We're fortunate in our situation. The closest family we have really doesn't care what we do, and the rest are too far away to realize what's going on, so we can tell them in our own time.
Our bishopric came to visit us a couple of weeks ago and were surprisingly awesome about things. They just wanted to make sure they hadn't done anything to offend us. We assured them that wasn't the case (but Husband was upfront about how he didn't like how he was handled in being released) and we were totally fine with them and everyone else. They didn't really ask for further explanation, as our EQ pres/friend had already kind of told them what was going on with us, and they left us with an open invitation to keep attending activities and of course, to come to church whenever we want. It was very refreshing and a great move on their part.
I went out with a bunch of gals from our ward last week too, and not one of them said anything about not seeing me in a while. I'm pretty sure at least one of them knew why, but she was cool with me anyway.
Another sister - who's always been a bit too aggressively helpful and nice for my taste but I like her because of/in spite of that - called me today cause she "hasn't seen me in forever." She said that a couple of times, but I didn't offer any explanation and she didn't directly ask, so we just had a friendly, warm chat. At the end she said "Well, I look forward to seeing you again," and I said "We'll see you around."
So I'm wondering about the different exits other apostates make from the church, and how much those strategies have to do with how they're treated after they leave - because you hear a lot of bad stories about people being total jerks to them. I'm sure if we'd insisted on telling our leaders all the reasons why we're not going anymore, there'd be a different attitude. Instead, I told my RS pres that I needed some space right now to sort things out - thanks to Husband's advice. I had actually drafted a whole letter that explained how I no longer believed and so didn't wish to put my time into it. He told me it was too much, and he was right.
I've been pleasantly surprised with how well everyone has handled us.
However, we still have a lot of family to inform. I can't wait to get that behind us by a couple of years.
