A former mormon has revealed some of the extremely strict rules that she was forced to follow while in the church.
Alyssa Grenfell escaped the Mormon church with her husband in 2017, and now shares snippets of the many things she went through while a member of the sect.
Mormons are a relatively young sect of Christianity, having started in New York around 200 years ago in the 1820s and 1830s as part of the Latter Day Saint Movement.
Advert
And there are a lot of strange rules and regulations for members of the sect.
Whilst several religions have rules around drinking alcohol, Mormons take things a step further and even have restrictions on drinking coffee.
Alyssa said: "I did not drink coffee until I was 23. Because I thought that if I drank coffee God would not let me through the Pearly Gates."
But she went on to explain that, contrary to a popular misconception, this is not because of coffee's caffeine content.
Advert
She explained: "Mormons do love their Monster energy drinks, their Red Bull caffeine - you know even Dr Pepper, Coke, Diet Coke - those are all well loved within the Mormon community so it is not about caffeine.
"The reason coffee is prohibited is just the coffee itself - nothing more."
Romance is also something which is very heavily regulated within the church, with Alyssa describing how she would write letters to her future spouse in her journal as part of an exercise.
Advert
She said: "I'd be writing my journal to my future spouse in church meetings - young women's lessons - I would be encouraged to write letters to my future spouse.
"You know, 'Dear future husband, I hope you're a returned missionary, I hope you love the Savior Jesus Christ, I hope you're a good priesthood holder.'"
And, of course, there was no sex before marriage either, but it went even further than that.
Alyssa explained: "People would say well this law of chastity is not just having no sex before marriage but it's also avoiding heavy petting."
Such a restrictive approach towards sex and relationships can result in some unhealthy attitudes towards relationships as well.
Advert
"It's really setting people up for completely awful, horrible experiences on their wedding night because the two people are going to have no familiarity with the bodies of the other individual at all," she said.
Despite it being a difficult journey to leave the church, Alyssa is proud of how far she's come.
She said: "Honestly, there's something so beautiful to me looking through all these photos and seeing this transformation, the self discovery that's taken place in my life, of finding out who I am outside of Mormonism.
"I hope that every ex Mormon finds as much joy in this journey as I have."
Topics: Life, Sex and Relationships, Social Media, YouTube