[exUte]

Originally Posted by ERCougar

The problem with your question is that you assume that these are discrete events, i.e. there's a specific point where you break your covenants, a specific point where you suddenly turn apostate, etc. In people I've known, both events tend to occur slowly over a long period of time. Occasionally, even often, they occur simultaneously, which shouldn't be all that surprising--if you're starting to see your covenants as sort of silly or meaningless, you're certainly more willing to break them. I think the typical Mormon sees this as a copout in that people screw up and then retroactively try to rationalize it, but IMO, that rarely happens.

I also know plenty of people who are very good people and have "apostasized". I guess I don't know them well enough to say that they didn't "break their covenants", but there's nothing to suggest that they did.

Rarely? Based on experience........very, very common. But you know best.