Hello and welcome to Not So Molly Mormon podcast. This is Katie. It's just me today. No Sarah. We had a episode planned and actually recorded for you this week, but we ended up having some technical difficulties, and unfortunately, we're not

able to release that one this week. But I didn't want to leave you hanging. I still wanted to give

you something to listen to this week. So I thought this would be a good chance for me to read

something that a listener shared with us. This actually comes from

a listener named Sarah. There's just so many great Sarahs in the world, aren't there? So this is a

really amazing long letter from Sarah.

I think it's about 19 pages long.

So I thought I'll read a portion of it now,

and I can read a portion of it later in a follow-up episode

because it was just a little bit too long to read in a minisode.

And we hadn't gotten around to talking about it in a regular

episode. But this is a great opportunity to share that. So thanks for writing to us, Sarah. I'm just going

to jump right in and start reading this. So sit back and relax, grab a snack, and enjoy her letter.

Here we go. When you have been immersed in one particular

culture for your entire life and then one day are faced with the fact that everything you have

ever been taught, everything you have ever believed is not in fact based on reality, your life is

literally turned upside down. The entire reality you thought

you knew so well comes crumbling down around your feet and everything is left in tatters. This is what

it felt like when I left the Mormon church at age 26. Those who have also left a high demand

religious group or cult or have been through similar experiences will understand how incredibly traumatic it is to have your entire reality shatter, to the point where you no longer know for certain which way is upward down, left or right, and you're even left questioning who you are.

I have thought about sharing my story on and off over the years,

but the whole idea has always felt so overwhelming,

...