When I was twelve I began meeting with my bishop to seek forgiveness for masturbating. The guilt and shame I felt daily was crippling and I just wanted it to go away. As a young girl in the church, I was constantly reminded that my temptations were completely unnatural and that only men were supposed…
When I was 12 years old, I had sexual feelings from touching my vagina. I told my LDS Bishop about these feelings and he threatened to Excommunicate me from the Church if I didn’t stop. He and his wife were good friends of my parents. His attitudes only made me continue the behavior and to…
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…
Approximately 11 years ago I was busy with work and school as well as dealing mentally with the loss of my mom to suicide a few years prior. I let my bishop know that I needed a blessing. I told him I was taking Benadryl to sleep a lot through a depression. The bishop at…
I am sharing my story in hopes that it helps others to know they are not alone in their feelings, in their experiences and in their trauma, but also to raise awareness to the reality of the unhealthy culture and environment of the church for our children. I would love to see change for future…
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…
Even though I was a fatherless Mormon Boy, my Mormon childhood was great all the way up until the dreadful day my testes started to produce semen and that is when my LDS nightmare began. It would happen naturally and I could not stop it from becoming erect. The Church had assigned a convert man…
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…