In this column, I share Jennifer and John’s continuing adventures in the LDS Borderlands (names and details have been changed). The first part of their story was told in a previous column, “Mysterious Ways,” published in early 2014.1Here’s a quick recap of that first column: According to Jennifer, her husband, John, a high school principal, …
Tag: borderlands
Experiences of a Missionary Borderlander
By D. Jeff Burton I exchanged the following edited emails with Jeremy Jones (all names and details have been changed), a young man who is currently serving a mission in Ireland. Elder Jones: I thought you might find my situation interesting. I have always considered myself a Borderlander, but, as you’ve probably noticed by my …
Braving the Borderlands: A Church Employee in the Borderlands
By D. Jeff Burton D. Jeff Burton is the author of For Those Who Wonder and a former member of the Sunstone board of directors. This column shares the story of “Ryan,” a Church employee stationed in Guatemala. (Names, locations, and details have been changed to protect identities.) A few years ago, he found …
Coming Out of the Closet to Your Spouse
By D. Jeff Burton D. Jeff Burton is the author of For Those Who Wonder and a former member of the Sunstone board of directors. I exchanged thoughts and experiences with “James” (not his real name) who has a “closet doubter” story similar to many I’ve heard over the years. First, here are his …
Being Thoughtfully and Lovingly Honest
By D. Jeff Burton Jeff Burton is the author of For Those Who Wonder and a former member of the Sunstone board of directors. In previous columns, published in 2005 and 2010, we explored the important issue of honesty.1 At the 2015 SLC Sunstone Symposium, Dan Wotherspoon2 and I shared the podium to further …
A Successful Borderlander’s Story
By D. Jeff Burton Jeff Burton is the author of For Those Who Wonder and a former member of the Sunstone board of directors. In this column, I relate the story of a Borderlander through edited emails we exchanged over a few months. Trevor (not his real name) seems to be making his Borderland …
Single in the Borderlands
by Kristine Haglund Kristine Haglund is a former editor of Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought and a blogger at By Common Consent. Or right-click here to download audio. The topic of being single and Mormon seems huge and difficult, probably because “single” is in no way a unitary category; my …
An LGBTQ Borderlander
By D. Jeff Burton D. Jeff Burton is the author of For Those Who Wonder and a former member of the Sunstone board of directors. In this column I share the story of a gay/bisexual man I’ve become acquainted with over email. Names and details are changed to protect his privacy (and …
Imagining Changes that Benefit Borderlanders
By D. Jeff Burton In this column I share some edited communications I had with a fellow Borderlander, “Ron,” (names and details changed) who lives in northern Utah and works in education. Ron: I count myself mostly still in the Borderlands, attending and participating only when I feel the need, but I miss …
Braving the Borderlands: Crisis of Faith vs. Crisis of Belief
By D. Jeff Burton Or right-click here to download the audio file: “Crisis of Faith vs. Crisis of Belief” Articles, podcasts, blog posts, and books about the “faith crisis” phenomenon have abounded during the past few years, providing Borderlanders with a lot of interesting material to consider.1 Reading through these offerings, …