Friday, March 11, 2011

"What is THIS?"

The other week, my husband threw his temple clothes on our bedroom floor so he could use the bag for something better.

It takes him a while for some of this stuff. Then again, I think I still have mine. Not because I'm attached, but it's like a bad souvenir. I don't know how to explain it.

ANYWAY, my daughter comes out of the room a few days later with the apron wrapped around her waist. She's staring at the thing like it's completely foreign.

"What is this?!" she asks.


I died laughing. I don't remember what I told her. We try to be respectful but not entirely--don't need her thinking badly of her family, but you know. It is weird. I think most members would admit that if they felt no one else would hear them.


Story 2.

The other day a woman joined an ex-mormon facebook group* who had a last name I'm SO FAMILIAR with. It's Squeaky's last name. Remembering stories about how all people with this last name are related, I told her "you are legion in my town." Turns out, her husband is Squeaky's husband's cousin. I even knew her husband--kinda--had heard of him.

They LEFT THE CHURCH four weeks ago. Like, right away--no process, just "omg, we're outta here." Tossed the garments. Told most everyone. Her in-laws wrote them a letter, calling them to repentance for the sin they obviously committed. She's already lost friends.

I never would've guessed this guy would leave the church, just by virtue of his name and family--they're ridiculous in the church, but then again so many of them are leaving right now. Of course, this particular couple lives in Oklahoma now and not California--so that sucks--but still, it was validating.

It was validating. I don't know how to explain that. It's not that I questioned myself, but it's nice to have someone a little closer to home who's going through the same thing.

Something seriously offended her. I know that's a bad word to use, but she discovered something bad enough to shake her from her TBM-ness. And not only her family, but two or three other families in her WARD. All at once, they've left.

NOT ONLY THAT, but a temple president from their stake had left a few years before. A temple-fucking-president. He prefers to remain low-profile, but apparently he ran into some serious incongruities and wrote a few letters to the First Presidency. They initially went ignored, but the squeaky wheel gets the grease. A Seventy finally wrote a letter back, basically telling him to forget about the truths he discovered.

A. temple. president. I respect his wishes to remain under the radar, but could you imagine if he went public? It would be amazing. Some discussion is online, but the story in its entirety remains unpublicized.




*this group is secret and won't show up in any searches, and it's a bit of an effort to get in if the admin doesn't already know you--they're very careful about keeping things safe for apostates and free of trolls. if you're interested in joining, lemme know. i'll see what i can do to hook you up.

8 comments:

  1. Okay, I seriously just spent WAY too much time reading about that Jerrell Chesney and his wife.

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  2. There's a FB group for ex-mormons? Where?

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  3. I wish I knew more about the Chesney situation than what is available online. And I am dying to know what happened down in OK to make everyone run at once.

    Oh, and Lisa - I know someone else with that same last name, from Texas near the Mexico border. Any relation? My understanding from him was that part of the explosion of that last name is due to post-Manifesto polygamy in the Mexican colonies.

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  4. I totally want in on the exmo group. Totally. Email me.

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  5. I'm also interested in the group. How do I become apart of it?

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  6. Emailed all of you :)

    Kate: chances are they are. I don't know that she would know them personally, since her husband grew up in my area...although, you know, my ex-friend is in San Antonio (military--linguist dealing with the Mexican drug cartels, I believe). So you never know.

    Email me with that person's name. Or ask the girl in the group--one of us might know.

    I'm dying to know, too. I wish she'd tell us! Can you imagine? That ward has to be going insane. Fantastic stuff.

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  7. So what was it that offended them so badly that they left so quickly?

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  8. I would love to be in this Facebook Ex-mo group! Can you invite me to it, too? http://www.facebook.com/jennybauman

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