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Were You Ever A Less-active Mormon?

Were You Ever Less-Active?

To qualify 'Less Active' we can define it as deliberately staying away from Church for an extended period of time. If you have ever been Less Active you may wish to add what caused it (Without going into specifics) and what influenced your return to activity. If you are still Less Active you can add what is delaying your return.

Mormon Less-active Ever Were

Less active is an understatement for what I was. I got involved with a girl, when I was 19. Too involved.

I stayed away from church for almost a year. Then I was excommunicated. I stayed away for a couple more years. Finally, I realized that I needed to get my life in order, so I started doing that. Before too long, in direct answer to prayers, I met the woman who was to become my wife. Without her, I don't think I could have stayed away from alcohol long enough to break the habit, nor from tobacco. I still find myself intensely craving both of those things.

Four months after our marriage, her dad rebaptized me.

Were You Ever A Less-active Mormon? Studies Doctrine Mormon

I grew up Jewish, joined the church at 21, am now 57. Until eight years ago, I was utterly, continuously depressed, from shortly before I joined. I would attend for several months, hate it and drop out for several months, hate that MORE, return, and repeat the cycle. My longest period of inactivity was 1-2 years, just before my marriage ended. It ended, I found the right medication, and HERE I AM. My racing thoughts disappeared, I was able to get something out of church and feel the Spirit, and became able to enjoy being there. But don't have any illusions: my life is still very hard (my Patriarchal Blessing said it would be). Food for thought: look in one of the last sections in the D&C (it might be 133), wherein are listed a number of things that will occur just before the Millenium. One phrase in there is, "and the Jews, after their pain..."; I've wondered if that has been part of my inheritance.

Mormon Less-active Ever Were

Less Active? That's kind of a euphemism, isn't it? I wasn't just "less active," I was "Inactive" -- I had stopped going to church altogether after my husband left me for another woman, and I lived a completely different lifestyle for many years. I slid into the pit, the abyss of despair. I was never excommunicated, although I wonder at times if I should have been. I don't know the conditions for that, but it's irrelevant now.

It took some serious life issues, I mean I had to really hit bottom, before I came to realize that I needed to make some changes. It was a huge struggle, but I'm so grateful to have made it over the lip of the abyss to life and happiness.

Mormon Less-active Ever Were

I think the term inactive best describes me. I know the new Church correct term in less active, but lets face it, some are more than less active, but truly inactive. That was me for 12 1/2 years.

For me it was probably that I never truly had a strong testimony to begin with. I joined the Church as 21 and just kind of went with the flow. As I began to follow more and more of the precepts and teachings I found it too restrictive. This, because I didn't have a testimony of its truths.

I believe my period of inactivity has helped me be an even stronger active member today than I might have been otherwise. When I returned to activity, it was a conscious act I made fully aware of what the requirements would be. However, I also made it fully aware it was what my Father in Heaven wanted from me. My reactivation process truly grew my testimony. Of course, I am responsible for maintaing that testimony, but its strength began as the Spirit led me back where I belong.

Were You Ever A Less-active Mormon?

I'm a life long member and have never been inactive. There have been a few times where I was required to work on Sundays and could not attend meetings, never more than about 4 consecutive months. But that is not a deliberate choice, I had no choice. I can't imagine going back to working on Sundays now. It would seem strange not to be there. But it is amazing how easy it was to accept that role and get out of the habit of church attendance and association.

Were Ever Less-active Mormon

I went through a period of about a year of 'less' activity. I don't think that I quite qualified as inactive, because I did continue to attend church, along with my family. However, it was not at our home church, but out of our ward boundaries where we attended. I went to church most of the time, but I became lazy and a bit rebellious about keeping the commandments. I definitely was not living my life as best as I could and as I should have been. I felt a separation from God and a loss of some of the promptings and feelings from the Holy Ghost because of my choices. Pride, emotional pain, and a lack of faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ is what led to my attendance in another ward. As a result of my poor decisions, I only brought consequences to myself and my family. I grew further and further away from the church as a result of the feelings that I could not let go of, along with the terrible guilt I felt for deciding, along with my husband, to take our family away from our home ward, against the church's position on that, and force our children to go to a different ward.

It, too, took for me to hit 'bottom' to stir up enough sorrow to seek to try and repent. It took a lot of work and effort to regain the blessings that I felt before, as a member of the church, when I was striving to do what was 'right' and improve myself. The thing that most influenced me to return to full activity was determining to focus on the welfare of my family again, and not on my personal feelings. I learned (as sometimes I have had to with other things) the hard way why the brethren give us the counsel that they do. I have a testimony now of the importance for me, and my family, to attend church at our designated ward. I am not condemning anyone else who does not attend church at their own ward within the boundaries of where they live. Just that for me, it is not worth risking the same consequences to follow what I want to do rather than praying about it, listening to the Spirit, and doing what I have been advised to do by those in authority and stewardship over me.

Offtopic but, I really appreciate all of you sharing your experiences here.

Were Ever Less-active Mormon Mormon Doctrine Studies

I was inactive for at less 25 years. All because I got disfollowshiped in 1982 which lasted for 6 years. So I took my name off the recodes until 1992 when I got rebaptized. 7 years later I married to a member who after a while told me that I can go back to church but don't come home because you wont have one to come to so I stayed away until I got divorced in December 2004.

It was very hard think to do after doing two mission,s one a building just 8 after joining the church 15 months in and I am in the filed full time and having been to the Temple. I have been back to church full time since the being of 2005.

On a more happier note I would like to share with you what has taken place since I have been back. April last year on a LDS site I meat my wife to be. It has taken all these years for me to know what they mean be eternal happens. So now I am on the move to U.S ... I have never been more happier then I am now.

But what is really important here is the fact that every time I would be singing a country song the next thing I knew was I was singing a hymn. I would think back to my church life and I could dey any of that and it was thous years that I known it was time to come.

Message Edited! Persephone: Please use the Spell Checker before posting.