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August 9, 2012

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President, XXXXXXXXXXXX Stake

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

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Dear Mr. XXXX:

It was a pleasure to meet you last night, and I appreciate your sincere concern for the welfare of my family that motivated your visit. This is the first time that my humble home has been visited by a stake presidency. There was a time that I would have been greatly honored by your visit, and I still appreciate the concern that you showed.

I have enclosed a transcript of a letter that I sent to your predecessor. I understand that, in the change of leadership, this message may not have been communicated, so for your convenience I am forwarding it and reiterating that the situation it describes remains essentially unchanged.

I hope you can appreciate, in light of this letter, the difficult position your unannounced visit put me in last night. I felt torn between on the one hand my sense of hospitality and not wanting to offend my wife's religious leaders but on the other hand enforcing the understanding I had with Mr. XXXXXXXX.

If you are interested in getting to know me better and understanding why I left Mormonism, I invite you to read my story which is publicly available at the following website:

http://www.blakeclan.org/jon/greenoasis/

Perhaps this will help you understand why so many are leaving your church. Here are a few more that may shed further light:

http://www.mormonthink.com/

http://www.whywontgodhealamputees.com/

http://www.ebonmusings.org/atheism/

I still bear members of your church no ill will. If anything, I still feel the obligation mentioned in D&C 88:81 to warn my neighbors about the things that I have learned. However, I understand that most are not interested. Would you want to know if LDS church teachings were not true? I try not to intrude on their beliefs uninvited though sometimes I find it hard to refrain because of my concern for their welfare. I am sure you can sympathize.

I believe Neal Maxwell in his book All These Things Shall Give Thee Experience coined the phrase "defectors leave the Church, but they cannot leave it alone." (p. 108) Given your visit last night to someone who has requested not to be contacted, I am sure you can see the irony in that statement. It seems that neither of us finds it easy to leave the other alone.

If church leaders were to stop by for another visit, I would expect this time that we would all be able to speak freely. Even though we would all be motivated by compassion, this has usually led in my experience to confrontation because of how passionate we are about our respective beliefs. I understand that your visit was motivated by good intentions, but I believe visits with me from official church representatives can only serve to create tension in my home. I doubt anyone would have a change of heart as a result.

All things considered, I believe a strong wall of separation between us is in both of our interests. I cannot speak for my wife, but if you want to visit with her in the future, please do us the courtesy of arranging your visit beforehand so I can absent myself and she can prepare our home for guests.

Thank you for your understanding and compliance with my wishes.

Sincerely,

Jonathan Blake

Enclosure

cc: XXXXXXXX, Bishop