Dan Brown wrote about The Intention Experiment in his book, The Lost Symbol.  Naturally, the website has grown exponentially. 

In real life,

"Lynne McTaggart, architect of the experiments, is working with leading physicists and psychologists from the University of Arizona, Princeton University, the International Institute of Biophysics, Cambridge University and the Institute of Noetic Sciences.These experiments are being run at McTaggart’s seminars and conferences and on the web, and have produced extraordinary results.

This is not about sending intentions to make a million dollars.

The targets are only philanthropic: healing wounds, helping children with attention deficit or patients with Alzheimer’s, counteracting pollution and global warming."

GUESS WHAT?  THE EXPERIMENTS USING THOUGHT ON TARGET SUBJECTS ARE WORKING. 

It is now scientific FACT that our thoughts can affect plant growth, water composition, healing and more.  And guess what?  All outside of organized religion! 

Imagine the implications!  People coming together through their intended thoughts for a good purpose. 

This brings me to the power of prayer, blessings and where I'm at with my personal spiritual growth: 

First of all, I found MormonStories.org to be a life saver.  The pain of breaking apart from the LDS church is traumatic.  It hurts and often and most importantly: it's unnecessary.  It didn't have to be so painful.  People in our Ward avoid us now.  They fear us.  And none of them have even read my blog. 

In actuality, we WANT to be CLOSER to Christ, to come to know Christ.  Leaving was, for us, the way to achieve this.  Neither of us had grown much spiritually in the last 6 years through similarly generic lessons.  I'd been through Gospel Principles several times already or missed lessons altogether being in my Primary callings.

We WANT to have an unobstructed path to our creator.  And you know?  I think many Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, and Catholics do too.  "Christ" to them may be a different name or form but it's all the same in the end.  I believe then that it's detrimental that the Mormon church claims to be the only way.  What this does is create a sure path towards Atheism upon leaving.  I struggled for a month with thoughts of Atheism.  I can absolutely understand how many who leave the church feel hopeless and simply stop looking and stop trying, yet they must leave, for whatever reason: homosexuality, etc.  I'm sad for these people because it doesn't have to be this way.  And we don't stand for our Government being screwed up, so why our church?  What I don't understand is how so many can sit back and put a pair of blinders on when so many within the church are hurting this way: leaving or "going inactive".  In my opinion, the leaders can and should do something to combat this.  That they turn a blind eye to say, Glenn Beck for example, is beyond me.   

I believe organized religion is what creates obstacles that stand between humans and Christ/God/Buddha - or whatever you worship. 

There is meaning to life, there is meaning to the universe, we were created.  But when you've got judgment, rules, rituals, regulations, tithing, temple rituals, meetings, more rules, more meetings, kids, families, etc; it is DAMN HARD to see through all those obstacles!  There is a lot of guilt, pressure, and culture that don't lead us to Christ.  Instead, those things keep us busy, without time to think straight or the money to pay our bills.   

Because of the guilt, pressure, and culture, I feel Christ gets put on the backburner and you start feeling a little more elite - it's as though you're part of a country club which, so long as you follow ALL the rules, you're accepted.  

The problem here is that people start becoming arrogant and judgmental, feeling they are entitled to be because they know their club is the only true one.  I even did it myself for a while.  I felt like part of an elite club, and even more so, because I was both liberal and Mormon.  Special, I was.  Better, even, I believed. 

Not so.  And, shame on me for ever falling into this trap.

MormonStories.org has helped me understand that I am far from the only person who understands this.  I am far from the only person who has left for the same reasons.  I AM okay.  The devil DOES NOT have me in his grasp (in fact, I feel more in tune with my spirituality than ever before in my life). 

But it will be a constant struggle around people I know who still believe I've lost it.  Who think I've "gone astray".  Who think the devil is guiding me down the wrong path.  I liken this to the time I KNEW I did not love my abusive ex-boyfriend.  I knew I needed to leave him and then, upon doing so, having him and his family and a HUGE group of people turn on me and never talk to me again.  It's hard.  It's a difficult place to be in.  And I'm sorry if I've come across as an angry bitch, but you know?  This is important stuff.  It's life altering.  Many people fall into depression.  There is guilt and sadness.   Families are torn apart.  There are hundreds of thousands of people like me, feeling this way.   And it doesn't need to be this way.  But change must come from within the walls of the church, through it's members and most importantly: their leaders. 

I like MormonStories.org because it brings me to terms with the hurt and anger I feel over this happening in our lives.  We don't look at our temple photos hanging on the wall with happiness any longer.  Instead, we feel hurt.  Betrayal.  Sadness. 

My point is this: it doesn't have to be this way.  Mormons feel too threatened by what is a normal process of a member searching for true knowledge of their churches history.  They want to turn away and not look and see the facts.  They dub it "anti".  Well, it's not.  What exactly IS anti?  Negative, maybe, but "anti"?  So labeling ANYTHING non-positive as "anti" when it's a historical fact is judgmental, too. 

So anything negative is "anti"?  But what if it's also fact?  Is it an anti-fact?  But the positive facts get to be true facts?  I honestly don't understand it.  I'm coming to terms with it all, though. 

Anyway, the reason The Intention Experiments work is through the power of thought or faith.  The Intention Experiments (Noetic Science) is proving that faith and/or the power of thought can be backed up by science AND that it exists outside of any specific church.  Scientific proof! 

It proves, quite literally, that the LDS church is NOT the ONLY way.  It may be a good way, but it's not the ONLY way.  And I don't write that to be haughty or rude.  I write it to reaffirm that I and others who leave aren't always leaving to sin.  We are leaving to be closer to Christ.   

Some choose to stay.  I have chosen to leave.  Since we've stopped going to church our visiting teachers have sent letters saying we've only learned half truths and that the adversary has gotten to us. 

This couldn't be further from the truth.  When I have more energy, I'll write them a kind letter.  For now, all I can say is that I, personally, had to leave to find Christ.  Some, who fit into the culture better than I did, may find Christ while in the LDS church.  Some who have never even heard the name Christ, in another distant country may find him just as well.  And you know?  Their prayers and blessings are answered all the same.  I'm confident ours will be as well.