Dear Elder Uchtdorf

I wrote the following letter and mailed it today.

Dear Elder Uchtdorf,

First of all, thank you for all you do. I appreciate your warmth and perspective on life and the gospel. Thank you for taking the time to read this--I know you're incredibly busy.

I wanted to invite you into my struggle as a woman, returned sister missionary, a mother and an active member of the Church, which I love.

The current system we have as a Church puts our most vulnerable members--women and children at risk. Our current system is breeding grounds for sexual predators because of the power dynamics in the Church.

I understand that abuse is a complex and systemic issue, but we must openly talk about how to improve the Church's current structure. I know some minor changes have been made, but I hope we will use all the current and past sex scandals in the Church as a time to evaluate and learn from our past mistakes. This needs to be seen as the beginning of a process of improvement (not the end of it). I feel frustrated because I have felt shut down whenever I bring up this topic.

We need to remember that abuse is preventable and we need to turn to health professionals, victims and other churches for help on how to solve these problems.

We as women want to be included in this discussion because abuse and sexual harassment impacts us at such a deep level and on a daily basis.

After the Joseph Bishop sex scandals there were cover-ups made by the Church. I and many women felt deeply betrayed by this. 

I wish the Church's response would have been similar to what Katie L. suggested, "We are devastated, we have disciplined the person who did this and have hired a third party to provide internal investigation to determine how this happened and to help us review our systems and processes. We will create concrete safeguards that ensure nothing like this ever happens again. We are sorry for the harm this woman and many others have experienced and encourage other victims to step forward." 

I crave accountability and transparency from my leaders.

When vulnerable populations are the priority than everyone in the organization is served well. Right now I feel like the Church is more worried about their reputation than its vulnerable members.

Sam Young is on your side. I am on your side. The Lord is on our side. We are all on the same team. 

Brainstorm with women of the Church. Talk to Sam Young. Create focus groups with survivors and women. Let's problem-solve together and heal together.

I strongly believe that the atonement of Christ can be applied to not only individuals--but to structures.

Below are some suggestions of practical preventive measures...

• Give all members the abuse hotline number (right now only Priesthood leaders have it)
• Train members and leaders on what is and isn't appropriate in interviews
• Leave the door open or install glass windows in the doors
• Form interfaith relations on a local level to build a safer community
• Don't pressure someone to go to the interview is they feel uncomfortable
• Ask sisters for their council on how to improve
• Don't let leaders interview minors without their parents consent
• Do background checks on anyone who works with children or minors
• Inform members of their rights (if there is something inappropriate let members know they can refuse to answer a question or leave the interview at any time)
• Let Relief Society Presidents and their counselors do the interviews
• Call the interviews, Temple Readiness Interviews instead of Worthiness Interviews

Thank you for your time and devotion, 

Sarah Bridges