well, now the sheen seems to be coming off that surface you wrote about...
The sheen has been coming off for a very long time. They spend a lot of money to keep the PR image up.
I work in ministry helping those who leave Mormonism transition to Christianity. All day long, I deal with stories of Mormon leaders covering up sexual abuse and rape, physical abuse, spiritual abuse, white collar crime (very high in Utah), feelings of ‘unworthiness’ and depression caused by the LDS church. The excuse the LDS give is ‘the LDS church is perfect, the people are not’ but that doesn’t explain the coverup by their leadership or the fact they openly lie to their members.