Embracing our journey means accepting that every individual’s path is different. While some Latter-day Saint women think about why they stay, others will be thinking about why they make the choice not to. In Episode 153, two women who found stepping away from church engagement to be the right choice for them share their personal stories. It’s a conversation about why leaving is not as easy as some members may think, and why staying is not always the best option.

Notes & Quotes:
A Mother There: A Survey of Historical Teachings about Mother in Heaven, by David L. Paulsen & Martin Pulido, BYU Studies
I’m Not a Mother, but I’m Enough | A Conversation with Cristall Harper, ALSSI podcast, Ep. 77
Come, Join With Us, by Dieter F. Uchtdorf, October 2013
The Largest and Fastest Religious Shift in America is Well Underway, by Jessica Grose, New York Times, 6/21/2023


“Be spiritually independent enough that your relationship with the Savior doesn’t depend on your circumstances or on what other people say and do. Have the spiritual independence to be a Mormon–the best Mormon you can–in your own way. Not the bishop’s way. Not the Relief Society president’s way. Your way.”― Chieko N. Okazaki, Lighten Up

“As a general rule, I would say that human beings never behave more badly toward one another than when they believe they are protecting God.” ― Barbara Brown Taylor, Leaving Church: A Memoir of Faith