These are personal accounts of the negative consequences that inappropriate interviews have had on people.
I am an active member of the church. When I served my mission, a man broke into me and my companions apartment. He held a knife up to my neck and sexually assaulted me. Not knowing the church protocol, I called my mission president. I don’t think he knew what to do and wasn’t prepared…
I was sexually abused by family members (aunts and cousins) and babysitters from my earliest memory (as a toddler). One such abusive event actually resulted in my drowning death but I was miraculously and gratefully revived. All of my abusers were “faithful” members of the LDS Church. I have also since learned that the abuse…
I first discovered masturbation around 6 years old. I had no idea there was anything wrong with it and I simply called it “getting butterflies”. I remember at 8 being asked in my baptismal interview if anyone touched me on my private areas or if I touched myself. This caused anxiety within me. Was it…
As a teenager, one Bishop always had me sit on his lap after the door was closed. I didn’t question it because I was naive and had been taught to not question authority. Nothing else happened but looking back it was very inappropriate.
I masturbated only once (yes, ONCE) as a young man growing up in the Church. I was 14 years old. I didn’t really understand what I was doing or feeling, but my LDS upbringing made me quickly realize that I had committed a line never to be crossed, not even once. I was so horrified…
I thought I just couldn’t remember things clearly. I questioned myself. I thought I had heard the questions wrong. But I didn’t Sixteen and alone with a man of authority, my heart rate picked up and I stumbled over my words as he asked me if I got sexually aroused when I was around boys.…
When I was twelve years old a male leader came to our Sunday School class. One by one, he took each child out of class to have a talk with the bishop. No parental permission. No “voluntary” confession (these assembly-line interviews with probing questions are at odds with the practice of voluntary “confession”). I can’t…
I didn’t know what masturbation was until I was a teenager, but found out that I had been doing it since I was six on an off again. At young women’s some girls introduced me to erotic novels and I ended up reading a few. I felt horribly guilty afterward and talked to the bishop.…
To tell my story I have to include some back story. When I was a child, probably 4th grade I was sexually assaulted. This is something I am still coming to understand as my mind had blocked many of the memories from me as a form of protection. Subsequently as a young child I always…
When I was 16 years old, I met with my bishop to confess some sexual sins I had committed with my boyfriend. I felt horrible and wanted to start on the path of repentance like my church doctrine encouraged. I met with my bishop alone on a Tuesday evening. I told him what I had…