Featured Image Credit: YouTube/Alyssa Grenfell
Topics: Community
Lucy Devine
A woman who was once a Mormon has explained why so many members of her former church look so alike.
Alyssa Grenfell is now a YouTuber after she left the church, in Utah, back in 2017.
She is now documenting her time as a Mormon, delving into the rules she had to follow and what her day to day life looked like during that time.
In one video, Alyssa explained how she had noticed that there was a curiosity over why members of the church seemed to have a striking resemblance to each other.
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She said the gene pool is actually pretty small, because Mormons 'only marry Mormons'.
In the video, she explained: "Have you ever wondered why some people 'look Mormon'? Mormons really only marry other Mormons.
“You can’t marry in a Mormon temple unless it’s two Mormons getting married, this in large part has made it so that the gene pool is actually very small — especially in a place like Utah, where Mormons fled and went to Utah to be able to practice polygamy in peace.
"Those Mormons were only making babies with other Mormons for a very long time, and the only opportunity to make the gene pool a little larger is to convert people."
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Alyssa explained it also comes down to the 'Mormon vibe', which is super friendly.
"I think another reason for this is the Mormon vibe which is often super, hyper friendly, almost too friendly.
“Mormons are taught to proselytize and share their religion... I think that Mormon culture is very copycat.”
Alyssa has previously explained how she ended up leaving the Mormon church, sharing a now viral TikTok about her 'transformation'.
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"I got married in the temple at 23, and these are my very Mormon engagement photos," she explained.
"About a year and a half into being married, I tried coffee for the first time, and I am not wearing garments in this picture."
Mormon garments are essentially underwear to be worn underneath clothes at all times.
In another image, Alyssa added: "My first time wearing a tank top in public, which is so funny because it's kind of like a T-shirt with no sleeves.
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"I felt so scandalous. With this shirt, combined with the coffee, this is basically like my ex Mormon nudes."
Alyssa went on to get a tattoo and buy her very first bikini.
"[Probably] seems small to most people but I love the feeling of reclaiming my body."