When I was about 13, a new bishop was called to my ward. From my very first encounter with him, he made me dread going to church. To everyone else he was a happy, jovial, fun-loving goofy guy, but to me (and from what I remember, other young women – my friends and classmates) he…
I was born and raised in the church and had both fantastic Bishops and then Bishops and other leaders that made my skin crawl. I was asked if I masturbated during Bishopric’s interviews and although I had I ALWAYS lied. The guilt from being “sinful” enough to masturbate was bad enough but when you add…
My mother went to the bishop when we were young and my fathers abuse escalated. She was threatened with excommunication for attacking the priesthood and warned not to continue in that attack on the church. Because the church was more interested in protecting the image of the priesthood they chose to silence my family by…
My father was my Church authority all during high school and I had to do these interviews with him. It was excruciatingly humiliating and, in retrospect, I think it was awful for him to be put in that position as well. He was not a perfect father or husband and, being in the “mission field,”…
In the year 1991, when I was 16, in Portland, OR…..I was date raped. I said NO. Several times. It was not consensual. At the time, I didn’t even understand what that was and that it was rape. Call me naive at that age, but I didn’t. Those topics just weren’t discussed in my family…
When I was about 11 or 12, I had just started in the Young Women’s program. I was ahead a year in school so I was kept with my class and not my age group. This was way back when the youth met on a different night. One night we were doing what they called…
My church upbringing taught me that sex was something to feel guilt and shame for. Starting around age 12 My Bishops regularly asked sexually explicit questions regarding my sins. I was sexually abused from the ages of 8 to 11 by a family member who was also a member of my ward. The perpetrator’s father…
My bishop was not a pleasant man. At 12 years old, my parents drove me to his home for my first temple recommend interview. My parents made themselves comfortable in his living room while I was led into a dark, cramped, hoaders-esque home office. I remember he had a dog, a border collie, and I…
When I was fifteen years old I had a boyfriend who was manipulative, coercive, and abusive. I was confused because he told me he loved me and he bought me flowers. He made me feel special. Behind a closed door, he started to force me to do sexual things that I didn’t want to do.…
I am a mother. When my children were young, two of them were sexually and ritually abused by a family member. The children came forward with their story when that family member was far away serving an LDS mission. Through two family therapists, a child play therapist, DCFS and a police detective investigation – the…