The other day, I found myself reading through the journal entries I’d written both before and after I was formally disfellowshipped from the Church. I was disfellowshipped when I was 14 years old. Like many Mormon girls my age growing up on the Wasatch front, the LDS church was my whole life. My family went…
There’s nothing quite like trying to be the best child of God you can be – praying fervently, loving scripture study, always lending a hand to fellow brothers and sisters in need – and being told behind a closed door with your bishop that masturbation will damn you and keep you separated from God. Nothing…
I was 13 years old when a boy told me that his bishop had told him to “not associate with someone like me” . My neighbor who was my age and my first crush told his bishop that we had French kissed and “engaged in petting”. The bishop told him to inform me that it…
First off, thank you…thank you! Years of shame, guilt, self loathing and gender confusion because of what I endured. When it first began….I was called into the bishop’s office out of their concern I was “dangerous ” for other children to be around because I had just come out to my parents as being sexually…
I was a 15-year-old cheerleader when I was called into the bishop’s office for making out with my boyfriend. The bishop, a 50-something real estate agent, asked me to go over every point of the encounter in fine detail more than once. What I was wearing, where/how my boyfriend touched me, how it felt, if…
I was sixteen and excited to date. I dated a boy who wanted to get physically close, but I said no. He raped me repeatedly the day before we went to homecoming. I told my bishop who in turn asked if I liked any of it. He asked what I did to egg him on.…
I am so scared to tell my story because of the backlash I could receive from family members who may read this so I have decided to share it to the public anonymously. When I was just 9 years old, my Mom caught me “exploring” myself. I can’t even call it what it is because…
My family and I joined the church when I was 12. I had to have an interview with the bishop for a temple recommend to get sealed with my parents. I went in to the room on my own with the Bishop and he asked me if I masturbated. I had no idea what that…
I remember meeting with my bishop at 14. He had me describe the sexual acts I’d shared with my boyfriend. I didn’t even have the words for some of the things we had done, so I awkwardly tried to describe the acts. It didn’t even occur to me that an adult man should not be…
For years I was asked sexually explicit questions by grown men who held positions of power and authority over me. I was raised that way. I thought it was normal. Decades later I can now see the damage that was done to me. I do not want my children to be exposed to this. It…