Thank you for coming on to share your story, Sam! It is so important. I HIGHLY recommend everyone check out Sam and Melissa’s videos where they share more about what we discussed in this video.
I have seen other videos of you sir! I admire your strength and willingness to serve this community. The only way we help bring it all down is by showing that truly, there are good people out here. ❤ I think of you all a lot. Stay safe. Stay strong. We’re with you and the rest of the organization! ❤
I come from Germany and moved to the usa. My husband is American. The first friends we had were Mormons and they really wanted us to join. I went to a church service once and it was so awful. I was reprimanded for what clothes I was wearing (a dress over my knee with flowers on it), then suddenly it was a problem that I was a carpenter and was renovating our house and that we had a stillbirth was my fault. At some point I reprimanded them and said that nobody should come near my house! They are just incredibly difficult and for me, where this religion doesn't really exist in my country, absolutely unrealistic. I love your videos, they have helped me so much to understand it all better. I really hope many do leave this cult!
My goodness gracious! I'm so sorry that you were blamed and further traumatized for having a stillborn. That makes me feel so livid! I'm so grateful you're out of there.❤❤❤❤
When I visited Europe (my parents lived in Basel, Switzerland for a few years) I was surprised to realize that religion is there, but it isn’t the same as in the U.S. There are some strong believers, but it was much more common that someone identified as christian, but never went to church or lived a religious life. After being raised evangelical, that was new. It actually really mellowed my parents out and I’m grateful for that.
@@RelaxingPlatypus39 yes this part is a huge culture shock. Also the people from Europe were come to the US and MAKE the us. Was often religious believer were not alowed to practice that way in Europe. So for me coming to the US in a deep southern state it was like „why they all brain washed! Why they so full if hate and lies even they say they deep whir Jesus!“. I hope you had a great time in Europe ❤️. And I’m so happy that you see an opposite for that all ❤️.
@@louniece1650 I was never in to taht club/cult. 😂 I was in one service and had some hang outs and girl lunch whit people form that club/cult. And they can turn nasty if you not want join them 🙈. But I’m still happy married to an ausom husband and I’m happy we move on a other spot of the US and can’t wait to see more of this culture here and get some amazing people in my friend circle ❤️. I know my stillborn was not my fault and no one is fault on that and I’m way to strong to belive any of that crap what they say to me, it was an manipulation tactic and not more. They want Hurt and brake you so they can easy control you…
Yeah. It's even possible in Germany to say you're catholic or protestant without actually believing or partaking in any of it, simply because on government records you're still registered in the church for tax reasons. Or some people deregister but still partake and believe, they just don't take the sacrament and don't pay church tax as an act of protest. @@RelaxingPlatypus39
I admire Sam so much. He left high demand religions twice! That takes guts. I’m sure it wasn’t easy and yet he managed to become an educated, articulate, kind and empathetic person. I love the way he doesn’t bad mouth the FLDS but is respectful while still stating the facts.
I can not imagine being in a high demand religion like this. I grew up atheist and I can not even grasp to believe in god ir sounds so unreal to me. So when I hear of someone like him it it so so impressive to me
I lost my childhood best friend to the mainstream Mormon church. I was told I had to convert or never talk to her again. Thank you for giving me clarity and closure on the situation. Your videos help so much.
@@China-Clay she joined the church at the end of middle school (we met in 5th grade). Our mutual friend and I are still friends to this day (10 years later) and always wonder how she’s doing. It’s sad but we have both learned a lot from these videos and at least understand the mentality of the church and finally get answers to the questions we asked but never got straight answers to.
I was a temple mormon for years and "counseled" to not associate with others! Just be nice and be a missionary (fake it till ya make it) Thousands like myself are getting OUT !
@@Mrs.Robinsons that’s encouraging that you found your way out! Our mutual friend tried to go along with things as long as she could and even let her dead family members names be added to the database for baptism (although she didn’t know what she was signing them up for). The church eventually figured out she wasn’t serious about converting and she was cut off as well.
@@erinpooks One doesn't get to LD$ temples on a whim. AND one is cast to hell if they tell secrets. christianity is not a secret society. The christianCrusades were quite open, loud & forceful about it as well
The baby cemetery is just so tragic. Even worse are all the kids still living without birth certificates ! How do you possibly ever get out if you don't even legally exist... That must be a tremendous burden, especially as a young person that is not well versed in the intricacies of bureaucracy. Thank you for this video, Alyssa - I think it's tremendously important work to talk about this. As others mentioned, it must feel so lonely in the flds, so many people and children that never know what it's like to actively choose for themselves.
I didn't find the baby cemetery very tragic personally as I used to walk next to one at times when going to kindergarden. It was in front of a church near where I lived and I remember asking my granddad once and he said it was for kids. Me being a kid I just shrugged and moved on. Probably why I don't feel anything but admiration for cemeteries. Yes I'm one of those freaks that enjoys walking through cemeteries as if they were parks.
@@nikitatavernitilitvynovacemeteries are parks with art. My best friend spends hours in them. In the UK their just covered in 17th century and even late medieval stonework and incredible folk poems and no one ever looks
@@minui8758 we have one in my city (I'm from Genova Italy) that is classified as a monumental cemetery for how beautiful it is. We even have some celebries buried here. The only one I remember is Oscar Wilde's wife but I'm sure there are more. Oh I think also a local very famous singer/songrwirter is also buried there (Fabrizio De Andrè) but that needs to be verified I'm not sure. It's the monumental cemetery of Staglieno. Definitely a good place to visit for the art. One caveat is that someone commissioned a small version of the main church in Milan. Yes there's a scaled down recreation of that amazing church for some family burial.
@@minui8758 I guess my comment got deleted but we have a big one called the monumental cemetery of Staglieno where many historical either political, artists, singers, engeneers or writers are buried. Even Oscar Wilde's wife is buried here. Some burials are amazing looking. One is even a scaled down version of the main church in Milan. It was opened in the mid 1800's and there's a lot of art inside. Edit: forgot to mention I'm from Genova Italy where this cemetery is located at. Another edit: I skimmed through the famous people and one very important one for the city is Fabrizio De Andrè a very well known across Italy local singer and songwriter, actors, soldiers who participated in the unification of Italy, politicians, theater writers, poets, painters, scientists and many many more that served the city and Italy. So there isn't just history but also well known people to look for.
I remember watching a documentary where a woman talked about how she would sneak away to a hill next to her house and dream of marrying the boy she actually had a crush on knowing it would never be allowed as she looked at the vast desert as a girl🏜 She painted such a sad lonely scene. I felt for her.
It really is not like that! It’s become a pretty normal town, though I will say there isn’t quite enough to do. Still, we have a few restaurants and bars and cafes, and a few years ago they built a new grocery store that’s locally run but still pretty big, and a lot of tourist busses stop there as they go through the area. This video has a lot of great info but I am a little bothered by how little they’ve shown about the town’s improvements, but it’s probably because neither of them live there
Maybe they did. But akso they seemed to tour the FLDS section of town which has experienced a diaspora, compared to the rest of the 'normal' bits@@smoooty
As a mother of a daughter I cannot imagine turning my 12, 13 year old daughter over to a 50, 60 year old man to marry and be sexually abused under the guise of doing it for God. Imagine how terrifying that has to be for those girls.
If you weren’t brought up in the FLDS church then you most likely won’t have to do that and unless you have an active imagination you probably won’t be able to imagine it either. But that’s more to do with your imagination and your ability to use it. If you were raised in the FLDS church though, you wouldn’t know any different and you would be saying how you can’t imagine not turning your daughter in and instead letting her free to choose any man she wants to marry which would be terrifying for not only the parents but also the young girls. It is still terrifying for a lot of young girls who had limited parenting, to choose a man to marry and many subconsciously choose men that are like their fathers. Which is a disaster if the father was abusive or just not demonstrably loving and caring etc and I can tell you from experience that that is terrifying. In comparison, at least the FLDS girls know what they’re in for.
@@autumn5852no every girl in this position is scared. First of all they have to left their family to live with a stranger. Second of all its a fcking old man they are well aware in their community what is happening.
@@Angel-rd3mi yeah, unless you prefer older men, marrying an older man wouldn’t be great I guess, although I think their marriages are more about producing kids more than anything, as they live for the next life and this life is about preparing for the next so I think getting any man who can give you kids for the next 30 years or so would be good. And him being young might not be an advantage for everyone in their lifestyle as there are lots of other things at play. I think I’d probably want a young one that’s good looking and fit as well and big headed/conceited and hope he continues to get lots of new wives so I could have the kids and friendships without having to deal so much with him. But there’s no doubt, that it wouldn’t have mattered what I wanted if I was part of their group, because I would have been an escapee long before they got to marrying me off, because that is part of my nature ☺️ or my response to any attempt at someone or something trying to contain or control me in any way. It’s often unfortunate but pathological demand avoidance isn’t always easy to override. But at least I wouldn’t have had to worry about which man I’d get to be the father of my kids ☺️.
@@autumn5852 I understand what you’re saying about that’s all they’ve ever known. Where I’m coming from is that the mothers who allow their daughters to be turned over to these pedophiles obviously must remember how they felt when they had to be forced to leave the safety of their families and go to a stranger where they were forced to be sexually abused. There’s no way anyone can justify a grown, 50 year old man having sex with a 12 year old child.
I am not now nor have I ever been mormon, but watching your videos has been so educational and I appreciate that so much! if ever they show up at my door, I feel better about how I would handle that situation... you're doing great work!😊
You know the cult doesn't send missionaries. This girl lies. There are 10 different religions that broke off original. That i have found through a kris l little research The only one that sends missionaries are the Latter Day Saints. I have some neighbors.. very nice.. very normal.. very one wife. If you think latter day are conservative wait till you have hatian parents. You better not be going to church in your pajamas. Better get out your best hat. Poppy had 5 suits. If you kissed boy... ma would come in with the flip flip. Poppy wouldn't let my sister Date till she was 21
A crossover that we never know we needed! Love seeing Sam from Growing Up in Polygamy on the channel! ❤ thanks for spreading awareness on these topics.
There was an FLDS family outside my small Idaho (mormon) commnty. We felt sorry for the kids because the only time we ever saw them, they were working hard labor till they dropped. In four years, we never saw them in town, never saw them having fun. We were working too, but we also wore out the seats of our jeans sliding down the irrigation canals. Made me glad I wasn't LDS.
To answer your question, Alyssa, the FLDS owns many businesses. They got their money from investments similar to the LDS. Real estate investments, construction and manufacturing companies, etc. The Feds have been on them for years for tax violations, child labor lab violations, etc, but when only members work for the companies it’s not easy to get the hard evidence they’d need. And of course there is tithing.
And how people don't want to or are not willing to pay tax but are willing to give all their money to a chirch is beyond me. At least if they were part of the society and not so separate ld they would see it helps pay for roads and schools. And gives them the ability to be who they want. I can't imagine being so daft in the US and in modern times to believe this insanity. Aren't they miserable enough to want for better.
@@dawncelestino2086 FEAR base religions. Fear of eternal salvation, secret societies(majority) and modern day punishments. I feel I have a right to an opinion due to being raised in it. We are brainwashed from the time we can speak. So we dont know any different but we are warned to never think any different. Only150 yrs ago USA made polygamy a federal crime and marshals came to prosecute. Hence the hiding and separation from LD$- FLDS - People then regrouped- LD$- RLDS and men continued plural marriage (in gods eyes) in mormonTemples (still practiced in 2024) I am one of them that left and am indeed prosecuted by these secret societies where these men are cops, judges, Tax Auditors, doctors, therapists, teachers, etc. Its very scary and very real. I had my name & LD$/Auschwitz number removed but Ive still been tracked. As we speak out thousands are leaving it all before it gets as deep as my demise.
I just watched the Netflix documentary on the FLDS, Keep Sweet Pray and Obey, a couple of days ago. This feels like a good update video to see what’s happened after the time frame the documentary ended at. As well as give some interesting information.
hearing that the main midwife was called Aunt Lydia was such a shock to me, like Aunt Lydia from the Handmaid’s Tale. nothing against her, i’m sure she was good but that is true irony
Everyone with authority or high regard in the FLDS were called Aunt/Uncle. Aunt Lydia was also more than just a midwife, she ran the clinic as well. She was one of the kindest and most caring people from there.
Fantastic video! 💗 Not Mormon but was raised very Christian. I found your videos a few years ago as an anxious teenager petrified of hell- your criticism of the Mormon church’s history and manipulative doctrine really inspired me to have the courage and apply that same rigor and research to my own belief system and the doctrine I was raised under. The amount of relief I have found in history and understanding the construction of Christianity as an empire and institution has given me more peace than faith ever had💗
Learning the history of Christianity is so freeing. I was raised Southern Baptist and Catholic (the irony of divorced parents 😂), and learning the history of the early church and specifically the history of the Catholic Church was what really gave me the ability to make up my own mind about what I believe. Understanding the why of a lot of Church doctrine is so enlightening.
I worked at a high school in California. Every 2-3 months, we received a letter with the latest "revelation" from Warren Jeffs in prison. As staff, we'd pass them around as a curiosity. The letters were about 4 pages long and single-spaced. They were disjointed, the sentences were so long, we couldn't figure out what the message was supposed to be. A few referenced WW2. The way it was worded, it seemed as if Jeffs taught his followers that WW2 never ended and is still being fought. The letters stopped with COVID.
I always feel heatbroken for the families destoyed by this. I've watched videos of Warren's younger brother, and the constant trauma, like yours hurts my heart.
In around 2009, my single mum, my brother and I were travelling in the area and travelled to Hildale to go canyoneering in a nearby canyon (google suggests water canyon). After the canyoneering, we jumped in a pond by where we left the car and as we were swimming an FLDS family showed up to enjoy the pond. I’m from the UK and had never heard of the LDS let alone the FLDS - I have never felt more like an alien than I did that day. The kids seemed as baffled by me as I was by them. Seeing them swimming in their full length dresses with 80s hair was so deeply strange to me especially because I was only 13. No one was rude but it felt very clear to me that they did not want us there and were somewhat confused why we would be. (I wonder if the accents added to the confusion). I think sometimes about what happened to those kids - I hope they got out.
I heard a much more scary story about that graveyard. I grew up in St. George, and the polygamists were a regular site. There were polygamists that went to my school. I never thought too much about them, other than they were strange. Anyway, in the early 2000s, I was waiting for my friend to get out of court. The courthouse was in a town south of Colorado City, I can't remember the name. Anyway, there was a social worker I was talking to. She worked in Colorado City sometimes, and she was telling me rumors about how they would dispose of babies that were born with major birth defects, such as down syndrome. She asked me if I had ever seen a polygamist with downs syndrome, or born without a limb, etc. I never thought about it, and I never had. To this day, I have never seen a polygamist with downs syndrome, and I've worked quite a bit down there. I can't say I've ever seen an flds even in a wheelchair.
Thanks for giving us this content - it's fascinating that there are still people TODAY living like this. Hearing his story really opens my eyes to these real experiences. No real schooling until his 20's?! I love seeing his resiliency.
I remember finding out about this community & being horrified. Came back to follow-up a year later and was overjoyed that many of the buildings are now being used for good as he shared! And people are finding freedom from those horrors. I'm so glad you are bringing awareness to this on your channel!
I thought the early clips were from a documentary (being used to set the topic/stage) before it cut to Alyssa/Sam walking and talking because Sam just has a very nice documentary narrator voice. He should do audiobooks.
Really loved this video! I am not, nor have I ever been Mormon, but the film "Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey" is what sparked my interest in Mormonism and ultimately lead me to your channel a long time ago. My jaw dropped when I realized Sam was raised in the FLDS. I feel so much sympathy in my heart for him, but I can see he has become a very articulate, empathetic adult despite the conditions he was raised in. This was a really great guest, Alyssa!
@@scottbarrett9579 don't get me wrong, my country does have a very long lasting and visible christian tradition. It's just around 50% of the population doesn't go to church at all and don't identify as "believers". On the contrary, if you happen to meet someone who is a believer they're likely not to disclose that information since it's kind of frowned upon by the majority of the population.
I am from a cult that combines some of both the FLDS and LDS belief system. We didn’t have a name and considered a nameless religion but unofficially we called ourselves the truth. It’s in the news currently as the 2x2s. We were far more hidden and in secret than yall but my word our beliefs were almost exactly the same. It’s shocking to hear. Of course *we* were the chosen ones. (Enter eye rolls and sarcasm here) that we would be the only ones in heaven and our ministers couldn’t say enough bad about the Mormons and targeted many as prey for their future conquests to get them to “our” side. Last year it came out that CSA and SA was rampant and now the FBI is investigating us. Very few of us women were not assaulted one way or another. I was finally able to leave last year after 12 years of trying. And still I faced shunning. Anyway - your videos are fascinating and healing and in a way it feels like we are in “sister” faiths. I appreciate you sharing these it helps me so much.
I’m glad you’re safe! If you haven’t checked it out yet, you might really appreciate Cults to Consciousness with Shelise Ann Sola, also on TH-cam. She’s pretty amazing, and like Sam and Melissa, she puts a tremendous amount of energy into helping other people to learn and to heal, while being super empathetic, supportive, and respectful with her guests
Really loved seeing you two talk as fellow ex Mormons. I feel you could ask better questions than outsiders who may not have roughly similar experiences. ❤
Alyssa, you should dig into your Porter family history a bit. You will find a lot of connections to Jessops, including many who ended up in Short Creek. Love these Peter Santenello style of videos! Keep ‘em coming!
Alyssa (and Sam, as well) this is genuinely one of the best vids I think I've ever seen on TH-cam. You and Sam's lived experiences are so different, and yet so similar, and the direct tour and showing of specific locations makes everything hit all the harder. I've already sent this video to everyone I know who'd be even a little interesting, and I really just want to commend you. Very good work.
i’m only ten minutes in so far, but i really like the way this is filmed and edited. it’s very refreshing to be dropped into an organic conversation, on the ground
Cults to Consciousness did an interview with one of Warren Jeffs wives (Ada), and it was fascinating and horrible to hear. Thankfully (for her now, I'd say), Warren Jeffs misunderstood her early on and because of that he didn't really engage with her as his wife. She explains a lot about how she was moved around due to Jeffs' "revelations" from prison, and it really sounds like Jeffs is trying to control the group with escalating nonsense.
Excellent video! I remember a number of years ago driving through there on my way from Grand Canyon to Zion Canyon and realizing as I was driving through where I was. Strange vibe to the place.
As an atheist, its really nice to see some of these more in-depth pieces. I love the Arizona Strip, and have camped done collage field geology classes there many many times. Due to early experience (in the 80's and 90's), Hilldale/Colorado City have generally been "no-go" zones (being not so friendly to travelers). It's nice to see some change there.
I absolutely loved hearing Sam's perspective on being back in Hilldale and that community. It is a very different experience than most people have. Mormonism is a cult, but the FLDS was on a WHOLE other level of cult. Thank you, Alyssa and Sam for this video!!
Wonderful interview and tour! Have followed Alyssa for a few months and I am just blown away by all of it. Mental illness apparently offers unlimited potential. Thank you for uncovering it! PS - Aunt Lydia reference = Handmaids Tale
I've never been Mormon, although I had family members who were and my mother had been baptized before I was born. At 13 I joined the United Pentecostal Church International instead and lived a life that was a cross between the LDS and the FLDS and stayed in for fifteen years. After leaving the church I married a man who had also left. But the patriarchal mindset was still very much intact. Suffice it to say the next twenty years were hell. I'm only now deconstructing the mind feck my life has been. All the stories I hear on this channel and other post-mormon channels are an enormous help. I live in a remote area where there aren't many people with cult experience so these are invaluable to me.
I drove through there, in the late 00's shortly after Jeff's arrest and the Texas raid, and was tailed through town by a police car. Nothing subtle about it at all. On the infant cemetery, the FLDS had a very small founding population and has recruited relatively few additional members. With "high ranking" men tending to have a lot of wives (presumably meaning having more offspring) the community's genetic diversity would not be terribly broad. With close relative marriage being essentially inevitable stillbirths due to the expression of lethal genetic conditions is inevitable. Add in the lack of sophisticated medical care, physical isolation and the community's general xenophobia and it is somewhat amazing there are so few graves.
We used to vacation in the "Big 5" national parks with out kids a lot. Early 2000's . When we stopped at hotels on the Utah/AZ state line, many of the ladies working in housekeeping were obviously from these communities. "The Mormon dress ladies" as my kids would say! They did not speak to us. One one hike near Kanab, we met up with 2 women...they did a road trip to the parks and had a vehicle break down near Colorado City. Their reception was not, let us say, warm. They got the bare minimum service to get the car running and were asked to leave. Interesting conversation about the kind of side eye these ladies got from the folks in the town. We love the countryside in southern Utah, thought it might be a fun place for a summer home or retirement, but decided we would not fit in with the culture up there. Moab does not seem to be strictly Mormon, but many other towns seem quite religious. A Catholic and an agnostic don't seem like a good fit for this area🤣
This was such an incredible conversation. Thank you for doing this. I follow Sam and Melissa, so I know their story, but it was fascinating to hear your viewpoint Alyssa.
Recently a judge ruled at sentencing of a serial killer that he was banned from publishing or earning from his story. Any monies would go to victims if he gave an interview. Good start.
@@thousandreasonswhynotthey said serial killer and alluded it was a man. As far as I know Gypsy Rose only helped in the murder of one person. Unless there's something both you and I don't know.
@@nikitatavernitilitvynova no I was just thinking about how she's making bank right now off of what she did and most people aren't cool with it, the case you mentioned could be a precedent and considering gypsy might be tried for her federal crimes related to the murder and she'd be in front of a judge again... just thinking maybe what you mentioned might affect her someday if the feds decide to prosecute
Yes, I was really glad he was able to drive up from where he and his family live in Vegas. I really appreciated it and he is so well spoken on such a difficult subject.
This feels like real life handmaid's tale. That would be a very interesting video comparing those books with lds and flds culture. Damn there was even an aunt Lydia?!?
I remember reading about this place in early 2005, which was a bit before law enforcement did anything about it. I was shocked to learn that there was literally a theocratic government completely controlled by a fundamentalist, polygamist cult lead by one man whom the cult also deemed to be a prophet of God, and this was all within the United States. Multiple children had already fled this theocracy and there was also a raid in the 1950s which was received really badly by the American Public at the time (I don't think Public back then was really informed about the FLDS, and probably assumed they were just some odd Christian sect that kept to themselves, similar to the Weavers at Ruby Ridge and the Branch Davidians at Waco.). What ultimately brought it down was that the Government finally had enough evidence of the child abuse rife in this Community to get a warrant to arrest Warren Jeffs for chuld abuse.
the raid back in the day was poorly received by the public because it was incredibly poorly done. they separated families, put all of the children into custody of the state, and kept them there for the better part of a year. they really botched the 53 raid. if it had been done properly, i dont know if short creek wouldve survived it. but as it played out, it really gained them a lot of sympathy.
Punished for bringing up a sensitive subject is SO KEY. That was how my evangelical christian house was. I don’t think I would’ve gotten punished for asking what a word meant, but I was wildly gaslit into feeling like I was “questioning the almighty”. Which was wildly confusing because my parents kept telling me to question my own faith like they had. I think they just didn’t like the conclusions I came to 😂
That last sentence is a mood, lol. My parents and educational environment always encouraged my intellectual curiosity and questioning. But as soon as I started questioning my faith, I was supposed to stop *immediately*. Unfortunately, brains don't work that way.
My family is from there! My parents left town when I was one so I didn’t grow up in Colorado City or in the FLDS (thank god) but I do love just outside of town again! It’s wild to see a video like this about the town and the FLDS. It’s been a lot better in recent years and a lot more people are moving in (or at least they were, it might have slowed down when rent prices went up), and it’s really not an FLDS town any more, through obviously some FLDS are still there and most people are connected to it at least by family. There’s actually a LOT I still don’t know about the FLDS and my family’s history in it because my parents don’t usually like tot all about it, at least not deeply, so I’ve still learned a lot from this video. I discovered your channel recently so it was wild to realize you were literally in my town just a few weeks ago, pretty neat!
Thank you Alyssa! You’re content has always been so educational, and as someone who wasn’t raised Mormon themselves but raised near a good Mormon community has shed a light on the information that I was not exposed to, nor do I think many of the children themselves knew.❤
I talk about this in the video. I was taught the FLDS is literally NOTHING like the mainstream church. They very much try to distance themselves from the FLDS even though the FLDS are pretty much the same as the original church founded by JS and BY.
1:05:04 What you said about the Catholic church is hilarious! I remember once my family took a trip to Utah during Lent, and when we cheesed out at the sonic on a Friday, youd've thought we sprouted horns in front of the poor cashier 😂
@@lijohnyoutube101 Catholics don't eat meat on Fridays during Lent. So we only ordered items with cheese which looks very strange at a Sonic. We were in a very remote part of Utah so we were potentially the first Catholic family they'd come across.
It would be interesting to compare both of your upbringing with the Amish and Menonites. There was a video of one Mennonite guy who loved school and went to high school inspite of it being forbidden. His mother hid that from everyone but eventuality it was found out. They shunned her, and he quit because it hurt her so much to be isolated.
My mom’s first husband worked for Jeffs. Even after they got divorced and after the FLDS fled to Texas she kept close tabs on everyone working for him and under him and gathered intel on what they were doing in “private” web chats. It’s crazy how much information this case has that isn’t widely known. Men at the YFZ ranch were straight up incinerating children born with birth defects. It’s the largest CPS case in Texas history, almost 400 kids that were horribly abused.
@@coldwar45 The Kingston clan, another polygamy off shoot they also have many babies with defects . They claim benefits for them . The more kids, the more disabilities the better . Also it’s not clear is this person implying the babies were living at the time of incineration?
@@coldwar45 I highly doubt the chat logs we had were made public- Men in the compound would discuss on “private” chat sites about how to build incinerators for “potatoes”, asking for ways to make propane burn hot enough to damage or destroy DNA. The incinerators were found by the SWAT teams who raided the compound
@@nicoleortiz9884 Most of the sources of them “confirming it” (they didn’t speak super plainly about killing/cremating babies for obvious reasons) are early 00s password protected chat logs, so I’m sure they’re lost to time, but the actual “potato incinerators” were on the compound. It’s a crazy situation and also crazy to trust strangers on the internet, but unfortunately that’s how things go with a lot of true crime stuff
Rulon Jeffs was actually raised in the LDS church and endowed in the mainstream church. He was married in an LDS temple to his first wife, who I believe was the daughter of an apostle or a well known Mormon at the time. He served a mission in England and rubbed shoulders with many future high ranking Mormon leaders like Gordan B Hinkley. He was well connected to future Mormon elites until his father converted him to Fundamentalism. Many of the oldest members of the FLDS were members of the LDS at one time.
When you were naming off the names reminds me of my family. They are roman catholic. We have a lot of Joseph's, Bridget's, Peter's,Mary's George's, and Paul's.
I mean we have a lot more variety of names though. I have seven kids myself and so far haven't had to repeat any names 😅. I told my wife we should just go through the Roman Canon of the mass but she said no because if we named kids Felicity and Perpetua eventually they would find out that one was a slave of the other and that would just lead to drama.
😂 5' 7" bombshell shaking up the Mormon world I love it! Anyway I was baptised a Catholic when I was a year old and never once in my life practiced the religion. But being from the islands and having family and friends deep into the Mormon religion I never understood it. Now being a little over a half century old and now a Utah resident for the last ten years I've seen alot of wierd things and figured out their intentions just in the first few years I've lived here. Thank you for sharing and I'm happy for this channel and for what I've learned about the Mormons. Funny thing about this FLDS thing is that I dont get is how these men can handle that many wives. Here I'm still struggling to understand my first wife of 36 years and still have'nt figured her out and yet to deal with a handfull more is crazy!!!😂
This is so fascinating, and so horrifying for those poor girls 😢 Children "marrying" predators. As a former Utah (South Jordan/3 Temples in view!) Mormon, I am really enjoying this content and will subscribe to Sam's as well. Thank you so much 🤗
I cannot even imagine! My mom told me about sex when I was 12 and I was so grossed out. Lol It’s horrible to think that a 14 year old has to learn by doing the act. I’m sure many of them feel grossed out. So sad. I’m sure some of the women feel like they have been violated and yet they do not know what boundaries mean or what rape is.
50:00 this is actually so sad. I had male friends from different religions in my school. And their parents opted out of them doing sex Ed. So eventually when they started (secretly) dating, they knew nothing about periods, hormones, sex like nothing. I took out medical diagrams, science books in a McDonalds and explained how babies went in and out of the mother. They were so shunned from their own bodies as well. One even told me he showered with his underwear on because he had to "cover up" for God. So sad.
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Thanks so much for having me on @alyssadgrenfell! Had a blast showing you around my hometown! We really appreciate you spreading awareness!
Thank you for coming on to share your story, Sam! It is so important. I HIGHLY recommend everyone check out Sam and Melissa’s videos where they share more about what we discussed in this video.
Sam do you still believe in Christianity in general though ?
I have seen other videos of you sir! I admire your strength and willingness to serve this community. The only way we help bring it all down is by showing that truly, there are good people out here. ❤
I think of you all a lot. Stay safe. Stay strong. We’re with you and the rest of the organization! ❤
@@RelaxingPlatypus39 Thank you so much! ❤️
Thanks Sam and Alyssa!
I come from Germany and moved to the usa. My husband is American. The first friends we had were Mormons and they really wanted us to join. I went to a church service once and it was so awful. I was reprimanded for what clothes I was wearing (a dress over my knee with flowers on it), then suddenly it was a problem that I was a carpenter and was renovating our house and that we had a stillbirth was my fault. At some point I reprimanded them and said that nobody should come near my house! They are just incredibly difficult and for me, where this religion doesn't really exist in my country, absolutely unrealistic. I love your videos, they have helped me so much to understand it all better. I really hope many do leave this cult!
My goodness gracious! I'm so sorry that you were blamed and further traumatized for having a stillborn. That makes me feel so livid! I'm so grateful you're out of there.❤❤❤❤
When I visited Europe (my parents lived in Basel, Switzerland for a few years) I was surprised to realize that religion is there, but it isn’t the same as in the U.S.
There are some strong believers, but it was much more common that someone identified as christian, but never went to church or lived a religious life.
After being raised evangelical, that was new. It actually really mellowed my parents out and I’m grateful for that.
@@RelaxingPlatypus39 yes this part is a huge culture shock. Also the people from Europe were come to the US and MAKE the us. Was often religious believer were not alowed to practice that way in Europe. So for me coming to the US in a deep southern state it was like „why they all brain washed! Why they so full if hate and lies even they say they deep whir Jesus!“.
I hope you had a great time in Europe ❤️. And I’m so happy that you see an opposite for that all ❤️.
@@louniece1650 I was never in to taht club/cult. 😂 I was in one service and had some hang outs and girl lunch whit people form that club/cult. And they can turn nasty if you not want join them 🙈. But I’m still happy married to an ausom husband and I’m happy we move on a other spot of the US and can’t wait to see more of this culture here and get some amazing people in my friend circle ❤️. I know my stillborn was not my fault and no one is fault on that and I’m way to strong to belive any of that crap what they say to me, it was an manipulation tactic and not more. They want Hurt and brake you so they can easy control you…
Yeah. It's even possible in Germany to say you're catholic or protestant without actually believing or partaking in any of it, simply because on government records you're still registered in the church for tax reasons. Or some people deregister but still partake and believe, they just don't take the sacrament and don't pay church tax as an act of protest. @@RelaxingPlatypus39
I admire Sam so much. He left high demand religions twice! That takes guts. I’m sure it wasn’t easy and yet he managed to become an educated, articulate, kind and empathetic person. I love the way he doesn’t bad mouth the FLDS but is respectful while still stating the facts.
Thank you so much! ❤️
I absolutely agree with you! ❤
I can not imagine being in a high demand religion like this. I grew up atheist and I can not even grasp to believe in god ir sounds so unreal to me. So when I hear of someone like him it it so so impressive to me
He did the opposite of most video game runs. Started on hard then did a second play on normal
What two religions?
I lost my childhood best friend to the mainstream Mormon church. I was told I had to convert or never talk to her again. Thank you for giving me clarity and closure on the situation. Your videos help so much.
This is heartbreaking, I hope things are getting better, was that very long ago?
@@China-Clay she joined the church at the end of middle school (we met in 5th grade). Our mutual friend and I are still friends to this day (10 years later) and always wonder how she’s doing. It’s sad but we have both learned a lot from these videos and at least understand the mentality of the church and finally get answers to the questions we asked but never got straight answers to.
I was a temple mormon for years and "counseled" to not associate with others! Just be nice and be a missionary (fake it till ya make it) Thousands like myself are getting OUT !
@@Mrs.Robinsons that’s encouraging that you found your way out! Our mutual friend tried to go along with things as long as she could and even let her dead family members names be added to the database for baptism (although she didn’t know what she was signing them up for). The church eventually figured out she wasn’t serious about converting and she was cut off as well.
@@erinpooks One doesn't get to LD$ temples on a whim. AND one is cast to hell if they tell secrets. christianity is not a secret society. The christianCrusades were quite open, loud & forceful about it as well
The baby cemetery is just so tragic. Even worse are all the kids still living without birth certificates ! How do you possibly ever get out if you don't even legally exist... That must be a tremendous burden, especially as a young person that is not well versed in the intricacies of bureaucracy. Thank you for this video, Alyssa - I think it's tremendously important work to talk about this. As others mentioned, it must feel so lonely in the flds, so many people and children that never know what it's like to actively choose for themselves.
Who steps in for you in court? What embassy stands up for you? When they deport you, where even to?
I didn't find the baby cemetery very tragic personally as I used to walk next to one at times when going to kindergarden. It was in front of a church near where I lived and I remember asking my granddad once and he said it was for kids. Me being a kid I just shrugged and moved on. Probably why I don't feel anything but admiration for cemeteries. Yes I'm one of those freaks that enjoys walking through cemeteries as if they were parks.
@@nikitatavernitilitvynovacemeteries are parks with art. My best friend spends hours in them. In the UK their just covered in 17th century and even late medieval stonework and incredible folk poems and no one ever looks
@@minui8758 we have one in my city (I'm from Genova Italy) that is classified as a monumental cemetery for how beautiful it is. We even have some celebries buried here. The only one I remember is Oscar Wilde's wife but I'm sure there are more. Oh I think also a local very famous singer/songrwirter is also buried there (Fabrizio De Andrè) but that needs to be verified I'm not sure. It's the monumental cemetery of Staglieno. Definitely a good place to visit for the art. One caveat is that someone commissioned a small version of the main church in Milan. Yes there's a scaled down recreation of that amazing church for some family burial.
@@minui8758 I guess my comment got deleted but we have a big one called the monumental cemetery of Staglieno where many historical either political, artists, singers, engeneers or writers are buried. Even Oscar Wilde's wife is buried here. Some burials are amazing looking. One is even a scaled down version of the main church in Milan. It was opened in the mid 1800's and there's a lot of art inside.
Edit: forgot to mention I'm from Genova Italy where this cemetery is located at.
Another edit: I skimmed through the famous people and one very important one for the city is Fabrizio De Andrè a very well known across Italy local singer and songwriter, actors, soldiers who participated in the unification of Italy, politicians, theater writers, poets, painters, scientists and many many more that served the city and Italy. So there isn't just history but also well known people to look for.
Being in the FLDS sounds like a very lonely experience, even though I imagine people were not alone often
It seemed so so lonely to me as well. Someone is always watching you and you could be reported at and time, even by your spouse, sibling, or child. :(
I remember watching a documentary where a woman talked about how she would sneak away to a hill next to her house and dream of marrying the boy she actually had a crush on knowing it would never be allowed as she looked at the vast desert as a girl🏜
She painted such a sad lonely scene. I felt for her.
@@Tiniestwombat was that "Keep Sweet, Pray, and Obey"?
@@Seal0626 I think so
@@kirsten9323 It is true. Even though we were always surrounded by people, it could be very lonely at times.
The town feels so soulless, it is almost like a ghost town, but somehow there are still people there. Very uncanny!
It really is not like that! It’s become a pretty normal town, though I will say there isn’t quite enough to do. Still, we have a few restaurants and bars and cafes, and a few years ago they built a new grocery store that’s locally run but still pretty big, and a lot of tourist busses stop there as they go through the area. This video has a lot of great info but I am a little bothered by how little they’ve shown about the town’s improvements, but it’s probably because neither of them live there
Maybe because their focus was LDS in the town, and not the town now?@@smoooty
@@scoutharris8586 I guess so, but the og comment here shows they still kinda misrepresented the place
Maybe they did. But akso they seemed to tour the FLDS section of town which has experienced a diaspora, compared to the rest of the 'normal' bits@@smoooty
I’ve driven past these towns a lot and it feels like a post apocalypse film.
As a mother of a daughter I cannot imagine turning my 12, 13 year old daughter over to a 50, 60 year old man to marry and be sexually abused under the guise of doing it for God. Imagine how terrifying that has to be for those girls.
If you weren’t brought up in the FLDS church then you most likely won’t have to do that and unless you have an active imagination you probably won’t be able to imagine it either. But that’s more to do with your imagination and your ability to use it.
If you were raised in the FLDS church though, you wouldn’t know any different and you would be saying how you can’t imagine not turning your daughter in and instead letting her free to choose any man she wants to marry which would be terrifying for not only the parents but also the young girls.
It is still terrifying for a lot of young girls who had limited parenting, to choose a man to marry and many subconsciously choose men that are like their fathers. Which is a disaster if the father was abusive or just not demonstrably loving and caring etc and I can tell you from experience that that is terrifying. In comparison, at least the FLDS girls know what they’re in for.
@@autumn5852no every girl in this position is scared. First of all they have to left their family to live with a stranger. Second of all its a fcking old man they are well aware in their community what is happening.
@@Angel-rd3mi yeah, unless you prefer older men, marrying an older man wouldn’t be great I guess, although I think their marriages are more about producing kids more than anything, as they live for the next life and this life is about preparing for the next so I think getting any man who can give you kids for the next 30 years or so would be good.
And him being young might not be an advantage for everyone in their lifestyle as there are lots of other things at play.
I think I’d probably want a young one that’s good looking and fit as well and big headed/conceited and hope he continues to get lots of new wives so I could have the kids and friendships without having to deal so much with him.
But there’s no doubt, that it wouldn’t have mattered what I wanted if I was part of their group, because I would have been an escapee long before they got to marrying me off, because that is part of my nature ☺️ or my response to any attempt at someone or something trying to contain or control me in any way. It’s often unfortunate but pathological demand avoidance isn’t always easy to override. But at least I wouldn’t have had to worry about which man I’d get to be the father of my kids ☺️.
@@autumn5852 I understand what you’re saying about that’s all they’ve ever known. Where I’m coming from is that the mothers who allow their daughters to be turned over to these pedophiles obviously must remember how they felt when they had to be forced to leave the safety of their families and go to a stranger where they were forced to be sexually abused. There’s no way anyone can justify a grown, 50 year old man having sex with a 12 year old child.
@@AshleyKopituk they do justify it tho, they say god told them to. You can use religion to justify just about anything
I am not now nor have I ever been mormon, but watching your videos has been so educational and I appreciate that so much! if ever they show up at my door, I feel better about how I would handle that situation... you're doing great work!😊
Thank you so much for watching! I put a lot of research into my videos so I really appreciate your kind words :)
This is how I feel too. Well said.❤
Very well said. It let’s us be kinder as humans.
You know the cult doesn't send missionaries.
This girl lies.
There are 10 different religions that broke off original. That i have found through a kris l little research
The only one that sends missionaries are the Latter Day Saints.
I have some neighbors.. very nice.. very normal.. very one wife.
If you think latter day are conservative wait till you have hatian parents. You better not be going to church in your pajamas. Better get out your best hat.
Poppy had 5 suits. If you kissed boy... ma would come in with the flip flip.
Poppy wouldn't let my sister Date till she was 21
@@tenerds4569 I believe her over you.
A crossover that we never know we needed! Love seeing Sam from Growing Up in Polygamy on the channel! ❤ thanks for spreading awareness on these topics.
Sam was so generous to drive back out to this area to share his story. Thank you to Sam and 100%, everyone should check out his channel!
@@alyssadgrenfell agree I learn a lot from Sam & Melissa’s channel and also yours!
@@officialgracewhite Thank you! 🙂
There was an FLDS family outside my small Idaho (mormon) commnty. We felt sorry for the kids because the only time we ever saw them, they were working hard labor till they dropped. In four years, we never saw them in town, never saw them having fun. We were working too, but we also wore out the seats of our jeans sliding down the irrigation canals. Made me glad I wasn't LDS.
To answer your question, Alyssa, the FLDS owns many businesses. They got their money from investments similar to the LDS. Real estate investments, construction and manufacturing companies, etc. The Feds have been on them for years for tax violations, child labor lab violations, etc, but when only members work for the companies it’s not easy to get the hard evidence they’d need. And of course there is tithing.
Absolutely! Thanks for sharing -from FLDS to RLDS and of course LD$ all same foundations and ways around tax's & laws. In UT they are the laws!
And how people don't want to or are not willing to pay tax but are willing to give all their money to a chirch is beyond me.
At least if they were part of the society and not so separate ld they would see it helps pay for roads and schools. And gives them the ability to be who they want.
I can't imagine being so daft in the US and in modern times to believe this insanity. Aren't they miserable enough to want for better.
@@dawncelestino2086 FEAR base religions. Fear of eternal salvation, secret societies(majority) and modern day punishments. I feel I have a right to an opinion due to being raised in it. We are brainwashed from the time we can speak. So we dont know any different but we are warned to never think any different.
Only150 yrs ago USA made polygamy a federal crime and marshals came to prosecute. Hence the hiding and separation from LD$- FLDS - People then regrouped- LD$- RLDS and men continued plural marriage (in gods eyes) in mormonTemples (still practiced in 2024) I am one of them that left and am indeed prosecuted by these secret societies where these men are cops, judges, Tax Auditors, doctors, therapists, teachers, etc. Its very scary and very real. I had my name & LD$/Auschwitz number removed but Ive still been tracked. As we speak out thousands are leaving it all before it gets as deep as my demise.
A huge public (polygamy) school was just closed down in Utah by the Feds. LD$/FLDS/RLDS say it takes away their freedoms of religion in USA
I just watched the Netflix documentary on the FLDS, Keep Sweet Pray and Obey, a couple of days ago. This feels like a good update video to see what’s happened after the time frame the documentary ended at. As well as give some interesting information.
hearing that the main midwife was called Aunt Lydia was such a shock to me, like Aunt Lydia from the Handmaid’s Tale. nothing against her, i’m sure she was good but that is true irony
I thought the same thing. My mind immediately flashed to The Handmaid’s Tale.
Everyone with authority or high regard in the FLDS were called Aunt/Uncle. Aunt Lydia was also more than just a midwife, she ran the clinic as well. She was one of the kindest and most caring people from there.
Fantastic video! 💗 Not Mormon but was raised very Christian. I found your videos a few years ago as an anxious teenager petrified of hell- your criticism of the Mormon church’s history and manipulative doctrine really inspired me to have the courage and apply that same rigor and research to my own belief system and the doctrine I was raised under. The amount of relief I have found in history and understanding the construction of Christianity as an empire and institution has given me more peace than faith ever had💗
I feel so blessed to have been raised without religion and feel so bad for those raised with such abusive indoctrination.
Do you live by the New Testament’s gospel & the 10 commandments?
Learning the history of Christianity is so freeing. I was raised Southern Baptist and Catholic (the irony of divorced parents 😂), and learning the history of the early church and specifically the history of the Catholic Church was what really gave me the ability to make up my own mind about what I believe. Understanding the why of a lot of Church doctrine is so enlightening.
I worked at a high school in California. Every 2-3 months, we received a letter with the latest "revelation" from Warren Jeffs in prison. As staff, we'd pass them around as a curiosity. The letters were about 4 pages long and single-spaced. They were disjointed, the sentences were so long, we couldn't figure out what the message was supposed to be.
A few referenced WW2. The way it was worded, it seemed as if Jeffs taught his followers that WW2 never ended and is still being fought. The letters stopped with COVID.
Was it an LDS school? Honestly just curious why you guys got the memo. I would imagine they’re particular about who gets to see it.
Perhaps the prison community let Jeffs know just how they feel about pedophilia.
@@RelaxingPlatypus39No, it was a public high school. We have no idea how the school got on their mailing list.
@@janedorling1676 if I had to guess, a former student, either as a prank while still in school, or because they didn't like the school much.
omg I JUST watched a video from another creator with sam! he’s so well spoken and I really admire his strength. sending love to you both!
Thank you so much!
Was it with Drew Binsky? I think he did a video in this town with Sam
I always feel heatbroken for the families destoyed by this. I've watched videos of Warren's younger brother, and the constant trauma, like yours hurts my heart.
Getting Sam was a great idea.
He is super brave and very well spoken. Thank you for coming on to share your story, Sam!
In around 2009, my single mum, my brother and I were travelling in the area and travelled to Hildale to go canyoneering in a nearby canyon (google suggests water canyon). After the canyoneering, we jumped in a pond by where we left the car and as we were swimming an FLDS family showed up to enjoy the pond. I’m from the UK and had never heard of the LDS let alone the FLDS - I have never felt more like an alien than I did that day.
The kids seemed as baffled by me as I was by them. Seeing them swimming in their full length dresses with 80s hair was so deeply strange to me especially because I was only 13. No one was rude but it felt very clear to me that they did not want us there and were somewhat confused why we would be. (I wonder if the accents added to the confusion).
I think sometimes about what happened to those kids - I hope they got out.
I heard a much more scary story about that graveyard. I grew up in St. George, and the polygamists were a regular site. There were polygamists that went to my school. I never thought too much about them, other than they were strange. Anyway, in the early 2000s, I was waiting for my friend to get out of court. The courthouse was in a town south of Colorado City, I can't remember the name. Anyway, there was a social worker I was talking to. She worked in Colorado City sometimes, and she was telling me rumors about how they would dispose of babies that were born with major birth defects, such as down syndrome. She asked me if I had ever seen a polygamist with downs syndrome, or born without a limb, etc. I never thought about it, and I never had. To this day, I have never seen a polygamist with downs syndrome, and I've worked quite a bit down there. I can't say I've ever seen an flds even in a wheelchair.
😮😮😮😮
Thanks for giving us this content - it's fascinating that there are still people TODAY living like this. Hearing his story really opens my eyes to these real experiences. No real schooling until his 20's?! I love seeing his resiliency.
I remember finding out about this community & being horrified. Came back to follow-up a year later and was overjoyed that many of the buildings are now being used for good as he shared! And people are finding freedom from those horrors. I'm so glad you are bringing awareness to this on your channel!
The collab I didn’t know I wanted but definitely needed.
I thought the early clips were from a documentary (being used to set the topic/stage) before it cut to Alyssa/Sam walking and talking because Sam just has a very nice documentary narrator voice. He should do audiobooks.
Really loved this video! I am not, nor have I ever been Mormon, but the film "Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey" is what sparked my interest in Mormonism and ultimately lead me to your channel a long time ago. My jaw dropped when I realized Sam was raised in the FLDS. I feel so much sympathy in my heart for him, but I can see he has become a very articulate, empathetic adult despite the conditions he was raised in. This was a really great guest, Alyssa!
Both of their accents are distinctive to different regions of utah, it’s interesting to listen to!
I was wondering about that- his dialect is very interesting- almost reminds me of a Spanish speaker.
@@Mckinley-mick He lived 2 years in Chile, speaking exclusively Spanish. Maybe that has something to do with it?
Love your channel Alyssa! Regards from the Czech Republic, the most atheist country!
Thank you for watching, I would love to visit over there some day, the photos are beautiful!
((screenshot)) Love this ! Who is to define god
Most atheist country... Sounds like paradise.
@@scottbarrett9579 Right?!! The christianCrusades were as ruthless as Vikings.
@@scottbarrett9579 don't get me wrong, my country does have a very long lasting and visible christian tradition. It's just around 50% of the population doesn't go to church at all and don't identify as "believers". On the contrary, if you happen to meet someone who is a believer they're likely not to disclose that information since it's kind of frowned upon by the majority of the population.
Sam is such a joy to listen to. He’s so clear in his speech and easy to understand. And his previous lifestyle is so interesting to hear about.
I am from a cult that combines some of both the FLDS and LDS belief system. We didn’t have a name and considered a nameless religion but unofficially we called ourselves the truth. It’s in the news currently as the 2x2s. We were far more hidden and in secret than yall but my word our beliefs were almost exactly the same.
It’s shocking to hear.
Of course *we* were the chosen ones. (Enter eye rolls and sarcasm here) that we would be the only ones in heaven and our ministers couldn’t say enough bad about the Mormons and targeted many as prey for their future conquests to get them to “our” side.
Last year it came out that CSA and SA was rampant and now the FBI is investigating us. Very few of us women were not assaulted one way or another. I was finally able to leave last year after 12 years of trying. And still I faced shunning.
Anyway - your videos are fascinating and healing and in a way it feels like we are in “sister” faiths. I appreciate you sharing these it helps me so much.
I’m glad you’re safe! If you haven’t checked it out yet, you might really appreciate Cults to Consciousness with Shelise Ann Sola, also on TH-cam. She’s pretty amazing, and like Sam and Melissa, she puts a tremendous amount of energy into helping other people to learn and to heal, while being super empathetic, supportive, and respectful with her guests
@@sarahissersohn5495 thank you! I’ll check her out!
Congrats for leaving❤
Honestly how do people get roped into these cults.
@@danica5235 thank you.
Really loved seeing you two talk as fellow ex Mormons. I feel you could ask better questions than outsiders who may not have roughly similar experiences. ❤
i read the thumbnail as polygamous math cult.
i really didnt get enough sleep.
Math cult is crazy haha
Ha ha a math cult, being bad at math that would be my hell!💀😂
It is math! You take 1 wife and multiply by 5!
@@alyssadgrenfell the weird thing is, the Math part of that didnt throw me off, it was the polygamous part.
Math a xult but you must have multiple wives@Reverend_Salem
Alyssa, you should dig into your Porter family history a bit. You will find a lot of connections to Jessops, including many who ended up in Short Creek.
Love these Peter Santenello style of videos! Keep ‘em coming!
Alyssa (and Sam, as well) this is genuinely one of the best vids I think I've ever seen on TH-cam. You and Sam's lived experiences are so different, and yet so similar, and the direct tour and showing of specific locations makes everything hit all the harder. I've already sent this video to everyone I know who'd be even a little interesting, and I really just want to commend you. Very good work.
Ex Mormon here... Love your videos!
ExMo Club! :)
você foi missionária?
i’m only ten minutes in so far, but i really like the way this is filmed and edited. it’s very refreshing to be dropped into an organic conversation, on the ground
The landscape in Utah seems very impressive. It's certainly worth showing more of it in future videos.
Cults to Consciousness did an interview with one of Warren Jeffs wives (Ada), and it was fascinating and horrible to hear. Thankfully (for her now, I'd say), Warren Jeffs misunderstood her early on and because of that he didn't really engage with her as his wife. She explains a lot about how she was moved around due to Jeffs' "revelations" from prison, and it really sounds like Jeffs is trying to control the group with escalating nonsense.
Excellent video! I remember a number of years ago driving through there on my way from Grand Canyon to Zion Canyon and realizing as I was driving through where I was. Strange vibe to the place.
As an atheist, its really nice to see some of these more in-depth pieces. I love the Arizona Strip, and have camped done collage field geology classes there many many times. Due to early experience (in the 80's and 90's), Hilldale/Colorado City have generally been "no-go" zones (being not so friendly to travelers). It's nice to see some change there.
I got here 4 minutes after upload without notifications on!
Woooot thank you for commenting and for watching my videos! I really appreciate you! :)
Thank you both for sharing your very personal conversation. I can't believe I listened to the entire thing. Very insightful.
Killing it with the collabs lately! Hyram, Sam…keep them coming ❤
I love this collaboration! Been watching Sam and Melissa for awhile now. Thank you for this video! ❤
I absolutely loved hearing Sam's perspective on being back in Hilldale and that community. It is a very different experience than most people have. Mormonism is a cult, but the FLDS was on a WHOLE other level of cult. Thank you, Alyssa and Sam for this video!!
Wonderful interview and tour! Have followed Alyssa for a few months and I am just blown away by all of it. Mental illness apparently offers unlimited potential. Thank you for uncovering it!
PS - Aunt Lydia reference = Handmaids Tale
I've never been Mormon, although I had family members who were and my mother had been baptized before I was born. At 13 I joined the United Pentecostal Church International instead and lived a life that was a cross between the LDS and the FLDS and stayed in for fifteen years. After leaving the church I married a man who had also left. But the patriarchal mindset was still very much intact. Suffice it to say the next twenty years were hell. I'm only now deconstructing the mind feck my life has been. All the stories I hear on this channel and other post-mormon channels are an enormous help. I live in a remote area where there aren't many people with cult experience so these are invaluable to me.
I drove through there, in the late 00's shortly after Jeff's arrest and the Texas raid, and was tailed through town by a police car. Nothing subtle about it at all.
On the infant cemetery, the FLDS had a very small founding population and has recruited relatively few additional members. With "high ranking" men tending to have a lot of wives (presumably meaning having more offspring) the community's genetic diversity would not be terribly broad. With close relative marriage being essentially inevitable stillbirths due to the expression of lethal genetic conditions is inevitable. Add in the lack of sophisticated medical care, physical isolation and the community's general xenophobia and it is somewhat amazing there are so few graves.
We used to vacation in the "Big 5" national parks with out kids a lot. Early 2000's . When we stopped at hotels on the Utah/AZ state line, many of the ladies working in housekeeping were obviously from these communities. "The Mormon dress ladies" as my kids would say! They did not speak to us. One one hike near Kanab, we met up with 2 women...they did a road trip to the parks and had a vehicle break down near Colorado City. Their reception was not, let us say, warm. They got the bare minimum service to get the car running and were asked to leave. Interesting conversation about the kind of side eye these ladies got from the folks in the town. We love the countryside in southern Utah, thought it might be a fun place for a summer home or retirement, but decided we would not fit in with the culture up there. Moab does not seem to be strictly Mormon, but many other towns seem quite religious. A Catholic and an agnostic don't seem like a good fit for this area🤣
This was such an incredible conversation. Thank you for doing this. I follow Sam and Melissa, so I know their story, but it was fascinating to hear your viewpoint Alyssa.
OMG I just watched his other video walkthrough of the town! Love this partnership!! 👏🏻👏🏻
omg yes what a perfect collab!
Recently a judge ruled at sentencing of a serial killer that he was banned from publishing or earning from his story. Any monies would go to victims if he gave an interview. Good start.
*ahem* gypsy rose?
@@thousandreasonswhynotthey said serial killer and alluded it was a man. As far as I know Gypsy Rose only helped in the murder of one person. Unless there's something both you and I don't know.
@@nikitatavernitilitvynova no I was just thinking about how she's making bank right now off of what she did and most people aren't cool with it, the case you mentioned could be a precedent and considering gypsy might be tried for her federal crimes related to the murder and she'd be in front of a judge again... just thinking maybe what you mentioned might affect her someday if the feds decide to prosecute
you've been dropping straight bangers recently i love this long form content
excellent video !!! enjoyed very much
Perfect timing, I just got home with my sushi! Can’t wait to enjoy this video and some yummy food
So excited! When you said you were doing something in the Colorado City, I hoped that you would go with Sam!
Yes, I was really glad he was able to drive up from where he and his family live in Vegas. I really appreciated it and he is so well spoken on such a difficult subject.
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The mashup I've been waiting for!
When I saw you said you’d gone to Colorado City I’d hope that would mean talking to Sam! Glad to see I wasn’t disappointed!
Excited to see this collaboration! I've been following Growing up in Polygamy for years and found your content more recently.
This feels like real life handmaid's tale. That would be a very interesting video comparing those books with lds and flds culture.
Damn there was even an aunt Lydia?!?
Thank you for sharing this, Sam! This is SO important.
You're welcome! And thank you for your support 😊
We really enjoy the on the ground style interviews! Thank you!
I'm so happy you guys met!! Commented on Sam and his wife on the video you made with your husband ❤ love your channels!!
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Religion ⛪ and state 🏛 separated for a very good reason.
Good documentary. Thanks for posting.
Thank you for your important work!!!! Both of you !
Yess this is the collab we never knew we needed!! Two amazing channels spreading such important truths ❤
I remember reading about this place in early 2005, which was a bit before law enforcement did anything about it. I was shocked to learn that there was literally a theocratic government completely controlled by a fundamentalist, polygamist cult lead by one man whom the cult also deemed to be a prophet of God, and this was all within the United States. Multiple children had already fled this theocracy and there was also a raid in the 1950s which was received really badly by the American Public at the time (I don't think Public back then was really informed about the FLDS, and probably assumed they were just some odd Christian sect that kept to themselves, similar to the Weavers at Ruby Ridge and the Branch Davidians at Waco.).
What ultimately brought it down was that the Government finally had enough evidence of the child abuse rife in this Community to get a warrant to arrest Warren Jeffs for chuld abuse.
the raid back in the day was poorly received by the public because it was incredibly poorly done. they separated families, put all of the children into custody of the state, and kept them there for the better part of a year. they really botched the 53 raid. if it had been done properly, i dont know if short creek wouldve survived it. but as it played out, it really gained them a lot of sympathy.
Thank you and Sam for showing this town with all the context ✨️
Punished for bringing up a sensitive subject is SO KEY. That was how my evangelical christian house was.
I don’t think I would’ve gotten punished for asking what a word meant, but I was wildly gaslit into feeling like I was “questioning the almighty”.
Which was wildly confusing because my parents kept telling me to question my own faith like they had. I think they just didn’t like the conclusions I came to 😂
That is so awful! Yikes! Am so glad I wasn’t raised with religion, no topic was taboo.
That last sentence is a mood, lol. My parents and educational environment always encouraged my intellectual curiosity and questioning. But as soon as I started questioning my faith, I was supposed to stop *immediately*. Unfortunately, brains don't work that way.
I requested this video months ago before you blew up as big as you are now! I’m so happy!
My family is from there! My parents left town when I was one so I didn’t grow up in Colorado City or in the FLDS (thank god) but I do love just outside of town again! It’s wild to see a video like this about the town and the FLDS. It’s been a lot better in recent years and a lot more people are moving in (or at least they were, it might have slowed down when rent prices went up), and it’s really not an FLDS town any more, through obviously some FLDS are still there and most people are connected to it at least by family. There’s actually a LOT I still don’t know about the FLDS and my family’s history in it because my parents don’t usually like tot all about it, at least not deeply, so I’ve still learned a lot from this video.
I discovered your channel recently so it was wild to realize you were literally in my town just a few weeks ago, pretty neat!
I genuinely have been wanting this collab since to started your channel!
nevermo here - all of your videos are so fascinating to me. thank you Alyssa & Sam. all the best
Thank you Alyssa! You’re content has always been so educational, and as someone who wasn’t raised Mormon themselves but raised near a good Mormon community has shed a light on the information that I was not exposed to, nor do I think many of the children themselves knew.❤
Excited about this collab, haven't finished the video yet but I'm wondering what people in the mainstream LDS thinks of the people in FLDS?
I talk about this in the video. I was taught the FLDS is literally NOTHING like the mainstream church. They very much try to distance themselves from the FLDS even though the FLDS are pretty much the same as the original church founded by JS and BY.
@alyssadgrenfell thank you! Finally got to that part.
Yessss I love you both so excited for this collab
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Thank you both. I feel like I learned a lot
Love all these collabs Alyssa is doing!!
1:05:04 What you said about the Catholic church is hilarious! I remember once my family took a trip to Utah during Lent, and when we cheesed out at the sonic on a Friday, youd've thought we sprouted horns in front of the poor cashier 😂
I don’t get this, can you explain?
@@lijohnyoutube101 Most Catholics abstain from eating meat on Fridays. I'm guessing they ordered a lot of cheesy items.
@@lijohnyoutube101 Catholics don't eat meat on Fridays during Lent. So we only ordered items with cheese which looks very strange at a Sonic. We were in a very remote part of Utah so we were potentially the first Catholic family they'd come across.
OMG YES I’VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS CROSSOVER
It would be interesting to compare both of your upbringing with the Amish and Menonites. There was a video of one Mennonite guy who loved school and went to high school inspite of it being forbidden. His mother hid that from everyone but eventuality it was found out. They shunned her, and he quit because it hurt her so much to be isolated.
I was waiting for this collab!!!!!
Love your content. My latest obsession has been the Mormon church even though I have no connection to them lmao.
This is a fascinatingly insightful documentary. Thank you for sharing this journey publicly.
Peace be with you. 🍀
I’ve been waiting for this colab forever! So excited to watch it!
My mom’s first husband worked for Jeffs. Even after they got divorced and after the FLDS fled to Texas she kept close tabs on everyone working for him and under him and gathered intel on what they were doing in “private” web chats. It’s crazy how much information this case has that isn’t widely known. Men at the YFZ ranch were straight up incinerating children born with birth defects. It’s the largest CPS case in Texas history, almost 400 kids that were horribly abused.
Source on the incinerating children with birth defects? That’s a particularly egregious and horrible claim.
yes I agree, what is the source? I would love to look at this myself.
@@coldwar45 The Kingston clan, another polygamy off shoot they also have many babies with defects . They claim benefits for them . The more kids, the more disabilities the better . Also it’s not clear is this person implying the babies were living at the time of incineration?
@@coldwar45 I highly doubt the chat logs we had were made public- Men in the compound would discuss on “private” chat sites about how to build incinerators for “potatoes”, asking for ways to make propane burn hot enough to damage or destroy DNA. The incinerators were found by the SWAT teams who raided the compound
@@nicoleortiz9884 Most of the sources of them “confirming it” (they didn’t speak super plainly about killing/cremating babies for obvious reasons) are early 00s password protected chat logs, so I’m sure they’re lost to time, but the actual “potato incinerators” were on the compound. It’s a crazy situation and also crazy to trust strangers on the internet, but unfortunately that’s how things go with a lot of true crime stuff
Rulon Jeffs was actually raised in the LDS church and endowed in the mainstream church. He was married in an LDS temple to his first wife, who I believe was the daughter of an apostle or a well known Mormon at the time. He served a mission in England and rubbed shoulders with many future high ranking Mormon leaders like Gordan B Hinkley. He was well connected to future Mormon elites until his father converted him to Fundamentalism. Many of the oldest members of the FLDS were members of the LDS at one time.
When you were naming off the names reminds me of my family. They are roman catholic. We have a lot of Joseph's, Bridget's, Peter's,Mary's George's, and Paul's.
I mean we have a lot more variety of names though. I have seven kids myself and so far haven't had to repeat any names 😅. I told my wife we should just go through the Roman Canon of the mass but she said no because if we named kids Felicity and Perpetua eventually they would find out that one was a slave of the other and that would just lead to drama.
@@TheCatholicNerd 😄I named my first son Damian after St Cosmas and Damian mentioned in the Canon.
😂 5' 7" bombshell shaking up the Mormon world I love it! Anyway I was baptised a Catholic when I was a year old and never once in my life practiced the religion. But being from the islands and having family and friends deep into the Mormon religion I never understood it. Now being a little over a half century old and now a Utah resident for the last ten years I've seen alot of wierd things and figured out their intentions just in the first few years I've lived here. Thank you for sharing and I'm happy for this channel and for what I've learned about the Mormons. Funny thing about this FLDS thing is that I dont get is how these men can handle that many wives. Here I'm still struggling to understand my first wife of 36 years and still have'nt figured her out and yet to deal with a handfull more is crazy!!!😂
That’s the sad part, the men there don’t care to understand their wives and the wives are brainwashed from birth to be obedient puppets
Matt, is that you? 😅 jk
What a great insider report!!! Thanks to you both!
New Alyssa upload!!! Heck yeah I’m early 😎
Hello! :) Thank you for watching and I hope you enjoy.
This is so fascinating, and so horrifying for those poor girls 😢 Children "marrying" predators. As a former Utah (South Jordan/3 Temples in view!) Mormon, I am really enjoying this content and will subscribe to Sam's as well. Thank you so much 🤗
I cannot even imagine! My mom told me about sex when I was 12 and I was so grossed out. Lol It’s horrible to think that a 14 year old has to learn by doing the act. I’m sure many of them feel grossed out. So sad. I’m sure some of the women feel like they have been violated and yet they do not know what boundaries mean or what rape is.
Thank you for making this episode! ❤
Awesome video! Very informative!Thank you guys
50:00 this is actually so sad. I had male friends from different religions in my school. And their parents opted out of them doing sex Ed. So eventually when they started (secretly) dating, they knew nothing about periods, hormones, sex like nothing. I took out medical diagrams, science books in a McDonalds and explained how babies went in and out of the mother. They were so shunned from their own bodies as well. One even told me he showered with his underwear on because he had to "cover up" for God. So sad.
Wow.😮
Great conversation and video.
This was so educational! I loved the combination of your knowledge and his personal experience as well.
This was a great video! One of your best!!