As you leave Mormonism, one of the issues you will face is how people will respond to your doubts and decisions about Mormonism. Family dynamics will play an important role in how your extended family members respond to your faith transition.
After you leave Mormonism, your extended family may not seem welcoming
If most of your nieces, nephews, and cousins are under the age of eighteen, you may feel a bit shunned from your family. They want to protect their kids from your influence. As a result, you may feel a little less welcomed and invited. However, this cold shoulder might not be intentional. The reason you are not invited to certain events such as weddings and baptisms might not be to push you away, but to keep from making you attend a LDS ritual that you would not enjoy.
Your extended family might try to win you back to the faith
On the other hand, if your relatives are mostly adults, they might be more open to talking about how you came to your conclusion. However, a lot of times the reason they’re asking is to try to bring you back into the fold. A faithful person of any religion would feel an obligation to bring you back. They love and care about you and want you to be a part of their faith community. They may be interested in knowing why you left the LDS church because they want to debunk those points and show you the “truth.” Your relatives might have beliefs that they think would help bring you back. This is a very understandable reaction for them to have.
You might feel a lack of support
If you feel isolated, this might diminish your sense of support as you go through a challenging time in your life. This is a critical time full of turmoil and emotions. If your extended family is primarily LDS, they will tend to support your spouse and kids who are still members of the church. In doing so, they are unintentionally taking their side. They can identify with your active family’s struggles and want to offer their support. Instead of seeing you as the one who is experiencing the turmoil, they see you as the one causing the turmoil.
Stay strong in your new faith and find supportive people
You might have division in your family. Your family members might isolate you a little bit. They might take sides and leave you unsupported. People are going to try to bring you back into the LDS church. When these things happen it is important to maintain your own spiritual walk. As you transition out of Mormonism, you have to maintain a source of strength between you and the Lord. Keep engaging in prayer. Keep reading the Bible. The Psalms offer great comfort. This can be scary, but get involved with some community of faith. Do not think of it as putting your trust in another church and joining it, but think of it as surrounding yourself with people who know the Lord and love him. This can be your support group.
