# My Name is Steve | 35 Years of Prayer Couldn’t Change Me | Leaving Mormonism & Finding Freedom

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/welcome-to-the-weekly-mormonnewsroundup-where-al-dives-ruminate-on-the-great-and-spacious-beehive-5440377/my-name-is-steve-35-years-of-prayer-couldn-t-change-me-leaving-mormonism-finding-freedom
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/welcome-to-the-weekly-mormonnewsroundup-where-al-dives-ruminate-on-the-great-and-spacious-beehive-5440377/my-name-is-steve-35-years-of-prayer-couldn-t-change-me-leaving-mormonism-finding-freedom.md
Podcast: [Welcome to the MormonNewsRoundup where Dives ruminates on the great and spacious Beehive!](https://stenobird.com/podcast/welcome-to-the-weekly-mormonnewsroundup-where-al-dives-ruminate-on-the-great-and-spacious-beehive-5440377)
Published: 2026-06-16T01:24:01+00:00
Episode link: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/mormonnewsroundup/episodes/My-Name-is-Steve--35-Years-of-Prayer-Couldnt-Change-Me--Leaving-Mormonism--Finding-Freedom-e3kr73f
Audio file: https://anchor.fm/s/8e53bf90/podcast/play/121526831/https%3A%2F%2Fd3ctxlq1ktw2nl.cloudfront.net%2Fstaging%2F2026-5-15%2F426205355-44100-2-d58d08122eb37.mp3
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Duration seconds: 531

## Resource

Steve was a sixth-generation Mormon who spent decades believing that faith, obedience, and prayer could change the deepest parts of who he was. For 35 years, he tried to live a life shaped by expectation, fear, and devotion—while quietly struggling with his identity.Everything changed after 9/11, when a moment of global shock triggered a personal crisis of belief. What followed was a rapid unraveling of every foundational assumption Steve had about the Church, his faith, and his future. In just a few hours of research, he says the entire system he had built his life on collapsed.This is Steve’s story of leaving Mormonism, rebuilding his life from the ground up, and ultimately finding peace, family, and love outside the Church. Today, he is married to his husband, co-parents a blended family of six children, and describes a life that is happier and more authentic than he ever thought possible.Steve’s journey includes his involvement in controversial LDS-era “reparative therapy” culture, his divorce and rebuilding of relationships, and his eventual transition into a life he describes as free from fear and religious constraint.He concludes with a simple statement:“My name is Steve, and I’m an Ex Mormon.”Additional Reading: https://wasmormon.org/profile/steve-lee/Original Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFLGJyXG-UQPlease consider making a donation by joining our Patreon https://www.patreon.com/MormonNewsRoundup Email: kolob@mormonnewsroundup.org Website: https://mormonnewsroundup.org/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mormonnewsroundup Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mormon_news_roundup/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100093511869924 X: https://twitter.com/NewsMormon New episodes LIVE every Sunday and Monday nights at 9:30PM ESTPlease like and…

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