These are personal accounts of the negative consequences that inappropriate interviews have had on people.
I was born and raised a Utah Mormon girl. I couldn’t have asked for better parents, or a better upbringing. I was always the easy child that never gave my parents any grief, and I always felt a strong inner commitment to never do anything to jeopardize that. I always hated bishop interviews because they…
I grew up in the LDS Church, though I was not very active. I would meet often with the Bishop and have personal interviews with him, often about sexual matters. It tended to be the focus of each meeting whether or not I was masturbating and how I would be blessed if I stopped. This…
I remember when I was about to turn twelve. My friend’s dad was the bishop at the time. We grew up in downtown Salt Lake City, basically in Church headquarters. I had always been rebellious, but I liked going to church for the most part; I liked the people, and I felt the sense of…
I pretty much lied about my masturbation habits. I felt pretty crappy about myself all growing up because not only was I “sexually impure”, but I was also a liar. This shame probably fueled my pornography use more than it curbed it. Then, as I was preparing for missionary service, I got a “deep, searching”…
I wasn’t affected (that I know of) by being asked these questions as a youth or as an adult. But my heart was touched by hearing the many troubles that this practice causes others. My concern went immediately to my daughter, an LDS teen. I wanted to take the step that so many others have…
This story is as an adult, but my last bishop asked wildly inappropriate questions to me during an interview. I felt sexually harassed, despite knowing that he had no right, even by Mormon standards, to ask those questions. I can’t imagine how he treats youth during worthiness interviews. In my case, my wife had told…
After having to switch to a different bishop, (the Bishopric was changed in the middle of my mission interviewing process), I showed up to a meeting where the new bishop acted like he had no knowledge of the things from my past that I had been working on with the previous bishop. (After a few…
I suffered needlessly for many years through a cycle of shame and guilt for what was normal behavior, but I was made to believe I was largely alone in, and was extremely serious.
I was born and raised in an LDS home where both parents served LDS Missions. I learned at a very early age that my parents disagreed about LDS Doctrine, and not only them but they disagreed with local Church leaders and Teachers, and all of them disagreed with the Brethren during General Conference, who even…
My childhood bishop asked me if I masturbated. I said no and he stared at me for a good 15-20 seconds in silence. It was very awkward and I felt like he assumed I was lying. He then asked if I was sure and stared at me in silence again. It was very uncomfortable. I…