Mormon Missionary Tormented over "Self Abuse", Poor Leadership - 646

[@davidc8694]

I'd really like to know where he's at on his personal journey, now, some 6 yrs later. A follow-up interview would be interesting. Tre's laughter is infectious & his brutal honesty is refreshing.

[@stillunspoken1343]

what a sweet guy. I want to give him a hug.

[@Ms.Stephanie.C]

I loved your interview Tre, your story touched my heart so deeply and I just hope you feel the love and support from those of us who have shared the deep pain of losing our religion.

[@Ms.Stephanie.C]

And I bought your album on iTunes!

[@emilykate6527]

His honesty is SO refreshing. Thank you.

[@samuelsonsilva7669]

Basketkase81 you're garbage!!!! You have such an outer darkness mentality.

[@samuelsonsilva7669]

Ha ha ha! Dude, you need to go see a psychiatrist. Are you by any chance LDS? If you are, shame on you for your language and judgemental mind set.

[@samuelsonsilva7669]

Wow!!!

[@lashandajones2724]

Samuelson Silva just report his racist garbage they will remove the comment

[@samuelsonsilva7669]

Hi Lashanda Rapp. Just did that. Thanks for the tip!

[@TheJust22az]

Wow... I don't ever think I heard such a candid and forthright interview with an ex-Mormon. He really bared his soul. Such a sweet but conflicted spirit. My heart goes out to him.

[@seaviewmusic9982]

Hallelujah! Thanks for all the nice comments guys! Your reward shall be given thee in the life to come, I just need your credit card number.

[@jspaul1984]

I'm listening to your EP "The Cottage" and I'm ready to give you my credit card #. I love every song on the album. Great work!

[@Tracyjonesband]

@@jspaul1984 Hi Jeff this is Tre come check out my new material at this channel kzbin.info/door/e3Gyta8YzRnLfy0F2Bj_Nw see you there

[@futureZbright]

Powerful interview. Thank you Tre & John. Hope you two keep talking to each other.

[@thomasmoore3204]

I love the honest (yet nervous) confessions of Tre. He has moments when he's telling his "new" testimonial he has just as much honesty and love of his fellow man, as when he was trying to be Ammon. I have to agree that the politics and bureaucracy of the mission field; and lack of information and knowledge of history is what really started my faith crisis... but I kept those things on the shelf for years.

[@markc9350]

John D. this was one of your best interviews in my opinion. The church is abusive and wreakless in their dealings with members on the subject rejection of masturbation. Its a common base need for all us humans and LDS brother and sisters. My bishop put me on probation for disclosing, The guilt and shame was so great that I started drinking just to feel OK for awhile. I even attempted suicide and just gave up trying to go on a mission. Thanks for being so honest and real about this subject. Come on church authorities stop making us members feel unworthy, ashamed and in some cases even suicidal. Lets look at this issue with new eyes and stop hurting people with this impossible gospel.

[@UberTheRandom]

Sorry about your shame my friend. There's an easy solution to the problem, and I say this as someone who went through much of the same things as you did, caused by the same church. "Sin" is a fictional disease, made solely for the purpose of selling an imaginary cure: religion and god. If the Mormon cult (TSCC) or any other church tries to make you feel guilty for being human, leave them behind. They have no right to do so and to think that a bunch of old perverts have a direct line of communication to "god" is just laughable. Fuck the Mormon church, fuck the apostle perverts, fuck the old senile dirtbag Monson, fuck bishops, fuck stake presidents, fuck them all. The only power they have over you is the power you give them. When they no longer fit your life, cut them out as the cancer that they are.

[@Tracyjonesband]

Hi this is Tre I appreciate your empathy come join me at my new channel here kzbin.info/door/e3Gyta8YzRnLfy0F2Bj_Nw

[@auto137226]

A great interview! Hopefully prospective missionaries will see this interview and others in the series. A better understanding of what they are getting into will be helpful no matter what they choose.

[@valentinat3250]

What a lovely, thoughtful young man. I wish him the best.

[@LoveMusic253]

I really enjoyed this interview. It's great to heard someone speaking their truth. It crazy because I talk to an guy who was a missionary and he told me that more than half of missionaries become inactive after their mission. And, it's a big problem for the church.

[@Tracyjonesband]

kzbin.info/door/e3Gyta8YzRnLfy0F2Bj_Nw

[@keylarodriguez579]

My dad showed me this video and we both absolutely loved your interview. He loves your laugh by the way haha. Good luck with all your future endeavors! Downloaded your newest song as well 👌🏼

[@Tracyjonesband]

Hi Keyla this is Tre come check out my new material at this channel kzbin.info/door/e3Gyta8YzRnLfy0F2Bj_Nw God Bless

[@elsalabaw6961]

Refreshingly honest! Thank you Tre and John.

[@sandrabosman4793]

What an amazing young man!!! I think he is exceptional...go for it young man!!!

[@thewatcher6369]

This guy cracks me up. Very upfront and charming.

[@susanbaldwin5454]

Loved this interview

[@Tracyjonesband]

Hi Susan come check out my new material at this channel kzbin.info/door/e3Gyta8YzRnLfy0F2Bj_Nw God bless

[@jonathancastano8612]

OMG The Mission President calling out the sister missionaries. I was at work listening to this and had to stop the video and hold in some laughter and then realized that mission president in any other scenario would be getting an ear full from the room of people he just called out. I totally feel for the sister missionaries. My mission president was never that open with us thankfully, he actually had some respect for people confiding in him. Yet another great video from this series. Keep em coming!

[@KyleSfhandyman]

So thoughtful and fun too. I love that you logiced your way out of the church. Tre you are so charming and wise. Don't feel bad that you were fooled for a while. You had no control over what you were taught as a kid. But you got to the truth on your own brain power and you should be very proud of that. I wish only the best for you. Don't be afraid of talking a little sense into true believers, you may be saving their future children and grand children a lot of confusion and wasted time, and if those future kids happen to by gay, you may be saving their lives.

[@bodytrainer1crane730]

Thank you for this interview.

[@xizuzix]

My Bishop told me to say this to my Stake President, "I have no problem with masturbation." I used this through-out my mission.

[@sonomarobins]

His story was so touching. I appreciated it very much. I am so sad to see what the Mormon church does to a Normal young man. It is sad, as his heart seems so sweet. Go get your own joy.!!!

[@DISCO-munication]

This was so wholesome, thank you~

[@lorinapetranova2607]

Very intense n beautiful talk. It tears me up what people suffer n go through on The Mission. Let me go see the Rings of Saturn. Makes a lot more sense. Many blessings ya'll and thanks for opening us NonMos to The Rest of the Story as regards the strange salesmanship of Mormonism.

[@jonipitcher7185]

This interview was really amazing. It had been along time maybe you can do updates on old interviews?

[@iloveadamduritz]

Thanks for sharing your story.

[@lsun5322]

Thanks for uploading this John! :)

[@Tracyjonesband]

Hi this is Tre come join me at my new channel kzbin.info/door/e3Gyta8YzRnLfy0F2Bj_Nw see you there

[@collinshepherd1454]

That was beautiful! This podcast was hilarious, but also very moving. Thank you Tre for articulating, in such a down-to-earth way, how I feel. Not just me but so many others as well.

[@camcam1421]

44:23 is the sex scandal.

[@lashandajones2724]

elder hence thank you!!

[@bdshafer]

Blessings Tre. Aloha

[@jdapplonie]

I didn't hear the musical intro... this might need to be re-uploaded.

[@jdapplonie]

Great interview, I watched it twice, thanks Tre.

[@ladyatlarge3844]

The invasive obsession with genitals in religion is as old as the holy book and probably even older than that. When you sit a 13 year old girl in a room with a 50 year old man and expect her to tell him intimate things it not only borders on creepy it's abusive. Add that to actual childhood sexual abuse and you set up a person for a life time of issues. This interview hit very close to home.

[@WasatchIntercept]

Uninspired leadership? This has to be the most inspired mission president I've ever heard of. The church needs leaders like this. A day of absolution! All sins are forgiven. Missionaries will not be sent home or otherwise disciplined for any acts prior to today. Go and sin no more. To become disillusioned because someone was not punished is not reasonable.

[@Tracyjonesband]

You're absolutely right. No one should be disillusioned because someone didn't get punished. I was probably as articulate as a retarded sea lion, but I digress. Now that I think about it you're right, every mission president should go and let all their little mishies know that their sins are forgiven. Someone should experiment with that. I didn't include that the mission president would threaten people all the time with getting sent home for things much smaller all the time. This seemed more like covering his own ass. But I can't know everyone's intentions and I'm more than happy to stand corrected

[@bodytrainer1crane730]

Mormon mission presidents don't tend to be the sharpest tools in the shed, IMO.

[@michiganyes]

I'm not Mormon or ex-Mormon, but I grew up in a conservative Christian environment. I'm still a Christian but with some changes. I appreciate Tre's vulnerability here. As someone who is half-Filipino, I connected some with that aspect of his background. And as someone who is queer and Christian, I took interest in what he shared about his thoughts about those kinds of issues.

[@pugdad7683]

Moving and honest.

[@mayte8018]

I just want to know why that picture is not correct?

[@klarity1111]

It wasn't long ago that Maori's and other Polynesians were taught that they were Lamanites, Book of Mormon people. I hope that that is all gone now, because these beautiful skin shades should NEVER be regarded as a curse. I hope they were all taught the truth about the DNA not matching up.

[@synnell2001]

see Marvin Perkins about Blacks in the Scriptures. Obviously the church needs to root out bad practices among mission presidents and avoid such sad experiences by otherwise very good missionaries like this one, cannot believe mission president allowed the other missionaries to stay on after their behavior, there has to be a limit and I think it was way over limit for a missionary to get involved like that especially on a mission. Some behavior cannot be tolerated on missions, and it devastated this young man so much. Both the 2 other missionaries should have been sent right home with no questions asked on the other end. Or have to go through some kind of special period for sure, but I would have sent them home. And told to just move on with their lives and reconsider their status and also arrange a special meeting with a group outside of the standard groups to discuss their experiences and see what they needed to move on.

[@lashandajones2724]

Klarity*11 what about the dna? where can i read about this subject

[@klarity1111]

simonsoutherton.blogspot.com mormonstories.org/three-geneticists

[@MrMemyselfandi415]

Woah! I like the honesty here, but that "F*%& YOU GOD!" comment @ 37:25 was uncalled for. I left the church years ago and became a full on Atheist, then came back to God in a very general deistic sense, looking into every religion and path to the divine possible, sometimes finding it, while sometimes losing the belief there even IS a divine. I'm now happily settled into a non denomination/agnostic/HOPEFUL Christian. At the very least Jesus was a divine representation of God for me. My point is I've been all over the map so I know full well the frustration we feel towards "god" when we're trying to grasp "him" and get a hold of the untouchable..the ineffable. I understand it can be overwhelming at times and in that place I've even cursed at god myself, but never in passing like this with a laugh, as if the statement carried no more weight than any other meaningless line. This was too much for me. But I guess God is big enough to handle this kind of response from his creation. It's not like it surprised Him given the circumstances. Anyway...great interview. They always are.

[@TheNickhis]

In the words of the Norwegian poet Knut Hamsun: Thou sayst that God is good, I say that I am his Creation and me is he harshly against. Thou sayst that he all things knows. So knoweth he, that me he doth persecute and fareth poorly with. He set my Heart in Beat and gave it a Lifetime to suffer. So stoppeth he it one Day. Thou sayst there is a God.

[@IsaacTrumbo]

Loved your interview, cute laugh btw :)

[@Tracyjonesband]

Hi Isaac this is Tre come check out my new material here kzbin.info/door/e3Gyta8YzRnLfy0F2Bj_Nw God Bless

[@kenbrown6095]

Tongans are from Tonga, Samoans are from Samoa, Mauri's are from New Zealand. there are a lot of islands out there which envelope the polynesian people. I went on my mission to New Zealand and over there they are very seperated, they like each other but are very different. just thought you might like to know.

[@ngatihine6072]

That's crazy didn't get sent home. Man that's some double standards right Thur. Any way good on you for your efforts. Kia Ora cuzzy. My tipuna are Shortlands.

[@lashandajones2724]

He is extremely handsome :)

[@stricklandapril]

I am a practicing/ believing Mormon who happens to admire John Dehlin. I don't agree with a lot of his conclusions, but I respect him and see him as a good man. By and large I feel the same way about his guests. However, I wanted to contradict one point in this video. Tre suggested that the "I'm a Mormon" campaign was empty commercialization. John concurred that it was a compilation of commercials, but didn't necessarily agree with the criticism that Tre gave about them per se. Tre compared them to the substance found in Mormon Stories. Now I have to agree about the disparity in substance, but disagree about the reason for the disparity. As a converted member myself I have a story of a faith crisis as well. In fact, many faithful members do. However it would be incredibly precarious to candidly tell my story of GAINING faith through crisis. I would have to reveal embarrasing sins of those whom I have forgiven, in order for anyone to remotely understand how my faith was decimated, but ultimately resurrected through the atonement. I now see these mistakes (such as those Tre mentioned about people close to him on his mission--though the mistakes that were inflicted on me were much more severe) as ESSENTIAL learning experiences. I could never have truly come to know Jesus Christ without leaders and family members making horrendous and abusive mistakes as imperfect individuals. For me, I needed. a reason to be saved or rescued by the Savior. If I had no serious dilemma in my ability to have faith in LDS doctrine; if it was easy to believe---I would never have been able to truly see the need to completely humble myself and seek the Savior as if my life depended on it. I see many similarities to many of John's guests to my own story. I just wanted to throw that into the ring--that big mistakes made by members and leaders has the potential to create good ground for faith in Christ to grow. I see a common theme in John's guest interviews. I hear guests say that they had brief experiences periodically with the Holy Ghost. They claim, as Tre does here, that they "had a powerful feeling" of somekind or another. They often claim "I had a testimony", but later discount the value of it. I also had that experience. I typically had a "powerful feeling" at church and periodically at other times. It wasn't until I was actually saved from a broken condition that I understood the difference between having a testimony and knowing the Savior personally. Later I learned the difference between having flashes of spiritual witnesses from the Holy Ghost and having that same Spirit reside with me on a permanent basis--to have it always with me, with flashes of times when the Spirit is withdrawn as I live an imperfect life. I hear guests say they "really tried" and they supposedly had the whole experience, when I can plainly see that they did not. When someone cannot testify of a time when they were significantly healed or miraculously changed through the atonement in any particular way through following a specific principle of the gospel--that individual has only peeked at the tip of the iceberg. I have watched virtually all of John Dehlin's videos. I did not see a single guest who truly dug into deep doctrine. Often they cite obscure statements or events as "deep doctrine" . The truth is that thw basic principles of the gospel are the real deep doctrines. Those are the kind that healed the blind man, the lepers, and me. Obscure doctrines that were often (in my opinion) revelation mistakes made by imperfect conduits of revelation. Jesus was the only perfect conduit of revelation. If the prophets also accomplished perfection in revelation, and were never deceived themselves, they wouldn't be human. Just like we understand that children should respect imperfect parents, it makes sense that God would have us respect imperfect leaders. It is a model that not only makes sense, but often inadvertently creates those broken hearts that can then be witnesses to the power of God and his ordinances when they are healed.

[@stricklandapril]

There was an incomplete sentence of mine that needed correcting. To generalize, I said something like, "Obscure doctrines are often cited as deep doctrines when they are actually simply revelation mistakes made by imperfect conduits of revelation...". I would complete those thoughts by pointing out that simply because it takes some deep digging to find a doctrine or event, doesn't mean that the discovery itself is "deep". Again, I believe that BIG mistakes by leaders and family members in the church often end up being essential learning experiences. These mistakes often need to be significant enough that we are left to give all we have to seek answers and healing from God. It facilitates the "pride cycle" so to speak. Humans are naturally prideful, self-centered, and distant from God, but tragedy and devastation often can effectually "stir us up to remembrance" by given us a reason to seek help from God with our whole selves--nothing holding back.

[@seaviewmusic9982]

I would be interested to hear your story. I definitely probably didn't explain myself well enough. I would say that all the "offensive" things that were done by people had little effect on my actual belief in the doctrines as a tried to tell towards the end. John shined a spotlight on some of the more eye opening moments but really much of my mission was me trying to have fun and laughing. I had a great time in Brazil.

[@stricklandapril]

+Seaview Music I think you expressed yourself well and with honesty. Though I can't say that I appreciate the F word. The connotations of that word seem a bit out of place in this conversation, but I don't want to be judgmental about that. It just doesn't seem to be necessary or helpful. However, your answers weren't scripted, and may not be as articulate if they had been. The integrity of Mormon Stories is what I like best about it. I look over my own comment and I see a bunch of gramatical errors. I didn't express myself perfectly either. I think what matters is that people speak from their true opinions when it comes to the "restoration of the gospel", rather than carefully crafted words with the intent to persuade or even deceive. I love how John Dehlin does not ask loaded questions. He doesn't lead people to give answers that he is looking for as a lawyer would. It is clear that John is as surprised by most of what his guests say as the viewers are. I can't say that I agree with any conclusions on Mormon Stories, but I am not blinded to the fact that people are sharing real experiences and their true opinions. I think that that is valuable. I don't love the advice to the church section at the end, but I understand why John does that. His own mission experience led to the desire to reform corruption when found among members and leaders. John's story is amazing, and I think I understand that his motives began from a very good and honest place. I simply think that he and many of his guests don't realize that there is more to the restoration story than what they have experienced. However, I assume that he and his guests would disagree, and I respect that.

[@seaviewmusic9982]

+April Strickland I did mention at the end that I was selfish about it and treated the interview like a therapy session so I was mostly just talking to myself. Sorry if I offended I did not intend to. Language is a beautiful thing we have to express ourselves and very much represents cultures and subcultures. To me, fuck and flip and fetch are all just variations of the same sentiment though they may have different origins. Thanks for listening through my rambling nonsense anyways.

[@stricklandapril]

+Robert Wallace I think it is possible to respect those we disagree with. I assume that John, and others connected to Mormon Stories, would likely vote to have legal action taken against the LDS Church, if they had they opportunity to do so. However, I know the doubt and the anger that they express. I have experienced it. How could I judge them? Yes, I agree--sad consequences are inevitable from Mormon Stories. However, there appears to be an interminable pattern in these interviews that suggests that none of these individuals ever experienced great miracles through the atonement. These individuals are not rejecting high degrees of testimony; they simply have a high degree of exposure. There is a big difference between those realities.

[@harlee886]

The laugh and the eyebrows are definitely maori. Rock on Tre!

[@Tracyjonesband]

Hey Harlee come rock on at my new channel here kzbin.info/door/e3Gyta8YzRnLfy0F2Bj_Nw see you there

[@jaybeefun]

people don't like old people knocking on their door. They like baby faces. its less intimidating. Just a fact of life

[@makesen]

Do mission presidents have the authority to "forgive all sins" as happened to this young man and his entire mission? That seems entirely un-doctrinal to me. Since no confession of or inspection of personal sins came before the statement, how can this be right? Like he said WTF is going on here? Truly, then, mission presidents have power like unto God, for they can forgive sins without repentance.

[@joshuajared100]

If you all have complaints about the Church, why do you continue to stay focused on it? I have had few faith crises of my own but don't criticize the church. I've had problems with the Doctrine or an insensitive leader but kept it to myself and went to the Lord. Those leaders are gone but I'm still here. When I was denied a Temple recommend for something I did not do, I still went to Church even though tormented by doubts. A few years passed when my Bishop learned the truth and apologized. A lot of missionaries have overcome their weaknesses and are stronger for it. If the church is all about Christ then why aren't you doing as He taught in the Sermon on the mount? Pray for those who despitefully use you - i.e. the General Authorities or an unworthy leader? ls Jesus Christ not a part of your lives anymore? The Doctrine IS about Christ. Seems to me John is setting himself up as a prophet. He's all about what is wrong with the Church and seeks those willing to publicly decry it. He's all about "helping" those with faith crises but is carefully leading them down to hell. He's using psychology but not faith. You do not have to agree with Mormon culture to focus on Christ.

[@UberTheRandom]

You're right, we have complaints about cancer, other cults, violence, wars, etc. but lets just put our heads in the sand and not talk about it. /SARCASM. When the Mormon cult stops hurting people and trying to force their rules and lifestyles on everyone around them then we'll leave them in peace. If they want to be left alone then they need to leave others alone. Karma bitch.

[@susanbaldwin5454]

U are a victim & you dont even know it

[@jaybeefun]

Its just not like this at church. I challenge people to listen to some of the talks at general conferences and tell me these people are deceiving. most kids have a positive experience on their missions. You guys are giving people a certain impression unfortunately people will focus on negative reports like this

[@Tracyjonesband]

Hi Jaybeefun this is Tre after years I take back the negative things I said about the church I appreciate your comment