#372 Name Hidden. CS: 1,2,3,4,7

I left TSCC in my early 20s almost 45 years ago. My parents were “pioneers” of Mormonism in a small Australian city, hence branch presidents and later bishops were well known to the whole family. I was asked as a 12,13,14 year old if I “self abused”. I did not know what that meant. It…

#371 Name Hidden. CS: 1,2,4,7. Other: Loss of innocence.

When I was a very naive 12 year old, I attended my first bishops interview. I was scared & really had no idea what to expect. I was intimidated by anyone in a leadership position. I think it all started out fine and then was hit with a question that I never imagined being asked.…

#368 Name Hidden. CS: 1,2,3,4,6,7,8

I was ~middle school age when my Mormon leaders started bringing this stuff up and asking me about the same stuff. Wish I’d known back then how messed up it was. In my case. My father drove me late at night to have an “emergency interview” with our Mormon bishop when they found some “magazines”…

#367 Name Hidden. CS: 1,2,3,4,7,8,9

I’m a pretty sexual person. I don’t know if it’s a consequence of my youth or whether it’s just how I am and I was made to feel ashamed of something that is just natural for me. When I was 14 I ‘sinned’ with a boy in my stake. My mum found out because I…

#365 Name Hidden CS: 1,2,3,6,7,8

When I was in high school I was sexually assaulted by a classmate. When this happened I was totally naive to anything sexual in nature, so obviously I didn’t quite understand what had happened to me or that what had happened was not a normal sexual experience. After some time of feeling guilt, I went…

#364 Mike S. CS: 1,2,6,7

I haven’t read even one of these stories.  I won’t. I can’t let myself read child abuse. I’m 58, BIC, active nearly my entire life. My experience is likely better than most as I remember it.  I wasn’t asked directly about masturbation until i was just a month shy of 16, my priest interview. I…

#363 Name Hidden. CS: 1,2,3,4,5,7,10

I remember a dimly lit room where I was interviewed quickly for baptism at 8 years old. My parents were ‘inactive’ and the first I heard of what I was agreeing to was in that interview. I was told I was promising to never sin again. I had a fight with my sister that night…

#361 Sandy C. CS: 1,2,3,4,6,7. Other: Feared God that he was always judging me because he spoke through the church leaders!!

I was a very good child always trying to please God and took everything to heart that church leaders said! The guilt and shame of the interviews still even though I had done nothing wrong carried into my adult years reflecting sex as gross and disgusting. I got married at age 25 (which was old…

#360 Name Hidden. CS: 1,2,3,8,9

I’ve faced mental illness for as long as I can remember. Depression, social anxiety/phobia disorder, auditory hallucinations, etc. And on top of everything, I’m a bisexual male who was raised Mormon. I had a hard time coming out to my family because they’re Mormon, and I knew the kind of response I’d receive, but after…

#358 Steve H. CS: 1,2,3,6,7. Other: Loss of trust in the priesthood, the Spirits, and the Church.

When I was very young, my parents discovered I had been sexually abused by a female babysitter in our LDS ward.  When they reported this to their bishop, he advised them to not report the abuse to law enforcement because the family was a reactivation project and these allegations would hurt his efforts in bringing them back to…