Mormon Stories

[@RandomPerson-js3rc]

If it wasn't for Loyed Evens doing what he does many ex-Jehovah's would still be under a lot of psychological stress. We need and appreciate all the other activists but Lloyed has a sertain respectful approach that doesn't focus on just anger but logic. He takes the time to walk us through the feelings we face and how we've been indoctrinated with things that don't make sense when we think about it. He brings the real human element we all need. He has helped me immensely.

[@evaseibert3994]

My heart aches listening to this story. Sadly, members of the JW and LDS who choose their churches over their families, especially to the point of shunning, are regarded as valiant and are admired by their fellows members. So disturbing. Sending best wishes to Lloyd and his family. John, these videos are helping so many people. Keep up this great work.

[@andreadiamond7115]

Fantastic 5 part series! Thank you John and Lloyd!

[@MichaelYoder1961]

Love Lloyd! He is a man of great compassion and strong character. I respect all he does and love his quirky sense of humour

[@jonseth166]

I love you Lloyd,the support you give.Never mind those people looking for faults. You save lifes,thats a fact,a lot of people have a better daily life because of your work.remember that when people are after you.

[@libertywatts7227]

I agree! I have been out for 5 years. It took me a long time before I would even consider watching anything that might be "apostate". But I love Lloyd's channel so much because he gives logical, calm reasoning and has good discussions. If I click on someone else's video and they end up being aggressive and the "stereotypical apostate", I will not watch them. I believe, at least, that most ex-JWs prefer Lloyd's method. I know that I do.

[@marie-clairedelongchamp1330]

Well said, the two of you! Thank you, my sentiments exactly! 😊

[@clarity2478]

Just came across Mormanstories ….great videos! In 2010 I posted on Jehovah's Witnesses.net and that was when I first became aware of Lloyd. Coming from a background of no information the internet soon woke me up! Very proud of Lloyd overcoming the surprising negativity of fellow activists and the fellow wounded! That attack hurt many of us ...making some start to feel they must take sides! …. I am just grateful that we have him. I can't imagine the loss if Lloyd was not here. This is not to put down ALL of the wonderful work from many many activists! Whoever out there who is helping in ANY way to end the damaging cults, thank you so much!

[@marie-clairedelongchamp1330]

Clarity 2 thank you for this comment I agree 100%, I enjoy Lloyd’s video content immensely. I echo your words, « I am grateful that we have him, I can’t imagine the loss if Lloyd was not there... ». 😌

[@marie-clairedelongchamp1330]

Yes Lloyd, have a voice now, getting on living my life! 😉 Never heard of this channel, I thoroughly enjoyed all the interviews you had John, with our Lloyd, thank you for doing this! 🤗👏👏

[@andreadiamond7115]

The Evans family welcomed a new daughter on 3/22/19....Julia Leslie, little sister to Jessica Liberty ❤️❤️

[@birdie392000]

Please don’t quit your Activism! You are making a difference!☺️

[@chancedawson6124]

Thanks John for doing this. I feel even worse for Lloyd than I do for myself. Not being able to speak to my dad would be so hard. This video made me even angrier about growing up in the Mormon cult. I especially appreciated what he said about not scaring his wife off by forcing his views on her. That’s something I’m guilty of.

[@gardengirl5330]

I love his story and his determination to help others help themselves. This man is John’s Brother-in-Arms. I appreciated hearing about the challenges faced by Jehovah’s Whitenesses along with the differences and similarities with Mormonism.

[@mannahouserestorationcente7774]

N I in

[@catht9653]

Having had some fairly strong criticisms of the way you interviewed Lloyd in the last video, I feel I should congratulate you on this great interview. As I said in the other comment, I have been a fan of Lloyd's for a while, and you managed to get information from him that I've never heard. Great job, both of you.

[@lindseybarclay9187]

I think John is more of an interrogator than an interviewer. He sounds at times as if he is extracting a confession of some kind from Lloyd. I can't say I like his style.

[@crispmom]

Much love to both you guys! Thanks for all your hard work. And John, I think you may have missed your calling as an FBI interrogator, although I do enjoy the long-form interviews. :)

[@maryannlockwood3961]

Lloyd’s videos helped me realize that the JW don’t have the truth.

[@heatheradams8946]

You had me in tears Loyd yes I agreed with everything you said summing up..my mantra even as a very young person was " DEAD IS DEAD .

[@lisajane4330]

Really enjoyed hearing this. I can relate to you Lloyd with resenting your father for not trying to reach out to you if he truely believes in this religion. When I stopped going to meetings, no one bothered to ask why or try to strengthen my faith somehow, that in itself was a wake up call, that 1/ either my own father doesnt care about me at all & if I make the new system or not or 2/ they lack faith themselves & can't prove its the truth. It didn't encourage me to go back thats forsure, just pushed me further away. And completely agree that its very much a captive organisation.

[@hikingviking859]

Yes, Lloyd has been persecuted by the x JW community but he’s clearly helping people leave a destructive organization

[@lisajane4330]

Well said, these xJW groups that are against Lloyd need to pull their ego's in.

[@livinginspanglish3724]

Super curious if now him and his family do little things that you couldn’t do before like celebrate birthdays for his daughter, say “bless you” when people sneeze, enjoy christmas as a holiday and not a religious event?

[@rosastephens8966]

Excellent,excellent ,excellent!! Good job!

[@torin93]

I had a good friend that smoked and wasn't shunned by his parents who were elders. Because of their refusal, they lost their position in church and forced to sit in the back of the church. It is a strange religion.

[@maryannlockwood3961]

And yet they hide pedophiles.

[@lynnwalton814]

Excellent episode

[@harlanlang6556]

Two little old J.W. ladies just rang our door bell with an invitation to the annual commemoration of the Last Supper. I live in a small mountain town in California where there has been a local JW community and Kingdom Hall for many years. These ladies, with smiles on their faces, informed us that their congregation was "consolidating" with a neighboring congregation as if it were a good thing. This means that it is an additional 20 mile drive to the nearest Kingdom Hall since they sold their local property "in order to provide funds for JW's in other countries to build Kingdom Halls." The reality seems to be that this community is shrinking to the point that they can no longer financially support a local Kingdom Hall. A part of me felt compassion for these ladies who have been so dedicated for so long and are now seeing their work for their dream evaporate. They brought up the theme that the world is getting worse, and I told them that in many ways the world is getting better: We have longer, healthier lives; there are progressively fewer wars; more people are receiving better education, etc. They didn't seem to want to hear that. They are nice ladies and I would talk with them any time, but they didn't offer to come into my house or come back for a lengthier conversation. I'm sure I've been marked for many years as an "unlikely" convert and they're not really prepared to have a wide open discussion of history, especially their own history, or science. They're definitely believers in a 6,000 year history from the creation.

[@maryannlockwood3961]

You’re spot on of your analysis of their reaction to your comments!👍🏻

[@sasha1suz]

A group of JW's came into the neighborhood last week (a 3 or 4 yearly visit.) They are holding some kind of outreach at the local KH and also, surprised me, one of the public golf course meeting rooms. I can only surmise the KH would turn people off and the golf course setting might be less intimidating. I have tried to have a polite discussion previously but it's a lost cause. Now I just crack the door and tell them I'm atheist. I've told them that before and I thought I'd be on their "do not go" list, but evidently the message is irrelevant to the out-reach effort. I still can't understand why they target this area aside from the fact that it's upper income and people here don't have pitbulls or answer the door with weapons.

[@harlanlang6556]

@@camimons470 Watching others suffer is painful, but maybe we need to look at it as the pain of birth. The old way of thinking has to die in order for a new and better way of thinking can be born. Some older people will not, cannot change, but the young have no problem, except for dealing with their older family members. And you're right that this is happening in all churches...and even all religions. There are some countries where being a Muslim is enforced by the government, but whenever these people gain freedom to choose their beliefs, they will start leaving Islam just as Christians in the U.S. and Europe have left Christianity because they now have the freedom to do so. Today's world is so different from 2,000 years ago. Science has now become a great teacher of what the universe really is, of what matter and human cells are like when magnified. Any religion suitable for today's world has to agree with the truths of science. But science can't answer the deeper question of "why" the world and the universe is the way it is, or what is our purpose? People need the freedom to question, and this is a new thing in the world.

[@harlanlang6556]

@@camimons470 You can get a better perspective of how we are doing now by looking at history. Common people historically were lucky to just survive and raise a few kids to adulthood. Religion was often their only bright spot with the belief in a hereafter. Starvation, famine, epidemics and war were experienced by most people. And many people were sold into slavery. When JWs come to my door and speak of how the world is getting worse and worse, I point out to them how much better it is now with longer lifespans, no starvation, better medical care, universal education, etc. They don't like to hear this, but I think that much of the depression leading to suicide is brought on by the focusing on the negative, especially by the media. And our cultural conditioning to look at people's faults rather than their positive attributes doesn't help. In my Baha'i Faith we're taught to look at the good qualities in others and not the bad. Can you imagine what a society could be like if we did that? Imagine not criticizing or being criticized! I can see how those attending church may be less likely to commit suicide because of their belief that they're forgiven of their sins and they're part of a community. Feeling alone in this world could lead a person to not want to be here. The challenge for many people is finding or creating a community of friends when they no longer have a religious community or even family members. Governments can't really do this for us.

[@harlanlang6556]

@@camimons470 I've had the same experience of having a response seem to disappear. I'm older than you, so I've seen the evolution of gender and sexual identity go through this huge change. It's always puzzled me because I grew up on the farm with cows, pigs, dogs, cats and chickens, and I never saw any gender confusion among these animals. My conclusion is that most of this confusion is due to the human brain being more complex. We are wired to be very adaptable and able to be conditioned to any new circumstance. And we are so complex that we still don't know exactly how we're affected by what. What are the forces which condition us to be the way we are? It needs a lot of research. Sexual and violent abuse of children certainly alter their development. But the victims are not responsible for what happens to them and should not be condemned or ridiculed. We should all have nothing but compassion for others because all of us have been victims to some extent. Our parents usually did the best they could with little understanding of what they were doing to and for their children. My grandmother was married at 14 and gave birth to my father at barely 16. She was abusive to my father as a child, but she was way too young to know what she was doing. This affected his ability to have a healthy relationship with women, or his ability to relate to me. I found a half-brother at Ancestry.com about 3 years ago that I had no idea existed. I don't think my father did either. This brother lived his whole life until aged 70 thinking that his father was a certain man he had never met, who never contacted him and obviously didn't care about him. So he was relieved to know that this man wasn't his father and he now knew who his real father was. DNA doesn't lie. In spite of growing up not knowing who his father was and a mother who wouldn't talk with him about it, he put himself through college, married, raised two daughters and now has 6 well-adjusted grandchildren. I call that lemonade from lemons! This shows the resilience of people, and I think that this resilience will get humanity through the present-day confusion. But this gender confusion seems to be especially a problem in Western countries. I lived in Malaysia for 2 years and married a Malaysian, and this gender issue is not what it is in the U.S. Culture is a powerful conditioning force. Our culture is extreme, in my opinion, in emphasizing the importance of individuality over our identity as a community. Happiness and contentment are hard to realize with an emphasis on individuality over collective life.

[@howardking3046]

Wow! Eight and a half million victims!

[@Sportliveonline]

all the best

[@terrycarleson6371]

Great

[@tsblanca]

Peace man. Relatable. Nothing as cool as Croatia tho. What a trip that was. Damn they can cut to the heart of men those JWs. And the stepford wives. Man it's....wow. thanks for the share. Hashtag we're doing OK. Children of JW.

[@richardschiller7803]

Before a whole church is tagged as disfunctional; a dysfunctional family CAN itself BE a destructive group; and dysfunctional families do take over churches to abuse those who are functional

[@aurorejonesTV]

Trauma

[@richardschiller7803]

24:00 very impressed with your insight in listing all the classifications of reaction to public announcing, such as mischaracterization, false conclusions, misjudging etc. I personally think it an act of God be it by atheist or religious person to be able to assess WHAT people do actually do, including those who think THEY are just the reaction to the sinner. My common hate is the phrase BUT LOOK AT YOU, WHAT ELSE are WE suppose to think, making the whole as if a WE who all think the same as the rotten hang jury does in a false witchhunt. That's like saying because John and mother Mary were there watching Jesus die that they agreed with the jury and crowd who said KILL HIM !!!!

[@Carol-Ann-zz3ur]

@Mormon Stories, anyhting with John Cedars on your channels should be deleted. I am not sure how much you know about him now but I am sure you wouldn't want him representing anyone.

[@Alansworstnight]

Still over 100k subscribers 💪🏼 cry about it 😢

[@Carol-Ann-zz3ur]

@@Alansworstnight Nah, if you think what he has done is ok,you cry about it lol.

[@grapevinez6026]

You can simply skip over his videos. Many of us left our high and mighty judgmental attitudes behind in our former cults and don't require perfection of others, nor wish to engage in endless gossip and speculating into someone's private life.

[@Carol-Ann-zz3ur]

@@grapevinez6026 If you think sleeping with call girls while being married with children and lying about it is ok, then I am glad I still have some judgement left after the JW cult. He has admited it now after so much evidence was found so no speculation there thank you. Private lives are fine unless you put youself out there as something else. !00,000 subs is nothing on here and you know it. Look at his video views, nothing like as before. Finished LOL. Peace Out.

[@richardschiller7803]

55:00 (judged as a ranter) And you have the kind of PREJUDICE people THAT preJudge (make their own bigotted decision) that you are a ranter if you listened to EVERY MINUTE of their video and digests it enough with critical thinking to speak for or against it. This is judged as ranting when in fact someone who makes a video of a whole hour with no feedback actually thinks himself the Leader. Jessica Truly Reilley says yes i am blocked from John Cedars. I asked her to let me make comment on Cedars sight and then for her to go see it, and as i suspected with my four names, KZbin has the ability to show you your own comments so it appears as if others can read them, when instead YOU are the only one who sees your own comments. It is deception like Facebook that denies they lie by sending others in Facebook claims of requestion to be Friended. The devil Satan's world begins with liars who deliberately lie and claim it is being NICE and LOVING. The WT wouldn't have their problems if they were not fake love too. Prove Cedars is not fake love, but i bet he is way greater at faking it than you are.

[@richardschiller7803]

He says Elders never apologize. Other elders do, Lloyd doesn't. So not true. I got TWO apologies i would like to share. Elder#1 who moved to Texas and so was free from my charges of stealing, kidnapping, extortion, abuse, slander came back home and they worship him and want him to give Sunday's talk. So they coerce my mother to bring me to the Hall at age 26, and he apologizes saying I AM SORRY I EVER DID ANYTHING FOR YOU. A back room of over 20 people applauded (standing since there wasn't enough chairs. And he gave his talk the next day which proved that is what it was all about at MY EXPENSE. I did not accept his apology. I said if saying that, if that WERE an apology i would accept it. (But it wasn't an apology at all. Yet they applauded with deaf ears and blind eyes. Apology #2 is when they appointed an Elder who cared for me (sincerely thought he could be perhaps a father by stating that i was lacking meetings due to the president elder getting on an assembly bus that i was told if i take my own car to an assembly instead of PAYING to take their bus that i am not cooperative with the ORG. Then next an elder and his wife (hey sheesh theyre dead, so i can say who they are, DeLacy and wife) i showed that the new 1983 Bible shows lunar months always overlapping half and half and JWs actually think a lunar month goes from 20th to 20th to stupid to see reality or even calendar moons on a month. Their JW calendar shows no moon. Well the President Elder (also dead, her brother-in-law Hartsfield) stands up on the bus and says SCHILLER i am tired of your apostate words. Nothing is apostate about stating lunar months take three years to meet middle calendar month again. My being able to draw a better than crap WT-chart does not make me apostate. And so now years later, they want to make Carlson as Elder (good man, died from firefighter cancer) and Carlson says i'd like to encourage RICK, so Hartsfield comes up to me and apologizes for the ancient humiliation that will be eternally on record in JW minds. And i should have taken him up on it when he said he would apologize to those who heard, i should have said ANNOUNCE IT from the platform. This story is in respect for Carlson who told them to raise his son, for him, and his son is gone and out, doesn't want it. I have a story for every week of my life. Because Jehovah has proven people come in and get baptized and lie just like they did before baptism. And they will hang you to deny their sins. Look how Peter can deny Jesus 3 times and then 3 days later tell Jesus that he loves Jesus, and write in his gospels that he Peter was loved the most by Jesus. Such people are perfect, when it is YOU that sins, yet when they sin, they are still perfect, because their sin is just mistakes, excusable mistakes. Did you hear about the 9-year old girl disfellowshipped for causing divisions. The Elder got between her legs and divided her lips.I guess his pulling out was repentance but she stayed divided.

[@richardschiller7803]

My mother said and i can vouch for her saying so 60 years ago that she has NEVER seen it any different than WT being faithful slave to feed sheep. I would say the change is due to rejecting anyone who thinks they can write for watchtower book publishing house by merely going to a Hall and partaking communion. However, since they ALWAYS were the feeder, this command is to feed, not rule. Jesus said Peter you do not love me unless you feed my sheep.He did not say Peter you are selected to rule the sheep so excommunicate any other apostle who tries to do it for you.

[@richardschiller7803]

REVENUE ADVICE. You would make more revenue if you cut your videos into each question (or two) instead of a 1.5 hour interview. That way they see the question in written title and EACH answer to that question with a commericial revenue income to that question. That is why his 5-minute video entitled everything in 5 minutes is the most hits. You can turn all your videos into more hits, more revenue by dividing them up as question and answer and title the video by the question. I walk around my house while your video plays, and i come back and backwind a bit if interested. My own decision is now made that i am not an anti-WT person, but rather if i am Peter i will feed the sheep to prove my love of Jesus if the 11 apostles do not feed them. And i will be the 11 apostles and feed the sheep if Peter does not do it. So WT can be anyone, i will be what they are not, Jehovah here i am send me. Does not matter to me whether the rock is Peter or Jesus, if the WT doesn't have the rocks to speak out (because Jehovah said the rocks will speak out, as they do geologically to Noah and about Noah) at least i have the rocks to speak up.

[@richardschiller7803]

44:30 what do you think that's about. It is the same with those in church or the ex's like YOU, people are harmful because they ALL hear it as they wish to hear it, and if they hear it wrong, they blame YOU for not being clear. As if you said drink my blood eat my flesh. AND YET devouring you up is exactly what they are doing. People praise others as saviors who did not save them, and the ones who saved them get cursed and told you didn't save me. People who did not save you will say Hey i saved you, they wanted to kill you. So like my online social security name fuktbyusa.

[@richardschiller7803]

August 2009 God gave me a choice of life or death on top of Mount Ararat. I chose life.

[@jmark7390]

Two guys making money off of there former religions with half truths.

[@-MikeyK-]

It costs more to make these videos than what it makes in return. Dont watch if you dont like it.

[@jmark7390]

@@-MikeyK- Lloyd has monetized his channel. He asks for patreons. He is making money of off his ex relegion. My thought is if he is making his living and feeding his family off of his relegion he should mention it before each broadcast so people know where he is coming from. I find it and him dishonest. But what do I expect, I hear him making gross exaggerations about JWs. He will fade away.. How much does it actually coat you to record a video? Electricity, Internet access and what else?

[@-MikeyK-]

@@jmark7390 you sound like an angry JW, maybe you should be this angry against all the churches and governing bodies stealing billions of dollars instead of worrying about someone putting a plate of food on the table. There is no amount of money this man can receive to repair the damage done to him and his family by these cults. Leave the guy alone.

[@jmark7390]

@@-MikeyK- Your dishonest too. Where do you get the information that they stole billions of dollars? You know that's just a lie. They sold properties in NY and built new ones. No governingbody member is running around in fancy cars or buying big houses etc...Its true they are living in nice new apartments while telling the flock not to seek a higher education. But they can get their asses kicked out with nothing when they are no longer needed. But none of the GB are setting on stolen cash. .Lloyd is putting himself out there like the epitome of honesty and he is as truthful as they are. If he and you are calling then out for there honesty you should be carefull only to state the truth. Not deceitful exaggerations. And Lloyd should have a disclaimer at the beginning of his videos. I have my issues with the GB too.

[@-MikeyK-]

@@jmark7390 you are incredibly naive if you think all religions are not a conduit for stealing money. If they are not stealing, then they should be fully transparent with its members. Noone knows where the money is, including you. I know it's hard to accept you are living a lie, but unfortunately, this is true. Money makes the world go round and JW are not exempt from this. Lloyd is 100% on the right track, open your eyes and the real truth will be revealed.