As a young man nearing the age of 12, I was interviewed by my bishop and asked if I masturbated. I didn’t know what that meant. My parents had taught me about sex, however I had no notion about what the word masturbation even meant. My bishop took the liberty of explaining it to me during our interview. In future one-on-one interviews with my bishop, which were conducted at least twice annually, I was asked if I masturbated. I did not have a habit of masturbating, and I certainly didn’t bring it up. I dreaded going in to one-on-one interviews with my bishop because I felt shame being questioned if I masturbated. I felt that I had a deficiency of some sort that would cause my ecclesiastical leader to be inspired to ask me awkward and unwelcome questions. After all, I was taught that my bishop had the power of discernment, and the spirit must be telling him something about me that I didn’t know.
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