For today’s in-studio Mormon Stories Podcast interview, we have Kattie and Allan Mount—co-hosts of the Marriage on a Tightrope Podcast!
We will discuss:
- Kattie and Allan’s idyllic Mormon upbringings, and how they felt the faith strengthened their families
- How Kattie and Allan met in the Missionary Training Center while preparing for their LDS missions to Spain
- Becoming married and raising their family in the gospel
- How cracks began to form in Allan’s faith
- How they have navigated their mixed-faith Mormon marriage
- What it has been like to start a podcast to support others in a mixed-faith marriage
This interview continued on July 1, 2019 with their presentation first delivered in Salt Lake City at the June 2019 THRIVE Conference and can be found here:
1140-1142: Thriving as a Mormon Mixed-Faith Couple – Kattie and Allan Mount
Part 1:
Part 2:
Part 3:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
4 Responses
LOVED THIS INTERVIEW!!!! I am in a mixed-faith marriage, so their experience and advice is invaluable! Thank you!
I loved this interview, and I love this couple! Their honesty, vulnerability, faith, strength, all of it. So inspiring.
I am in a (sort of) mixed faith home. I left the church completely last year because of unbelief (+ a lot of other things). My husband doesn’t go to church anymore, but still believes a lot of the doctrine. I really appreciated hearing from Kattie and Allan about their faith journey and how they still support and love each other. Truly wonderful.
Whew! I just finished listening to all 3 podcasts! I can’t tell you how much I would have benefited from having known a couple like Katie and Allan when I was the TBM and had no idea how to live with my spouse who let the missionaries in our home, led us to conversion and then dropped out as soon as he was baptized. He never received the priesthood, but always kept the title of being “Mormon” while i became the judgemental TBM for the next 35 years! We have stayed together, but could have had a much better life together if I had known it was ok for him NOT TO BELIEVE! Thank you so much, John, for helping folks of all ages learn new ways to communicate; thanks Katie for sharing your feelings!
Katie and Allen, wow. I related sooo much to your story surrounding your relationship and starting your lives together! Some of the similarities were surprising and even haunting at times. Just to illustrate a few points:
1. Allen and I are about the same age.
2. I struggled with faith and worthiness on and off growing up.
3. My wife and I have always felt like soul mates. A lot of interesting experiences throughout our courtship and marriage that continue to suggest we were ‘meant to be’.
4. We married in May of 2004. (Just celebrated 15 great years!)
4. Moved away from family and bought our first house right before the crash in 2007.
5. After having a couple of kids, moved back and lived with my wife’s parents for a year while struggling to sell that first house post-recession.
6. Bought and moved into our second house in 2011
7. Tragically lost my father in 2012. He was diagnosed with ALS in 2011 and declined very rapidly afterwards. At the funeral we tried to treat it as a celebration of his life. My siblings and I performed several musical numbers in honor of him including a song I wrote while I was in a previous band that became one of my dad’s favorite songs.
8. Following my dad’s death I decided to go back to church and give it another chance. I had been struggling with the church and inactive at the time. His death started a whirl wind of introspection and life analysis like never before. Within a year’s time, I had become aware of more difficult things regarding the church and ultimately my wife and I lost our faith and walked away from the church.
Anyway, I just wanted to share that I really enjoyed your story and that I really related to it in many ways. Especially with all the crazy parallels! Thanks for sharing, and I hope all goes well with your podcast!
Aaron Kelley