My (now adult) son suffered public shaming as a teenager because he was honest in his interviews with the bishop when asked if he masturbated. Numerous times after being ordained a priest (age 16) and having been called in for a worthiness interview with the bishop, my son would be told he couldn’t administer the…
I am only sharing this anonymously because there are other innocent parties involved from whom I have not received permission to share this story publicly. I wish I could. I find power in telling my story and I wish I could put my name on this. Maybe someday. When I was around 9 or 10…
When thinking about my baptism, I remember a few things about that day, but there is one huge thing I think about that day. Guilt. Down right guilt. That’s all I thought about that entire experience. I was supposed to be washed of my sins and be perfect. But I wasn’t perfect, nor would I…
My story is nothing special. I didn’t look at pornography in my teens, but I woke up from a wet dream when I was 13 and reproduced it in the shower not long after. I later discovered that it was termed masturbation and learned in Sunday school, “For the Strength of Youth”, and Teacher’s quorum…
Story #2. I was in 8th grade (13) when I had my first ecclesiastical interview. My uncle & his family had come from Seattle to do temple work, & he decided I was old enough to do baptisms with my cousins. I don’t remember being asked. My mom set up temple recommend interviews. I felt…
The story that has impacted my life the most is my husband’s story. He and I met when he was 28 (I was 25) and it was basically love at first sight. After 3 weeks of dating he told me that he had been addicted to pornography/masturbation since he was 13. He told me about…
I looked at pornography in high school. My dad got a confession out of me by lying to me and saying that he would drive me to mutual but instead drove into a dark alley. He pinned me in a corner and forced me to confess. When I did confess to my bishop he told…
My bishop asked me if I engaged in masturbation when I was about 12-13. He told me I can’t have the spirit with me if I don’t confess. I denied I ever did and left his office. I had constant guilt for years because “I’m so bad, not even God wants to comfort me.” I…
Trigger Warning: child sex abuse. This is about church teachings being used by my abuser. I grew up in a small Mormon town and was an innocent and naive child. When I was in grade 3, 8 years old, a teenage neighbor boy trapped me in my grandpa’s barn & molested me. I didn’t know…
I hesitate to relate this history, to talk explicitly about matters of a sexual nature, but am compelled to do so because church leaders did not hesitate to invade my young life with explicit words and judgments! My story; Deacon, teacher, priest, elder, mission, 2 temple marriages that ended in divorce, single, approaching retirement.. First…