I masturbated as a child, like many children do, and didn’t learn the word for it until I was a beehive and given the “For the Strength of Youth” pamphlet. Realizing that I’d been doing something bad for as long as I could remember gave me a complex for years and years that bred shame…
When I was 19, I began college at BYU-I. I had reconnected with my high school sweetheart and we wanted to get married. The year before, I had been in a serious relationship with a different man and we had had sex. I didn’t have any issues or regrets from it but knew it would…
When I was 12 or 13 we had a youth caroling activity where the young men and young women rode on a trailer on hay bells with blankets to keep us warm and we would go around our stakes boundaries and sing Christmas carols to the neighbors. One of the young men who was a…
I’ll start from my earliest memories. I do not share this to brag. I do not share this to cause pain or hurt (although I’m sure it will do both). I share this to show the other side. To show that the LDS church does cover up these types of things. I feel my bishops…
I thought for a long time that I was alone in feeling that the interviews were damaging and shaming. This is the story of how my experience with Bishop interviews led to me leaving the LDS church and cutting all ties with my blood family. A bit of context. I am a female. Being raised…
When I was in high school, I was raped by someone I trusted. At the time, I couldn’t comprehend what happened to me. I felt dirty and guilty for being involved with sexual activity, even though it was not my choice. I went and talked to my bishop and explained that this young man had…
When I was about 13-14 there was a lot of abuse in my home mainly from my parents to me. Now I know more information of classic abuse situations, I had one written by the very definition. I was told that we don’t talk about our family situations outside of our home to anyone. I…
I had grown up in the church from about age 9 but had not been baptized yet. My mother was not LDS but I lived with my father and step mother and attended church every Sunday or else we were grounded for the following week. I was an inquisitive child and asked “why” way too…
I was first asked by my bishop if I engaged in masturbation when I was 11-years-old, in a worthiness interview prior to be ordained a deacon. I had never heard the word. At that time, he told me that if I didn’t know what I meant, I probably didn’t have a problem. It made me…
In 1987 I was a single 19 year old BYU student. I can fairly confidently add that I was an intelligent, savvy, and questioning young woman, who, despite serious misgivings about the LDS church, had decided to whole-heartedly commit to living the LDS gospel in the hopes that I could gain a “testimony” of its…