A Brief Hiatus

A few months back my wife decided she had had enough of the LDS Church's policies and treatment of the marginalized. She signed a letter requesting her membership be removed from Church records. The process was smooth and in eight days she had her letter confirming the change. While I understand my wife's frustration and respect her response, I have not decided to take the same path. I am still a member of the Church and plan to keep it that way. The whys and wherefores of my decision are not, however, the objective of this post.

As you may perhaps imagine, this has the potential for becoming quite a mess for our family. So far, however, we have been able to navigate this shift in our marriage dynamic without serious difficulty. I grew up in a home where my parents love each other dearly. While they were both raised in devout LDS homes, they hold radically different opinions about the Church and the role they wanted it to play in their lives. So I have a good example of how this new-to-us challenge can be worked out.

As we work out the new roles we will play in this relationship, please be patient with how I proceed with this blog. Just sitting down to write or research Mormon history has been an emotional roller coaster. Needless to say, I haven't got much done in the last two months. But I do enjoy and plan to continue my work in Tennessee Mormon History.

I am looking forward to the 2016 MHA conference at Snowbird in five weeks. I can only make it to part of the conference. I have to leave mid-day Saturday since I am expected at a wedding in Virginia. But I will be in Utah Thursday, Friday, and Saturday morning. Please let me know if any of you are going to be there. I'd like to say hello.