I was born into the church, and grew up with most of my family being mormon. When I was 12, I was asked to do a meeting with the bishop to get my temple recommend. I was molested in his office and was told that if I ever told anyone about this that god would punish me and send me to hell, and that my family and the ward would excommunicate me. I was absolutely terrified, and heartbroken to the fact that someone I believed I could trust would violate me. With the mental turmoil I felt that there was no point in living anymore. I was ashamed of what had happened to me and I was to scared to say or do anything about it.
Keeping that pain and silence in for so many years made me extremely depressed and suicidal. I tried taking my life multiple times and started cutting. I knew it was a sin to do any of those things but at that point I didn’t care because I felt that either way I was shameful and not worth anything. My family and I left the church later on and only until a year ago could I tell them about what happened in that office. People, let alone children should never have to go through what I went through. I hope that people can see that this practice is wrong and is doing more harm than good.