In this emotional and deeply honest episode, Eve and her parents, Neal and Christa, share their powerful story of faith, devotion, awakening, and transformation. Raised in a multi-generational Mormon household, Eve and her family lived and breathed the teachings of the LDS Church—until the cracks began to show. From Neal’s time as a bishop and Christa’s strong belief in Mormon womanhood, to Eve’s mission and eventual faith transition, this conversation explores: The impact of religious upbringing and cultural expectations The emotional toll of unaddressed questions and historical issues How Gospel Topics Essays, polyandry, and the church’s lack of transparency triggered a faith crisis Eve’s pivotal role in helping her parents deconstruct their beliefs The cost—and freedom—of walking away Heartfelt, raw, and eye-opening, this interview shines a light on the complexity of leaving a high-demand religion and finding connection, purpose, and joy on the other side. Show Notes: Timecodes: 00:00:00 Introduction 00:07:08 Neal’s upbringing, parents joined the church when he was three 00:23:13 Christa’s Mormon upbringing 00:35:31 Courtship and falling in love, etc. They knew each other for years before they dated 00:40:19 The balance between education for women and being a stay at home mom 00:59:25 Eve graduating High School, going to BYU, and serving a mission 01:05:55 How intense their lives got in Mormonism when Eve was on her mission? 01:19:55 Old school Mormonism is that they ask us to do hard and even impossible things 01:26:20 When did cracks in her testimony start to form for Eve? 01:59:55 How much of Eve was still a believing Mormon? 80% believing 02:02:15 What Eve did after the interview 02:10:10 How did they react to Carah and John when they shared the information? 02:15:30 They felt comfortable with how John and Carah treated Eve 02:17:00 To what degree is the Gospel Topics Essays were buried in the website 02:36:35 Why is the Mormon church’s history important? 02:44:14 Eve’s experience on her parents deconstructing 02:46:35 Mormon Spectrum.org Map of Post Mormon community 02:55:50 The study in 2013 on why people leave the church 03:00:15 “I’m the lost sheep and they’ve got nothing for me” 3:10:13 Neal felt so disappointed in the church, “the top levels are botching this” 03:15:10 Asking the church and the leaders to answer the hard questions 03:16:30 Financial aspect of the Mormon church 03:27:55 How has it been seeing the big Mormon dream take a turn? 03:33:00 It is difficult to leave the Mormon church gracefully 03:44:20 The benefits on being on this side of their faith journey 03:44:45 Final thoughts from Eve 03:53:10 Neal feels so much less guilt than in the church ___________________ At Mormon Stories we explore, celebrate, and challenge Mormon culture through in-depth stories told by members and former members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as well as scholars, authors, LDS apologists, and other professionals. Our overall mission is to: 1. Facilitate informed consent amongst LDS Church members, investigators, and non-members regarding Mormon history, doctrine, and theology 2. Support Mormons (and members of other high-demand religions) who are experiencing a religious faith crisis 3. Promote healing, growth and community for those who choose to leave the LDS Church or other high demand religions 🤝Help us continue to deliver quality content by becoming a donor today One-time or recurring donations: https://donorbox.org/mormon-stories?default_interval=m Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/mormonstories Venmo: https://account.venmo.com/u/mormonstories Paypal: https://paypal.me/mormonstories Join this channel to get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCx6OgmoqJbOVRq-Lv1P7SzA/join Our Platforms: 🌐Mormon Stories Blog: https://www.mormonstories.org/episodes 🎙️Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/mormonstories ✳️Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4sDzk7dRjODTSEqzZKZJzk?si=148b0efc1ccc4404&nd=1 🍎Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mormon-stories-lds/id312094772 🖼️Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mormstories 📱TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mormonstoriespodcast 🎮Discord: https://discord.com/invite/kuX5p6yyjF Contact us: 📧 MormonStories@gmail.com 📬PO Box 171085, Salt Lake City, UT 84117