I just thought it was normal, being asked about sex – though I was incredibly naive. I was 15 or 16 and called in to see the bishop. A few nights prior, I had been out with a boy and things got heated. I suppose you could call it heavy petting, but I had no…
I was 16 when I had pre-marital sex with my then high school girlfriend. In hindsight, we were kids with raging hormones and we both felt horrible about our actions. We both went to speak to my home-ward bishop about our mutual sin. We were upfront, honest, self-loathing and willing to do whatever it took…
I didn’t even know what masturbation was until I had an interview with my bishop at age 12. From that interview I was told that it was really bad, and that any type of sexual relation was bad prior to marriage. Well, when you get married, a switch doesn’t suddenly change so that everything that…
From the time I was a very young girl, I was being sexually abused by multiple members of my family. As is common for children in this situation, I was convinced that it was all my fault, the result of some error or fundamental flaw on my part. The shame was overwhelming, and so I…
Growing up, sexually explicit questions became the norm from an early age. I remember vividly at the age of 11, during my initial Aaronic priesthood interview, being asked about masturbation and pornography. I didn’t really know what the bishop was talking about, but he proceeded to vividly describe both to me. He said that my…
1976 was when I turned 12 years old. That year my bishop had a priesthood interview with me so I could become a deacon. My bishop was a kind man, but asked me if I had troubles with masturbation? I did not understand the word, but figured I needed to say yes. I was that…
I remember as a youth being constantly reminded of the dangers of pornography and sexual promiscuity. These concepts were always taught to me in vague and even degrading ways. I came to be afraid of myself, and horrified by my own sexuality. I often went to the bishop’s office because I had seen girls in…
How does one obtain perfection? I clung to the pamphlet “For the Strength of Youth”. I lived and died to follow the rules laid out before me. But I was weak. I gave in to the temptations of the flesh. It started when I was 12 and I would find myself in and out of…
My first memory of my father abusing me was when I was 3 years old. He molested me in the bathtub. I knew it wasn’t the first time it happened, and it didn’t feel good. He said things to me I’m not quite sure I understood but it was in a rhythmic tone, like a…
* 1960’s-1970’s- (3 to 18 yrs. Old) I was trafficked as a child – sexually abused and tortured by members of Polygamist groups, as well as other perpetrators and pedophiles within the communities of Bluffdale, Riverton, and throughout the Salt Lake Valley. This child trafficking occurred in homes, church buildings, basements, school buildings and other…