I Escaped My Father’s Polygamous Cult… Then Became a Mormon Missionary

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After escaping the FLDS at 18, Warren Jeffs’ son Wendell Jeffson, didn’t leave Mormonism behind… he joined the mainstream LDS Church and eventually became a Mormon missionary. In this follow up Part 2, Wendell reveals the strange transition from being raised as the Prophet’s son to preaching a new version of the faith, navigating dating and the outside world for the first time, and eventually questioning whether he had truly escaped religious control at all.

Watch part 1 with Wendell: https://youtu.be/Yzh6ZCLfUAk?si=8GrH5UktrtV6iRPC


Find and support Wendell!

IG: https://www.instagram.com/wendell_jeffson/


Chapter Marks

00:00:00 — INTRO
00:02:31 — Warren Jeffs’ Son Returns
00:04:26 — Leaving the FLDS at 18
00:04:43 — The Mormon Family That Changed Everything
00:06:25 — Getting Baptized Into the LDS Church
00:07:30 — Fired From an FLDS Company for Becoming Mormon
00:09:22 — “I Heard You’re Mormon Now”
00:10:18 — Introducing His Brothers to the Outside World
00:11:41 — Moving His Zeal From FLDS to LDS
00:15:34 — Warren Jeffs vs. the Mormon Prophet
00:18:32 — How Mormons Reacted to Warren Jeffs’ Son
00:21:13 — Knowing Mormon History Mainstream Mormons Didn’t
00:22:04 — Debating Missionaries About Polygamy
00:23:41 — The FLDS Teachings Mainstream Mormonism Abandoned
00:25:10 — Challenging Mormon Leaders With Their Own History
00:26:01 — Raised to Believe He Would Become a God
00:27:44 — “I Thought I Was Going to Become a God”
00:29:54 — Deciding to Serve a Mormon Mission
00:30:23 — 12-Hour Days in the MTC During Lock Down
00:32:09 — Why Going to California Was a Mistake
00:32:50 — His Mormon Mission Goes Into Lock Down
00:33:02 — Missionary Phone Surveillance
00:36:30 — Falling in Love for the First Time
00:37:44 — Discovering Dating Apps After the FLDS
00:38:00 — His First Real Date
00:39:27 — Trying to Understand Women While on a Mission
00:40:21 — His Bizarre First Experiences With Dating
00:41:15 — From Polygamy to an Unexpected Polyamory Proposal
00:48:08 — Having to Learn How to be Emotionally Available in Relationships
00:50:51 — Learning How to Have a Healthy Relationship
00:51:35 — “When You’re Given Wives, You Have Zero Game”
00:58:08 — Deconstructing Mainstream Mormonism
00:59:22 — “I Grew Up in a Cult. What IS a Cult?”
00:59:48 — Does Religion Monetize Belief?
01:00:29 — Wendell’s Definition of a Cult
01:01:12 — Tithing, Temples & Eternal Families
01:01:28 — Why He Stopped Paying Mormon Tithing
01:10:11 — When Is a Prophet Speaking for God?
01:11:14 — Opinions on a reformed Mormon church
01:15:59 — Why Mormon Doctrine Keeps Changing
01:17:04 — Garments, Temples & Religious Control
01:24:26 — Linda, listen


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