Leah, Cody, and Brinley Young - Teen Perspective on Faith Transition Pt. 3 - Mormon Stories Ep. 1050

[@sadiedew3060]

Leah, Brinley and Cody, your bravery, intelligence, eloquence, thoughtfulness are a gift to us all. Thank you for sharing your story. Goodness just exudes from you and no one can doubt the light in your eyes. You are neither, lazy, wanting to sin, or offended. You are just living with courage and integrity. You are a beautiful family to model what post-Mormonism looks like. This is going to give so many others the permission they need to speak out and demand that the church be honest or to move on with their lives in a positive way. Your awakening is truly a a gift and will be a gift for many others as well because of your example. Thank you!

[@nickgcbond]

Amazing stuff. Better than any General Conference I ever watched. No teleprompters here, just real and straight from the heart.

[@southernbawselady7092]

I've watched all 7 episodes and would do it again, because I've listened to the most loving, kind and inspiring family! ❤❤❤ Stay blessed! 🙏 ExJW Solidarity! 👍

[@susanwilliams70]

I agree with Leah's final comments totally! Thank you all for sharing!

[@melissataulbee2048]

I watched all the episodes. It breaks my heart to see the pain they felt when they realized it was a lie. What an amazing family that is reaching out to others that need the help to get through this. Amazing family.

[@kentthalman4459]

"The answer that requires the least assumptions is often the correct answer" exactly. That was a key method in discovering truth.

[@kerstinklenovsky239]

I wish this beautiful family well. They have deserved to live in peace. Shame on those who have caused them grief.

[@russkyncl4008]

What an amazingly thoughtful letter and family. This is a great example of how to best handle an event like this. Thank you!

[@chrismunson5120]

I took a class from and knew Jack Welch when I was attending BYU in the mid-1980s. I was a disciple and helper of the FARMS crowd in those days. That background gave me an especially well-informed perspective when I really discovered and studied the historical problems with the Church and its origins, Book of Mormon, etc., which for me happened around 2001-2002, same time frame as for John. A former total LDS believer, nevertheless I had to reject my beliefs, and left the Church in 2002. So interesting to hear about Cody interacting with Dr. Welch! But John is totally right about apologetics not cutting it: so true.

[@tideecho]

I LOVE this family! Thank you for sharing your story! Thank you for being so open and candid with your feelings of loss around your faith crisis. It really resonated with my own sense of devastation as I was and still go through this process. You're some of the coolest people I've come across in a long time! I wish you guys the best as you move forward with your lives! :)

[@Erikajm1]

Brinley is so well spoken and mature! I have loved listening!

[@exjwborn-in2134]

What a fantastic family! 👍🏽❤️👍🏽❤️

[@nickgold7853]

There are some salient points to be learned from this family' s interview. They are a prime example of what happens when an "institution" (the Mormon Church hierarchy and bureaucracy) places more value on protecting the "core" than it does on individual members. Probably the best possible member in the eyes of the leadership is an entity abjectly and unquestioningly obedient to the institution. All efforts right now are geared to the "batten down the hatches" mentality by the central leadership. Any member of the group who dares to question authority in any way shape or fashion is to be avoided (shunned) at all costs. Unfortunately, with so many facts of history at ready grasp to the average nobody (me in particular), the hierarchy cannot exert the control over the "sheep" they once did. I wish the Young family much success and happiness in their continued spiritual journey.

[@debbiebuttars5598]

Ggaaahhhhh! Brinley is just perfection. So beautiful, articulate, intelligent, sweet and loving. She’s a true example. This entire family is amazing and I’m happy I watched every episode. One thing that confuses me is the bishop or stake president asking them to take their names off the church rolls. I don’t know what difference that makes to the church if such wonderful members are leaving. I also don’t know why the Young’s wouldn’t want their name taken off the rolls. John, maybe I’m just misunderstanding this and I’d appreciate any illumination you could provide, but I think that they don’t believe in the church so why do they want their names on the rolls? I went through my own faith crisis in the mid 90s and it was me by myself. My now ex-husband knew a lot of the information that is hidden by the church about Church history. When I started questioning and reading information I was so shocked. He gave me the Fawn Brody book “No Man Knows My History,” which he owned! That book just completely opened my eyes to a lot of what I really considered to be scams in the church. I feel like so much is withheld from the members or presented in disengenuous ways. But even though my husband knew about it he just stayed the course. I guess that’s true about a lot of Mormons. The thing is I couldn’t see the truth and ignore it. I just can’t live a lie and be a hypocrite. So it was a rift between my husband and I and it was a journey I took by myself. The Internet was around in 1997, but I just wasn’t very familiar with it and I don’t know if there was much information there at the time. Either way it would’ve been more than amazing if Mormon Stories would’ve been around and if there was a family like the Young’s to offer support. With all that said, I don’t see the church ever providing a safe haven for people who are going through a faith crisis. They will just offer the same advice to read the scriptures and pray and be open-minded and go to FairMormon or some other apologist outlet. And those things are not offering support. Unfortunate, but true, that the Mormon church is all about keeping their membership and getting new members. I think it is expecting too much to suggest that they do otherwise. Bottom line, thank you so much for the interviews you’ve done with the Young family. Thank you to Leah, Cody and Brinley. You are all amazing.

[@davidornelas6287]

I'm an active member of the lds, but I did support you, I have to many doubts about the church history, and not happy with it. You are not alone. God bless you, amen.

[@KandisSJGroup]

It's interesting that the bishop and SP think they have a right to tell them what to do with their time and who they meet with. Typical power overreach.

[@crispmom]

It's one of the hallmark characteristics of a cult.

[@sophiakaster1176]

Such a Great family!

[@jeanatkins3229]

Do you think the difference of living in the here & now vs. living for what comes after makes the difference??

[@SuzanneBarthelemy]

Absolutely.

[@damonm3]

I hope all members with issues watch these videos. Shows that “apostates” aren’t possessed by satan or some mythical bologna... shows you the people are much better than the church.

[@trackact7868]

I’m so curious. What is your and the young family’s object? They say “love” but as far as the church? Don’t they want the total dissolution of the church or do they want the church to remain but change the teachings? They want to be “safe” but really what is the end goal? Very curious trying to understand what is actually being said. Just watched like 7 hours and still don’t know.

[@SuzanneBarthelemy]

John, Cody, and Leah said over and over that they wished and hoped that the church would stop using high-demand control tactics to maintain its influence over members and to create an echo-chamber, AND to accept and care for people who are struggling. I think your question is disingenuous: Obviously they’re not going for a “total dissolution of the church”, otherwise they would not have said about 100 times that they have no wish to pull believing members away from any faith that is working for them and making them happy. They all said they still have a love for and for the Mormon communities they grew up in. It’s not a good look for the church to be so short-sighted and reactionary. There aren’t a lot of religions these days which actively practice and encourage disfellowshipping “apostates”, warning True Believers not to associate with them, and actually excommunicating kind and honest people like this couple! It makes the church look rigid, punitive, and deeply insecure when it comes to the Truth of its plan of salvation. It bears repeating that there are few religions which encourage their members to cover their ears and eyes, and which absolutely drill into their congregations that they must never read anything but church-approved messaging. That encourage reporting on other members, etc: notably the JWs, some of the stricter and more fanatical branches of Islam, and Scientology. The church ought to relax and accept that some members will find it impossible to maintain their testimonies after they look into the historicity of the book of Mormon. The church could instead accept that will happen, and to be less dogmatic. Just like not all Jews have a strong faith in the Torah, they are nevertheless culturally Jewish. These people are cultural Mormons. Catholics don’t excommunicate people for losing their faith either. Take a look, Utah. There are ways to love and maintain cohesion other than by terrifying TBMs into recoiling from exposure to people like this wonderful family. It’s not a good look for the LDS organization.

[@josephsturges9001]

In regard to Heavenly Father, my late wife's spiritual teacher, the "hugging saint", Amma (whom we followed regularly on her West Coast tours) and who is about to start touring again, after having been confined in her ashram in Kerala, India for the past 4 years due to covid. Another living example is Mother Meera, who lives in a small town in Germany (born and raised in India). Another example from the past is Anandamayi Ma, the helpmate of 19th century Hindu saint Ramakrishna. All three of these women saints were/are lifelong celibates. And there have been many others, lost in obscurity.

[@bobbysmith855]

Could anyone tell me weather this lovely family have found Jesus in His simple unadulterated spirit? I can see the pain in this poor man as he lost his world, I would love for him to feel the real love of Jesus as a comfort for him, and all the family! He's drawn them all out because He loves them, not so they can abandon Jesus completely...although I can understand how they would feel about trusting any faith! I searched for truth and prayed desperately for God to bring me there and He blew me away, please continue your search if you haven't already. God bless.

[@rccarter7576]

My experience with most LDS members is one of aggressive hostility when questioned about the LDS Church. My advice to anyone leaving the Church would be to leave the church alone for their own emotional safety.

[@piperjohnson4808]

Is the letters in a different episode? I think you did a wonderful interview.

[@flexiblethinker6641]

Oh I would like a copy of that letter!

[@martinsmith439]

What a loving family suffering such pain and sadness I pray that they find perfect peace with Almighty God and Jesus Christ.

[@orlancahoon2709]

I think it was the sequence of events that led the SP to ask why they don't remove their names from the church records. Cody had already met with the high profile apologist and had already said that he just wanted to be sure that the church wasn't true before making the move. I could be wrong but I don't think the SP said if you do the faith crisis support group then you'll be ex'd. He was just suggesting that if Cody knows the church isn't true then there is no reason to host the support group while being a member of the church. And I have to say I think it's quite laughable to suggest that the SP should open his mind and heart and refer people that are having a faith crisis to the Young's support group. There are plenty of resources for people going through a faith crisis that look at challenging issues from a perspective of faith. Would make no sense at all to refer them to a non-believer. So many of these episodes seem to imply that it's the smart ones that get out. Everyone has the Internet. There are a ton of faithful believing mormons that know more about church history and theism and atheism and agnosticism than most of the people that choose to come on here to tell their faith crisis story.

[@42apostate]

Even if horses were proven to have existed in the Americas 2000 years ago, or even 1000 years ago, that doesn't change the fact that the teaching of Jesus would never take on an anti-Christ position, targeting homosexuals (OR blacks) as unworthy of Christ's love. IOW. Horses in ancient America would not strike down the 100's of other LDS problems.

[@faysalals1]

Why did they still want to stay in the church if they dont believe in it? thats what confused me. I see alot of mormons leaving the church, but not wanting to be officially out?

[@SuzanneBarthelemy]

Because they are culturallyMormon even if they have lost their faith, much like many Jews and Catholics and Lutheran and Hindus and all manner of Christian protestants. Those faiths and organizations do not excommunicate apostates in this day and age. They just accept that a certain number of people raised and baptized or confirmed who were once practicing, are now not practicing, but they don’t punitively excommunicate, and teach their other members to shun them. The LDS church ought to recognize that when it comes such tactics, they have more in common with Scientologists and Jehovah’s witnesses. That’s a sobering reality.

[@lisawyatt1671]

People in the church are HIGHLY discouraged of individualism. Individualism allows curiosity, free thinking etc. Most importantly what their own definition of what love is to them. The church tells you what to love, how to love, who to love, when to love and never question. Christ love, unconditional love is far from being the upmost important basis of the church. Unfortunately numbers, money, false power, not to mention FALSE TRUTH.. is the focus, the goal and IS consistently the proof by their actions a long with their follow through. (one ex. protecting sex offenders) You ask why can't the bishop/church just love..they have been deprived of thinking they are worthy enough to feel, experience and find out how beautiful and divinely powerful individual love is.Their own love. True Power "Celestial Power" if you will.The power of true love appearing in different forms is nothing less than beyond magical.

[@melissamybubbles6139]

Dripping with love for the church and respect for beliefs is not an option for me. I didn't love it for years before I stopped believing. I only stayed for so long because I thought I had to because it was true. I don't respect the beliefs of people who didn't respect me enough to figure out whether the things they taught me. I didn't deserve respect for my beliefs either before I figured out the church isn't true.

[@maxipower6932]

Not only left the Mormon church but also have discovered that the lies or deception mentioned in Revelation 12:9, it's all encompasing ".....and the devil deceives the whole world.." this means, no single human is excempt; made me to look beyond my religious believe and got me going down an endless rabbit whole. The bible, has been tempered with, there are tons of books on religion that bring a bit of the puzzle pieces together. I discovered that Paul of the NT is an antichrist, who taugh another gospel and took away millions of souls away from God. Paul, or Saul of Tarsus, a murderer, taught his own gospel and is responsible of the 2300 christian denominations in existence today. Works vs. grace? The law vs. salvation? In nowhere, whatsoever, in the old or NT, is written that Jesus Christ would come and take human flesh and spill His blood for the redemption of human sins. He came down to teach us the original covenant given to Adam, the way to get to the gate of the narrow way that leads back home. The blood sacrifice instituted in the old testament was not commanded of the creator, but satan. The Pharisees sneaked themselves in and instituted the shedding of blood as a cunduit of wiping off sins, so Paul a skilled pharesee, with the help of the mafia of those days, brainwashed the early Christians to believe that Jesus Christ spilled his blood in the cross for the remission of sins. This is the crede that Jesus Christ came down to fight against, he came down to restablish the original covenant that is based solely in love. To put an end of shedding of blood of innocent men and animals. This is why He was crucified. Paul taught, "ok to eat meat offered as offeing to false gods.." People don't seem to want to wake up. Baptism is a necessary step, repentance, obedience to the law, "doing works meat for repentance," is a must. But Paul says, no, its the "blood" that saves, or viaduct to salvation. This is all to prepare the one world religion coming up, and the re institution of blood sacrifice in the third temple already built and ready to go in operation in Israel. People need to realize, Mormonism is false, but it's so small a deception to get to be so important and spend time there, swimming the waters of the new freedom and life, only. One needs to let it go and go much deeper into the rabbit whole. Nelson buddying up with pope Francis, for example is a huge red flag. These people are evil, beyond what a good ex mormon mind can conceive. Watch "Galactic Story teller," on KZbin. Learn who the Jesuits, the cross of malt, the masons, and how your whole life is managed by signs, symbols, colors and numbers. Learn about the tower of babel. How the languages where confounded and how signs and symbols became very important to those who help power. What the pine cone symbolism means, and why all churches display them openly in their buildings. If you, freed from mormonism, and still believe man got to flight to the moon, then you are still deeply deceived. If you believe that the earth is a ball going around the sun, you are still deeply indoctrinated. The bible gives you the clue that the earth is an enclosed realm, fix, and flat. Paul, Mohadmed, Joseph Smith, Helen White; all have same basic deceiving story. All have extraordinary spiritual claims, have no witnesess to such claims, their word stablished their truths. They all came up with a new take on faith, religion, they all took the truths from the bible to stablish their religions, to then fight against the bible to discredit its validity and presented another book, or changed the scriptures in the bible to fit their agenda of pushing a deceptive new agenda. They all minimize, or teach that Jesus Christ is not God, Everlasting, the alpha and the omega, the living Father. That's the main reason they stablished their religions, to erase God. To me, Paul, Mohammed, Joseph Smith, and others, are all satans. Why? Because the devil will not let a mere human undertake such monumental task of deception. He will do it himself. The parallel between Mohammed and Joseph Smith's lives are stoundingly similar. Be very careful of belonging to "groups." Groups are formed generally with the sole intent to indoctrinate. You leave Mormonism and join a group, that is a sign you are still a sheep. Groups are easily infiltrated and over time steered away to another trap. May YHWH, bless everyone this new year.

[@gordonquickstad]

Responding to the video about 1:01, and Leah's remark about evolution: one shouldn't latch onto just anything just because it is espoused by seculars who are not Mormon. Here is a video to give pause to thought to those who adopt evolution as the way things happened. Don't miss that intelligence is infinitely more powerful than a random collection of materials. kzbin.info/www/bejne/Z3a7d6yJebykb6s&t= Also, I've noticed John (Jon?) seems more accepting of the pro-LGBT lifestyle since leaving the church ("love"). It's just plain and simple logic that if someone had encouraged just one of his millions of earthly ancestors over the past many generations to go ahead and entertain one of these non-reproductive lifestyles that he could never have existed, ever. We have no LG ancestors, at least none who didn't cheat against their preferred inclination. To encourage people with a persuasion towards these lifestyles is to weaken your own acceptance of the chance of your own existence.

[@bobbysmith855]

Sorry, just got to the end and realized they have been left without Him! That's so sad! There is a truth, and it is the words of Jesus, please test scripture again! Joseph Smith lied but Jesus never did!

[@bobbysmith855]

Eph. 2 : 8-9 Please read this passage God is calling you both...please don't give up on Jesus! You will ALWAYS be empty without him!

[@assiebishop9013]

Mormonism should have some new more up to date revelations. The cult us outdated.

[@HelloUSA87]

This isn't a faith crisis at all.

[@3DMOVIES4YOU]

Brinley .....Please don't give up your praying to Your Father in Heaven. There has to be a God ......This all just can't be by chance .....Even the scientists say that there seems to be an order to things in the Universe. Jesus did exist and He said over and over again that He was the Son of God. Even though you're not a LDS member anymore, that's one thing .......but so many People in so many Churches believe in a God or a Creator .......with all the discoveries of manuscripts with the dead sea scrolls and everything that do bear testimony of the Bible and Jesus........God still watches over you and loves you with all His heart .......You were so beautiful with your testimony of God and praying and that you had a friend in Jesus and God........that relationship hasn't changed and never will change .......Just try praying at night before you go to bed and pour out your heart again to God and see if He doesn't comfort you and let you know that you still have a friend that watches over you and loves you. Your family is so Special .......I love you all !

[@richardrowland3104]

Joseph Smith was an imperfect prophet.... Emma went through hell.... I am just as imperfect as Joseph Smith... and if judged right now.... would have a lot to answer for as he probably has.... but my faith is not based on Joseph Smith... war on the Book of Mormon or any of the writings... or Brigham Young or any of the old leaders of the church.... the church is imperfect as are most of its leaders.... my beliefs are based on faith hope and charity.... so therefore I am still a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.... but I question the belief in temples and priestcraft.... and I do not see any other religions or churches that are any better.... and some are much worse