I Support the Wolferts Sisters

You may have noticed lately that I have been deeply concerned about the Wolferts girls and their situation. You're right. My focus has not wavered since late August, when I first became aware of the plight of two teen girls (now ages 15 and 14) who ran away as soon as they found out the juvenile court had failed to protect them from their abusive dad. In June, the girls tried, with the help of their 19 year old sister, Brittany Wolferts (left in the photo), to take their father to court for abuse and neglect. Their father, Brian Wolferts, used a technicality to avoid them in court, and convinced the court to delay their hearing. He has been fighting to avoid them ever since. In fact, he has been acting EXACTLY like a father guilty of abusing his daughters would act.

Read Brittany's blog to see exactly why. It is apparent to me that she is an abuse survivor, and that she is telling the truth about her abuser, Brian Wolferts.

Her sisters have been in hiding ever since running away on July 17th. Not once since that time has Brian Wolferts offered them safe asylum. Not once has Brian Wolferts moved the court to order his daughters a safe residence to resume their lives until they can have their voices heard in court. Why? Because it helps him to have them hiding and unable to discuss his abuse. If they are brainwashed and lying like Brian claims, he still seeks to have them returned to his house in Kansas where they feel so unsafe they have run away. In fact, the girls personally say they will run away again if forced to return to him.

A psychosexual examination in 2003 revealed that he posed a threat to his own daughters without supervised visitation. He was found to be sexually deviant. He has problems differentiating between ages when becoming aroused. He poses a threat to all girls, in my opinion, because he admitted in a polygraph test as reported by Dr. Harold Blakelock in his custody report that Brian is sexually attracted to children. That means Brian Wolferts is an ADMITTED PEDOPHILE. Not only that, he admitted to "a history of sexual contact with a child." Um....WHAT?!

Taylor Allred, DCFS investigator who found Brian to have abused Brittany in 2005, stated in his report "Brian admitted that during their first two years of marriage there were occasions when he punched and pushed Michelle. He also admitted to throwing Michelle when she was 7 months pregnant. Brian said he shoved her, causing her to fall."

If his three daughters are brainwashed and lying, as Brian Wolferts claims, why is he so afraid to face them in court, using every means possible to avoid them? Why isn't he pushing the court to get them into a home they feel safe so they can begin therapy and get back to school? If they are lying, why would he want them in his house another second? Every single action Brian has made, and every single thing an innocent father would do that Brian Wolferts has failed to do, should make you think twice. He is behaving exactly like an abusive pedophile might act upon being exposed for who he is.

I encourage all of you to donate to Brittany's legal fund. That is the girls' best chance to secure official safety from their abusive custodial father.

Hello

I see that my blog page views have spiked today, most of which originated from Facebook. This must mean someone is talking about Sister Mary Lisa! Thank you for your curiosity. Ask me anything you'd like in comments. If I have time, I will publish and respond to any that are sincere and respectful.

I am still intensely interested in finding a solution (like so many of you are) for how we can help the Wolferts girls get back to a life safe and free of abuse. I personally believe that the only way they can ensure safety for themselves is to take their case to court and try to get a new custody situation ordered by the court - one that is not the home of the father they say abuses them and their step-mom and toddler sister. The psychologist who they discussed their abuse with believes them, and knows their father, and has issued a statement that he agrees they should not be made to go back to their father's abusive house.

This type of court action will take money, especially when their father is avoiding facing them in court at every turn. Please help these girls by clicking HERE to reach their GoFundMe page. Thank you.

Hi, my peeps!

I've been navigating life so fully that I've neglected my blog severely. I'm supposed to be busy today finishing my latest collage, but want to post a few upcoming topics I'll be writing about soon before I hit the collage again.

~ I finally set myself up as an artist. For real. With a business card and website and everything! I'm so excited. Check it out here if you wish.

~ I'm thrilled with the mourning doves that have created a nest in the rain gutter above my back patio. I'm enamored with birds, and always have been.

~ I've got more to tell regarding my Life In Flux Part 1 post. Parts 2 and further are brewing in my mind right now.

~ I appreciate the support and love I've felt from my blog friends. It carries over into my facebook which I believe has distracted me from my blog writing. Of course, divorce and not wanting to air my very real and very private life experiences pertaining to said divorce on this blog was the true reason I cut back so drastically so quickly, but I'm getting closer to being ready to write more. Thanks for your patience while I find my balance again. I'm happier than I've ever been and I'm ready to share that with you now.

But first, my collage is calling my name.

Check it out!

Belaja approached me to illustrate a post she wrote that blew me away when I read it. She is an amazing writer and I feel so honored to have been able to work with her on this project. Her writing on the female Mormon experience is the best I've ever read. I'm so excited that it's posted!

Please go to Main Street Plaza and read it and leave your comments. Thanks!

Pastel Drawing

I drew this pastel on a hymn page using a Jeremy Lipking painting as reference.

Life in Flux - Part 1

I've been so busy lately with numerous things that have taken me away from my blogging, and despite all my good intentions, I haven't been able to find the time to update my blog to explain it all. I have a few minutes to start writing out my thoughts, and I wish I could get into great detail but I know that it's late and I'm tired so it'll be fast, and in multiple posts, I'm sure.

Leaving Mormonism was the first big Life Change that started me on the road to finally, for the very first time that I can recall, dipping my oars into the water and steering my own ship. Always before, I felt like a leaf on a river, floating along wherever I was taken. In retrospect, I don't think I ever even felt I had the right to steer my own path. I grew up with a very controlling and emotionally abusive father, who hardly encouraged me or my siblings to be autonomous, independent, and confident in ourselves. I also was raised in a very restrictive religion, where a woman's "righteous" path is spelled out for her from childhood to death. Then, after getting pregnant out of wedlock at BYU, I married a man who was 8 years older than me, who seemed to be similar to what I was used to dealing with: someone who also had a need to be in full control.

Starting my blog was key to this change in me. I felt for the first time in a very long time that I had a voice...something valid to say. Re-thinking my place in this world beyond the constraints of the Mormon path--reviewing my "only worthy purpose" given by God himself to be a mother in Zion--I found myself staring hard at my life and realizing there was much I needed to change if I wanted to have true happiness.

So I began the very difficult process of determining for myself, for the first time since I was married at age 21, exactly what I wanted for my life. I knew that I wasn't happy and that I needed some serious changes in my life. I realized that I was not being true to myself, and thus was not giving my children the example I wanted them to have of a mother who is strong, autonomous, and deserving of being treated well. I finally allowed myself to admit that I was enduring unnecessary pain simply because I was used to it and had a high tolerance for it.