I was 21 when this happened, so I wasn’t a child except in the sense that my extremely conservative parents kept me purposely “innocent” without teaching me about sex or my body. We didn’t have tv or the internet, so I was really shielded. I went to BYU and attended a field study in Mexico…
For my entire life, I was taught that obedience to counsel was of utmost importance. This teaching alone is dangerous. If the counsel reeks of guilt and shame, there is no reason it should be heeded, at all. Yet, this was the life I lived. That I was raised in. One where questions couldn’t be…
Was born and raised in the Mormon Church in Provo Utah. I have been questioned inappropriately by Bishops since age 8. When I was 12 years old, My Bishop’s name was _____. He would always start on our sessions with a hug and hold my hands. While holding my hands he asked questions about masturbating…
I accidentally discovered masturbation right after I turned 12, and I engaged in the act just one time. Shortly thereafter, the bishop told the parents of the ward that they needed to talk to their kids about sex and to send the kids to him if there were issues. My parents, who never questioned a…
Too much to share… decades of shame due to a couple of choices I made. The very thought of Bishop interviews give me anxiety. I always believed it was a necessary thing to participate in and always would be in tears when I left the room. I considered suicide many times as my sin was…
I was raised LDS and when I was 14 I felt I needed to talk to the bishop about my first sexual experience because I believed that God could only forgive such horrible sins next to murder with the bishop as a tool. I was 14 and got felt up by a 15 year old…
When I was 3 years old and finishing my last year in nursery before going to Sunbeams I can vividly remember a Sunday at church the has affected my life forever. The nursery leaders didn’t make sure we had a parent come get us before letting us leave the classroom. That day I took off…
My story isn’t as destructive as some, but still disturbing as I think about my young age and where the conversation was allowed to go with myself, a 13-14 year old girl sitting in a room all alone with a man in his mid 30s. I was asked the usual “do you obey the law…
I was raised in the church, and while I didn’t always know if I believed it was the ONLY true church I did my best to follow its basic teachings through my childhood. I didn’t drink, didn’t do drugs, didn’t date until I was 16, held leadership positions for youth, and didn’t miss any temple…
I was a teen in the 70’s, the days of bi-annual Bishop interviews. I was asked about masturbation every time. I hated those interviews, it was crushingly shaming. I’m furious now that I was guilted for completely normal and healthy teen behavior. The thing that makes me the most angry is that those interviews taught…