The short answer is that I left the church because I became an agnostic/atheist. It wasn't just the Mormon faith, I tried to check out most of the major beliefs out there.
You shouldn't despair of God. Many have had the experience of having felt they have lost their faith entirely, of no hope of ever believing in anything again. And then God can, completely unbidden and unexpectedly, extend His grace and
give them faith. This aligns with the promise of scripture. What such persons, like me, later discover is they had only lost a religious training or belief inculcated since childhood. But a true and enduring faith can only be granted by God.
My remarks probably won't be helpful to you right now. But later, they might be.
"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast" (Ephesians 2:8-9 KJV)
Now, having been blatantly (but charitably) religious but avoiding the poisonous waters of ecumenism, I'd point out once again, these discussions really do belong in the Backroom. FR's political and news threads really aren't anyone's mission field. Not mine, not the Mormon FReepers, not anyone else's.
GW, aren’t you calling the kettle black. In that other thread (
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1812519/posts?page=171#171 ) You decry Mormons coming to their own defense, but It’s OK for you to discuss the LDS beliefs, even if you are defending them (to a certain degree), but heaven forbid that a Mormon stands up and defends their own faith, then it’s called proselytizing!