When I was 15, one of my brothers friends forced me to touch them and do things that I never would have dreamed to do. I tried to run away but he grabbed me and forced me into his car. When I got home that night I covered my body with bleach because I felt…
I was sexually abused every week by my teenage brother from the age of 4 until 8. The week after my baptism I finally got the nerve to tell him no, and he stopped. I don’t remember struggling with the abuse until I started young women’s. I sat and listened to young women leaders tell…
When learning about this campaign and the way that so many people have been treated, I can’t help but think how lucky I am. I didn’t grow up in Utah, I grew up smack dab in the middle of Illinois, and there really wasn’t many other Mormons where I grew up. I also think how…
Nearly twenty years ago, a bishop that had been an explorer adviser in a ward I grew up in, had told my parents that I was not good enough and had been giving me and them positive motivation books that he thought I needed to have. This man had always “put me down” in front…
Dear leaders of the LDS Church, I am from Sandy Utah and I was raised Mormon (12th Ward of the Granite Stake). Starting at age 12 I felt a lot of guilt and shame for doing things that are completely normal and healthy during sexual development because of the detailed and sexually explicit questions that…
When I was applying to BYUH, I had the Stake President ask me if I obeyed the law of chasity. I replied yes. Then he asked if I was a virgin. I told him I was raped and I was not. Then he told me to go back to my bishop to speak with him…
It took years and half way through my PHD program to realize I am smart! Enjoy my LTE to today’s Trib front page article. 179 Words McKenna Denson. “Accuser seeks justice, reform” Salt Lake Tribune A1 April 6, 2018. Dear Salt Lake Tribune Readers, When Thomas S. Monson officiated over East German Mormons he counseled…
I was born in 1950’s, growing up in Salt Lake Valley. In 1964 at the age of 13, the Bishop came to our Deacon’s Quorum meeting as a “Special Guest Teacher”. He gave a lecture about Masturbation. Several of the Boys, one in particular, spoke up and said what is that? I don’t know what…
When I was about 16 years old, I remember my bishop called our class of 20+ people to get there temple recommends. We had to all line up in the hallway and he called us one by one to get them renewed. I knew I wasn’t worthy of one and it would be awkward to…
I had a rough childhood. I was molested at age 5 by a stranger and grew up in an emotionally and physically abusive home. As a teenager I rebelled and sought freedom and love from outside sources. As a result, I ended up making bad choices. One night I snuck out with a group of…