When we began accepting submissions for this season, we received an outpouring of stories from women in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Stories about how the Church has affected their relationships, how it’s affected their careers, their faith, their sense of self-worth. And, while we are very much dedicated to continuing to seek out and promote diverse voices, we also believe that this surge of stories from Mormon women needs to be heard.

We received so many of these submissions that to listen to them all at once would be overwhelming, so we’ve decided to split them up to make sure we can pay adequate attention to each individual experience. In this episode we hear several short, personal stories from women raised in Mormon homes, and we’ll return and hear more of these stories later in the season. We’re so grateful for each and every one of these contributors for finding the courage to speak and the wisdom to recognize that we all deserve better than the patriarchy we were raised under.

To begin this series we'll be hearing from three guests: Tiffany Sowby, Chelsea Homer, and an Anonymous Contributor.

Tiffany Sowby (she/her) is the co-host of The Sisterhood Podcast. A few of her favorite things are: Scrabble games, meaningful conversations, and shopping for shoes. She has an unhealthy dependency on Nutella.

Chelsea Homer (she/her) is the founder of Faith Journey Meetups and co-founder of a social club for women and genderqueer people looking for connection outside of religion. She loves to write, hike, and go on bike rides with her family.