I left the church for a lot of different reasons, but the main reason was the relentless bullying by the other youth in the church. I was an odd, bookish kid (surprise!) who already asked too many questions in Sunday School, but still had friends in the church. Then I turned twelve and started attending Young Women and the bullying started.

My first day in Young Women, I was so excited and proud. We stood up to sing our hymn and when we went to sit down someone pulled a chair out from under me and I broke my tailbone. It was humiliating to say the least. There were no repercussions for the girl who did it. I was instructed to pray about it and forgive.

This went on for four more years. I was forced to socialize with these kids daily. I was ignored or bullied. Broken noses during volleyball games, cruel comments about my style or interests, all the regular mean girl stuff. No adult ever stepped in. I was just told to pray. By this point I had figured out the whole religion was an elaborate hoax by a fella who wanted to bang some underage girls and left the church for good.

I still struggle with my self esteem, the damage could not be prayed away. I have had my name removed from the records of the church with a no contact order so the missionaries no longer harass me, but I feel sick every time I have to make believe I reapect the church for the sake of my devout mother, who I absolutely adore.

In my experience, Mormons are not kind or Christ like, thay are manipulative hate mongers who discourage any independent thought. It was a rough way to grow up, and I am grateful every day that it's over.