In February 2015 a small Facebook group of former Mormons was asked, “What is the #1 or main reason you left the LDS Church? What started your journey out of Mormonism?” This is what they said:

“Discovering that it was false. I actually watched a speech by Lyndon Lamborn which opened my eyes.”

“Going to BYU, and then my bishop dad excommunicated my brother,…the Mormon church has torn my family apart.”

“I missed Jesus and knew I had journeyed far away from Him.”

“Research on [Joseph Smith], and his occult gnostic activity and involvement.”

“Started watching Mormon to Christian videos on YouTube, couldn’t fathom how they came out of the Church and had a greater faith in Jesus.”

“It was the old testament for me.”

“My [husband] started watching this Christian pastor on TV…”

“The lies I found out that [Joseph Smith] told…especially the one where he said that he had done more than Jesus Christ himself!”

“It was realizing that becoming a God and Goddess of our own worlds meant having multiple gods!”

“There were a few [Bible passages and Mormon teachings], while still LDS, that didn’t make sense… [and] Finding out about [Joseph Smith’s] polygamy (and polyandry).”

“Found the BIBLE IS TRUE.”

“Reading the New Testament was a game changer for me. It put me in the awkward position of having to choose the teachings of Joseph or Jesus.”

“It all started for me when my wife started watching Doris Hanson… The one thing that really got me was Joseph Smith’s boast. After I read it in History of the Church I was out.”

“The Bible–I finally (after a LOT of time) saw that it and what Mormonism taught contradicted each other.”

“I ran from the LDS church convinced I was not worthy to be a member, since I could not gain a testimony of the deeper doctrines…”

“It was a long process that started after I attended their temple. My gut kept telling me it was not from God…”

“One big speed bump: Sir Alan Gardiner’s classic text Egyptian Grammar.”

“What started my journey out of the LDS church was going through the temple…I was so confused…I had a bad feeling in the temple.”

Though this is certainly not a scientific study, a common thread that runs through many of these responses is a personal hunger for God and His truth. While still Mormons, these people wanted to be closer to Jesus–they “missed Jesus” and they discovered ex-Mormons “had a greater faith in Jesus.” These people wanted to be loyal to Christ–they were deeply troubled by Joseph Smith’s boasting that “he had done more than Jesus Christ himself!” and they were compelled to “choose the teachings of Joseph [or] Jesus.” These people saw the truth in God’s Word–they “discovered the Bible is true,” and they realized that “the Bible…and what Mormonism taught contradicted each other.” These people longed for God, but they couldn’t find Him in the Mormon temple—after they experienced the temple they “had a bad feeling” and “knew it wasn’t from God.”

When engaging in evangelizing Mormons we often ask, “If the Mormon Church wasn’t true, would you want to know?” It’s a sad reality that many Mormons do not want to know. But the former Mormons quoted above did want to know, and they had the courage to seek and find the truth (Luke 11:9).

Why? Why did it really matter to them? Why not focus on all the good cultural things that Mormonism has to offer and leave the rest alone? In the words of another former Mormon from the Facebook thread:

“[My husband] found God in the pages of the Psalms and recognized his need for a Savior was not being met by the LDS Church. No matter how faithful he was to the Church’s teaching, he knew it was not transforming his inner sinful self. He was still a sinner until Psalms showed him why and who could save him forever.”

This is why. Everybody needs a Savior, and there is but One who can transform our sinful selves into something beautiful. Only One can forgive our sins. Only One can cleanse us. Only One can make us “alive in Christ.” And that One is not found in Mormonism. Yet, amazingly, Jesus stands at the door and knocks, willing to receive all who abandon false beliefs, false prophets, and false gods as they turn to Him (1 John 1:9, 2:1).

May God grant you, Mormon friends, the courage it takes to seek Him.

“As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God.”
–Psalm 42:1