In 2013, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints quietly published essays on its official website addressing its most contested historical questions — no announcement, no First Presidency letter, buried six clicks deep in their sitemap. The Book of Mormon Translation essay acknowledges what Emma Smith, Martin Harris, and David Whitmer all said: Joseph translated with a brown seer stone, with his face pressed into a hat, the plates covered with a cloth or sometimes absent entirely. This episode tracks what the church knew, when it stopped teaching it, and what it costs a truth claim when you have to redefine the word "translation" to make the method fit. Jess and Hannah cover the catalyst theory, Joseph Smith's 1826 court appearance as "the glass looker," Jeremy Runnells, and Elder Snow's inoculation framing — and what it means for every person who bore testimony of the painting version their whole lives.

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The LDS Church spent millions on "I'm a Mormon." Then called the word a victory for Satan. Now they've filed a federal lawsuit to prove it's still theirs.

We're breaking down the April 2026 federal lawsuit against Mormon Stories host John Dehlin — and why the legal story is stranger than any headline has made it sound.

What this episode covers: the "I'm a Mormon" campaign and its 2018 reversal under Russell Nelson; the trademark abandonment doctrine and why the church's own behavior is their biggest legal liability; the USPTO's rejection of a broad "Mormon" trademark in 2005; the 2026–2027 renewal window requiring proof of active commercial use; Dehlin's 21-year run under the name, his public excommunication, the failed mediation, and the consumer confusion argument. The church told members every use of the word was a gift to the adversary. Now they're in federal court saying it belongs to them. That's not just irony — that's institutional strategy.

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A Mormon faith crisis is rarely a sudden decision. It's a gradual process of discovering information the church knew and didn't share — inside a system engineered to make every question feel like a moral failure. A Mormon faith crisis is rarely sudden. It's discovering information the church knew and withheld — inside a system that makes every question feel like a moral failure.

Common triggers: the full scope of Joseph Smith's polygamy; the DNA evidence against the Book of Mormon; the Book of Abraham papyri identified as a common funeral text; the November 2015 LGBTQ policy and its 41-month reversal; the $150 billion investment portfolio. Hannah walks through Dr. Marlene Winnell's five recovery phases from Leaving the Fold — Separation, Confusion, Avoidance, Intense Mixed Feelings, and Rebuilding — nonlinear, always beginning before the previous phases are complete. In Mormon culture you don't just lose a religion. You lose your community, your identity, and a cosmology with charts and diagrams for planetary rulership. Life on the other side: you get your Sundays back, your 10% back, and eventually — the question "what do I want?" For many, that question is revolutionary.

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New episodes every Sunday at 9 AM — just in time for sacrament meeting.