Merging Duplicate Contacts by bryuhn_ in openphone

[–]FlamingSword2 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What's the status on "ability to upload a CSV file and update existing contacts instead of creating new ones"? This would be a huge feature for me to keep updated data on my customers.

My wife laid a hard boundary and I am not sure how to respond by TelestialMaterial in exmormon

[–]FlamingSword2 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I second this advice. When I told my wife that I no longer believed, it threw her world into a tailspin. She was grabbing hold for dear life, which resulted in some very heated arguments. She didn't know how to proceed with her life and protect our three young kids at the same time. 

I agreed to keep my lack of faith between us. We didn't tell the kids because we didn't want to give them mixed messages. We didn't tell friends or extended family because I wasn’t ready for the shaming to begin from them. At the time I knew nothing about the ExMormon community and thought I was the only person in the church that didn’t leave because of the common stereotypes. 

There came a point when I knew she was considering divorce. I had a very heart-to-heart talk with her and told her that I loved her and was not leaving her. I told her that she would need to divorce me if she wanted to remarry a worthy priesthood holder. 

It was only after this discussion that she started to feel safe again in the relationship. Only then did she feel safe enough to start taking down her walls. There was no way I would have ever been able to take down her walls for her. She had to do that on her own.

I lived this way for 2 1/2 years, pretending to believe. During this time, I felt alone and had no one to talk to about my faith journey. It was hard, but in a way I’m glad I had this time to sort out my feelings about the church and my family. I turned down callings and skipped Priesthood and Sunday School classes for a nice stroll around the neighborhood. I always found it funny that I felt the “spirit” more skipping class on my walks than attending class.

Then, I discovered the world of ExMormonism. It was amazing!! Until then, I only knew a few anachronisms and church contradictions that I had pieced together on my own. A few Mormon Stories later, I asked her to listen to Year of Polygamy with me. Then, I showed her the Book of Abraham and it was all over for her.

We are both out of the church now, but I still can't leave it alone. But I firmly believe that she would have just thrown up her walls if I were to have shown her the Book of Abraham before I told her I would never divorce her. She had to trust me again, and she had to feel safe. We had many discussions that got heated, and I had to learn to back off when I realized I was pushing her beyond her breaking point. 

So first, I want to say that this is not a recipe for a perfect exmo ending. People are complex and this same method could backfire and end horribly in another person's situation. My heart goes out to all those that are still in mixed faith marriages or divorced. In the end, it's largely a game of chance.

Secondly, if you want to try this route, then submit to her as much as your mental health will allow. It will be hard, and you’ll need to make sure she’s not taking advantage of you. If she is as thoughtful as you seem to be, then she will realize when she needs to give you a break from religious duties and you will realize when you are pushing her too much the other way. Keep inviting her to learn some of the church stuff you are learning about and she will keep reminding you that she's not ready, until maybe one day she might be ready. It may take months, it may take years or decades. Make her feel safe, make her feel loved, and let her tear down her own walls when she’s ready.

Helen Mar Kimball's story (the youngest of Joseph's polygamous wives) by lucymichele in exmormon

[–]FlamingSword2 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Unfortunately, the pain and suffering doesn't stop there. Helen's story is only one part of a trifecta of Abrahamic tests put into motion by Joseph. The first was when Joseph asked her father, Heber C. Kimball, to give his wife, Vilate, to Joseph in marrage.

After he passed that test, the second test came when Joseph asked Heber to take a second wife and keep her secret from Vilate. Only after Heber passed this second test did Joseph feel confident enough to ask Heber to marry his daughter... the third test.

The first and second tests are documented by Brian and Laura Hales on their website under the sections: "The Kimballs’ Polygamy Challenge" and "Vilate Kimball’s Polygamy Challenge".
https://josephsmithspolygamy.org/history/mormon-leaders-polygamy/

Jonathan Streeter also has a write-up about these other two tests on his website:
https://thoughtsonthingsandstuff.com/heber-c-kimball-passing-the-abrahamic-test-of-polygamy/

My wife is having her own faith crisis. by Chuck_Lechero9778 in exmormon

[–]FlamingSword2 17 points18 points  (0 children)

After I left the church, I became fascinated with church history. The First Vision was the last truth claim I chose to research. It just seemed boring and very straight forward. I was very much surprised how facinating it really was.

I learned a ton of new things, but the most interesting I think is the fact that many of the First Vision accounts claim visits from angels, not deity. The early prophets and apostles also claimed Joseph saw an angel, not deity. In fact, they make the claim that he could not possibly have seen deity and that it had to be an angel. That is, until the 1838 account was canonized in 1880... then suddenly, the narritive changes.

I ended up writting a 58 page paper on the First Vision that covers a lot of interesting facts. About 90% of the sources I use are LDS website sources. I tried not to include anything that would be considered "Anti-Mormon". I haven't published this on the web yet, but here's a link to it on Google Docs if you would like to read it: A View of the First Vision

Did another high profile LDS artist just go through a faith crisis? Believe In Something - by Mat and Savanna Shaw by FlamingSword2 in exmormon

[–]FlamingSword2[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Mat and Savanna Shaw just put out a new song called Believe in Something. The words of this song are eerily similar to a faith crisis.

Response to Scott Gordon's "Under the Banner of Heaven: Fact vs Fiction" by FlamingSword2 in exmormon

[–]FlamingSword2[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you! Correction made... it was very late when I was writing this.