The Dark Side of a Mormon Mission - Brinley Jensen Pt. 1 | Ep. 1680

Join John & Margi as they interview young and spunky Brinley Jensen, a Gen Z returned missionary, as she shares her experiences growing up in the Church and the consequences she's faced at various times as she's spoken up for herself and grown into the person she is.

Brinley’s Instagram:   / brinleymaej  

Episode Show Notes: https://mormonstories.org/podcast/bri...

Chapters:
00:00:00 Intro & disclaimers
00:05:00 Brinlely’s Mormon heritage & early years
00:10:30 Mother has health scare with serious miscarriage
00:12:20 Struggles with Mormon perfectionism, purity culture & constant guilt
00:36:00 Interests and testimony in High School
00:38:30 Patriarchal blessing
00:47:00 First exposure to “anti-Mormon stuff” through high school in 2019 & reaction to polygamy
00:50:00 LDS beliefs prior to mission
00:57:00 Brinley’s fears around giving birth & belief Jesus is coming soon, “last days”
01:03:00 Mission call in January 2020, to Orlando Florida, COVID MTC & depression
01:09:30 Brinley’s mission experiences with sexism & racism on her mission.
01:59:00 Unethical mental health treatment from Mission therapist.
02:04:00 Brinley realizes she doesn’t believe anymore but decides to double-down on “repentance”
02:11:00 Things get worse and Brinley becomes suicidal. Her Mission President ignores her emails until things come to a head.
02:33:00 Returning home early from mission
02:35:00 Mormon missions breed anxiety, depression, and suicidality. Systemic crisis.
02:44:00 Brinley feels her mental health struggles were used to “put on a show” instead of being empathetic during her Homecoming talk..
02:48:00 Brinley faces even more pressure to be faithful after having come home early from the Church. It’s never enough
02:55:00 Brinley’s advice or perspective for current or future Mormon missionaries.
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Mormon Stories Podcast is the longest-running and most successful podcast in Mormonism - hosted by Dr. John Dehlin. At Mormon Stories we explore, celebrate, and challenge Mormon culture through in-depth stories told by members and former members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We also occasionally interview scholars, authors, LDS apologists, and other professionals. Our overall mission is to: 1) Facilitate informed consent amongst LDS Church members, investigators, and non-members regarding Mormon history, doctrine, and theology, 2) Support Mormons (and members of other high-demand religions) who are experiencing a religious faith crisis, and 3) Promote healing, growth and community for those who choose to leave the LDS Church or other high demand religions.

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