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…
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…
Thank you for your work. Your work helps us to be safe, even though I couldn’t convince my teenagers that it is good to have a parent with them in Bishop interviews because no one else encourages them to do this. No one is allowed to speak about safety guidelines at Church and the…
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…
When I was 15, I was called in for my tithing meeting by the 1st counselor of my ward. I was asked if I had participated in bestiality. I did not know what he was asking me. I had to ask a lot of peers and do a lot of research to figure it out.…
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…
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…
First of all Thank You! I never considered this happened to anyone else. I was raised in the church with my own father as a bishop when I was 15 to after I moved away to college. My parents are still very active with some of my siblings still members. I removed my name from…
The most important fact to know about my story: I am deaf, so my interviews are different from other stories, and in a disturbing way. I remember two experiences that stuck in my memory until now. First one was when I was a kid in a hearing ward, and they were having a youth baptismal…
I was baptized at 8, like all the other kids who were raised in the church did. When I was 9 I was raped by my brother over the span of almost a year. My parent’s had caught him in the act and instead of involving law enforcement they just sat us down and told…