When Your Sister Leaves the Mormon Church - Meggan & Julie O'Neal | Ep. 2144

From Mormon Stories Podcast by Dr. John Dehlin

May 4, 2026 · 3h 44m

About this episode

Sisters Meggan and Julie O'Neal share their experiences growing up in a strict Mormon household and discuss their faith journeys and relationship dynamics.

In today's episode, sisters Meggan and Julie share what it was like growing up in a family of 14 children in a very strict Mormon household. They describe a home built around structure, obedience, and high expectations: early morning scripture study, strict rules, limited privacy, and constant pressure to represent the “ideal” Mormon family. They each re-tell their own experiences growing up in this environment, and discuss why they found their relationship fractured for many years—then reveal how they re-kindled their relationship. They also each discuss their individual faith journeys and where they stand with their beliefs today. Topics/themes include: -Family dynamics -Authority and control in the home -Modesty and purity culture -Perfectionism, shame and worthiness -Faith transitions Meggan is also the host of her own post-Mormon channel, Generally Unquotable , which can be found here . This episode is a beautiful example of bridge building and unconditional love, and we are very grateful to Meggan and Julie for sharing their story with us. ___________________ YouTube At Mormon Stories we explore, celebrate, and challenge Mormon culture through in-depth stories told by…

People in this episode

Host: Dr. John Dehlin

Guests: Meggan O'Neal, Julie O'Neal

Topics covered

Family dynamics
Authority and control in the home
Modesty and purity culture
Perfectionism, shame and worthiness
Faith transitions

Keywords

Mormon Church
faith journey
family
purity culture
perfectionism
shame
relationship
sisters

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Mormon Stories Podcast, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Generally Unquotable