I grew up in Kirkland Washington and moved to Utah when I was 10 years old. I was not a member of the church. I had always had a lot of friends but the culture in Utah was different. I was friendly and would try to make friends but was told they already had a…
I have a few stories so I’ll keep them brief. A bit of background, I’m a 21 year old woman from a multi generational Mormon family on my mom’s side and second generation on my dad’s side. I’ve watched the church erode our family and extended family. I left when I was 19 and have…
I first stated masturbation at a young age. It was a secret I kept. I felt awkward about it when other boys talked about it as they learned about sex from their parents and I did not. I didn’t think much of it until I remember seeing a video with my Mormon peers which claimed…
I am 100 percent positive that my story is not even close to being the worst one out there. I felt so ashamed by my body as a child that I was afraid to even look at my private parts for years growing up. I started to date in college and when my boyfriend at…
This story belongs to my mother. In 1970, in Salem, Utah, C.G. was a naive and innocent 11 year old, happy and willing to babysit the children of her Sunday school teacher. She endured multiple episodes of fondling, kissing, and hypersexualized discussion, on her teacher’s living room floor. THEN, the wife of this vile human…
I am no longer a member, but was an active and faithful member for the first 21 years of my life. I was accustomed to the “worthiness” interviews from the age of 8 and never understood that I did not have to do them. I felt like my bishop had the power of God to…
I’m writing to say this petition doesn’t go far enough. As good faithful members, my wife and I have always been instructed throughout our lives to speak to the Bishop regarding transgressions. We’re told this is a requirement for all members to do in order to receive the fullness of God’s blessings. Marriage can be…
Masturbation. Just before turning 12, I was called in for an interview with the Bishop prior to becoming a deacon. One of his questions was if I have a problem with masturbation. I didn’t know what the word meant. I said, no. Puberty hit me at age 14 and from 14-18 “self-abuse” became a frequent…
I was raised in the Mormon church, until I decided to leave it behind at around age 19. I was fairly lucky in that my family wasn’t very active in the church beyond Sunday school and the occasional cookout or what have you, so I missed a lot in terms of interacting with the bishops.…
The most important fact to know about my story: I am deaf, so my interviews are different from other stories, and in a disturbing way. I remember two experiences that stuck in my memory until now. First one was when I was a kid in a hearing ward, and they were having a youth baptismal…