I was fortunate to have the leaders that I did, they always treated me with respect. However, I did suffer from self-loathing and unnecessary shame due to the culture of normal sexual exploration being seen as a sin second to murder. I hated myself for years even though I was a pretty “pure” teenager, and…
I was a young adult during the time in which the internet and online porn were becoming popular. It seemed that every Sunday or General Conference was filled with endless warning of porn. I was probably an “expert” on porn before I had even had a chance to know what it really was. Before I…
When I was 16 I told my mia-maid leader that I had sex and had smoked marijuana. I expected her to keep it private but she told me she would tell my parents if I didn’t talk to the bishop. I went into his office alone to confess and he asked me how I liked…
I was molested at a very young age by a family friend. Then, I was molested again by another family friend from the time I was 11 to around 15 years old. He would touch me everywhere and spy on me when I changed or bathed. He stripped me down one night while I was…
I’ll never understand why my parents thought it was a good idea or allowed me to stay overnight with a 60 year old (approx.), single man who recently immigrated to the United States when I was about 7 or 8 years old, but they did. This man was someone my father was instrumental in bringing…
Growing up I was taught in church that masturbation was the most vile and nasty thing and no one did it except really bad people, at least that is the impression I got. I had so much fear and shame around masturbation that I would never allow myself to masturbate but I did everything else…
When I was 19 (10 years ago) I talked to my Bishop week after week repenting for pre marital sex. He asked for details, positions, what birth control was used, the location of the act, how many minutes, and he wrote down the details I told him. He repeated this for a few weeks each…
My first bishop interview about masturbation happened when I was 14 in 1984. I did not know what that was at the time. I had 3 more interviews about masturbation between the ages of 14-17 years old. I felt uncomfortable about his interest in that subject. It was creepy. He seemed so pleased to bring…
I am currently a member of the LDS church. Growing up I had many great leaders in the church that taught me a lot of good. I can’t imagine how difficult the calling of a bishop would be. I know there are a lot of sacrifices made in this calling. I do, however, feel very…
I was sexualized when I was 14 by an adult female, “Helen”. She was in her mid-20s. At the same time I was also given drugs——not a soft drug, like marijuana, but “acid”, or LSD. (This is a long story and I won’t go into it here, only to say that this is what basically…