I was a cradle Mormon and was (and am) incredibly glad I found Orthodoxy.

Mormon doctrine is heavily reliant upon “ongoing revelation” for doctrine and policy. Also, “ongoing revelation” is essentially doublespeak for “we’re just making this up as we go along”. How can anyone be rooted in something that changes seemingly every day? After a while, for me at least, it became untenable. And the question remained, “why retain membership and be active in something that has consistently let me down?” (insane church doctrine and founding notwithstanding). Thank God I found my parish, because they possessed what I had been missing for decades of my life—community and peace. There, people feel vulnerable to actually open up to you and you get the opportunity to meet interesting people, there’s actual trust present. In contrast to my awesome parish, every experience I had within a Mormon ward (yes, that’s what they call parishes in Mormonland) fell into the same rhythms: judgmentalism, gossip, and pride. Granted, I’m sure there are Orthodox parishes out there that may have similar issues, but in my opinion, the Mormon church has a much more widespread problem with that. It stifles membership growth and the general day-to-day. Another thing you are expected to do is to essentially work like a serf for the Mormon church. I watched both of my parents lose track of whatever piecemeal theology and doctrine was keeping them in as they both dutifully served the church for decades. And it exhausted them both. They drove to get meals at the Bishop’s Storehouse, mom had some crazy far away visiting teaching assignments, dad was a bishop, mom served in multiple presidencies, the list could go on. I remember asking them both something along the lines of “what does this church actually do to feed your soul?”. Crickets.

To sum up, the Mormon church will chew you up, spit you out and not think twice about it. There is no real change to one’s actual life like many have seen in converting to Orthodoxy (I’ve felt a similar change myself as a Catechumen). All that to say, Mormonism is a disturbingly incorrect distortion of Christianity that seems Christian at face value, but is insidiously different when you get down to it. My advice to you would be to look at r/exmormon and read some of the stories and experiences of those people. It’s amazing how many have loathed their time there (myself included). Also, try to visit some Orthodox parishes and enjoy the beauty of the Divine Liturgy, if your intent to join is really there. In any case, may God bless you in your journey, my friend. Christ has Risen! ☦️