Love Is Most Important

Ken and RuthAnn Sullivan are the wonderful parents of five children and were highly active in the church until recently discovering troubling information that led to a crisis of faith and a very interesting meeting with a General Authority. The family resigned from the church soon thereafter, which surprised many people who expected them to be called to preside over a mission. This caused much heartache and disappointment as family members and friends looked at them with critical eyes and negativity. However, through their experience, the Sullivans learned that loving relationships are more important than the ideologies and beliefs that divide families and friendships. They are positive examples of how to re-evaluate one’s core values at the center of daily life and moving forward with optimism, love, and kindness.

The Sullivan’s inspiring and humble talk, entitled “Love Is Most Important,” is something which every bishop, stake president, mormon, and post mormon in the world should watch. The Sullivans describe their experience in a way that is safe for all people to watch, without detailing any of the troubling issues, but instead by focusing on the importance of maintaining loving relationships with family members and friends regardless of anyone’s beliefs or stance regarding mormonism. The video is well worth the time to watch considering the bridges of understanding and goodwill that it builds. The Q&A at the end is also particularly insightful.

 

It is the Sullivans’ sincere desire that all people would continue to cultivate relationships of love and respect for one another. As they state in their talk:

Love above ideology.

Relationships above theology.

Human connection above belief.

Love is a verb, an action, which means demonstrating understanding and compassion toward all those with whom we associate—regardless of anyone’s particular beliefs or ideologies. It means placing the virtue of kindness above our differences and being true and genuine friends to one another without judgment and without reservation. Only when we make our relationships a higher priority than our beliefs will love reign supreme in our neighborhoods, in our homes, and in our hearts.

The Sullivans’ website can be found here: http://www.linkingarms.org

The troubling information they discovered is summarized here.

Related Link: The Truth Awakening of a General Authority

Related Link: Four Essentials for Accepting Truth

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The Church’s Essays on LDS.org

Starting in late 2013, the Church began to publish essays on LDS.org that confirm many of the troubling issues found in Mormonism. These essays discuss controversial events or topics that hadn’t previously been addressed by the governing body of the church, including the ban that prevented blacks from receiving the priesthood or entering the temples, the Book of Mormon translation and DNA research, and the Book of Abraham translation. The efforts to be more open with the complete history of the Church will lead to a better understanding of the founding events for both believers and investigators.

Although the essays contain information and footnotes that may be viewed as “spinning the story” in favor of the church, many view these essays as baby steps in the right direction toward transparency and truthfulness toward church members. These essays also help the church protect itself from litigation lest discouraged members ever attempt to sue to church for fraud or non-disclosure of the facts, as was the case with Stake President Tom Phillips, who filed for a hearing in 2013 after discovering troubling information about the Church that had never been disclosed to him before and which made the church’s truth claims much less believable.

Many of the essays are buried deep within LDS.org and are difficult to the find. The following resource provides links directly to the essays to make it easier for those who wish to find them:

http://mormonessays.com/how-to-find-on-lds-dot-org/

Frequently Asked Questions

One of my goals is to do anything I can to help those going through the pain of a truth awakening. Therefore, here are some of the frequently asked questions I receive through the contact form, and some of the answers I have given. I hope this will be helpful to anyone with similar questions.

Gentle Awakening Now Available in Downloadable PDF

Many people have requested that the Gentle Awakening Presentation Series be made available in an easy to access, single PDF file, similar to the CES Letter. The merged presentations are available in a single PDF file here:

Gentle Awakening – Summary of Major LDS Church Concerns [14 MB]

A high-resolution version is also available:

Gentle Awakening – Summary of Major LDS Church Concerns [High Res] [200 MB]

The Truth Awakening of a General Authority: Elder Hans H. Mattsson

Hans H. Mattsson is a member of the Seventy who left the church after discovering troubling information regarding the church’s foundational truth claims. He is a 3rd generation church member from Sweden who served as a bishop and stake president in Sweden before serving as a Seventy from 2000-2005 in the Europe Central area under Apostle L. Tom Perry. Those who are navigating their own truth awakenings may find listening to his experience helpful and may glean inspiration and valuable insights for their own journeys.

In the following segment, you can listen to Elder Mattsson discuss his faith crisis on Mormon Stories:

In the next segment below, you can listen to Elder Mattsson’s thoughts and feelings about the church today:

To view Elder Mattsson’s New York Times interview, click this link.

The troubling information that Elder Mattsson discovered is summarized in Parts 2-3 of the Gentle Awakening Presentation Series.

Link: Gentle Awakening Presentation Series

What to Believe Now?

Since launching this site a couple of months ago, I have been inspired by hundreds of emails from others going through similar experiences, sharing their stories, support, and appreciation through the contact form. As I have read your accounts, my heart has reached out to you during these difficult and painful periods of faith transition and truth awakening. One of the most frequently asked questions in these emails is something along the lines of “where do I go from here?” or “what is the real truth?” or “what do I believe now?” We will explore this important question in the following post.

Four Essentials for Accepting Truth

How do we accept the truth? What ingredients are necessary for a person to change their most treasured beliefs if these beliefs are actually erroneous? Here we will review the “four essentials” for accepting truth. All four of these qualities are indispensable. If even one is missing or lacking, it will be extremely difficult for a person to accept and embrace reality. Let us review each one in turn: