These are personal accounts of the negative consequences that inappropriate interviews have had on people.
I joined the church when I was 18. I had an interview with my Bishop and he asked me if I engaged in Bestiality. I was so offended by this question. It made me feel gross and I wondered if others looked at me the same way. Just to be questioned in that way filled…
At age 12, I was so excited to be ordained a deacon. The Bishop brought me into his office. I don’t remember anything from that interview except that he asked if I knew what masturbation was. I had no idea. He must have not told me because I just remember when I got home asking…
Growing up in the church I was frequently asked about masturbation. The cumulative doctrine during my formative years was very clear that this was a sin of the highest severity. This came in the form of “For Young Men Only” pamphlets, Books such as Miracle of Forgiveness, frequent priesthood preview meetings, quorum curriculum, general conference…
I was in Junior High, and struggling. I already didn’t believe in the church. Which put me at odds with my Dad. My sibling had an illegitimate baby, which brought major shame to the family, back then. Another sibling got into drugs, which eventually took his life, a little later down the road. This sibling…
I was a hyper-sexual child who didn’t know the word masturbating until five or six years after I’d started having regular orgasms. I started cutting myself as I learned about the church’s stances on everything outside of standard married intercourse and that my value had been diminished as a result. I felt so out of…
I was sexually abused as a primary sunbeam (age 4-5) by my primary teachers during sunday school lessons (a husband and wife). There was at least one other girl with me that I can recall. These memories stuck with her, but I repressed them until just recently. I can now look back at how the…
My stake president wanted to meet with me in advance of going to the temple for baptisms for the dead. I’d known him my entire life and lived around the corner from me. It began with the usual questions. These interviews always made me nervous. I was a very good kid, but I felt like…
As I have started to read the stories others have shared, I decided I should share mine. I grew up in a divorced household, primarily living with my mother. I would have the standard every other weekend with my father growing up. The last time I saw my father I was 10-years-old. Most of my…
I was about 14 years old, I was forced to go to church by my mom. I decided to try and be more active and more involved. I wanted to get my temple recommend so I could go to the temple with my Young Women’s group and friends. I remember being asked by the bishop…
In the spring of 2012, the Stake President of the Winnipeg Canada Stake told us in the annual stake priesthood mtg. that “masturbation leads to murder”. God forbid there was some teenager there that night that had done it and felt like crap and who knows maybe thought about killing themselves before killing someone else,…