I was adopted by the Smith family at birth. I am related to Hyrum Smith, Joseph Smith's brother, as well as Heber J. Grant. Obviously growing up in the family, we learned a lot about the Church as well as family history.
We had to be the "perfect mormons" and I was up until my 8th birthday. I did get baptized in the old conference center in Temple Square, but that day was the day that I knew that the Church was wrong. What happened was I stepped in the water and it felt like boiling acid on my skin! It hurt even more when I was dunked. When I got home, I started asking questions. My parents tried to make me forget about it by saying it was in my head or that it was the devil tempting me. So I went on believing the lies.
I used to tell my parents that they only adopted me, but I am not a Smith. My mom said that I am still a Smith. Although my skin is different, my blood is the same. She said when I got sealed to them, God changed my blood to be the same as theirs. I then started studying how DNA and blood works.
One family reunion, when I was 17, I saw a symbol in one of the pictures. My family said it's the family crest. Well I decided to look into a bit more. It was a symbol used by Free Masons and it was a high ranking symbol. I looked into Free Masonry just to find out that they are basically Satanists.
I started reading the Bible and the Book of Mormon side by side. The Book of Mormon was largely a plagiarized copy of the Bible.
At 18 I stopped going to church and started doing drugs. Last October I came to Arizona for rehab where I was introduced to Christianity and I came to find God. It was amazing! My family still tries to get me to go back, but God is helping me stay strong in my faith for the first time in my life. I have been redeemed from drugs, rape, molestation, abuse and many other things, because God has better plans for my life. He just needed me to be close to him. So I am proud to say that I am a grateful believer in Christ, a new believer in God, who has been freed from so many things. Most of all, I am a Christian in recovery from Mormonism.
Shareen Smith
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