These are personal accounts of the negative consequences that inappropriate interviews have had on people.
I was inspired by former Bishop Sam Young’s campaign to end teen interviews with bishops for the plethora of reasons he has outlined. I have been wanting to share my own personal story on this topic for 38 years, but it has been very difficult to find the words, process the emotions, and not end…
I grew up in a traditional Mormon family. As a teenage boy, I could always tell I was a very sexual person. I had an intense curiosity about sex from an early age and no one to talk to or ask questions to. This led to experimentation. I began masturbating before I had even hit…
I was raised LDS and was a believing devout member as I prepared for my mission in my senior year of high school. I left for my mission a week after I graduated. During the interview process to determine my worthiness to serve as a missionary, I was asked by the counselor of the stake…
When I was 6, my brother and I played “doctor”. I had no idea at the time there was anything wrong with the game, we were nearly playing make believe. We did the normal children’s game of “I’ll show you mine, if you show me yours”, and on the count of 3 we quickly gave…
When I was in my mid-30’s, my father admitted to me that he molested me when I was a very young child. He said that he “took care of it” by going to the bishop. He never said that he was sorry. He never stopped looking at me in a sexual way. Nothing changed. Yet…
As a girl, I never heard any messages directed to the young women about masturbation, which made me feel like I must be especially bad because I couldn’t stop doing something that seemingly no other young women had a problem with. I prayed and begged god to help me stop, to take away my desire…
Hi. I didn’t grow up LDS, but I did have a “problem” with masturbation. I had done it before I became a member (around 25 years old) and had no problem with it. I am not sure how I got the knowledge that it was a sin. If it was me asking or the Bishop…
I don’t have the horror stories that some people have, but I have a few incidents to relate. First, when I was about thirteen, Elizabeth Smart was kidnapped. I was afraid for her and I was afraid that something similar could happen to me. I began having panic attacks that made it difficult to breathe…
I am the mother of two grown and married daughters with their own children. We have all signed the petition Sam started because we felt it to be important. As a teen and later as a newly married, I can honestly say that I was never asked any improper questions by a Priesthood holder. I…
The first interview I remember was my pre-baptism interview when I was 8. The bishop took me into his office, having my parents wait outside. He asked me a lot of different questions, including whether I had ever touched myself. Due to the tone in which he asked, I recognized that “touching myself” was a…