epilogue epilogue 132 You probably have a lot of questions. Here is where you can quickly find answers: CHURCH ESSAYS: To view a list of each one of the official Church essays on lds.org verifying many of the main facts in the CES Letter, please visit: cesletter.org/essays FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS: For answers to the most common questions, please visit: cesletter.org/faq RESOURCES: For links to other resources – both pro-LDS and critical – please visit: cesletter.org/resources COMMON ATTACKS AGAINST CES LETTER AND JEREMY RUNNELLS: For common attacks and lies about CES Letter and Jeremy Runnells, please visit: CESLETTER.ORG/COMMON-ATTACKS JEREMY’S DEBUNKING OF MORMON APOLOGETIC ATTACKS: To read Jeremy’s responses to unofficial Mormon apologetic attacks and claims, please visit: cesletter.org/DEBUNKING JEREMY’S MORMON STORIES INTERVIEW: To learn more about Jeremy and his story, please visit: CESLETTER.ORG/INTERVIEW 133 The most common question that Jeremy gets asked from CES Letter readers is: “Now What?” “What do I do with this information?” “How do I tell my spouse? My children? My family?” “What would you do if you were in my shoes?” “I’m scared…I don’t know what to think or do.” In response to the growing need for a quality manual to help guide individuals and families through this critically important and dangerous – but liberating – time, Jeremy has written Now What?: Navigating Life After the Shelf Breaks. Having the advantage of both personal experience as well as the experiences of thousands of others who likewise have gone through the same process, Jeremy is in the unique position to not only help but to guide and coach individuals into answering this very important question for themselves. Now What? will give you the information and tools you need to help you avoid the common pitfalls and mistakes made by so many after they’ve awakened to the LDS Church’s truth crisis. The goal is not just healing but growth beyond. For more information, please visit: NowWhatBook.com 134 CES Letter Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to liberating and empowering doubting, unorthodox, and disaffected Mormon individuals, marriages, and families through knowledge and resources. It takes a tremendous amount of time and effort to provide and maintain effective life-changing information and resources. Your support will allow us to continue to help the honest-in-heart seekers of truth find the knowledge and resources they need to pick up the pieces and to lay a solid foundation of healing and growth for themselves and their families. If CES Letter, Debunking FairMormon, etc. have added value to your life, please consider paying it forward by making a tax deductible charitable donation to the CES Letter Foundation today. cesletter.org/donate 135 Born and raised in Southern California, Jeremy Runnells was a seventh generation Mormon of Pioneer heritage who reached every Mormon youth milestone. An Eagle Scout, Returned Missionary, BYU alumnus, Jeremy was married in the San Diego Temple with expectations and plans of living Mormonism for the rest of his life. In February 2012, Jeremy experienced an awakening to the LDS Church’s truth crisis, which subsequently led to a faith transition that summer. In the spring of 2013, Jeremy was approached and asked by a CES Director to share his concerns and questions about the LDS Church’s origins, history, and current practices. In response, Jeremy wrote what later became virally known as the CES Letter (originally titled Letter to a CES Director). The CES Director responded that he read the “very well-written” letter and that he would provide Jeremy with a response. Unfortunately, no response ever came. In the spring of 2016, after years of silence and refusal to answer his sincere questions, the LDS Church attempted to excommunicate Jeremy for “apostasy.” Disgusted with the LDS Church’s attempt to smear his name while still refusing to answer questions, Jeremy reclaimed his own power and authority during the kangaroo court by excommunicating the LDS Church from his life (resignation). This is all recorded and documented and can be found at www.cesletter.org/resign To learn more about Jeremy’s story and journey: www.cesletter.org/interview "I believe that members and investigators deserve to have all of the information on the table, to be able to make a fully-informed and balanced decision as to whether or not they want to commit their hearts, minds, time, talents, income, and lives to Mormonism." ABOUT THE AUTHOR CES Letter is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. You may share, distribute, alter, and build upon this work so long as you respect the following: • Do not put “Jeremy Runnells” or “CES Letter” or “Letter to a CES Director” in your new work or imply that the above support or endorse your new work in any way. The only authorized use of the above names in your work is for attribution purposes. • Do not use “CES Letter” or “Letter to a CES Director” or imply that your work is a prequel or sequel to the CES Letter (example: CES Letter – Part 2) in your new work. • Do not use the CES Letter book cover (or imitation of it) or branding or brand colors. • Do not sell, print, or offer existing CES Letter or your new work for profit or commercial purposes. • Do not set up or offer CES Letter for mass print on print-on-demand services or publishers. • Attribute all materials and art in CES Letter to its respective owners and sources. FAIR USE: CES Letter may contain copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. CES Letter Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit entity, is making such material available in an effort to advance understanding of human rights, social justice, scientific, and religious issues. CES Letter is a Creative Commons work – available for free in the public domain – of criticism, commentary, research and nonprofit education and thus constitutes a ‘Fair Use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided in the United States Copyright Act of 1976, 17 U.S.C. § 107. DISCLAIMER: The information contained in CES Letter is for educational purposes only. The author and CES Letter Foundation are in no way liable or responsible for the information or consequences that may arise from learning said information contained in CES Letter. While we have done everything in our power to ensure that the information is completely accurate and up-to-date, any reliance you place on such information alone is therefore strictly at your own risk. CES Letter should be viewed as an introduction to the issues and thus we strongly recommend that you do your own due diligence and research to confirm the facts by using both LDS/pro-LDS and critical sources to ensure accuracy and balance. Additional pro-LDS and critical resources and links can be found at www.cesletter.org/resources. COVER DESIGN: Craig Keeling, craigkeeling.com Book Design: Craig Bishop, rcraigbishop.com