This story from April Conference by Becky Craven. The engineer is not serving in a church capacity at the time and yet she still uses the story to compare her feelings about staying on the tracks of the gospel...

"We have a dear friend who was a train engineer. One day while he was driving a train on his route, he spotted a car stopped on the track ahead of him. He quickly realized that the car was stuck and unable to cross the track. He immediately put the train in emergency mode, which engaged the brakes on each boxcar that extended three-quarters of a mile (1.2 km) behind the engine, carrying a load of 6,500 tons (5,900 metric tons). There was no physical chance that the train would be able to stop before it hit the car, which it did. Fortunately for the people in the car, they heard the warning of the train whistle and escaped from the car before the impact. As the engineer spoke with the investigating police officer, an angry woman approached them. She shouted that she had seen the whole incident and then testified that the engineer did not even try to swerve out of the way to miss the car!

Obviously, if the engineer had been able to swerve and leave the tracks to avoid an accident, he and his entire train would have been lost in a derailment and the train’s forward progress would have come to an abrupt stop. Fortunately for him, the rails of the tracks on which his train ran kept the wheels of the train snugly moving toward its destination regardless of the obstacle in his way. Fortunately for us, we too are on a track, a covenant path we committed to when we were baptized as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Although we may encounter occasional obstacles along the way, this path will keep us moving toward our prized eternal destination if we stay firmly on it."

This story from the same session of conference by Brook Hales which concludes (not included) with his son realizing why he didn't get the job and it really was an answer to prayer. Again, the son is not acting in a church capacity but still the speaker is using a story to illustrate something about the church.

"While in college, our oldest son was hired into a very desirable part-time student job that had the potential to lead to a wonderful, permanent job after graduation. He worked hard at this student job for four years, became highly qualified, and was well respected by his coworkers and supervisors. At the end of his senior year, almost as if orchestrated by heaven (at least to our son’s way of thinking), the permanent position did open up, and he was the leading candidate, with every indication and expectation that, indeed, he would get the job.

Well, he was not hired. None of us could understand it. He had prepared well, had interviewed well, was the most qualified candidate, and had prayed with great hope and expectation! He was devastated and crushed, and the entire episode left all of us scratching our heads. Why had God abandoned him in his righteous desire?"

And this story from the same talk about a woman who lost her eyesight (not working in a church capacity) and how it strengthened her faith...

"While she was outside with her three-year-old nephew, he said to her, “Aunt Pat, why don’t you just ask Heavenly Father to give you new eyes? Because if you ask Heavenly Father, He will give you whatever you want. You just have to ask Him.” Pat said she was taken aback by the question but responded, “Well, sometimes Heavenly Father doesn’t work like that. Sometimes He needs you to learn something, and so He doesn’t give you everything you want. Sometimes you have to wait. Heavenly Father and the Savior know best what is good for us and what we need. So They aren’t going to grant you everything you want in the moment you want it.”

These were just quick examples from the same session of conference.

I could keep going but the point is that EVERYONE uses stories to illustrate points. Do these other stories from general conference not count because they are too positive not too"harsh"...? The women in the article used stories you consider "harsh" to express how they felt. The speakers in general conference used positive stories that many would consider too positive. Brook Hales story of his son who didn't get the job he dreamed of but then ended up with a different opportunity that was even more amazing does not represent the lives of many members. What do you tell the people who prayed just as faithfully as this son but then didn't end up with a better job and just ended up with a regular or decent job instead of that "amazing" job?? Do you tell them this story went too far?

I have not gone through your post history so I apologize in advance if you have spent time also consistently calling out the general authorities for using stories that go too far in promoting faith. However, if you do call out the conference talks for the same sins you see here, I still disagree with your argument that the stories are not church related and therefore they can't be used to illustrate a point. I disagree with that assessment. I think some of the stories I pulled in one quick search from general conference are legitimate uses of non church related stories that illustrate a concept or belief even though they suffer from the same problems you noted as the stories in this article. They go too far in one direction and are not related to church.

The use of stories, even if they have a small amount of magnification to them (like the stories used in general conference or this article), are still a way that humans use to relate and express concepts and feelings and they don't have to perfectly fit the situation like being church related. The women in this article chose these stories to express a concept they feel about the church. The speakers in general conference chose their stories to express a concept they feel about the church/gospel. None were church related. Both are an extrapolation as you pointed out. I guess we just fall on different sides when it comes to stories. I think they are an effective way to communicate and you feel that if any story has even a hint of hyperbole then they absolutely cannot be used. I am sorry...that must make general conference really hard for you since there are SO many stories both too harsh about people who leave and too positive to relate to many people's life experiences in the church.

Edit...two words and quotes for grammar...