Latter Day Survivors artwork

Latter Day Survivors

59 episodes - English - Latest episode: 5 months ago - ★★★★★ - 25 ratings

Survivors supporting other survivors learning how to heal from
* Fundamentalist high demand religions
* Trauma
* Child Sexual Assault/Pedophilia/Incest
* Narcissistic abuse
* Generational abuse
* LGBTQIA+ abuse & discrimination
* Manipulation, gaslighting, shame, guilt

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Episodes

Chris Davis - Worthy: The Memoir Of An Ex-Mormon Lesbian

October 30, 2023 13:00 - 1 hour - 205 MB

Chris Davis, author of Worthy: The Memoir of an Ex-Mormon Lesbian, shares her experiences of abuse and continued trauma as a member of the Mormon church. She was a lifelong devout Mormon, who checked all the expected boxes: wife, mother, teacher, leader, follower, and believer until 2020 when she left her family and her church to fulfill her personal destiny as a gay woman and independent thinker. She remains close with her two adult children, one of whom is a believing member of the church,...

Celestine Kamrad

October 10, 2023 15:00 - 4 hours - 447 MB

Celestine joined the LDS religion as a young adult after she was introduced to it by her first husband. After facing years of narcissistic, physical, and sexual abuse from him, she finally worked up the courage to leave. However, her ex-husband used her history of depression against her and was able to obtain full custody of their children. In this episode, Celestine tells her story of heartbreak, resilience, and hope.

Deep Thoughts on Compulsory Heterosexuality with Sarah and Kindra

July 20, 2023 20:11 - 1 hour - 208 MB

https://www.latterdaysurvivors.org/podcast1/episode/d4881398/deep-thoughts-on-compulsory-heterosexuality-with-sarah-and-kindraIn this episode Sara and Kindra discuss our experiences with compulsory heterosexuality as former members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. 

Kenny Ballentine

May 10, 2023 16:41 - 1 hour - 143 MB

Re-release After sharing his story intially, Kenny needed space and time to work on healing and therapy. The initial recording of his story was taken down at his request, and he opted to rerecord it when it would be healing for him. Kenny is a documentary film maker and activist for social change. His most recent film, Healing US, is set to release this week. Kenny shares his story about how he came to consciously identify what happened to him as a child, was rape. While listening to the L...

Myndee Tollefson

April 18, 2023 15:00 - 3 hours - 442 MB

Myndee shares her story of the decades-long trauma she suffered after giving up her baby for adoption through LDS Family Services. Her story includes themes of abuse, religious trauma, adoption trauma, and deception. Join us for an in-depth discussion into Myndee’s healing journey.  A wife and mother of three daughters, Myndee also enjoys raising Rottweilers.    

Stacey Brown

April 10, 2023 15:00 - 2 hours - 245 MB

Stacey Brown is an intuitive healer, certified reiki practitioner, podcast host, author, and spiritual mentor & coach. Her recently published book is titled, "Journey to Soul: Discovering the Gift of Surrender." Her story includes an upbringing in Mormonism and how an incredibly traumatic event caused her to reevaluate everything she knew and which set her on a path of self-discovery and spiritual awakening. You can follow Stacey on Instagram at @staceybrown555 and on her website at stacey-...

Taylor Sundberg

April 03, 2023 14:00 - 2 hours - 176 MB

After Taylor Sundberg (30) was sexually assaulted as a teen, she turned to her bishop for help. Instead of finding help or resources, she faced church discipline and was blackmailed into silence. She shares her journey from the assault, the aftermath, and the realization she’d been blackmailed, to the unraveling of a toxic and dangerous belief system. This is far too common. Join us for this important discussion.

Ashley Denton

March 20, 2023 19:31 - 1 hour - 212 MB

Ashley discovered clairaudient abilities when an ancestor came through with a message. The message he shared led her out of the church and helped her reclaim her life, her soul, and her health. The healing she has experienced has been so profound that she felt called to write a book. Ashley is an author, life coach, and budding medium. She feels passionately about the worth of souls. Her book is titled, "Always Worthy: Healing Generational Trauma in Mind, Body and Spirit."

Payton Haws

March 09, 2023 03:00 - 3 hours - 348 MB

You-Tuber Payton Haws shares her harrowing story of repeated sexual abuse as well as her recent faith crisis journey. She is raw and honest in her story in hopes that it will help other survivors know that they are not alone.  One thing that isn’t talked about enough is the fact that in many cases when someone is victimized, they are more likely to be victimized again. We need to put a voice to this. It’s time to speak up and speak out to assist and empower survivors through their healing j...

Deep Thoughts with Kindra and Christina

March 03, 2023 16:00 - 2 hours - 324 MB

Deep thoughts - This is a departure from our normal format. Get a glimpse into the deep thought conversations hosts Kindra and Christina routinely engage in. They start out discussing ritual abuse, spiral down rabbit holes about many other topics and ultimately bring it back around. Don’t miss this conversation filled with squirrels, twists, and turns!

Saige Kristian

February 20, 2023 16:00 - 1 hour - 156 MB

Saige is an exmormon up-and-coming queer writer and director. Her current project is a short film called Girls Camp in which a young girl must make a choice between going against her community and identity she's always known or being her authentic self. Saige's goal is to connect to the nuances of the human experience through a mixture of comedy and drama in which she highlights her worldview and observations of the people around her.  https://girlscampfilm.wixsite.com/short?fbclid=PAAaZi...

Sarah Jane Pyper

February 14, 2023 20:12 - 1 hour - 160 MB

Sarah shares her emotional story of stepping away from high demand religion through poetry and prose which she has compiled into her book "STRAY, A Journey In, Through, And Out Of Faith." She used poetry to process through grief, loss, doubt, self-healing, self-worth, inspiration and motivation through the lense of spirituality. Her journey, much like many of us leaving Mormonism, is riddled with the remorse of knowing her loved ones would likely blame themselves and also the liberation of s...

Ginny Sparks

January 16, 2023 16:00 - 5 hours - 416 MB

Ginny Sparks grew up on the Navajo reservation in northern Arizona. She shares her difficult story of being placed in the Mormon Church’s Indian Placement Program as a child and the abuse she suffered as a result. Her story also includes religious trauma, sexual abuse, and domestic violence. Ginny is a retired nurse and author.

Andrew Pledger

December 16, 2022 21:33 - 4 hours - 356 MB

Andrew Pledger is a religious trauma survivor raised in a fundamentalist Christian cult. He is LGBTQ+ and brings awareness to spiritual and religious abuse. He was expelled from Bob Jones University after a controversial interview with author Josh Harris. His experiences have inspired him to pursue psychology to help survivors. He is now a content creator, activist, writer, and religion recovery coach using social media to share his story and inspire others. 

Sister Teeth

December 08, 2022 16:00 - 3 hours - 379 MB

Singer-songwriter Sister Teeth shares her story of growing up in a heavily Mormon populated community, how she and her family were ostracized by that community and how leaving it in her early adult years sparked her faith transition. She shares how she uses her music to process her traumas and connect with others around her. 

Shaun Miskelly

November 29, 2022 18:35 - 3 hours - 383 MB

Shaun Miskelly is a never-mo widower that saw first-hand the faith journey of his wife, Amy. From depression and suicidal ideation, to discovering who she is at her core, to flourishing; he saw it all. In this episode he takes us on this journey and puts words to Amy’s story.

Denise C.

November 14, 2022 07:11 - 2 hours - 209 MB

Denise C. shares her story of multiple traumatic experiences, including the loss of loved ones and a difficult faith transition. Denise is also a survivor of child sexual abuse.

Irene's Entropy

October 31, 2022 22:46 - 3 hours - 388 MB

Irene is a singer, songwriter, mechanical engineer, exmormon, and owner of Irene's Entropy. She is the founder of The Identity Project; a collection of letters and art that explore the identity of women who are healing from religious trauma. Irene's journey takes the listener through her childhood sexual abuse and trauma, her LDS mission to Honduras, her break from Mormonism, her career in aerospace, and most importantly her passion for telling her story through music.   You can find Ire...

Maria McNeeley

October 02, 2022 20:26 - 1 hour - 116 MB

Maria McNeeley shares her story about the struggles of being a black woman in the Mormon church. She was adopted through lds family services to her white parents. You can find and follow Maria at: https://westsidestorymariamaria.blogspot.com/ https://instagram.com/westsidestory_mariamaria?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=  

Max

September 04, 2022 17:28 - 4 hours - 334 MB

Max, is a 50 year old complex trauma survivor on a journey of healing.  Their abuse is layered, touching on important topics about science, culture, mental illness, stigmas, and especially the toxicity of religion. They tell the story of their childhood, including Max's cisterself Jill; an alternate identity. They explain their identity split, why Jill took the primary role, their survival coping mechanisms, and what happened to Jill. Their story is twisted and gnarly, tunneling deep into th...

Becky

August 22, 2022 03:47 - 2 hours - 169 MB

Becky is a survivor of narcissistic abuse in romantic relationships as well as religious trauma stemming from her membership in the Mormon church. As a single mother who has an educational background in psychology, much of her healing journey has centered around the changes that take place in the brain and what it means to heal as a woman post-Mormonism.  

Chelsea

August 15, 2022 14:28 - 2 hours - 279 MB

Chelsea is a single mother who grew up in the Mormon church. After surviving domestic violence and experiencing a faith crisis, she left the religion of her upbringing and made a new life for herself. She shares her story of survival and discovering who she really is by learning to listen to her own intuition.

Meghann Mundt

August 08, 2022 17:56 - 2 hours - 245 MB

Meghann Mundt is a Certified Deliberate Cold Exposure Coach, two-time cancer survivor, and entrepreneur. She is a survivor of both sexual assault and religious trauma. Meghann shares her story of overcoming these traumas to find her true purpose in helping others to heal from their own physical ailments and traumatic experiences through deliberate cold exposure ice baths.

Andrea Isom

August 01, 2022 16:00 - 1 hour - 114 MB

Andrea Isom, writer and finance professional shares her story about growing up in a Mormon community in the 1980s where she clashed with the patriarchy in general and Henry B. Eyring specifically. In the years since, Andrea has struggled with CPTSD, anxiety, and depression. She shares her story of the moment she was cornered and physically grabbed in a room full of adults to be admonished for her independent spirit while no one noticed and shares what that pivotal moment taught her about lif...

Bonz O'neal Adams

July 25, 2022 15:00 - 4 hours - 366 MB

Bonz O'Neal-Adams is a queer, disabled single parent of four amazing humans, a poly-artist, and SJW residing in South Provo. They are co-founder/sometimes participant of Rock Canyon Poets, and the founding artistic director of the short-lived non-profit, Upper Valley Ballet School in Rexburg. When not creating art in their city housing apartment, they presently volunteer in the kitchen at the Food & Care Coalition, donate blood every eight weeks, and hope that's giving back enough. Their dan...

Amber Washington

July 18, 2022 15:00 - 2 hours - 234 MB

Amber Washington shares her story of surviving child sexual assault, rape, religious trauma, and her exit out of the Mormon church. Her forthcoming book, “(W)hole: My Journey to W,” which chronicles her survivor story, will be published in the fall.

Ava Black

July 11, 2022 15:00 - 1 hour - 129 MB

Ava shares their unique story of being adopted into a Mormon family, their struggles with mental health disorders, and how the stigma around mental illness with in the culture of Mormonism exacerbated the issues.

Ari

June 27, 2022 16:30 - 2 hours - 153 MB

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 Stollings

June 19, 2022 02:49 - 2 hours - 238 MB

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 children and the other children abused by their perpetrator.

Kim Mayer

June 15, 2022 01:15 - 3 hours - 206 MB

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 Sparticus Johnson

June 07, 2022 06:13 - 2 hours - 160 MB

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 Francis

May 29, 2022 15:00 - 1 hour - 106 MB

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

May 24, 2022 05:48 - 2 hours - 205 MB

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 - Chewed Gum

May 16, 2022 15:00 - 1 hour - 131 MB

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 Harris

May 09, 2022 18:29 - 3 hours - 235 MB

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 their traumatic childbirth experiences.

Meghan

May 03, 2022 03:33 - 1 hour - 116 MB

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!

Toby Marie

April 23, 2022 22:10 - 2 hours - 161 MB

Toby grew up in the typical Mormon family with the usual unreasonable expectations of each child to conform to damaging cultural norms of purity, worthiness, outward shows of perfection, submission to the patriarchy, rejection of self...  As mormon youth we are told exactly who we are, where we are going, and where we belong.  When parents are kept so busy serving the Lord, their children, marriages, and self are neglected. No one talks about the verbal, emotional, spiritual, physical, and s...

Katherine Jeffries

April 04, 2022 16:30 - 2 hours - 223 MB

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. 

Sam Young Protect Every Child

March 28, 2022 15:00 - 1 hour - 122 MB

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 Church has no sense of urgency to reflect on & change its dangerous and inappropriate interview p...

Rebecca Williams

March 22, 2022 00:15 - 3 hours - 213 MB

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 leaving Mormonism.

"Esther"

February 28, 2022 15:00 - 3 hours - 209 MB

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.

Kindra and Dayna Catching Up

February 17, 2022 00:00 - 1 hour - 132 MB

Do you ever wish you could eavesdrop on a behind the scenes conversation between Kindra and Dayna? Well, now is your chance.  We discuss the break between season 1 and season 2 of the Latter Day Survivors Podcast. We talk about our plans moving forward and our reflections on the previous season.  How has the podcast affected our lives and how have we processed the previous epispodes with the challenging topic of CSA.  What challenges were expected and unexpected? How do we see the podcast mov...

Brenda Nicholson

February 07, 2022 07:26 - 3 hours - 210 MB

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

Billy Dinkel

December 11, 2021 06:21 - 2 hours - 140 MB

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 also start talking about their abuse.

Sara H.

July 27, 2021 16:04 - 1 hour - 81.8 MB

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 out and normalizing these conversations is exactly what she wanted to do as well.  Sara also is...

"Denise"

July 12, 2021 16:00 - 1 hour - 113 MB

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 "unrighteous dominion."

Mark Jones

June 20, 2021 15:00 - 1 hour - 107 MB

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 Lee O'neal

May 30, 2021 18:54 - 1 hour - 100 MB

Esteban continues his story in part 2.    In this episode Esteban talks about life after the church. What can life after the church look like for someone who is LGTBQIA?  It's important to know that the church doesn't own kindness, "clean living", integrity, honestly, faithfulness, even spirituality.  All of those things are still available to you outside of the church if you want them. Learning you are a valuable human being with a lot to offer the world, instead of being the example for wh...

Esteban Lee O'neal Part 2

May 30, 2021 18:54 - 1 hour - 100 MB

Esteban continues his story in part 2.    In this episode Esteban talks about life after the church. What can life after the church look like for someone who is LGTBQIA?  It's important to know that the church doesn't own kindness, "clean living", integrity, honestly, faithfulness, even spirituality.  All of those things are still available to you outside of the church if you want them. Learning you are a valuable human being with a lot to offer the world, instead of being the example for wha...

Esteban Lee-O’neal (Parts 1 and 2 combined)

May 18, 2021 19:00 - 2 hours - 202 MB

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"