When I was sixteen, I had a boyfriend. He was handsome, funny, and smart. He was a gentleman, always opening doors and carrying things for me. He was investigating the Church, so everyone was delighted that we were dating, because I was so active in church activities and held many leadership positions. This man was…
I debated for many months whether or not to share my story. It is not as bad as many of the early stories that I read that broke my heart. I was asked inappropriate questions by my bishops. At the age of 17, I experienced a date rape, although that term wasn’t coined yet to…
This story is not about me but about a close friend. This friend suffered from anorexia for their entire life, after many years of fighting this battle, they finally turned to help. They were a devout member of the LDS church and first went to their bishop, for guidance on such a horrible and difficult…
When I 14 years old my mom caught me looking at pornography. Because of this my parents made me meet with our Bishop. I did not feel comfortable doing this but at the time felt that it was what I had to do really, because my parents told me I had to. My meeting with…
I’ve been wanting to share with you my experience with the baptismal interview I had at the age of 10. I was currently being sexually abused by a close family member. The Bishop worthiness interview is something I’ll never forget. When he asked me if I was having sex with family members, I froze. I…
Around my eighth birthday I was excited to be baptized. The plan was my father would baptize me. Both he and my grandfather would be there on Sunday for confirmation. Since I was born in April, it felt good to be joining the ranks of my older classmates. I don’t remember exactly which day the…
I am a convert. I was born and raised into a catholic family on both sides. I was introduced to the church at 15 and soon desired to be affiliated and grow in my testimony of the gospel. I was interviewed at 15 and asked several questions that made me feel entirely dirty. I felt…
My story is difficult for many to believe, but I have spent many years healing and finding evidence to validate to myself that it is true and many of my family member have started speaking about abuse they remembered years after I held onto the hope that my experiences were to crazy to be true.…
I admitted to premarital sex as a teenage girl. I did this willingly because I was told it was the right thing to do and I believed it. The whole process was quite traumatizing, but I had already been shamed enough to have suicidal ideation prior to admitting to the sin in the interview. He…
When I was 15 I had an almost 18 year-old boyfriend. He tried to force things on me and sometimes had the upper hand He tried to go too far and almost did, he broke up with when I told him I wanted to wait. I was devastated. Shortly after, I had to have my…