Being a broadcaster and hosting my own show has brought amazing people into my life.
In the past month I’ve had the pleasure of interviewing two delightful individuals who grew up in the F.L.D.S. under the influence and control of the now notorious Warren Jeffs and were able to leave of their own accord.
Back in 2012 I went on the journey with a film crew to create a documentary film about Warren Jeffs not long after the raid on the Yearning for Zion Ranch in Texas and his arrest for “marrying young girls. As you may recall, he is now spending two back to back life sentences for his crimes against humanity. While filming in Colorado City, AZ / Hilldale UT, I met many extraordinary individuals who had chosen to stay in the community and support those who were choosing to leave.
These were exceptional individuals who had left religion behind and found peace in a direct connection to their own innate spiritualty.
During one of those on-location filming trips I met Sam Brower, an investigative journalist who later participated in a documentary film and the role he played in putting Warren Jeffs behind bars. If you missed it or would like to see it again, here is the link to Prophet’s Prey.
I met up with Sam in the Los Angeles area for the film release in 2015. There I met Melanie Williams, an actress who had left the FLDS a few years earlier.
Several week’s ago, for no particular reason, Melanie’s profile popped up on my Facebook notifications. She was announcing that she had just published her first book and I had just started a new series on my YouTube channel titled, “Wonder Women Wednesdays.” I invited Melanie to be a guest on my show to tell her story about how she left the cult, where she went from there, and what she is up to now.
You can view her interview here:
After finishing the episode she asked me about interviewing her husband who also grew up in the F.LD.S and left of his own accord. While other boys were being expelled and referred to as “Lost Boys,” Rulon Barlow managed to stay clear of Warren Jeff’s expulsion of everyone he saw as a threat to his kingdom.
You can see the interview with Rulon here:
Both Melanie and Rulon are following and trusting their own path, rather than the path Warren Jeffs attempted to cultivate for them.
Sometimes the harshest environments can grow the most beautiful people.
Life doesn’t happen to us, it happens for us, it just sometimes takes a while to understand how even the most painful past can carve us into all we have the ability to be.
Until next time, Get Bold Be Fearless and Live Free!
XO,
The Polygamist's Daughter 