Hello everyone, My name is Michael...I was excommunicated back in, I believe, the spring of 96 not long after declaring in a testimony meeting that we need to follow the Spirit and not trust in the arm of the flesh...Lets rewind a bit though. I grew up in southern California as a not so typical Mormon youth. In high school I grew my hair long, had a different Metallica shirt for each day of the week, and my senior year I was officially said by my friends to be the "Leader of the Hessians"Hessian was our slang for people who base their sub culture on heavy metal music.I was also an eagle scout and the seminary class president.When the bishop unexpectedly popped in to set me apart, I had a sleeveless shirt on with a big skull on it that read "Metal Rules". I was thinking,"Is this blasphemous?"Prior to my mission,I  had a going away party at our house where I invited both Mormon and Hessian friends...We had a sweet mosh pit going on in the family room......I served the full 2 years in the Arizona , Tucson mission starting in January of 92.My family moved to Provo, Utah while I was gone.Deep down inside,I was pissed! I did not want to live here...In retrospect, I can see the beauty of it all and how that move changed my life forever, and I thank my God that I'm here...As soon as I got here, I started growing my hair out again.Everyone had said I wouldnt, which made me more determined to do it...For awhile there I used to go very regularly to the temple in Provo.I moved into B.Y.U. housing while working at Stouffers, and made a lot of friends in the B.Y.U. 188th ward.While attending the temple, I remember how there was this certain guy in the movie who wanted Adam and Eve to be in a religion.He said ther would be many willing to teach "the philosophies of men...migled with scripture"...Later when Adam is asked by Peter how that teaching was being recieved, Satan looks at us in the temple and replies,"Very Well", then says about Adam,"except for this man right here does not believe all that which is being taught."..."What do you think of this teaching?" asks Peter.Adam responds with,"I want the further light and knowledge Father promised to send.".....So later in the ceremony, I would pray fervently in the celestial room saying,"Please Father, give me this further light and knowledge you've promised to send...".During all this time, I was hanging out at a small bookstore that sold spiritual books about the afterlife among other things...The owner of the store was a guy named Mike, who claimed to have revelations from God directly...( Don't know if he really was, no longer care)...Anyhow, Mikes main message seemed to be to go to God direct and follow Him...He put together a book called Sacred Scripture which he said that came to him in parts from people who said they were doing what the Spirit told them to. When I read the book, at one point I started getting the same type of warm fuzzy feelings I had felt while reading parts of The Book of Mormon...Later on people tried to tell me that Satan was influencing me.My responce was that "If Satan can give you the same exact type of feelings about something that the Spirit can give you, than how is the plan fair!?How can we ever know the truth, if the Spirit of God can be perfectly immitated by the Devil?"The bishop actually called my dad to see if I had a history of mental illness.So it was my testimony about following the Spirit that first got their attention, and after the disciplinary action dragged on as they tried to convince me I was wrong, I asked them to ex me and get it over with...After one more interview with SP Truman Madsen, I had my day in court where I was excommunicated for apostacy. I was finally free...I could believe whatever felt right to me without fear of what some religion had to say about it...In the years since then I have learned so much more through my own thinking, studying and praying...I now believe we are the creators of our own universe.We attract  things into our lives through how we view things.So,as an example, if you believe all rich people are "bad", and view yourself as "good", dont expect a lot of money to go your way...I no longer believe life is a test, but rather an experience.It's allmost like our Godly campout...lol...Believe it or not, this is the short version of my story...I have imagined for some time that I would see a day when I would meet more like minded people...I thank my Creator my prayers have been answered...I'll fill in more details in future posts...TTYL...