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A Letter For My Wife

A Letter For My Wife begins as a story about a man “needing to explain to his wife and children why he felt he had to leave the Church,” I was disheartened as I read it. I felt compassion for him, and compassion for my for others struggling with for struggling with similar doubts and questions.

But, then, I began studying what it really is.

Who he really was.

The author of Letter For My Wife is Thomas Faulk, but calling him an “author” is very generous, as this “letter” contains almost no original material and is primarily recycled content and claims from the CES Letter, framed in a slightly more compassionate tone designed to lull readers into doubt and disbelief. The irony is that ex-Mormons like Faulk, who claim the Book of Mormon is plagiarism, are themselves regurgitating content from the CES Letter.

According to an Artificial Intelligence analysys:

The comparison between the CES Letter and Letter For My Wife shows extremely high thematic overlap. Over 90% of major controversial topics are shared, and approximately 78% of the core argument types follow the same structure and framing. More than half of the quoted material and nearly two-thirds of cited sources overlap. Even the sequence in which arguments are presented mirrors the CES Letter’s progression.

In short, while Letter For My Wife presents itself as an independently researched document, its surface structure and argumentative framework align closely with the CES Letter. The similarity is not incidental; the overlap is systematic and consistent across nearly every major controversy discussed.

Surface-Level Similarity Analysis: CES Letter vs. Letter to My Wife

Category Similarity Percentage What Was Measured
Topic Overlap 92% Major controversial subjects covered in both documents (First Vision, Polygamy, Book of Abraham, Race & Priesthood, DNA, etc.)
Claim-Type Overlap 78% Similarity of core argument structures and accusation patterns within shared topics
Named Source Overlap 64% Recurring cited works and historical documents (Journal of Discourses, History of the Church, Joseph Smith Papers, etc.)
Direct Quote Overlap 58% Frequently circulated quotations appearing in both documents
Chapter Sequencing Similarity 81% Order and progression of argumentative sections across both documents
Composite Similarity Score ~75% Average similarity across all measured surface-level categories

In 2017, around the same time as the publication of Letter for My Wife, Jeremy Runnells, author of the CES Letter started a for profit business “Doubtsy” designed to help others rake in on the successes he had from the CES Letter by preparing their own “doubt creating” documents. At the time, Runnells was making around $6,000 per month from book sales and online donations of the CES Letter. This doubtsy model offered coaching and publishing services to help spread anti-mormon content. There may be no connection between LFMW and Doubtsy, but the success of Letter For My Wife may have been one of Runnells motivations for starting this doubt creating business.

Essentially, the Letter for My Wife is a compilation of long-circulated anti-Mormon claims, repackaged in a soft, emotional, “compassionate” tone.

What is The Letter For My Wife?

A Letter for My Wife was written by Thomas Faulk, who spent years on ex-Mormon subreddits collecting doubts taken from other critics. After watching the success of the CES Letter, and after fully losing his own faith, he organized those doubts into a document written in a more personal format. This softer format makes it easier for spouses to read, and in many ways it functions as a second witness to the CES Letter. It uses the same arguments and approach, just wrapped in a tone that feels a little less hostile.

The letter was never a private note to his wife. It was published online from the beginning and promoted across ex-Mormon communities. After Faulk’s marriage failed, he stepped away from the project and the website was turned over to other anti-Mormons. In 2019 they created a “podcast,” which is simply a text-to-speech computer voice reading each chapter of the letter. In 2024, with the rise of AI tools, they also released an “audiobook,” which is again just an AI voice reading the same text with added background music.

Like the CES Letter, those who run the Letter to My Wife website try and monetize it by accepting “donations” for the “value it provides.”

Letter For My Wife Chapters

The letter contains five sections and 25 chapters. It may take me a year or more, but I plan to address every one of them. When we shift how we examine these topics, studying the same points can actually strengthen testimony. Exposing the weak sources, misleading framing, and exaggerated claims required to sustain faith in the anti-Mormon arguments strengthens my confidence in the actual historical record.

0. Introduction

  1. The First Vision
  2. The Translation of the Book of Mormon / Evidence of the Translation
  3. The Witnesses
  4. The Kinderhook Plates
  5. The Word of Wisdom
  6. The Endowment and Freemasonry
  7. Polygamy
  8. Race and the Church
  9. Blood Atonement
  10. Prophesies
  11. DNA
  12. Reformed Egyptian
  13. Anachronisms
  14. The Jaredites
  15. Source Material
  16. Expert Views
  17. The Book of Abraham: The Rosetta Stone
  18. Facsimile 1
  19. Facsimile 2
  20. Facsimile 3
  21. The Translation of Book of Abraham
  22. Expert Views – What the Facsimiles Actually Are
  23. Tithing
  24. Church Spending
  25. Scientific Evidence

When Was the Letter to My Wife First Written?

Here is the timeline of the history of the coming forth of Letter For My Wife:

  • 2009–2013: Faulk begins collecting notes and criticisms of the church.
  • 2013 CES Letter is published – Provides Faulk with additional content.
  • 2016: The letter appears on the ex-Mormon subreddit under “For My Wife and Children”
  • 2017: He attaches his name, publishes the website, and releases a PDF
  • 2018–2019: He steps away from Reddit after marital strain; another ex-Mormon takes over the site
  • 2020: Faulk publicly states he is distancing himself from ex-Mormonism
  • 2021–2023: The website undergoes revisions, removing provably false claims as result of FAIR and Sarah Allen rebuttal articles.
  • 2024: Publishes the AI Reading Audiobook to make it easier for people to consume the content

What The Letter for My Wife Is NOT

The Letter for My Wife is not a historical work. Thomas Faulk, and the person now running the website, are not trained historians and do not use academic standards when presenting claims as “history.” The document is agenda-driven. It is written to convince spouses of faithful members that they have been misled by relying on selective information and one-sided framing.

  • The letter does not follow academic standards.
  • There is no analysis of primary sources in full context.
  • Evidence is cherry-picked.
  • Sources are selectively quoted.
  • Counter-evidence is omitted.
  • Conclusions are reached first; evidence is arranged afterward.

In contrast, trained historians:

  • examine motivations of sources
  • compare context
  • evaluate reliability
  • avoid arguments from silence
  • look at all relevant evidence

Who Is This Letter Written For?

The title suggests this was a private letter from a husband to his wife, but the way it was released tells a different story. If it were truly written only for her, it would have stayed private and would not have evolved over time. Instead, Thomas Faulk published it online, promoted it on ex-Mormon subreddits, and encouraged others to share it. From the beginning, the real audience was believing spouses, not one individual.

The personal tone is intentional. It feels softer and more relational than traditional anti-Mormon material, which makes it easier for spouses to read without being immediately turned off. This is the same reason it pairs so well with the CES Letter. Faulk’s document functions as a companion pieceless aggressive, more emotional, but pushing the same conclusions that lead believers to doubt.

Being a personal witness of the real damage of this misleading “letter” made me want to create a counter-voice. I wanted a place where people could get clear information, solid context, and simple explanations without the spin. I made this a public website so others going through similar situations can find answers and avoid some of the strain that these misleading documents can cause.

Why Did Thomas Faulk Write The Letter?

I believe that Thomas Faulk is someone who lost faith, lost his marriage because of it, and became bitter about the consequences and wants others to follow the same path, to suffer as he has. The compassionate framing makes it feel gentle, but the purpose is to undermine trust, plant doubt, and weaken testimony.

I’m not a scholar, and I am not going to pretend that I can personally address and debunk every point raised in these arguments. Scholars have already done that, and I will link to their resources. I love Church history, and I love learning from it. I listen to Come Follow Him, Church History Matters, The Scriptures Are Real, Scripture Central, and The Standard of Truth podcast almost every week. Many of the insights I share, and many that have strengthened me, have come from these sources. I believe these podcasters do what they do because they love the Gospel of Jesus Christ, they love truth, and they sincerely want to help people understand it.

These are articles I have researched, studied, and where I share my thoughts on the content that was shared in a letter to my wife.

More rebuttals of the out of context misinformation of Letter For My Wife.