#513 Jennifer N. CS: 1,2,3,5,7,8

Long story short I was adopted and converted to the church. At age 4, I was already being sexually abused and raped. No one believed me and I had an “over active imagination” I was “coming on” to my abuser. At 8, I wasn’t allowed to get baptized because I wasn’t ready or “good enough”…

#510 Name Hidden. CS: 1,3,7,8

I am an active member of the church. When I served my mission, a man broke into me and my companions apartment. He held a knife up to my neck and sexually assaulted me. Not knowing the church protocol, I called my mission president. I don’t think he knew what to do and wasn’t prepared…

#509 Name Hidden. CS: 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10. Other: Foundational damage to my testimony of the truthfulness of the Gospel and the LDS Church.

I was sexually abused by family members (aunts and cousins) and babysitters from my earliest memory (as a toddler). One such abusive event actually resulted in my drowning death but I was miraculously and gratefully revived. All of my abusers were “faithful” members of the LDS Church. I have also since learned that the abuse…

#508 Name Hidden. CS: 1,2,3,4,7,8

I first discovered masturbation around 6 years old. I had no idea there was anything wrong with it and I simply called it “getting butterflies”. I remember at 8 being asked in my baptismal interview if anyone touched me on my private areas or if I touched myself. This caused anxiety within me. Was it…

#506 Matthew B. CS: 1,2,3,4,7,8. Other: Depression and impairment in social and professional environments.

I masturbated only once (yes, ONCE) as a young man growing up in the Church. I was 14 years old. I didn’t really understand what I was doing or feeling, but my LDS upbringing made me quickly realize that I had committed a line never to be crossed, not even once. I was so horrified…

#502 Name Hidden. CS: 1,2,3,5,7,8

To tell my story I have to include some back story. When I was a child, probably 4th grade I was sexually assaulted. This is something I am still coming to understand as my mind had blocked many of the memories from me as a form of protection. Subsequently as a young child I always…

#499 Trevor C. CS: 1,2,3,4,6,7,8

Protect LDS Children: My Story, Trevor Cobb, March 25, 2018 Around 1992-1993, when I was a deacon in Olney, Maryland, my mom caught me looking at a Playboy in the bathroom. Since I was 7-8 years old I had been riding my bike with the Mormon neighbor boy, _______, who was four years my senior…

#496 Name Hidden. CS: 1,2,3,6,7,8

My story has roots going back stemming from before I was born but I don’t think it is my place to tell them right now. My personal story mostly begins when I was 9 or 10. After school one day my friend and I were talking about “sex”, I put “sex” in quotes because we…

#495 Name Hidden. CS: 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8

Many years ago during a family trip to San Francisco where we walked across the Golden Gate Bridge, 11-year-old me stopped and peered down into the still, gently swirling water and tried to talk myself out of throwing my body into the soothing void. It seemed such an easy way to release the suffering that…