First Meeting

I follow The Mormon Channel on Facebook. September was addition awareness month, and the church released 12 videos of 12 different addictions that the church's 12 steps program helps with. For step 5, the video featured a woman who had overcome binge eating, or "food addiction" as they called it.
https://www.mormonchannel.org/12steps
It gave me the push I needed to talk to my Bishop about getting help.
I told my Bishop and he said that he would make a call into getting me the therapy that I needed from LDS Family Services. He also said that I needed to start going to the Addiction Recovery Program meetings on Tuesday nights.
My husband dropped me off and said that he would be back in an hour and then every half hour afterward to pick me up. I needed to be dropped off because everything inside me was screaming to leave, so I knew that if I drove that I wouldn't end up staying.
I was welcomed and sat down in the Stake High Council room at the big table. People filed in and I was handed a booklet called "LDS Family Services Addiction Recovery Program"  https://addictionrecovery.lds.org
Once it became 7:30, an opening prayer was said, and then everyone went around the room and read from the list of 12 steps on page iv.
We were told by the couple running the meeting that we would be reading from step 7 today and that we should take the time to watch the step 8 video before the meeting next week.
We went around the table and read a paragraph from step 7, humility, on page 41-42 (including the action steps). We were then told that we were not to interrupt or comment directly about other people or what they said in the meeting and whatever they were sharing. We were also told that we always have the option to pass if you don't want to share.
We were reminded that, although we were talking about the seventh step in this meeting, that doesn't mean that everybody should be on that step. Also that the most important step is the one that you're currently working on.
The couple running the meeting then turned the time over to the most veteran participant who talked about his thoughts when he was on step 7. He said that he believes humility to be the antidote that keeps us from our addictions. That every one of his struggles comes from him not getting what he wants. He reminded us that God doesn't live on our terms, we need to live by His.
The senior participant then asked the guy sitting next to me if he would like to share. He then pulled out his temple recommend and explained that he had just gotten it back that Sunday. Everybody around the room congratulated him and expressed how happy they were for him. He said that he viewed his temple recommend as a badge of humility. Then, for me, he introduced himself and said what his addiction was. Everyone in the room welcomed him by his name.
The veteran participant then called on a woman who explained that she had been having a hard week but that she had not succumbed to her desire to indulge in her addiction. She said, while holding back tears, that she was so proud of the man sitting next to me and that her goal is to be able to have a temple recommend. Her Bishop was fond of the phrase "Do the things that are hard" and she expressed her desire to do those hard things to get the reward of being able to go to the temple.
The man, who must have been trained to run the meetings because the couple didn't seem to mind that he was calling on people to share, then called on the man across from me. He said that he was proud of himself for not feeling like he needed to participate in his addiction this past week and that he was excited to announce that his wife was expecting. He said that a friend of their's had called them and asked if they'd be interested in embryo adoption, which they said they were. So for a tenth of the cost and in no time at all, his wife was able to become pregnant.
The lady across from me and next to the last man who shared was then called on. She asked if she could play an audio interview of Ted Bundy, as it related to what she wanted to share. We were told that this was highly irregular and were all asked if this was something we were okay with her sharing. We agreed and she played the interview. It was Ted Bundy's final interview, given the night before he was executed for his crimes. In the interview, he explained that he believes that all violent criminal are addicted to pornography. Ted Bundy Final Interview
The lady then told us that she found comfort in the fact that she was working to overcome her addictions. I didn't find how this had anything to do with the recording she played for us, but perhaps I didn't know her struggles enough to understand.
I was called on next. I introduced myself and admitted that I was an emotional binge eater. They all welcomed me. I then explained how I had seen the video on Facebook and how that helped me to realize that I could ask for help and be able to come to these meetings without being judged for not having a "real" problem. I told how my doctor told me to start binge eating on carrots when I told her about my issues. I told the group how nervous I was and how all I wanted to do at that moment was hide in a dark room and eat a package of Oreos. But that I hoped that through these meetings and with therapy, I would be able to overcome my addiction to food.
Another lady was called on and the couple running the meeting reminded everybody that family members of addicts were welcome at these meetings also. The lady called on explained that her son had been staying with her for a few weeks, when he suddenly wasn't in her home one day. As she was cleaning up his belongings, she found his drugs among his possessions. She said that the was very said but that she had texted her son and told him that she was disappointed in him but that she still loved him and reminded him that his things were still at her house.
The man sitting next to her was then called on. He introduced himself and admitted to his many addictions that he had overcome.