Leaving Mormonism, Part 2: Marriage, Motherhood, and Reclaiming Our Bodies

In Part 2 of our conversation on leaving Mormonism, I’m joined again by my sister, Sharon Johnson, as we go deeper into what it actually looked like to unravel our beliefs—and rebuild our lives—from the inside out.

We talk honestly about our past and present views on marriage, motherhood, and our roles as wives, and how much of who we thought we were was shaped by obedience, fear, and the constant sense of being watched… and corrected.

We share what surprised us most after leaving:

• Realizing how sacred garments kept us hidden, disconnected from our bodies, and numb to ourselves

• How we lived feeling like children who were always in trouble, never quite trusted to make our own decisions

• The deep conditioning of not trusting our own minds—because we were taught they could be hijacked and deceived

• The disorienting realization that many things we were taught were “bad”… actually aren’t bad at all

• And the strange, sometimes funny, sometimes painful experience of learning how to be normal adults—like not knowing how to act at a bar, or navigating everyday things that were once forbidden

This episode isn’t about bashing a religion. It’s about waking up. About grieving what we lost, questioning what we were taught, and slowly learning how to trust ourselves—our bodies, our instincts, our desires—again.

If you’ve ever felt disconnected from yourself, afraid of your own thoughts, or unsure how to live outside the rules you were given… this conversation is for you.

You’re not broken.
You were trained not to trust yourself.
And you can learn how to come home.