As a teenager, I had a healthy interest in sexuality and had sexual feelings. I masturbated, which I now recognize was normal behavior for a teenager, but I also was so guilt ridden about it, it actually made me sick. I tried so hard to stop, but my hormones were just too strong. For weeks,…
You always heard about the boys that masturbate, and that always seemed more acceptable. Like it was something expected because men weren’t strong enough to control their urges. You never heard about the girls. And I figured out that it was something I enjoyed doing, and I did it. I knew it was wrong, but…
It’s hard to know where to begin, but I’ll try to be succinct. I’m a survivor of childhood sexual abuse at the hands of my oldest brother (11 years older than I), which lasted from before I can remember until I was around 7, when he left home. I learned only as a teenager myself,…
First off I am a female, addicted to porn for around 10 years. It all started when I was 11 I got an email that had porn in it. I had already been a sexually curious kid and that email just started an addiction. I told my mom and friend about it within a few…
I wish I was brave enough to post my name, but my family is still unaware of my faith transition. I feel like a coward. My heart is beating rapidly in nervousness as I type this out. But I need to do it. I grew up in an extremely dysfunctional family. My dad was a…
I was born in the church and presented as a very devout, chaste and faithful girl my whole life. It wasn’t an act. For the most part, I really was. But I had a secret : I masturbated. I was never asked about this, and masturbation was never addressed in YW. I came away with…
I grew up in a small town in Southern Utah. When I say small I mean about a 100 people small, give or take a few. Everyone in town was Mormon with the exception of a wife and kids of a Jack-Mormon that had moved there to sort of homestead. Their daughter, in fact, was…
When I turned 12 I had a really cool bishop. During interviews he would basically say “I don’t want to know what you did just don’t do it again”. He was awesome. Then when I turned 16 they released the cool bishop and put in a bishop that was the complete opposite. This guy wanted…
I don’t know if my story is typical, at least the later parts of it, but the beginning part I believe, is almost common in the church, at least among those of my peers who, like me, and my oldest son, with whom I have discussed this issue, had the desire to be completely honest…
I was lucky enough that my father was my Bishop during my formative teenage years so the damage and shame I received as a youth was from other people in leadership positions or during lessons and not one-on-one interviews at an early age. I never had negative experiences with a Bishop, but that changed my…