In this episode of Mormon Stories Podcast, we sit down with Ceci Hendrickson, who shares her story of growing up in the FLDS Church before the rise of Warren Jeffs and witnessing how the church transformed under his leadership. Warren Jeffs was once her high school principal, long before he became the self-proclaimed prophet of the FLDS Church.

Ceci walks us through her upbringing in a large polygamist family, where strict rules, indoctrination, and obedience were woven into everyday life. She describes how life changed dramatically when Warren Jeffs took power, detailing how religious practices became increasingly extreme. Families were torn apart as church members were regularly sent away, creating a culture of fear and paranoia within the community. We explore the realities of arranged marriages, the phrase “keep sweet,” and the systems that normalized control and abuse—especially for women and children.

As a teenager, Ceci was suddenly told she would be married, launching her into a polygamous marriage that she now recognizes as child abuse. She shares what it was like to be reassigned within families, to live in hiding after crimes were committed, and to witness children—including her sister wife’s 12-year-old stepdaughter—being handed over to Warren Jeffs himself as plural wives. We also discuss the YFZ Ranch in Texas, the 2008 raid, Warren Jeffs’ continued control of the church from prison, and how his actions ultimately contributed to the unraveling of the FLDS community.

We then discuss Ceci’s escape from polygamy, how she managed to reclaim her children from the church, and how she built a new life for her family outside of the FLDS faith.

Today, Ceci is a mother, entrepreneur, and advocate, using her voice to help other women find their way out and reclaim their lives.

___________________

YouTube

Show Notes

At Mormon Stories we explore, celebrate, and challenge Mormon culture through in-depth stories told by members and former members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as well as scholars, authors, LDS apologists, and other professionals.  

Our overall mission is to: 

1. Facilitate informed consent amongst LDS Church members, investigators, and non-members regarding Mormon history, doctrine, and theology

2. Support Mormons (and members of other high-demand religions) who are experiencing a religious faith crisis

3. Promote healing, growth and community for those who choose to leave the LDS Church or other high demand religions

🤝Help us continue to deliver quality content by becoming a donor today

One-time or recurring donations: https://donorbox.org/mormon-stories?default_interval=m 

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/mormonstories 

Venmo: https://account.venmo.com/u/mormonstories 

Paypal: https://paypal.me/mormonstories 

Join this channel to get access to perks:

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Our Platforms:

🌐Mormon Stories Blog: https://www.mormonstories.org/episodes 

🎙️Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/mormonstories 

✳️Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4sDzk7dRjODTSEqzZKZJzk?si=148b0efc1ccc4404&nd=1 

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📬PO Box 171085, Salt Lake City, UT 84117

Welcome to episode 27 of the Joseph Smith Podcast with Dr. John G. Turner! 

In this episode, we take a deep dive into Joseph Smith’s early practice of polygamy in Nauvoo, tracing how it began, how it expanded so rapidly, and what it reveals about power, belief, and risk.

We examine the first plural marriages, the people Joseph trusted to introduce the practice, and the recurring patterns that emerge as polygamy spreads among church leadership. Along the way, we ask difficult questions about revelation, consent, secrecy, scripture, and whether Joseph believed his actions were divinely required –or something else entirely.

This discussion also situates polygamy within the broader political and social pressures Joseph faced in the early 1840s, including legal threats, growing opposition, and his increasing confidence and recklessness as Nauvoo flourished. Ultimately, we explore whether Joseph’s polygamy can be understood as sincere belief, institutional experimentation, abuse of authority, or some combination of all three.

If you find this series valuable, consider liking, subscribing, and sharing. More episodes in this series are coming next!

Please purchase the book ⁠here⁠.

To support this series please donate ⁠here⁠. One half of all donations will go to Dr. Turner for as long as he is participating in the series.

___________________

YouTube

Show Notes

At Mormon Stories we explore, celebrate, and challenge Mormon culture through in-depth stories told by members and former members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as well as scholars, authors, LDS apologists, and other professionals.  

Our overall mission is to: 

1. Facilitate informed consent amongst LDS Church members, investigators, and non-members regarding Mormon history, doctrine, and theology

2. Support Mormons (and members of other high-demand religions) who are experiencing a religious faith crisis

3. Promote healing, growth and community for those who choose to leave the LDS Church or other high demand religions

🤝Help us continue to deliver quality content by becoming a donor today

One-time or recurring donations: https://donorbox.org/mormon-stories?default_interval=m 

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/mormonstories 

Venmo: https://account.venmo.com/u/mormonstories 

Paypal: https://paypal.me/mormonstories 

Join this channel to get access to perks:

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Our Platforms:

🌐Mormon Stories Blog: https://www.mormonstories.org/episodes 

🎙️Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/mormonstories 

✳️Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4sDzk7dRjODTSEqzZKZJzk?si=148b0efc1ccc4404&nd=1 

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Contact us:

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📬PO Box 171085, Salt Lake City, UT 84117

What happens when a Mormon woman becomes the primary provider for her family –inside a religion that teaches her highest purpose is in the home?

In this deeply personal and honest conversation, Cate Smith shares her journey growing up Mormon, internalizing the Family Proclamation, and believing her eternal destiny was marriage, motherhood, and supporting her husband. From being voted “most likely to be mom” as a teenager to entering the temple and covenanting to hearken to her husband, Cate explains how clearly her path seemed laid out for her.

But life didn't unfold the way Mormonism promised.

After earning a degree in accounting “as a backup,” Cate unexpectedly became the breadwinner, while her husband stepped into a more nurturing, stay-at-home role. What followed was grief, identity loss, social pressure, depression, and eventually therapy –along with the realization that the only thing wrong with being a working mom was being Mormon.

As Cate began questioning gender roles, authority, and worth, those questions expanded into a full faith crisis –sparked by therapy, church culture, the Family Proclamation, Ensign Peak and SEC fraud revelations, racism in church history, and the fear-based framework of Mormon belief. She shares how integrity ultimately mattered more than certainty, and why she chose to resign from the Church before she even fully believed it wasn’t true.

Cate’s story is raw, thoughtful, and deeply relatable –especially for women navigating faith, motherhood, careers, and self-trust after leaving a high-demand religion.

___________________

Show Notes

YouTube

At Mormon Stories we explore, celebrate, and challenge Mormon culture through in-depth stories told by members and former members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as well as scholars, authors, LDS apologists, and other professionals.  

Our overall mission is to: 

1. Facilitate informed consent amongst LDS Church members, investigators, and non-members regarding Mormon history, doctrine, and theology

2. Support Mormons (and members of other high-demand religions) who are experiencing a religious faith crisis

3. Promote healing, growth and community for those who choose to leave the LDS Church or other high demand religions

🤝Help us continue to deliver quality content by becoming a donor today

One-time or recurring donations: https://donorbox.org/mormon-stories?default_interval=m 

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/mormonstories 

Venmo: https://account.venmo.com/u/mormonstories 

Paypal: https://paypal.me/mormonstories 

Join this channel to get access to perks:

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Our Platforms:

🌐Mormon Stories Blog: https://www.mormonstories.org/episodes 

🎙️Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/mormonstories 

✳️Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4sDzk7dRjODTSEqzZKZJzk?si=148b0efc1ccc4404&nd=1 

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Contact us:

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📬PO Box 171085, Salt Lake City, UT 84117

In this 3-part series:

• Part 1: Dan Wotherspoon and Tom Kimball outline the basics of Fowler’s “Stages of Faith.”
• Part 2: Tom Kimball (with support from Dan Wotherspoon) takes us through the “Stages of Faith” from an LDS perspective, and
• Part 3: Tom and Dan both share with us a bit about their journeys into stage 4, including their attempts to work with their respective bishops to baptize (Tom) and ordain (Dan) their sons while in stage 4.

Welcome to Part 26 of our Joseph Smith Podcast series! In this episode, we continue our deep dive into Chapter 22 of John Turner’s new biography, Joseph Smith: The Rise and Fall of an American Prophet, as the story moves to the founding of Nauvoo, Illinois in 1840 –a fresh start for the Latter-day Saints and a turning point in Joseph Smith’s theology and authority.

We explore the emergence of baptism for the dead, one of the most distinctive doctrines introduced in Nauvoo, and how Joseph Smith framed proxy ordinances as answers to grief, death, and eternal family bonds. From New Testament passages to Adam Clarke’s biblical commentary, we examine how this doctrine developed, why the Saints embraced it so enthusiastically, and how it eventually became tied to the temple.

This episode also covers the doctrine of re-baptism, a ritual that allowed faithful members to recommit repeatedly, and what this reveals about early Mormon ideas of salvation, renewal, and belonging. We also introduce one of the most controversial figures of the Nauvoo period: John C. Bennett –a charismatic leader with a scandalous past whose rise and fall would have lasting consequences for Nauvoo, Joseph Smith, and the Church’s political and legal standing.

Along the way, we discuss Nauvoo’s utopian hopes, strange theological ideas, spiritual experimentation, the growing power of the Nauvoo militia (and Joseph Smith), and the seeds of opposition that will eventually lead to Joseph Smith’s death. 

Join us in the next episode for our discussion on Polygamy!

Please purchase the book ⁠here⁠.

To support this series please donate ⁠here⁠. One half of all donations will go to Dr. Turner for as long as he is participating in the series.

___________________

Show Notes

YouTube

At Mormon Stories we explore, celebrate, and challenge Mormon culture through in-depth stories told by members and former members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as well as scholars, authors, LDS apologists, and other professionals.  

Our overall mission is to: 

1. Facilitate informed consent amongst LDS Church members, investigators, and non-members regarding Mormon history, doctrine, and theology

2. Support Mormons (and members of other high-demand religions) who are experiencing a religious faith crisis

3. Promote healing, growth and community for those who choose to leave the LDS Church or other high demand religions

🤝Help us continue to deliver quality content by becoming a donor today

One-time or recurring donations: https://donorbox.org/mormon-stories?default_interval=m 

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/mormonstories 

Venmo: https://account.venmo.com/u/mormonstories 

Paypal: https://paypal.me/mormonstories 

Join this channel to get access to perks:

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Our Platforms:

🌐Mormon Stories Blog: https://www.mormonstories.org/episodes 

🎙️Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/mormonstories 

✳️Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4sDzk7dRjODTSEqzZKZJzk?si=148b0efc1ccc4404&nd=1 

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🖼️Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mormstories 

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🎮Discord: https://discord.com/invite/kuX5p6yyjF 

Contact us:

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📬PO Box 171085, Salt Lake City, UT 84117

In this powerful episode, we sit down with Appio Hunter, whose early life as a Portuguese-speaking Mormon kid, his journey through conversion therapy, and his eventual path to love, self-acceptance, and healing make for one of the most profound LGBTQ+ Mormon Stories ever shared on this channel.

Raised between Southern California and Utah by a Brazilian mother and a father with deep pioneer-era lineage, Appio knew from age four that he was different. By adolescence, he recognized he was gay –just as he was absorbing the harsh anti-gay rhetoric embedded in Mormon culture of the era. What followed was years of masking, spiritual turmoil, self-hatred, and the crushing belief that he needed to be “fixed.”

Appio was eventually ushered into LDS-supported Reparative Therapy, including talk therapy, group sessions, “baseball therapy,” and even a type of 12-step program designed to eliminate same-sex attraction. This path led him all the way to the early 1990s offices of senior LDS General Authorities –including Russell M. Nelson and Henry B. Eyring –where he was held up as a "success story" of conversion therapy.

Beneath the surface of being the “poster boy” for Reparative Therapy, the cost was devastating: self-loathing, loneliness, suicidal ideation, and the tragic loss of peers who didn’t survive the program. Ultimately, Appio’s journey brought him toward authenticity and real love.

This is a story of survival, identity, love, and liberation –a must-watch for anyone navigating faith transitions, LGBTQ+ issues, or the legacy of Mormon conversion therapy.

___________________

Show Notes

YouTube

At Mormon Stories we explore, celebrate, and challenge Mormon culture through in-depth stories told by members and former members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as well as scholars, authors, LDS apologists, and other professionals.  

Our overall mission is to: 

1. Facilitate informed consent amongst LDS Church members, investigators, and non-members regarding Mormon history, doctrine, and theology

2. Support Mormons (and members of other high-demand religions) who are experiencing a religious faith crisis

3. Promote healing, growth and community for those who choose to leave the LDS Church or other high demand religions

🤝Help us continue to deliver quality content by becoming a donor today

One-time or recurring donations: https://donorbox.org/mormon-stories?default_interval=m 

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/mormonstories 

Venmo: https://account.venmo.com/u/mormonstories 

Paypal: https://paypal.me/mormonstories 

Join this channel to get access to perks:

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Our Platforms:

🌐Mormon Stories Blog: https://www.mormonstories.org/episodes 

🎙️Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/mormonstories 

✳️Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4sDzk7dRjODTSEqzZKZJzk?si=148b0efc1ccc4404&nd=1 

🍎Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mormon-stories-lds/id312094772 

🖼️Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mormstories 

📱TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mormonstoriespodcast 

🎮Discord: https://discord.com/invite/kuX5p6yyjF 

Contact us:

📧 [email protected]

📬PO Box 171085, Salt Lake City, UT 84117

Please join us for a live episode with Roger Hendrix - one of the highest ranking Latter-day Saints ever interviewed on Mormon Stories Podcast. Roger served as CES Director, Bishop, Stake Presidency Member, Mission President, and served for 18 years as a Trustee on the board of the Deseret Trust Company (called to the position by President Gordon B. Hinckley).

Today we are discussing the Church’s renewed emphasis on the Atonement, its place in within Western Christianity, and whether recent shifts represent genuine change, pragmatic adaptation, or strategic rebranding. We dig into uncomfortable questions about wealth, humanitarian efforts, racial history, LGBTQ issues, missionary growth, and the Church’s ability (or unwillingness) to acknowledge past harm.

The discussion also looks forward: What is the future of Mormonism? Will the Church change its stance on same-sex marriage, women and the priesthood, or the Word of Wisdom? How are Apostles chosen, how does power function at the top, and what would it take -if anything -to bring former members back into activity?

This episode includes thoughtful pushback from multiple perspectives, audience comments, and a lightning round of predictions that gets very real, very fast!

___________________

Show Notes

YouTube

At Mormon Stories we explore, celebrate, and challenge Mormon culture through in-depth stories told by members and former members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as well as scholars, authors, LDS apologists, and other professionals.  

Our overall mission is to: 

1. Facilitate informed consent amongst LDS Church members, investigators, and non-members regarding Mormon history, doctrine, and theology

2. Support Mormons (and members of other high-demand religions) who are experiencing a religious faith crisis

3. Promote healing, growth and community for those who choose to leave the LDS Church or other high demand religions

🤝Help us continue to deliver quality content by becoming a donor today

One-time or recurring donations: https://donorbox.org/mormon-stories?default_interval=m 

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/mormonstories 

Venmo: https://account.venmo.com/u/mormonstories 

Paypal: https://paypal.me/mormonstories 

Join this channel to get access to perks:

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Our Platforms:

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🎙️Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/mormonstories 

✳️Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4sDzk7dRjODTSEqzZKZJzk?si=148b0efc1ccc4404&nd=1 

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Contact us:

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📬PO Box 171085, Salt Lake City, UT 84117

In today’s episode, we dive into Chapter 21 titled “Keys” from Dr. John Turner’s new book “Joseph Smith: The Rise and Fall of an American Prophet.” This chapter cover the pivotal years of 1839-1840, as the Saints leave behind the trauma of Missouri and begin building a new gathering place in Commerce (soon to be Nauvoo), Illinois.

We pick up the story right after Joseph Smith escapes Liberty Jail, exploring how he reclaims leadership, rebuilds momentum, and introduces new theological ideas that will shape Latter-day Saint doctrine for generations.

Dr. Turner –writing as a never-Mormon historian –gives us a clear-eyed look Joseph’s rapid return to power, the purchase of Nauvoo lands, the arrival of the mummies and papyri, early missionary ambitions in Europe, evolving doctrines about angels and theosis, and Joseph’s bold claims about “keys” –including what Turner calls “the keys of the universe.”

We also get into the politics: Joseph’s 1840 trip to Washington, his audience with President Martin Van Buren, and the Saints’ ongoing fight for redress. And yes –we discuss everything from healings during the malaria outbreak to phrenology, patriarchal blessings, lineage theories, dynastic sealings, and even the perennial question: Was Joseph Smith actually good-looking?

Please purchase the book ⁠here⁠.

To support this series please donate ⁠here⁠. One half of all donations will go to Dr. Turner for as long as he is participating in the series.

___________________

YouTube

At Mormon Stories we explore, celebrate, and challenge Mormon culture through in-depth stories told by members and former members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as well as scholars, authors, LDS apologists, and other professionals.  

Our overall mission is to: 

1. Facilitate informed consent amongst LDS Church members, investigators, and non-members regarding Mormon history, doctrine, and theology

2. Support Mormons (and members of other high-demand religions) who are experiencing a religious faith crisis

3. Promote healing, growth and community for those who choose to leave the LDS Church or other high demand religions

🤝Help us continue to deliver quality content by becoming a donor today

One-time or recurring donations: https://donorbox.org/mormon-stories?default_interval=m 

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/mormonstories 

Venmo: https://account.venmo.com/u/mormonstories 

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Join this channel to get access to perks:

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Our Platforms:

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🎙️Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/mormonstories 

✳️Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4sDzk7dRjODTSEqzZKZJzk?si=148b0efc1ccc4404&nd=1 

🍎Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mormon-stories-lds/id312094772 

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📬PO Box 171085, Salt Lake City, UT 84117

In this in-depth conversation, John sits down with Karen Hyatt to explore her lifelong faith journey in the LDS Church and the research that ultimately led to her excommunication. Karen shares her background as a devoted member -convert parents, mission service, leadership roles, and decades without doubt –before explaining what prompted her to closely examine Doctrine and Covenants 132 and the history of polygamy.

The discussion traces Karen’s deep divine into church history, including the Book of Mormon’s condemnation of polygamy, early revelations, the Nauvoo Expositor, William Clayton’s journals, Emma Smith’s role, and conclusions reached by modern LDS historians. Karen explains why she ultimately rejected D&C 132, why she believes Joseph Smith did NOT practice polygamy, and how she responds to accusations of bias or conspiracy thinking.

Karen also walks through the personal and institutional consequences of speaking publicly: compiling and sending her research to the Apostles (and their wives!), creating videos, disciplinary councils, losing her temple recommend, and being barred from paying tithing –while still choosing to attend church and value her ward community. The episode examines broader themes of authority, misinformation, prophetic fallibility, confirmation bias, and whether faith can exist without institutional silence.

This episode is a candid, emotionally grounded look at belief, dissent, and the cost of challenging one of Mormonism's most controversial doctrines.

Karen has compiled her research into a book titled “Woe Unto You, Scribes: The Hidden History of Polygamy.” You can order a spiral bound notebook online by emailing her: [email protected]

To find a PDF version of her book click here: https://josephtoldthetruth.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Woe-Unto-You-Scribes.pdf

___________________

Show Notes

YouTube

At Mormon Stories we explore, celebrate, and challenge Mormon culture through in-depth stories told by members and former members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as well as scholars, authors, LDS apologists, and other professionals.  

Our overall mission is to: 

1. Facilitate informed consent amongst LDS Church members, investigators, and non-members regarding Mormon history, doctrine, and theology

2. Support Mormons (and members of other high-demand religions) who are experiencing a religious faith crisis

3. Promote healing, growth and community for those who choose to leave the LDS Church or other high demand religions

🤝Help us continue to deliver quality content by becoming a donor today

One-time or recurring donations: https://donorbox.org/mormon-stories?default_interval=m 

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/mormonstories 

Venmo: https://account.venmo.com/u/mormonstories 

Paypal: https://paypal.me/mormonstories 

Join this channel to get access to perks:

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Our Platforms:

🌐Mormon Stories Blog: https://www.mormonstories.org/episodes 

🎙️Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/mormonstories 

✳️Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4sDzk7dRjODTSEqzZKZJzk?si=148b0efc1ccc4404&nd=1 

🍎Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mormon-stories-lds/id312094772 

🖼️Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mormstories 

📱TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mormonstoriespodcast 

🎮Discord: https://discord.com/invite/kuX5p6yyjF 

Contact us:

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📬PO Box 171085, Salt Lake City, UT 84117

Join Kolby, Nemo, Julia, and Dr. John Dehlin for one of our most in-depth LDS Discussions episodes yet as we unpack “The Other Isaiah Problem” and what it means for the historicity of the Book of Mormon.

In this episode, we explore why scholars overwhelmingly view isaiah as a multi-author work, how the Great Isaiah Scroll challenges the Book of Mormon’s use of Isaiah, and why the text consistently aligns with the King James Version rather than ancient sources. We walk through the history of the brass plates, the transition from school to codex technology, and the anachronisms the Church now quietly acknowledges.

We compare the Great Isaiah Scroll, the Masoretic Text, the Original Manuscript of the Book of Mormon, and the Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible, revealing where Joseph Smith appears to be pulling from later biblical scholarship –including Adam Clarke’s commentary –and where verses in the Book of Mormon simply did not exist in ancient manuscripts. We ask the question: What does this mean for believers who want the text to be historical?

Whether you’re deeply familiar with LDS scholarship or just starting your faith journey, this episode lays out the evidence clearly, accessibly, and respectfully –while still asking the hard questions.

___________________

YouTube

At Mormon Stories we explore, celebrate, and challenge Mormon culture through in-depth stories told by members and former members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as well as scholars, authors, LDS apologists, and other professionals.  

Our overall mission is to: 

1. Facilitate informed consent amongst LDS Church members, investigators, and non-members regarding Mormon history, doctrine, and theology

2. Support Mormons (and members of other high-demand religions) who are experiencing a religious faith crisis

3. Promote healing, growth and community for those who choose to leave the LDS Church or other high demand religions

🤝Help us continue to deliver quality content by becoming a donor today

One-time or recurring donations: https://donorbox.org/mormon-stories?default_interval=m 

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/mormonstories 

Venmo: https://account.venmo.com/u/mormonstories 

Paypal: https://paypal.me/mormonstories 

Join this channel to get access to perks:

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Our Platforms:

🌐Mormon Stories Blog: https://www.mormonstories.org/episodes 

🎙️Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/mormonstories 

✳️Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4sDzk7dRjODTSEqzZKZJzk?si=148b0efc1ccc4404&nd=1 

🍎Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mormon-stories-lds/id312094772 

🖼️Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mormstories 

📱TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mormonstoriespodcast 

🎮Discord: https://discord.com/invite/kuX5p6yyjF 

Contact us:

📧 [email protected]

📬PO Box 171085, Salt Lake City, UT 84117