Letter For My Wife Podcast

You can read Letter For My Wife along with visuals at LetterForMyWife.com.

You can read Letter For My Wife along with visuals at LetterForMyWife.com.

You can read Letter For My Wife along with visuals at LetterForMyWife.com.

You can read Letter For My Wife along with visuals at LetterForMyWife.com.

You can read Letter For My Wife along with visuals at LetterForMyWife.com.

You can read Letter For My Wife along with visuals at LetterForMyWife.com.

You can read Letter For My Wife along with visuals at LetterForMyWife.com.

You can read Letter For My Wife along with visuals at LetterForMyWife.com.

You can read Letter For My Wife along with visuals at LetterForMyWife.com.

Church Historian, Elder Steven E. Snow, was interviewed by BYU’s Religious Educator program about the Church’s recent increasing openness with regard to history. He stated,

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“My view is that being open about our history solves a whole lot more problems than it creates. We might not have all the answers, but if we are open – and we now have pretty remarkable transparency – then I think in the long run that will serve us well. I think in the past there was a tendency to keep a lot of the records closed or at least not give access to information. But the world has changed in the last generation—with the access to information on the Internet, we can’t continue that pattern; I think we need to continue to be more open.”

Steven E. Snow – Start With Faith: A Conversation with
Elder Steven E.Snow, Religious Educator 14, no.3

What pattern can’t they continue? During an interview with BYU Professor of History, D Michael Quinn, Elder Boyd K. Packer stated,

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“I have a hard time with historians because they idolize the truth. The truth is not uplifting; it destroys…Historians should tell only that part of the truth that is inspiring and uplifting.”

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Boyd K. Packer  – D. Michael Quinn, Pillars of  My  Faith,
Symposium, Salt Lake City, August 19, 1994

Elder Packer counsels that not all truth should be shared, but what determines which should be shared and which should be censored? At what point do partial truths become lies? Elder Packer’s caution and Elder Snow’s reveal shows that the brethren have regularly suppressed information about the Church’s troublesome history. Yet now they see the need to finally be truthful due to the Internet’s free flow of information. I feel that a true church should not have a troublesome past to hide and be open to full disclosure if there is any.

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Let’s take a closer look at what Elder Snow says have been kept closed all these years.

My Love,

I am writing this letter to explain in detail how I came to the conclusion that the Church is not all it claims to be. I long for your understanding and support. You are my whole world.

I have been known to get intellectually excited about various subjects on occasion. I tend to investigate every piece of information and exhaust all resources to satisfy my curiosity. One day I came across an Ensign article discussing the new Joseph Smith Papers project that caused my curiosity to extend into Church history. I soon became captivated. I began reading every Church-approved historical resource I could find. I pored over Joseph Smith’s journals, the Journal of Discourses, The History of the Church and early Mormon periodicals. It was all so fascinating. My intent was to learn more about the history and to strengthen my testimony, but every so often I would run across well-known events that did not match the narrative I was taught growing up in the Church. This letter is a collection of these events and other inconsistencies.

I would like to address something before you continue reading. Much of this information will be new to you, it was to me. It may feel uncomfortable learning things we were never taught in church. We have been told that this feeling is the Spirit warning us; but please consider that any information that seriously challenges our worldview will make us feel this way. My only request is that you read this with an open mind about the possibility that anything is possible in this crazy world.

Letter For My Wife is a letter written by an ex-Mormon to, you guest it, his Mormon wife explaining why he can no longer believe in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints more commonly known as the Mormon Church or LDS Church. The letter is about book length but you can find it in its entirety at LetterForMyWife.com. Many volunteers came together to produce an audio version. It is a few minutes shy of five hours long. It can also be found at LetterForMyWife.com, but some would find it easier if it were available as a podcast. It sounded like a demand I could fill, so I here we are.