Latter Day Survivors

Ari tells her story of growing up with a narcissistic mother. She discusses religious trauma, how narcissism is taught and perpetuated within the church, and the price she paid to speak her truth.

Tom has been through hell as an abuse survivor himself and he is a fierce advocate for justice for other survivors of abuse especially children including his own. He sheds light on the efforts by the leadership of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints to silence victims and defend perpetrators in the legal system and in the media. Tom continues his efforts to secure justice for his own c...

Kim shares her story of abuse, betrayal, gaslighting from ward members, and religious trauma. When speaking up for someone who was being abused, she expected the church leaders to do the right thing. Instead she learned the efforts involved in keeping survivors silent and protecting sexual predators by the leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints

McKay tells his story about his mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. He shares his experiences on his mission and how another missionary groomed and abused multiple missionary companions. He shares his insight about the culpability of the church leadership in unsafe coniditions for young missionaries.

Cody is the singer songwriter for the song we found on Epidemic Sound... we had no idea about his story and how well his song would fit with the purpose of our podcast. Cody tells his story about his song and his experiences growing up as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. (We had no idea he was a member when we found his song).

Spencer's story clearly shows the ways in which Mormons gaslight themselves and deny their own intuition by justifying blatant bigotry and racist behaviors in order to maintain a sense of belonging in the community. His story is one of many in which the church exploits membership in other countries.

Alana Maiello is an award winning documentary film director and producer. She is finishing up production on a documentary entitled, “Chewed Gum” which exposes the inordinately high rates of sexual assault and domestic violence in the state of Utah. Alana is herself a survivor of sexual assault and is using her experience to help other survivors find their voices and heal.

Christina grew up in the Mormon church in Hawaii in the 1980’s. Loss, trauma, and abandonment issues in childhood were exacerbated by religious trauma and indoctrination. These things would go on to inform much of her life and affect her relationships, marriage, parenting, and self worth. She is also a survivor of childbirth trauma and actively works to help other women understand and heal from th...

Meghan began her journey out of the LDS/Mormon church after her abuse was mishandled and she was gaslighted on multiple levels of authority when it was reported. What happens when a priesthood holder who also happens to be a mental health counselor and a volleyball coach in multiple positions of trust is believed and protected by their clergy? MORE VICTIMS HAPPEN!

Katherine shares her story of how enduring abuse from family members with narcissistic behaviors caused  harm to her beliefs about herself and relationships with other people and how it informed major decisions in her life. 

https://protecteverychild.com/read-the-stories/ Sam's journey did not begin with survivors in mind yet his efforts have gained the support & validation of survivors. Many survivors stepped forward & shared their stories with Sam and the "Protect Every Child" movement. Often they have found that not only is it healing to share their story, but their story validates & heals other survivors. The LDS...

Rebecca's story shares the deep psychological and emotional effects of intergenerational trauma and religious trauma. When the person we are told we are and/or must be, is in direct conflict with the person we actually are or would otherwise choose to be, self loathing and self shaming become a daily routine. Rebecca is a courageous human with a beautiful soul and a new perspective on life after l...

Esther's story defines the purpose of our podcast. She did her duty as a good little Mormon girl, a perfect young wife and mother in the church. She sacrificed her own freedom to protect her young daughters and also 16 of her cousins.  She was both a victim and protector as she survived many encounters of child abuse. Abuse affects her life from so many different angles.

Go behind the veil of polygamy under the rule of Warren Jeffs with Brenda's brave story of survival and escape from religious indoctrination and unrighteous dominion

The only way to make child sexual abuse stop is to make it safe for children and survivors to speak up and tell their stories. Billy Dinkel is a survivor and he speaks publicly to bring attention to how child sexual assault victims are shamed, silenced, and manipulated into keeping their perpetrator's secrets. He is an excellent advocate for survivors and has given many survivors the courage to al...

Sara is sharing her story for the first time from start to finish on this podcast episode. Like many survivors, she has told bits and pieces, but there's always parts that we don't reveal and hold close to us. I hope our listeners grasp how profound this is for Sara! Imagine how much courage this takes. When she found our podcast, she knew that she wanted to add her voice to the others. Speaking o...

Our guest for this episode, "Denise" shares her story of abuse. In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints misogyny and patriarchy are common and defended. The church is still against the Equal Rights Amendment and expects its members to fall in line with this shared belief including the unwritten but widely understood expectation to vote against it. This belief and expectation encourages...

We met Mark through TikTok after he shared his experience about  his abuse on his mission. Mark shares a unique perspective on abuse in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and how it is perpetuated by the culture.   

Esteban describes what it's like to be raised to believe that being born gay made him an unworthy sinner in a church claiming to follow Christ's example. He served a full time mission believing he could be saved from homosexuality by "living the gospel"

Karly is a survivor of physical abuse, emotional abuse, neglect, childhood cancer, and religious trauma as a member of The Church of Christ. She noted many similarities in her religious upbringing to friends who were Mormon or ExMormon. Karly is a resilient and brave young woman and we are happy to have her on as the first "guest" :) on our podcast. 

In part 2 of Kindra's story she discusses how leadership of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints mishandled the sexual abuse presented to them by her and her mom. How they revictimized her on multiple occasions. She discusses the issues she faced as a teenager, young adult, and mother as a child sexual assault survivor in the church. She discusses other areas in life where she notices r...

Although abuse does seem to shape our lives as survivors, Kindra does not wish to be defined by her abuse. She also identifies patterns of generational trauma in her life and in her life choices.  As survivors we know first hand the revictimization that happens due to unintentional invalidation from family and friends who do not know how to respond to our constant retelling of our stories, our ove...