Speaking Truth, Breaking Shame, and Honoring Our Past

Healing begins with honesty—and that often means saying the things we were once told to bury. I share this part of my journey not out of anger, but out of reverence for truth, healing, and freedom. For those of you navigating the pain of spiritual trauma or religious disillusionment, I want you to know: you are not alone.

Just because my ancestors chose to walk the path of Mormonism does not mean that it meant I had to stay on it, especially given the information now available to sincere seekers of the truth. It is both healhty and so important to live true to what is inside of me. This is my life, just as your life is yours. We each have the freedom to be agents to ourselves, meaning we each have the freedom to choose.

When we have been harmed, we need to tell our stories. My ancestor, Elizabeth, felt that by telling her story it would cause her more pain; but, what I have found from my own lived experience is that in telling my story I have found HEALING and peace unlike anything I have experienced before. There is something about speaking about our abuse that helps to heal us and others.

As The Modern Day Pioneer™, my work is focused on bringing to light the harm that high demand religions and trauma causes, teaching how we can break free from the chains of our past, and how to find so much joy and happiness in the healing journey. I am focused on forging a new trail and invite you to do the same. The trajectory of our future does not need to look like the past, we can heal; and, when we heal, we no longer operate from a space of survival. We transform our lives and we begin to thrive!

As one who lived the majority of life feeling shame and so much self-loathing for who I was, I now see with much different eyes. The religious system I was a part of was a key player in keeping me enslaved to silence, submission to men, and very low-self worth. I strongly believe that weak and controlled women are pawns in a patriarchal system. Breaking these chains has given me the strength to heal in all areas of my life and where once I was a survivor, I am now a thriver.

Healing is possible in ways that are incredible. I share with you my journey in hopes that it will give you the encouragement to seek the help you may need, to gain the courage to speak your truth, and to break your own chains that are keeping you bound.

I stand today not only as a descendant of Mormon pioneers, but as a pioneer in my own right—blazing a new trail out of silence, shame, and control. I honor my past by telling the truth, and I rewrite my future by living free.

Thank you for choosing to join me on this journey. As we set out on this new walk together, I promise to be real, authentic, and honest with you about my life, to share my mistakes and my victories.

So here I stand, a modern-day pioneer—choosing to walk a new path paved with healing, truth, and liberation. If my story touches something in you, I invite you to walk with me. Together, we honor the past not by repeating it, but by changing the future. Healing is possible. Freedom is possible. And your voice deserves to be heard.

~ The Modern Day Pioneer™