Blog Tag: #hearLDSwomen priesthood leader overreach
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#hearLDSwomen: My Bishop Ecclesiastically Abused Me, and My Stake President Refused...
Name Withheld
A year and a half ago, my husband and I were called in to meet with our bishop. I had been released from my calling a few months before and was excited to finally be given a new calling. Instead, he started asking questions about my testimony and any associations I might have with “apostates.” I was utterly confused and gave every assurance of my loyalty to the Church, but he proceeded to pull out a “revelation” he had written down that he said he received from God about me six months earlier while he was...
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#hearLDSwomen: After My Proudest Performance for My Degree, I Was Told...
When I was a freshman at BYU-I, the bishopric in my ward wanted to interview all of us to start the semester off. I ended up meeting with one of the counselors. When we sat down, he asked if I was seeking a "M.R.S." degree. I didn't get it at first because I wasn't accustomed to the LDS marriage culture. I was totally clueless and confused. When I realized what he said, I laughed uncomfortably and then told him my deepest ambitions...like getting a BFA and then getting my master's so I could teach art at any level. These...
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#hearLDSwomen: I Had to Redo a Disciplinary Council for a Sin...
I was married to an (inactive) priesthood holder who was abusive on many levels. I went to one bishop for help was told “If it was really that bad, you would’ve already left.” I went to another bishop for help and he told me, “you need to stop being so selfish and think of your daughter.” I went to a 3rd bishop for help (over a span of years); he called the church abuse hotline and used ward funds to get me into counseling.
Let's note that my husband the priesthood holder told me “I hold the priesthood and you...
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#hearLDSwomen: Every Week In Young Women, We Sang “Head, Shoulders, Knees...
One of my Young Women leaders made a point to tell all the young women (12-17) to make sure they stay away from tank tops, sleeveless dresses, short shorts, and leggings, because even though we live in AZ and it’s 100 degrees outside, keeping our bodies covered was the most important thing — we couldn’t let our young men slip into temptation! Never mind passing out from the heat because you’re wearing so many layers to protect the boys from sexual sin !!
- MB
We were having Young Women/Young Men stake camp one summer. The stake sent out a huge...
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#hearLDSwomen: My Bishopric Counselor Asked Me, “What Do You Do All...
When our oldest was a baby, my husband was called to the high council and assigned to another ward. I pointed out that we had one car and that ward met at the same time as ours. The stake president looked at me and told me I would need to rely on the ward members to get to church. At the time, I meekly submitted. In retrospect, I see I was given second class status as my calling and taking care of getting me and the baby to church were not as important as his calling. I also see...
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#hearLDSwomen: The Bishopric Counselor Asks My Husband Before Extending Me Callings...
My ex raised his hand to oppose a calling for me once in sacrament meeting because the bishopric hadn’t asked his permission first.
- Anonymous
My dad once voted opposed to one of my mother’s callings BECAUSE they had not told him first. SMH
- HMF
There is a counselor in the bishopric now who can't seem to extend a calling to me without telling my husband first. I've asked him several times to please either ask us together or just to ask me, but he still doesn't. He says women might not be direct about what's going on that might impact the...
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#hearLDSwomen: There Was No Recourse for Me on My Mission When...
When, on my mission, my zone leader demanded that I sing a duet with my companion at the next zone conference. I don't sing, and I asked him multiple times if I *had* to. He affirmed I did have to sing at the conference. The experience was embarrassing and filled with anxiety. It still makes me sick to remember all the ways I didn't stand up for myself.
- Anonymous
I loved my missionary service. It was brutally difficult, but I wanted to be there. I served alongside mostly young men, and I came to love and respect many of them...
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#hearLDSwomen: As Stake RS President, I Was Reprimanded by My Stake...
My grandmother wrote a manuscript for a book about Emma Smith decades before any of the more recent, honest biographies while she was Associate Editor of the Relief Society Magazine. She was told that if she published it she would lose her job and be excommunicated. She needed her job, so she handed over the manuscript, and for years it was hidden away in the Church Archives, with no one allowed to see it. It was finally moved to BYU Special Collections, and she'd donated her notes to U of U, so the information has since been used in...
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#hearLDSwomen: My Bishop Calls People–Even My Own Husband–to Primary Without Consulting...
Today was hard. I’m the Primary president and struggle with a bishopric that will randomly call people to Primary without my knowing at all. It’s like they throw people my way and more or less say, “figure out where they’ll go”. It’s frustrating and annoying because, believe me, I’m well aware of holes and calling needs and have already been formulating the best possible plan for our needs. I would say they do this about 40% of the time. The rest of the time, they are usually respectful of names I submit.
I tend to be a roll-with-it type of...
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#hearLDSwomen: I Wrote a Theater Piece Featuring the Lives of Prominent...
I gave a stake Relief Society fireside here (mostly Mormon community of a church university) once, about Mormon women's activities in the 19th century, wheat, silk production, suffrage activism, owning and running their own newspaper, building and owning RS Halls, giving healing blessings, etc. You know, all of the good stuff. I had a presentation with images and everything.
Stake presidency member got up right after me and took the opportunity to clarify or "remind" the whole audience that all of those things were done "under the direction of 'the priesthood.''" And that church leadership had directed all of it.
It...
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