A VERY big unspoken assumption Mormons operate on is that all blessings (except the most general ones of having life itself and “rain on the just and the unjust” and Romans 1:18-20 type things) are only available through the LDS Church organization and priesthood as gatekeepers. I can't emphasize enough how tied together the idea of eventual reward in heaven, is to membership in the LDS church.
A very insightful question was asked by another ex-Mormon to a Mormon once: “What would my congregation have to change in order to be a Mormon congregation?” The answer is, almost everything they believe about salvation, the identity of God, and what practices are necessary, both in corporate worship and individual lives. LDS believers would demand those kinds of changes.
Of course, leading a moral life would be a commonality, but what most Mormons can't get through their heads — I couldn't — is that a moral lifestyle isn't the point — nor the means — of approval from God. It's waaaaay down the food chain, because it's a result, an end of the process.
Want to read a compelling account of how people live Mormonism? See Latter-day Cipher, a novel that gives an insider's view to the struggles of remaining Mormon.
For more documentation on LDS doctrines, history, and practices, see The Mormon Mirage 3rd Edition: A Former Member Looks at the Mormon Church Today (Zondervan, 2009). Also available as an audiobook and as an expanded-text E-book for Nook, Kindle and other reading devices.
