8 May 2025 06:00
Our Adult Mormon Daughter Lost Her Faith! w/ Neal & Christa Rackleff | Ep. 2018
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.
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
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