and he wanted me to read it and pray about it. I refused his offer and asked him if
someone gave him a satanic bible and asked him to pray about it- if he would. He said that
he wouldn't because he knew that it was wrong, and I told him that he had just proved my
point. Also in the meeting, he asked me if I had any questions, so I asked him about the
holes that I found in the doctrine of the Mormon church. He didn't really answer any of my
questions, but just beat around the bush, and ended with his testimony that he knew the
Mormon church was true without a shadow of a doubt. He told me that he wouldn't be able to
grant my request to have my records removed until he had talked to the Stake President.
It's been over a year now, and this process still hasn't been completed. I don't really
care about it, because I know that even if I am put down as being excommunicated, my
records will still be there. The thing that matters the most is that I am on God's
records, and that is all that matters in His eyes-because when the earth is
destroyed-those worldly documents will be destroyed with it.
I am now living a life on fire for God - and that is only by
His grace. God is doing some really exciting things in my life now. I still feel the pain
of my family's rejection of me. Of the really close Mormon friends that I have told about
my decision - only two are still my friends. But God has blessed me with a new family and
more friends than I have ever had, and He has also blessed me with His love.
To those of you who have left the Mormon church, and want to
give up on God altogether- please don't. There is more to God than you think. I had some
bitterness toward God for letting me go through all of that pain and suffering all those
years, but He did it for a reason. I have been able to help out several others who are
going through this pain, and it helps them out because they know that I know what they are
going through. God has a purpose for you, so please don't give up on Him. He didn't give
up on you.
Please feel free to e-mail me.
Kris Collins coll9332@uidaho.edu
