Leading Saints Podcast

Leading Saints Podcast


Addressing Female Pornography Use in Relief Society | An Interview with a Former YSA Relief Society Presidency

August 25, 2019

Whitney Woodruff was shocked when President Rob Ferrell extended the call for her to serve as the stake Relief Society president in her young single adult stake. This was a calling typically reserved for older, married women with much more experience. As a young single adult herself, she solicited the help of three other incredible women; Kaylyn Crawford, Stacie Leavitt, and Kimberly Webb. In this episode, Kurt Francom discusses with them their unique approach of visiting each Relief Society in the stake to discuss the complex topic of female pornography use and how individuals can fight through the shame and get the help to overcome this temptation.

Transcript Availalbe Below
Highlights

* 4:45 Introduction of each participant and the story of how they were called to the stake Relief Society presidency
* 8:30 How they began to consider addressing the issue of pornography use of those in Relief Society
* 15:00 How they organized and formatted their lesson about avoiding pornography to the Relief Society
* 18:00 What feedback was received after their lesson
* 21:00 How this lesson impacted their presidency
* 24:00 Why it is important to be direct and clear in lessons about avoiding pornography
* 28:00 How they prepared for the lesson
* 30:30 The role of priesthood leaders during this lesson
* 32:00 How pornography is different for women compared to men
* 42:30 How girls/women typically learn about pornography (especially in their developmental years)
* 45:20 The most important topic of the lesson, the Atonement of Jesus Christ
* 48:00 A powerful question to begin a discussion about pornography use with men and women
* 50:00 How to create safety so that individuals want to talk to someone about their pornography use and get help
* 58:00 Advice for male priesthood leaders to effectively approach this topic
* 1:03:00 How to create local resources to help women struggling with pornography
* 1:05:00 General encouragement for other Relief Society presidencies

Links
"I am a Young Single Adult Advocate" | An Interview with Rob Ferrell
Protection From Pornography—a Christ-Focused Home, by Linda S. Reeves

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Interview Transcript
Kurt: Today I am in a dentist's office, of all places, again for an interview. Thanks to President Ferrell for lining this up. This is his office. But I am going to chat with four fantastic women. Let's just have you introduce yourselves briefly to put you into context. We'll start with Whitney because you were the Relief Society president of the stake that we're referencing.

Whitney: My name is Whitney Woodruff. It's been a couple of years since this all took place, but I had the opportunity to serve as a Stake Relief Society President. And I will never forget the day I was extended the call from President Ferrell and the overwhelming...He had I guess a little background. He had forewarned me that a couple of months before. I was serving as a Ward Relief president and he had put me in a PPI and we were talking, and it said, "What are your thoughts about this idea?" And I was like, whoever that happens to,