abuse has had long-term effects

I grew up in Arvada, Colorado. I started being sexually abused by my oldest brother when I was 4, and he was 17. the abuse only stopped because he was found worthy to go on a mission. A year into his mission, my older sister went to our bishop for…

To: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints Re: A Simple Request My name is Mikelle, and I have been a faithful member of your organization for most of my life. I have put my faith and trust in God, in you, in your leadership, and in every single…

I was sexually assaulted and abused multiple times as child. Several times I almost lost my life. I was threatened not to tell about the abuse. These threats included I will kill your family, God wants me to do this, I am doing this because you are bad. I have…

I was a member of the church for years, I had never had a problem with any of the bishops serving, they had all been very lovely and I had been preparing to go to the temple for my endowments and my Bishop was satisfied with my study and was…

Every bishop I’ve had has asked me very sexually explicit questions. After I had sex for the first time I was required to have confession twice a week. The questions asked during those sessions were so far beyond normal but I didn’t know any better. I only realized how bad…

My stepfather was a Branch President in a small congregation in Southwest Missouri. He was accused of molesting a young boy in our ward. A boy with a single mother who would stay over at our house often and play with my little brothers, as my stepfather insisted he needed…

It all started when I was 6, I had just moved to a different class within the church. I met my primary teachers, they were husband and wife. While the wife was teaching I needed to go to the bathroom, the husband was doing hall monitoring so he walked me…

This all started for me when I was 7 and went on for over a year. When I was 8, I finally spoke up to my parents about what had been happening to me in spite of the threats of violence if I told. I endured rape and what would…

I went to my bishop when I was 13 to confess what I thought was sexual sin – when in reality, I’d been groomed and sexually abused by an adult man. I’d already read The Miracle of Forgiveness because I was obsessed with becoming worthy again, and I was particularly…

My dad was a Pedophile protected by the church. I was his main victim for about 10 years. It went on this long because he was the one being protected. During my childhood in Idaho, Arizona, California and Washington, several bishops had been involved, same story every time he got…