she was always aware that she was being groomed to marry Jeffs

when Briell was married to Jeffs her family was not allowed to attend

after the ceremony she was told to return to her house, gather her belongings because she was no longer to live there

• she was not allowed to tell her siblings that she was married to "the Prophet"

she explains that when she moved into Jeffs house with 45 bedrooms, she felt "trapped within the walls of her own community"

Briell was aware that she was being groomed to marry Jeffs from a young age

she attended school that was FLDS and run by Jeffs

during her marriage she was punished if she would not abide to what Jeffs asked her to do

• these tasks typically led to sexual abuse

in her testimony, Briell talks about how Jeffs banned socialization and contact with the outside world

• he began splitting families apart, taking young girls as his own brides, and excommunicating members, mainly young men, from the church.

Jeffs was her principal at Alta Academy, an FLDS-only school

Briell still finds herself speaking in FLDS terms although she hasn't been apart of the church for decades now

Briell was granted ownership to Jeffs' old home which she has now turned into a rehab centre for ex-FLDS women and their children

• Briell understands the struggles of leaving the FLDS, many of these women have many children and no finances.

• the home offers residence and meals for $100 a month

when she was 13 her father was expelled from the community and she was not allowed to contact him, all photos of him were destroyed and his possessions were discarded

Faith had a boyfriend when she attended university, which was not allowed as all relationships had to be managed by Jeffs

• she was then expelled from the community and her family began to reject her

Faith was removed from the church and her family and friends rejected her and she was no longer allowed to contact them

like many FLDS members, Faith was born into the community. When she was born her father had two wives

• this indicates that since birth all these children have seen their fathers with multiple wives and viewed it as normal

was taught that these types of families were superior to others

FLDS had its own private schools which all the children attended

• there was no separation between church and school

teachings of Warren Jeffs were played throughout the day

when her father was expelled, Jeffs told her family that he was their new father

• was forced to write a letter to Jeffs expressing their loyalty to him

Faith explained that some of her biggest adjustments to living outside of FLDS were the most mundane things. Such as putting on make-up and learning how to style her hair down.

being married at age 14 to her older cousin

• Elissa begged for more time to find another husband but her mother and step-father supported the decision and encouraged her to go through with it

was abused sexually and psychologically during her four-year marriage

• frequent rapes and miscarriages

when she left, she was hated by her family and other members

• she stated that every bad thing that happened to them was her fault

attended church-run private school that taught her absolute obedience and faithfulness to the religion

having to grasp the outside world challenges

• fiscal, psychological, and practical

Elissa to this day will walk down the street in her heavily ex-FLDS community and people will come up to her and yell at her

Elissa explains that although she has been out of the FLDS for years she still feels like she is in the trenches

• a quote by Elissa after running into her ex-husband on the street:

  “This person had tortured me and held me captive for 10 years, and here he was, in plain clothes,” she said. The sun had just sunk out of sight of the school’s windows, and a sherbert sunset was taking shape over the cliffs. “He said my name. It was one of those moments when all the progress you think you’ve made comes crashing down. I couldn’t talk about it for three weeks.”

experienced sexual abuse from the ages 8-16

• was sexually assaulted by Jeffs, her father, at age 8

• she was taught in school that boys do not touch girls. she explains that when her father started abusing her she felt guilty and ashamed of herself

her younger sister told her about how she was sexually abused at the hands of their father, Warren Jeffs (this was Rachel's breaking point)

Warren Jeffs forbade Rachel to share her experience and threatened her with with punishment if she did

within the FLDS, Rachel's grade 8 education was enough for her to each grade 3 in the community but once fleeing the community with her five children, the lack of education limited her accessibility to find a well paying job to financially support herself and her children.

leaving the community, she moved from Utah to Texas to Montana