I’ve written about a hundred pages worth of material trying to figure out what I want to say and get it down to something less than a thousand words. This is around two thousand. My difficulty in being succinct is perhaps evidence of the severity of the trauma and my need to talk about it.…
As a young 13 year old girl, this was a very uncomfortable, if not traumatizing situation for me speaking to an older man about my sexual “transgressions.” This, in combination with the church’s many lessons about chastity and comparing me to a chewed piece of gum for losing my virginity shattered me as a person.…
There was a time a little girl was happy, at least she tried to pretend she was, because she did not know what was going on.
I grew up being exposed to sexual activities and situations from my neighborhood peers, starting at a very young age. I always felt shame around things I had been exposed to or reluctantly participated in based on what I learned at church. As a youth, I regularly visited the bishop for worthiness interviews. I always…
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…
I want to spend a little time sharing my story. I do not want to give too many details but give readers a pretty good idea of what happened to me. I grew up in Arvada Colorado. In about 1987, there was an older man that moved in the ward, probably better not to share…