do you know any who have left the church for intellectual reasons and have come back?

You can solidly count me in that category. And I can answer your query very simply, in a manner that people leaving the church for intellectual reasons rarely fully consider as they go through their issues and leave. The answer as to why I came back can be summed up in two words: infidelity and divorce. I had been home off my mission ten years, married in the temple and three kids. I was serving as a ward clerk. Started questioning everything when the internet became a household item back in the mid-90's and I started reading all sorts of exmo stuff. Lost my testimony, hung on for a while, and then fully left. Didn't go to church for seven years. The ordeal put my TBM wife and kids through hell. Guess what happened? She wound up so isolated from me and was so stressed about it, she wound up giving up herself. She had two affairs, was excommunicated and left me. This hit me like a ton of bricks and I ran as fast as I could back to church, repented, and have been a solid and happy member ever since. But I lost my family in the process, aiding my ex-wife, at least in part, in her excommunication from the church. She has never returned.

If someone would have been able to tell me what was going to happen when I left, no exmo / intellectual issue would have ever been able to put a dent in me. In fact, I had a "friend" who helped me leave, and if I ever saw him again I am sure I would punch him in the mouth before ever saying a word to him. Married w/ children Mormon spouses who choose to leave the church are selfish idiots, trumping their intellect over their family. It is narcissistic, modern-day idolatry. And the funny thing is - they rarely stop to consider that aspect. That's my story, and I hope to see you in Sacrament meeting sometime soon. :)

/r/latterdaysaints Thread