Darkness Unveiled: Sochil Martin Exposes LA Luz Del Mundo

[00:00:00] The views and opinions expressed by a little bit culty are those of the hosts and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the podcast. No, they don't.

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[00:00:25] We're just two mortals trying to make a gluten-free, holistically helpful podcast that helps inform and entertains and maybe moisturizes silky silky smooth. Music Hey everybody! Sarah Edmondson here. And I'm Anthony Ames, aka Nippy, Sarah's husband, and you're listening to

[00:00:50] A Little Bit Culty, aka ALBC, a podcast about what happens when devotion goes to the dark side.

[00:00:57] We've been there and back again. A little about us, true story, we met and fell in love in a cult, and then we woke up and got the hell out of dodge. And the whole thing was captured in HBO docu-series The Vow, now in its second season.

[00:01:11] I also wrote about our experience in my memoir, Scarred, the true story of how I escaped Nexium, the cult that bound my life.

[00:01:18] Look at us! A couple of married podcasters who just happened to have a weekly date night where we interview experts and advocates in things like cult awareness and mind control. Wait, wait, this does not count toward date night, babe. We gotta schedule that, that's separate.

[00:01:31] So it's two days we gotta hang out? We do this podcast thing because we learned a lot on our exit ramp out of Nexium. Still on that journey and we want to pay the lessons forward with the help of other cult survivors and whistleblowers.

[00:01:43] We know all too well that culty things happen. It happens to people every day across every walk of life. So join us each week to tackle these culty dynamics everywhere from online dating to mega churches and multi-level marketing.

[00:01:54] This stuff really is everywhere. The cultiverse just keeps on expanding and so are we. Welcome to season 5 of A Little Bit Culty, serving cult content and word salads weekly on your favorite podcast platforms. Learn more at alittlebitculty.com

[00:02:09] Welcome ALBC listeners. Good morning, Sarah. Good morning. How are you? Cold chilling. I love that you can chill and just... Riff. Riff. Yeah. We have another incredible episode for you guys.

[00:02:40] It's a doozy. I'm not gonna sugarcoat it. I'm not gonna sugarcoat it, but I have to say that it's important to watch the documentary. Yeah, homework first. You got homework. You got homework. We specifically did not ask our guests to go into the details because we...

[00:02:59] The entire documentary chapter, my ass. The whole thing. Just the whole thing that this thing even exists and still exists. And it's so robust and in plain sight and almost taunting you to come take them down.

[00:03:12] Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So I'm going to suggest watching La Luz del Mundo, which most people have, I think by now, given by the number of requests we've had for an episode on this topic. And when you're done that, more homework for next week.

[00:03:29] We just recorded an episode with Daniel Levin, one of the survivors from... And the director. Hillary Ray Kult, the cult that was started at the Sarah Lawrence College. If you're not familiar, two things. His book, Slownam Nine, written by Daniel Levin. It's an incredible, incredible book. He's just...

[00:03:47] Great interview too. Great interview. That will drop next week. You can read his book. It's on Audible or you can get the hard copy. And or watch Stolen Youth Inside the Cult at Sarah Lawrence. We interviewed the director as well for that.

[00:03:59] And if you're just sitting around and you want to watch some cult documentaries. Yeah. We might have to debrief those. We're going to debrief on Patreon. On them both. On Patreon and on the live feed. And have a cocktail hour.

[00:04:10] Yeah. We're thinking about doing a cocktail hour with the Cult survivors. It just seems like the right thing to do. Doesn't take long. Okay. So again, major trigger warning for this episode. When Jeff Epstein, good old Jeffrey Epstein was arrested in 2019,

[00:04:26] his indescribably horrifying story of child molestation and abuse became front page news across the globe. In fact, it had already been worldwide news for ages. What if we're to tell you there's another ludicrously wealthy demon whose abuse and destruction was arguably of the same caliber

[00:04:43] who was arrested around the same time as Epstein but whose name you probably don't know? Enter Nassan Joaquin Garcia, the ongoing leader of Le Luz Del Mundo, who's currently serving a maximum of 16 years and eight months in prison for the sexual abuse of minors.

[00:04:57] The South proclaimed Apostle of God was eventually denied bail after setting that bail at 50 million, which according to the California Attorney General was the highest ever imposed on an individual by the Los Angeles County.

[00:05:08] The denial came about because prosecutors feared his extremely loyal followers might actually raise the cash. Well, the story of Le Luz Del Mundo started far south of Los Angeles in Jalisco, Guadalajara, Mexico. But this particular cult and it is a cult was awful and intense.

[00:05:24] So intense that it caught the eye of Los Angeles Times reporter Mary Beth Sheridan back in 1998 who documented members upon seeing Samuel Joaquin Nassan's father saying that thousands of worshippers broke out into the chest heaving sobs. Others furiously waved white handkerchiefs and cried, Glory to Christ!

[00:05:42] Samuel Joaquin has arrived. So yes, followers considered Le Luz Del Mundo's leader to be Godlike and many years later loads of victims were reporting very ungodlike acts. That's where the documentary comes into play.

[00:05:56] When Nipi and I watched this, we were blown away by the level of how successful this group has become in terms of the magnitude of its real estate. A picture of the Scientology. Scientology and Mormon.

[00:06:10] Yeah, Scientology real estate with the multiple teenage underage brides for a perverted pedophile leader mixed with the trafficking of Jeffrey Epstein as we mentioned earlier and sprinkle in some religion but also some nexium stride path but with grooming. It's fucking wild. Yeah, needless to say.

[00:06:36] Needless to say we're not going to go into all the details to protect the survivor and not have to have her recap everything that you can see in the documentary. So her name is social Martin.

[00:06:45] She's the wife and the mother who broke away from the church and began with you foundation who strives to help others do the same. She is a powerhouse and we're very happy to be calling her a friend now without further ado. So chill Martin.

[00:07:09] We're both pretty fired up about this story and yeah, I have a pretty high tolerance most of time for these things. And this one got me. This one got me fired up, checked my ass. Needless to say. So we're excited to talk to you and help you.

[00:07:24] Thank you. Thank you. And I remember watching the vow with my husband and my friends, all survivors of L.D.M. and we saw so many parallels in all of our situations.

[00:07:36] And in the end that's really what this is all about and how these institutions are really just criminal enterprises that are ran by sociopathic narcissists like Keith, like Nassan. Same ice cream, right? It's just a different flavor. Yeah.

[00:07:55] Yeah, I just want you guys to know that we're in this war together. That's how I see it. Absolutely. Absolutely. Love your husband. Tell him I want to meet him. I feel like he's four brothers. I love him too. Yeah. Yeah. I can see why. Yeah.

[00:08:10] That's a good man right there. And I tell him all the time otherwise that and he doesn't see it sometimes, but this is what we really try to get out there to the husbands and the fathers and the grandfathers

[00:08:21] and uncles and brothers who still are living there and who have children or their loved ones who have been either assaulted or they don't want to see it or they've been told by the same children or by the same women and they choose not to believe

[00:08:37] them or they choose to shun them. And it happened to me and it happened to so many other survivors, but you know, you're literally left with nothing. They leave your family leaves you left with nothing because you're you were born into this.

[00:08:52] That's all I know my great grandparents, grandparents and you know, my my mom. I mean, unfortunately, I lost her to drugs at a very young age, but she was also taken and also she was a victim of Samuel.

[00:09:06] Unfortunately, we are built differently and she did not make it. She fell into drugs and that's how she lost her life. But in essence, we are all victims of this generational trauma. This enterprise really just came and just really fucked us all over and being

[00:09:24] born into this, you know, nothing when you step out into the world. And so a lot of us were like little kids because we weren't allowed to wear pants or you know, wear earrings or makeup or get tattoos or speak to normal people that weren't from the community.

[00:09:43] And then you find that the world is beautiful and that people are good and not everything is as bad as as they told us it would be and to even find your identity and say, Hey, these pants look great on me or maybe

[00:09:57] these pants aren't the good fit like maybe dresses are my thing. You know, just those identity things that were stolen from us. It goes a long way in a human being and so and I know you guys know a lot about this, but yeah, the loose the mundo.

[00:10:10] Tell us what it is. Go back to the beginning when your grant was at your grandparents who joined first. Yeah, great grandparents. So my grandmother, she was baptized in the church in Mexicali and then she convinced my great grandma. So my great grandma got baptized too.

[00:10:26] And then she moves down here with my grandfather and he wanted nothing to do with the church. He was a policeman in Mexicali and he decided to move to California so that he can make a better life for his kids and grandchildren at one

[00:10:42] point and they came here and they were just a couple of kids and he worked for the alley times. He's you know, he was as a foreign immigrant. He was making he was doing pretty well. He wanted nothing to do with the church.

[00:10:54] He was kind of like living his life and he kept telling my grandmother like, Nope, don't want to get baptized in your church. Nothing like that. And you had the family of my grandmother telling him like this is the right of way.

[00:11:07] You know, so then the coercion comes into place where my uncle who was a twin he passed away. He was one year old and he he passes away and then Aaron who's the founder of the church told my uncle that it was his fault.

[00:11:23] He said your son died because it's your fault because you did not want to get baptized and whatever happens in your family. It is on you and so he had, you know dreams like these incessant

[00:11:34] dreams just coming to him saying like that he was going to die a member of his family was going to die. So then he said I need to get baptized and so when the bigger church here opens there was a much smaller church and

[00:11:45] that's the one my grandmother was in she appeared in East LA very small community of Mexican American citizens who were involved in this organization and they all came from either Tijuana or Baja California and they sort of started L.D.M.

[00:12:01] in a little house called Alus El Mundo and then when they opened the big church, they constructed the big church with their own hands and that's when my grandfather was baptized in that church and then he was all in all in and so then

[00:12:16] all of his children born after it's like 100% L.D.M. I mean my aunt she was the one that raised me my legal guardian. She was taken by Samuel into the labor when she was I believe she's like 1312 into the mission and my grandparents signed

[00:12:34] an affidavit saying that Samuel had the right to essentially move her wherever he needed to take her. So they moved her to Redlands and where the minister sexually assaulted her and she tells Samuel because the family

[00:12:47] was close to them and what he does is he takes her with him. You know that abuse starts with my aunt and she saw it very normal since she was a kid and so she's raised to believe that being unconditional to the servant of God is it's part

[00:13:02] of you and so that she takes that upon herself. There are three types of unconditional not everybody in L.D.M. is unconditional. They have the unconditionals that write their letters and they basically write all the bad things they've done and they

[00:13:15] ask the bishops to the apostle that they want to serve them forever and they're going to be loyal to him and literally he can do whatever he wants with their life like anything with their life and then you have the unconditional is a

[00:13:28] vow and then the unconditional is a vow are either you are presented as a minor to the apostle as a sacrifice and he can choose to do with you whatever he wants. You really don't have a say in it because you are a sacrifice to the apostle.

[00:13:43] Quick question just to clarify it sounds like that's like kind of a hierarchy of unconditional is that is that accurate? It is and does each hierarchy aware of the conditions of the one above and below so like is it something you aspire to have your kid be sacrificed?

[00:14:02] Is that like something that's sold to you as as an achievement? Yeah, because for example to be an unconditional in L.D.M. it's a big deal. Wow. Not anybody is an unconditional so for example, yeah you have all the bishops who are unconditional.

[00:14:15] They're selling abuse as positive is what it sounds like. Yeah, that's exactly what it is. It's it's a pyramid scheme and now I see it because you see the world for what it is and so in other situations you're when you're an unconditional about before

[00:14:30] birth then again whether you're a minor or even before you're born you're already promised because your parents or grandparents already have a name of I guess you would say of that promise or or that promise to the before these tears are introduced and like when someone's

[00:14:48] just joining as a normal let's say normal but like without knowing about that stuff. What is the promise of this church in terms of like following the apostle who is the name voice of Jesus on earth and what's the idea if you serve unconditionally

[00:15:05] then you're going to be in heaven or what's what's the what's the goal that sold right. So when we make a pact in front of the church and to the apostle when we choose to get baptized and they ask us

[00:15:19] questions within those questions they ask us if we believe that the apostle is the only way to get to heaven. We have to obviously if you believe in Jesus and God is our only savior but within all of this towards the end

[00:15:34] we have to promise in front of the church that the apostle is the only way to get there and so once we do once you start your career in L. D. M. as in you work you have to work

[00:15:47] and it's also physical labor work as in build build churches and I'm talking here now a to physically giving your whether it's your scholarships or your time your effort your profession anything you have your children anything to the service of the apostle now if you do

[00:16:09] that perfectly because this is called the divine election if you do that perfectly then you will see the gates of heaven and what they promise us is that the apostle will take us to him so if you do not believe in the apostle

[00:16:22] and you don't work for that then then you're not going to see the gates of heaven like let alone order or Jesus you won't even see the gates of heaven so you work for your crown and it's a metaphorical crown obviously they don't

[00:16:35] tell us you're going to get physical crown but they say it is it is a metaphorical crown that you work towards and they promise us that crown so you have to work to put pearls on it and diamonds so every time you physically

[00:16:49] work and or give some sort of sacrifice to the apostle or the church then you're making that crown your your building that crown of salvation to your soul let's say in conditionals of Val not only are our souls and our

[00:17:05] bodies for example for us your soul your body and your spirit they belong to the apostle right and it's instilled in you because the generations before you it's something absolutely normal it's so normal and it's so normal as to say that

[00:17:22] this wall is white and you will never know in in your like questioning wasn't even it wasn't even in our vocabulary that was my next question what happened did you did you doubt it ever did you ever question it and what happened if that

[00:17:36] ever happened the only time I ever question as a child the only time ever I mean obviously I was very unhappy in a lot of situations and now I know why the only time that I do remember feeling that there was something going on in my

[00:17:53] mind and I was scared I didn't even ask the question but I said it in my head was when we went to Big Bear and I was about 1111 12 and they have a private little like village the Hawking Village and have their homes there and have their

[00:18:09] yachts and stuff and that's where they would take me and and the other girls me and the other kids and so that's where we would present one of the places where we would present our our sexy dances and I remember that when

[00:18:21] this moment came I was used to dancing for the apostle with more clothes than that moment why whether it was in front of the church or you know in front of his family I was a little bit more covered the dances were the same and the way

[00:18:37] that they would teach me to react towards him as in I remember since I was like four or five years old I would blow kisses at him and I knew that I was going to be

[00:18:46] his wife one day to Samuel and so when that moment came it was super normal for me because oh now he's taking me so but I go to Big Bear this one time and I had to dance is a Britney

[00:19:00] Spears song I think and I remember I had a booty shorts and I remember that I didn't have breasts obviously but I had never been that naked because that's how I felt but what scared me was that the servant of God is going to

[00:19:16] get mad if he sees me like this as the the kids side of me he's gonna get mad at me and he's gonna get mad at all of us because you know we're hardly wearing cuz we were taught

[00:19:27] to cover our bodies to cover our legs and and our breasts and our bodies and so that's the first thing that came so then when when I step into this moment I see that my aunt and right who is Nathan sister Samuel's daughter who used to

[00:19:44] be one of the biggest groomers for him they were all very normal about it it wasn't anymore of like oh well sister right so when it got to get mad at me or you know mom so

[00:19:55] when it got to get mad at me no because now it was like I was the one that was wrong because the servant of God saw us and he was happy we had the biggest smile on his face and everybody had the biggest man everybody was

[00:20:06] clapping and everybody was happy and it just was so normal to me and so every time now that we would dance every 15 days he would come to LA from well a lot of our any parts of the world if he was in Colombia Spain wherever he would fly

[00:20:21] in and we always had to have something new for him whether it was something out of theater arts or dances or something but that's how I kind of grew up in that and so it's super super normal to me and just being an

[00:20:37] unconditional of now it's part of you and you know and I think that when time goes by this becomes so normal into these people that I think that they feel more like traders as opposed to liars because that's how they see me they see

[00:20:55] me as a trader not a liar they'll say I'm a liar but they see me more as a trader because I'm being a trader to that world that I grew up in well it sounds like you're growing up in a hierarchy or a structure that's normalized

[00:21:10] abuse and when you see it and you start to hold it accountable the people inside in order to believe you have to own that they've fallen for the same con and grown up in that abuse too and that's the about face that is difficult for everyone

[00:21:23] and these things and you're the one who is brave enough to transcend it and they're still in the system maybe thinking and feeling and having the doubts that you have but I think the term Sarah maybe I don't know if it's gas

[00:21:35] lighting in this case but they've got to give up everything they know even though it's an abusive regime and that's still hard for them because it's all they know right and it's sad because obviously the people hurt me but

[00:21:47] you know I saw my grandparents die in this yeah and I know my great grandparents died in it and I know a lot of my family members will never leave and you know my brothers my little brothers they hurt me they're both

[00:21:59] in the mission I believe the last time I knew one of them was in Africa and I know how these members suffer when they're sent off into the mission because they're left with nothing and they have to start this up but and I

[00:22:10] know where they're coming from with all of this but you know just questioning that's that's where they're the fear is right to question the thing is that they don't know that's even a possibility because the word question or doubt that's not in our vocabulary ever

[00:22:27] because it wasn't in our parents vocabulary wasn't it was absolutely normal so for example I would say like let's say in in school I wish I could have had a friend we would have spoken more to have more of like a normal

[00:22:42] sea of interaction with other human beings and maybe have like being a club or something in high school or be on a team but none of that especially when you're in a in this closed bubble you're not allowed anywhere anywhere I had exactly 15 minutes not less

[00:23:01] 10 to 15 minutes to walk from my high school to my home otherwise the nanny would call my aunt and Mason would find out where were you who are you talking to I'm just remembering this and I've never said this out loud because I think that

[00:23:14] it's not a big deal but I was human and I was a kid and I wanted to see what a pep rally was like and because I wasn't allowed to be on any teams or anything and so I remember I I hid behind

[00:23:31] one of the polls that they had in the bleachers and I said I'm only going to be here five minutes and I just want to see what it's like and then like a week later we got to do something similar and

[00:23:42] that was a part of it because of P.E. class but I was just sitting there but before that I'm like if I would have waited but I didn't wait that one time and I saw what it was like it was so awesome

[00:23:52] and I got home late and I got in trouble and I got in trouble and so you know those are the things that that's why I fight now because these are children and these are teenagers these are kids that were just like me and we didn't know that

[00:24:08] that right there that's abuse and we shouldn't we shouldn't have to live like that the world is as it should be and to have these institutions coerce you they're coercing you because when you're 14 and LDM you have to go in front of the whole

[00:24:22] congregation and you have to decide whether you want to be baptized or not and if you choose no then your family kicks you out of their home they tell you you I mean you're completely shunned you can say bye to mom dad brothers sisters grandparents

[00:24:36] everybody if you say that you do not want to be baptized in LDM so they say you're lying so cheap you're lying we have a choice and I'm like that's not a choice that's bounded choice I remember that when I turned 14 my aunt was the one

[00:24:49] that I was a big tomboy so my aunt I remember she chose my dress and like the bright I mean the not the bridesmaids but yeah like all of my friends that were dressed in like different colors name

[00:24:59] or name of my friends just like girls from the church that were all either dancing or somehow in the group and I really really really wanted to be on the baseball team at my school that's all I asked for that's all I wanted for my birthday present

[00:25:13] and I was like yeah like I'll go up there and I'll have the big party and everything like obviously I have to say yes I'm going to get baptized and I never thought of saying no that's all I wanted and I didn't get it but there I had

[00:25:24] to stand in front of the entire church and tell the church yes I'm going to be baptized otherwise I don't want to lose I don't want to lose my mom I don't want to lose everybody I and then I love the servant of God you know he was

[00:25:36] the whole reason why I believed I was existing and that I mattered to God and that I even mattered in life because keep in mind like I was also technically an orphan you know I never met my dad and my mom you know she

[00:25:51] unfortunately you know California took us when we were really we're all word of the court so and it's not like the church did anything to help us so my aunt was the only one that stepped up to the plate

[00:26:02] and and took us in and so I felt like double I owed her double and I felt that somehow she instilled in me that it was because these the servant of God was the one that had grace on me like he's the one that that because

[00:26:16] of him I had life because of him I had this opportunity of life you know it all trickles down to you feeling like you're you're nothing without them you're nothing without the apostle that dependency starts from the beginning right the penance is sold from the beginning

[00:26:34] but climbing up the hierarchy is incentivized so climbing up an abusive hierarchy is incentivized which is like it's super fucked up it's super fucked up it's also the exact same thing that we went through which is with different words yeah you

[00:26:48] know yeah I'm like you had a straight path you had like a sash path for being a spiritual wife slash only differences the verbiage and you know being owned by someone is more overt and theirs but the process of abuse is identical

[00:27:06] there's only a handful ways you can do this absolutely this is the golden age of cult recovery the more we speak up and share our stories the more we realize we are not alone your voice and your story can empower others this is Sarah

[00:27:22] and I'm proud to be a founding collaborator of the hashtag I got out movement learn more at I got out dot org meals bring people together but for many families providing their next meal can be a challenge you can help by participating

[00:27:44] in Macy's annual feeding the hungry food drive all proceeds go toward local food banks and families now through January 31st you can purchase an icon in store or online or watch out for the blue feeding the hungry shelf tags where a portion of your purchase will be

[00:28:00] donated to local pantries together we can combat hunger in our local communities at Macy's this episode is sponsored by better help what are your self-care non-negotiables maybe you never skip leg day or never miss yoga maybe it's getting eight hours of

[00:28:15] sleep and that's my personal and everyone's dream isn't it well I definitely have some non-negotiables like I'm in Vancouver right now and I'm spending literally as much time as I can outside in nature hashtag cold pools hashtag crushing it nature is a non-negotiable

[00:28:30] not enough time the fresh air and the trees around me and I start to feel not great not myself not grounded therapy day is a bit like my nature walks I try to not miss it and I know I'm just going to feel so much

[00:28:40] better all around if I make it a priority I get so much out of it helps me put my worries and anxieties in their rightful place and helps me clear my mind so I can focus on what I really need and sometimes what

[00:28:50] I don't need like I don't need to be overbooking myself just because I hate to say no to people you know what I mean thanks therapy thanks for helping me see that and if you're thinking of starting therapy give better help a try it's

[00:29:00] entirely online designed to be convenient flexible and suited to your schedule just fill out a brief questionnaire and get matched with a licensed therapist and switch therapists anytime for no additional charge look even when we know what makes

[00:29:12] us happy it's hard to make time for it but when you feel like you have no time for yourself non-negotiables like therapy are more important than ever never skip therapy day with better help visit better help dot com slash culty today

[00:29:24] to get 10% off your first month that's better help H EL P dot com slash culty That's one of the reasons why I've looked focused my time my energy and my voice to focus on the bigger picture because I think everybody knows now that all of these enterprises these

[00:29:44] these corrupt organizations they all function the same it's like it's like there's some weird dictionary or like I don't know guidebook out there like handbook for these sociopaths that they all have some sort of like I don't know access to that we don't but it's all the same

[00:30:04] the only difference is like the narcissists these different sociopaths they just come from different places you know so for example, Nathan comes from a generational patriarchal you would say cult from Mexico and so this is where nason goes and this is what I focus on talking about usually

[00:30:26] is that for example leaving nason aside who is a sexual predator and he's in prison now for 16 years unfortunately because the Department of Justice dropped the ball we're going to come back to that don't worry we're for sure going to get

[00:30:38] to that thank you very much but if we go back from nason even before his dad who built this entire worldwide enterprise of just human trap yeah it is human trafficking but it was human trafficking to him to keep him happy to keep

[00:30:57] the bishops happy the board happy but essentially where it starts that's where we need to focus on it starts with a lot so it was said you know which is his real name he was a military leader and he had very very great connections in the government

[00:31:15] in Mexico so he arrives in one of the very powerful man who essentially just gives him proper property which is where the big white temple is now this person and I have I have his information here this I wrote

[00:31:31] some stuff down so can I read it yes please this enterprise with the religious veneer started in 1926 by the founder of Sevio Joaquin and Eliza Flores of Sevio was a higher up in the military when he decided to leave the service and start his religion

[00:31:46] at this time there is a civil war going on in Mexico and the government put a lock on all Catholic churches so in essence Catholicism had been banned this war was known as la guerra Cristina when a Sevio and his wife arrived in Guadalajara Jalisco he has

[00:32:02] connections with the government and the political party in turn three partido revolucionario institucional he was a military politician who fought alongside Pancho Villa the governor Marcelino Garcia Barragan whom gave the order to the murder of that the local on October 2nd 1968 it was the mass

[00:32:27] killing of more than 300 students in Mexico City who decided to raise their voices on the corruption that was going on in their country in the in La Plaza de las tres culturas the same powerful man for a Sevio

[00:32:42] and power and gave him a property where he could start his Christian based religion and he had every intention to turn it into a cult pyramid scheme this property that this powerful man gave to a Sevio his friend is where the institution has its headquarters.

[00:32:59] It now looks like a big white cake in Guadalajara it was literally constructed with the blood sweat and tears of the members of the world. Many people died in the process of building this temple and the death and bodies were never reported

[00:33:14] to the authorities because the higher ups in the lose the Mundo told the families that the death of their loved one was a blessing. I'd like to make clear that the lose the Mundo or the light of the world that goes by we are like they have paid

[00:33:28] one of the most expensive PR firms in the country to fix their image because what we are seeing is all corruption. This is what is extremely important. We talk about the institutional organizations that implement a belief system in minors. These institutions like the lose the Mundo are simply

[00:33:46] businesses with the veneer of religion and they feel that they can get away with murder because no one wants to talk about religion. That is the one place you don't go. They say with your friends never talk about politics

[00:33:59] and religion so it has become a culture not to talk about this even now the lose the Mundo continues to function exactly like the way it has because in Mexico for example nobody wants to touch the subject on religion on the religion.

[00:34:15] The religion is not a talker and so the way it has functioned is thanks to the bishops driving around in these Teslas literally living the life tax free while their business is functioning as good as ever. Yes members have left but I lose the Mundo board members

[00:34:32] now know that time will pass and people will forget and Rogelio Samora now pass that audio along to you guys. He's a bishop and the main political leader in a lose the Mundo and he has put all of these members in Senate and Congress in Mexico.

[00:34:47] He's a big deal and he told me and my husband when I came forward to essentially call them out on that he told me so to you but we can make this go away. You know people forget they forget quickly and it's like

[00:35:01] he knew it so well and that was the third time when the bishops came to speak to us to silence to try to silence us when I realized the first time they sat me down in a room in a in a cafe three bishops with two bishops

[00:35:17] and one of them was one of the main producers and that where I used to work and it's funny because we call you guys sharing my night. You guys are like the better for us. You guys are like the parallel to better for us because

[00:35:29] I know next year I'm had a very like same thing like but yeah so I'm also a more than was one of the key producers for better. So you had this guy and then you had two bishops and they're

[00:35:39] all attorneys keep in mind and they sit me down and my husband the very first time and say that I'm a liar and I'm a viper and nobody's going to believe me and in that case then they're going to make sure that they sent me to prison

[00:35:50] because what I'm saying is called human trafficking and they're going to make sure that I go to prison. So this is what they're telling a victim of sexual assault by the president of their organization and I'm telling them that there are children at this moment who

[00:36:06] are being trafficked and assaulted by him and they tell me to shut up. And so I'm crying the entire time. I don't have the strength to even consider myself a human being because also the way they were treating me on top of

[00:36:21] everything and keep in mind like I had just lost everybody everything in my life and my husband was the one that was strong for me and he's the one that stood up to them and said that very first time well in this case if you're

[00:36:33] saying that we're the ones to blame because the pictures that I took of the two girls in Senada when Nassan would ask me to send pictures of him of these because again it was normal to me.

[00:36:44] It was so it would happen to me and by my mom like it was not bad to me. That's where it's dangerous and so he's saying well in that case now we're telling you what happened. So if you guys don't go to the police and say this

[00:36:57] now what happened this conversation then you guys are just as much to blame. So that's where they say holy shit he knows his rights and so I'm not speaking at this point. Conversation goes quickly. They say they want to meet up with this again.

[00:37:12] Second time we talk it was at a cafe. That's where we recorded them. I still believe that this point that Nassan was the apostle. So you were out but you hadn't fully woken up yet. No, I still believe that he was the apostle but like

[00:37:26] for some reason there was something wrong that was going on and still I was like maybe I'm wrong by doing this and maybe Shadeem's faith isn't at that level and I for some reason felt like even if I have to go to hell but if

[00:37:43] this is wrong like why is Shadeem making a big deal of this and if he's making a big deal of this then there probably is something wrong because he looked really disturbed and there was something in me for so

[00:37:54] long that you know what happened with with the little boy from Mexico City when he wanted me to masturbate him in front of this little boys mom and when I left I was beaten for that but it was not the physical aggression on me that hurt.

[00:38:07] It was the psychological abuse that came after that. Right. Part of you knew things were wrong but you couldn't wrap your head around it yet. Exactly. So when it came to that moment I still believe will be certain of God is like he's going to come

[00:38:20] and he's going to talk to all of us and he's going to fix this in my in my teeny tiny little brain that was operating at that moment. I thought that that was going to happen and he was

[00:38:32] going to fix all of this but while I was listening to these bishops talk I would listen to their voices and how cold and manipulative they were acting and I didn't even know that word manipulation is just the way they were well the Sermon of God

[00:38:47] doesn't know we were we are here and then Shadeem would answer that doesn't make sense. He would call them out that doesn't make sense. You're a bishop and he's at your church right now and he doesn't know that you're here and into another

[00:38:57] in a completely different state don't lie to me and I'd be like hey that's true. So they would say something and Shadeem would go back they would say something and Shadeem would say until something in me snapped and I said holy fuck

[00:39:10] there is something very very wrong and that's true why isn't the servant of God here? Why did they take my phone away? That was kidnapping. They kidnapped me and my daughter. They didn't let me touch her. They didn't let me see her.

[00:39:23] A lot of stuff went down and why was it done this way? Like I didn't see until they clicked in me in that moment and then that's where I had the I didn't even see it as strength. I was angry.

[00:39:34] I was angry more than anything because I didn't say to myself oh I'm going to be brave and I'm going to tell them I'm going to be strong and you know speak my mind and my voice more than anything I was pissed

[00:39:45] because I felt like they kept lying to me and then that's when I said you know what I'm an American citizen and I know my rights and the fact that you guys have me here after I'm telling you that I was sexually assaulted

[00:39:58] and you guys are not doing anything about it being that you guys are the bishops. You guys are the leadership of la luz del mundo and you guys aren't doing anything to help then that right there that's a crime and I will take it to the authorities.

[00:40:10] They did try to kill me later and all of that that's typical mafia stuff but I mean when I said it I didn't think of the repercussions of it. So what they did is that the next time around they try to

[00:40:23] buy us out we're going to buy your house for much greater price than what it is going to give you a big big mansion and that's how they were trying to work it out and they was like they've done this before.

[00:40:35] I can see that they've done this many times before but I was already like starting to think like a person like a like a person who had a mind over her own not a slave exactly you guys get it not a slave and so I was like

[00:40:50] oh okay so fuck you. I don't want your home. I don't want your money. I don't want your shit. You need to stay as far away from me as possible and in that moment is when I said I'm going to live my own life.

[00:41:04] We're going to be quiet. We're going to be this we're going to be that and literally a week later is when I started to do some research and I started to go into all of like the XL DM platform. There were very few out there.

[00:41:16] Nobody would speak up. Everybody was anonymous and then that's when I went on to a subreddit platform LDM subreddit platform of survivors very few were on there and I decided to write a letter an open letter as survival kid and just write my whole

[00:41:32] story and so as an assistant of the servant of God when you leave everybody will know you left especially on the inside and Sarah you know all about this. So I mean when I wrote that letter everybody's like

[00:41:44] social we know it's you like you don't have to write fucking survival kid like we know it's so cheap. So anyway like that led to other girls to start posting their stories and these were fortunately unfortunately but also fortunately with their strength these were

[00:41:58] minors and because they were minors their stories were considered before the California Department of Justice because my time was up because time said that it didn't matter what happened to me and what did happen to me was not within California jurisdiction

[00:42:17] and so that's where yeah the case starts to take form but essentially it was a really it was a real rude awakening that slap in the face and then to try to tell your family like a just so you know they raped

[00:42:32] and abused you your whole life mom will my guardian but I called her mom. She didn't believe you. Well no because she sees me as a traitor right and she sees me as a demon and all of them like my grandparents

[00:42:43] they said they never wanted to see me again and they said that dog that that's that dog that stupid dog kid but a charmaka is what my grandmother said I never want to see her again and I never want to

[00:42:55] I never want to see her step foot in this house. I aunt's uncle's cousins everybody I know started sending me you know messages and had aunt say you know family members that said if you know they wanted to find me on the streets that they can

[00:43:10] kick kick my ass so hard so chill not a lot of people get that how hard it is to lose and luckily nippy and I still had our family but we lost friends and are just even the loss of our community was devastating

[00:43:23] so I can only imagine and have great empathy for what you've been through and to have gone through that and then fought publicly and being a part of the justice system to hold him accountable. It takes incredible strength truly.

[00:43:37] I will say that the optimist in me believes that there will be more people contacting you apologizing in the future even if they'd say so to you were right or you're not just get their lives back. Yeah, I mean with plenty of those two.

[00:43:49] Yeah, you know like just live you know know what it's like to have a mind of your own and freedom. It's beautiful. It's very beautiful and you know I said this when I plead I begged the judge I begged

[00:44:03] the judge before you know because they didn't go to trial and so I you know fortunately with with my legal team I mentioned to them I really want to press conference and I have something to say me and other survivors we want to plead we want to plead

[00:44:18] to the judge like really look into this this person is dangerous and he needs to have life and and once we were talking about this I felt in my heart and I said you know slavery nowadays it does

[00:44:32] not come in shackles I mean I am the great-grand daughter of a slave and the daughter of a slave and I was a slave as well it's not about race this abuse and and this sex cancer and culture of rape.

[00:44:49] This has nothing to do with race it doesn't respect anybody and so I do believe that that's a very common problem that's happening where I find survivors who tell me well we don't get justice because we're Latin and it's like well I have a lot

[00:45:05] of white friends who have been victims of sexual predators and institutions just like this they work differently obviously but their cases have either been closed or it's been like years and California to the Department of Justice is doing nothing.

[00:45:22] I mean it has nothing to do with race it has to do with a culture that's out there just like well slavery is no longer in shackles slavery now comes in the form of emotional and psychological chains and since there aren't any laws and there isn't a

[00:45:40] language out there that protects it nobody's talking about it so then people get away with it you know these sociopaths get away with it and they have slaves and they can do it because technically they're not committing any crimes. They're not committing crimes because they've appeared

[00:45:56] to have consented but when you groom someone from infancy and have them choose I say that loosely to be baptized when they're 14 when they have no other choice which we call bounded choice as you may as you may have studied in your cult recovery that's not real choice.

[00:46:11] Hey there listener hope you're enjoying this episode and that you're taking deep breaths when we cover the enraging stuff that cult jerks are up to let it out is in the yoga practice inhale positivity exhale negativity that's for you Sarah we got this no hooking it out

[00:46:26] or you will hopesters and if you need some helpful resources on the topic of cult recovery check out our website at a little bit culty dot com and now here's a brief message from our sponsors. Meals bring people together but for many families

[00:46:40] providing their next meal can be a challenge you can help by participating in Macy's annual feeding the hungry food drive all proceeds go toward local food banks and families now through January 31st you can purchase an icon in store or online or watch out for the blue feeding

[00:46:57] the hungry shelf tags where a portion of your purchase will be donated to local pantries together we can combat hunger in our local communities at Macy's the Frankies were a picture perfect influencer family but everything wasn't as it seemed I just had a 12 year old boy still appeared

[00:47:17] asking for help he's emaciated he's got tape around his legs Ruby Frankie is his mom's name infamous is covering Ruby Frankie the world of Mormonism and a secret therapy group that ruined lives listen to infamous wherever you get your

[00:47:35] podcasts there's so much I want to ask you and there's some real complexities to what happened after he was charged and sentenced him with a trial and we're going to it's too much to encapsulate in this podcast will of course encourage people to again watch the documentary

[00:47:52] I know you were key you coming forward even though it's funny some of the parallels both being the some of the first to come forward but not having to testify there's pros and cons to that situation I know take me back to a couple of

[00:48:04] the moments like when you found out that he'd taken a plea deal and that he was being charged on three versus 19 of the original charges and that the prosecution let you in the other and the Jane does down how what

[00:48:17] was that moment like for you I felt so stupid I felt so there's no other way there's no other word I felt so humiliated because here I was promising these little girls if you speak to the authorities we will get justice because

[00:48:38] justice heals and we're going to get justice and here go these little girls one of them took her friend and they took an Uber by themselves they were 16 years old I'm in in San Al and she tells me hey I'm going to

[00:48:51] take my friend now so that we can go to the Department of Justice because you know I supported her I mean I met this little girl the Jane don't want I met her at a mall she had to get out of her school because

[00:49:02] she was afraid because her family member her family goes way back in the church there was no way that I can I could have met her and I met her through social media so there was I knew nothing about her

[00:49:12] I didn't know who she was they could have been some man trying to kill me and I had to meet this anonymous person at a mall with my daughter my daughter was six at the time and so I'm looking at this now through her life at that point

[00:49:26] she was 15 and she didn't know who she was meeting with she thought she was meeting so she but what if it would have been some other predator out there to harm her and so she has her best friend on on on her phone and her best friend's

[00:49:40] mom and they keep her location on and they're like yes I know her mom knew me and she's like I know so she did work for brother nason I remember her yes meet her but keep your location on because what if it's not her and so

[00:49:52] it's like a fear on both ends so we're like all of this you know you would say in trauma of putting ourselves out there both this child and myself at that point and my little girl also and then because my husband wasn't with

[00:50:08] he was working in Mexico and we're here in Riverside I had to leave my husband and my life my home so that we can get the Department of Justice like this investigation to help the Department of Justice so I had to move

[00:50:21] here and that put my marriage at jeopardy twice and then when I go back she then talks to her friend and that's you know her little friend and her they go off and they go take an uber you know the strength and

[00:50:36] that the courage that that took for these two little girls knowing that their parents were still forcing them to go to church after knowing that they had been assaulted and then you know you have Jane Doe too who's the only mother who

[00:50:49] did come forward and say I will support my daughter well and she believed her daughter and she stuck by her daughter and she's a single mom and she always says like I didn't even let my daughter go to sleepovers and here they are

[00:51:03] telling me that she's going to go serve coffee to the apostle of Jesus Christ the person I trust more and the most in the world and there he goes you know sexually assaulting my child violating my baby and so all of us we felt so extraordinarily just mocked

[00:51:18] at and it's like so what the fuck are you doing justice system like Department of Justice then why do you have us come forward you tell us that you're going to get justice for us and so then we do that and then the first chance you

[00:51:32] get well okay so essentially I didn't even matter even if I did come forward first even if I did because of my statement they opened up the investigation and they open up the case I still didn't matter to them I didn't

[00:51:44] matter so much to them that they not only kicked me out of the witness relocation program they kicked me out of the witness relocation program the moment that I spoke up with Brian Ross on law and crime when I decided to show my face and not be anonymous

[00:51:58] anymore like I know what's expressed in the documentary that it was a plea deal and tell me if I have this right because they felt that the defense had or that there was going to be a problem with the defense and they

[00:52:09] thought this would be the better thing to do or do you think there was something like my first instinct is if something else going on there particularly in the day and age that we're in yeah I think the attorney has a lot to do with that

[00:52:20] I do think that Alan Jackson has a lot to do with that Alan Jackson is the attorney for I mean Weinstein he was you know Kevin Spacey's attorney well he is and he's not some quackings attorney he's the loose the world's attorney so I mean attorneys have

[00:52:36] especially when they have the right network and then we go back to corruption that was my first thought a lot goes into play with this do we have evidence of that this is how I see it for us particularly we did see that the

[00:52:49] Department of Justice tried to do the best with their investigation because I for example a detective Thomas Donahue he is now retired he was amazing he was very open very compassionate but a deputy attorney general that was there at the time Amanda Plissner she didn't believe me

[00:53:07] in the beginning you know she's she's my age so it was easy for her to doubt me and so I do believe that with through time when she saw that it wasn't just social coming forward now it's like oh wait now these are children that

[00:53:21] are coming forward oh wait she's not lying and then they take it very serious and it was and I put all that other stuff aside and I said hey that's that's not the problem the problem is not that you're be victimizing

[00:53:32] me and that it a like I get it let's get to the problem and the problem is the sexual predator is still out there and yeah like I did whatever it is that I could to send them information and it kept going it kept moving and they

[00:53:45] really were invested in the case they really were they brought us over here from in Sonava because we were now in danger over there and so like I mentioned they were doing their job what I don't understand is why let's say the victims within the case

[00:54:02] why didn't they tell them that there was not going to be trial that's against the law what they did as in anyone held them accountable for that no no can't really do anything the Jane Doe's in the case decided I mean they're still suing and

[00:54:14] they have their own cases going on but I mean it's more of like the justice thing and that's where I believe those that want to take on the war you know if I can bring it on but I do want to get to the bottom of that because

[00:54:26] that's where the problem is you did not inform the victims in the case that you were not going to go to trial and you told them literally a day before hey get your victim statements ready and then right there and then he only

[00:54:39] pled guilty to rape of one minor and the sexual abuse of the three of oral copulation Jane Doe's four and five didn't even matter to them because they were adult women so if you're an adult women oh it doesn't matter so they didn't even consider them

[00:54:55] so they got to give their victim statements but within his recognition of being a sexual predator supposedly to him he only said yes to the three counts and the people in the case the victims in the case all of them were not informed and for example I pleaded

[00:55:14] to the judge if I can please read my victim statement they did not even give me that chance they didn't give me that opportunity they just said no those are all the questions that I'm asking like why mine was right on like virtually on a video

[00:55:27] I didn't even have to go wow I just don't understand the precedent you know or like what would that be based on there's also so different from what happened in ours too while it was even mentioned in the documentary that Keith Ranae gets 120 years guilty on all charges

[00:55:42] and I think that what we need to work on and we have been working on this and like touching you know knocking on doors with different agencies just taking it on a federal level and so once it's taken to a federal level because obviously the state doj

[00:55:55] I mean it's not doing its job I've forgotten about that right yeah so that's where we're hoping that like the Nixxiom case when the feds get involved in this then that's when hopefully we'll we'll see our day in court well maybe the 16 years

[00:56:10] although I can obviously see that being like a massive slap in the face maybe that bides some time for more people to come forward and for the feds to get involved and I certainly hope that they do I hope so too I do hope so and then

[00:56:24] you know I hope that people don't forget because people do forget and that's what leads for this to happen again and again and again because it's not just Nixxiom and I lose the Mundo and like the FDLS and ICOC like all these cults it happens because people forget

[00:56:42] or what's scarier is when people see it and it's happening right underneath their noses and they're they're seeing it and still they're not understanding what the crime is you have little girls in Hollywood for 16 17 years old and they're being married off to adult you know 30 year old men

[00:57:03] and then here they are being sexually assaulted and then nobody says anything because they're celebrities as if celebrities were not human beings and it's like what is wrong with society what is wrong with the world human beings are human beings and this is about consent

[00:57:20] my mind is going like what do we do what do we do what do we do like I don't want to just talk about it I want to do something and I'm just thinking because my first thought was like you know if you're not in touch with

[00:57:29] Evan Rachel Wood already I'd like to connect you I'd like and you've seen Phoenix Rising No Oh you must you must you must and she's okay she's in California and maybe maybe you two can connect and you have a very similar mission you need to connect

[00:57:42] so that's one thing and then I think that was produced by HBO yours was produced by HBO the vow was produced by HBO HBO is making a shit ton of money off all of our stories I know right I think Nippy

[00:57:53] and I'm just going to put it out there right now that we go to HBO we march into that building and we will set a meeting be like look guys who's the fat cat cash in the checks and like let's put together a fun

[00:58:04] in fact you just had to sell your computer so Joe fuck that fuck that shit I don't like this I don't like this now I'm pissed off there needs to be a fund for the survivors of all of these things I know they can't pay you

[00:58:16] when you're in a documentary and I'm assuming you didn't get paid either maybe not very public you can't get people like oh you did the vow you must be rolling and I'm a fuck I'm not a fucking producer yeah I'll do you I'm so the same thing

[00:58:26] fuck that like do you know how the industry works like look at the IMDb credits I'm not a producer anyway I just feel like no I don't care I'm just I'm just pissed off I feel like there needs to be a fund at least for the

[00:58:38] at least for like hiring lawyers or like to get back on your feet and I've been talking about this for a while and we're you know talk about partnering with different organizations that exist already because I don't think I can start start something like that

[00:58:49] if I can say there's a for example the keep kids safe org is an organization that I would like to talk about and they are looking to help survivors pass you know laws and legislation that are supporting these particular laws that are going to to help

[00:59:05] the future generations our daughters our our children so that this never has to happen again because it never should have happened to begin with and then you have the consent network as well and I know that they've been on your yeah on your podcast and I'm meeting

[00:59:19] with her on Friday so it's pretty awesome I had a Joyce Joyce and Nina I will I mean she's amazing and I'm already like I'm so stoked to meet her me and like Yara and like other survivors like yeah we want to go to Congress

[00:59:31] but we're going to y'all let them too and tell them like we need to pass this law because like we do have a voice the survivors of this area of assault and these crimes that have been committed for years it's all about inequality it's like

[00:59:46] it's still a civil war but it's like it's a war on women it is it's a war on women and who is is under attack yeah not only women but the children are under attack as well and so it's a broken system

[01:00:00] which is why I'm running for office next year because you have to become part of the system if you want to fucking change the system that's where it is so all of these organizations all of these nonprofits that are doing the best that they can to help us

[01:00:14] it's like they don't have the tools to help us like they have all of the their lives that they've been working on finding these solutions so that we don't have to do it we want to raise our hand and say hey yes

[01:00:28] how can we do a consent network keep it safe like rain you know pave you have all of these these organizations out there that are working to put you know you have the zero abuse project you have NICSA you have all of these amazing organizations

[01:00:44] that are coming together they're coming together to stop it they want to stop it and change change the society and how we see it the challenges are quantifying what you're looking at and seeing it and then recognizing what mechanisms are in place that allow it to thrive exactly

[01:01:02] and so those are those are tricky sometimes because sometimes they're the same people it's hard to figure out it's hard to figure out what back room deals are made where and when and that's how power works unfortunately did the documentary help in any way

[01:01:13] did have people come forward since the documentary? yeah I mean there have been survivors who are who are now speaking up about Samuel now he's dead but they're having the courage to talk about what this monster did to them and his wife who is very much still alive

[01:01:33] and his other children his sons and other bishops as well and ministers and the more you talk to these survivors and they've been coming forward now for a while even a little bit before unveiled it's just after unveiled it was just like a boom you know

[01:01:49] but before that little by little when I spoke up that's the amazing thing honestly of putting your face out there is that a person who's scared can say hey well if that person can do it I can do it too there's nothing that I have

[01:02:05] that they don't have there's nothing that you have that I don't have there's nothing that I have that you don't have we're all human beings so that strength in us it's there it's feeding it and so when they find that they can have a support system

[01:02:18] they can open up a little bit more and so you have survivors of domestic abuse you have survivors there's a survivor her sister-in-law was murdered and so was her niece and the Department of Justice has done nothing about that that case

[01:02:32] and La Luz del Mundo helped silence that and the serial killer is out there somewhere and the ministers hushed the church they told the church not to talk to the detective and to tell them like we don't know what's happening and I know this because members who are

[01:02:47] who have come forward that were there are now speaking up and they're telling us so there are witnesses of this and this was a double murder that happened so yeah it's not the sexual assault but these are crimes and people are having the courage

[01:03:02] to speak up about it and they want to know what's happening in the justice system they want to know what's happening with this case in the Department of Justice and in Mexico too so it's awesome to see that what is the current state of what's going on

[01:03:14] with the Mexican justice system did they do anything in Mexico I gave a federal statement with the Department of Justice in the area of of human trafficking and there were about I don't know like 15 agents there from different areas because they took it very very serious

[01:03:34] so I thought that it wasn't something was going to be done again the person in me who I thought something was going to happen and I was there for three days I had to give statements to them from six o'clock in the morning to

[01:03:51] two three in the morning for three days telling my story everything people involved the companies involved everything and so they said that they would and unfortunately the more you see is that the Morena which is the political party that's now in in office and now essentially running the

[01:04:11] country you find that the president has extreme ties with nason force and so does his political party so I figured yeah then you find out through other other statements that victims come forward anonymously and then when we do meet them and you know we we we see them

[01:04:30] and then when they go off and they give their statements to the one d.a. that I do trust because she says it's not me it's like it's my boss's boss but she herself I feel it's my responsibility to help her help us with the case so

[01:04:44] she's not the problem the problem is the system and so unfortunately like you find that these survivors they're telling us hey yeah this government official or this agent who works in Guadalajara you know he came over and spoke with the bishop and they said that to not worry

[01:05:02] they're going to hush this thing down like nothing ever happened but there was a murder of block away from Guadalajara from the temple because this all happens in Kalisco this is the main this is like where it all happens and the governor literally told Nassan

[01:05:17] I hope my friend is okay in prison he literally told his friend Nassan I hope you're okay in prison it hurts me but oh well like I guess he has to pay for what he did but I hope my friends find why because what Nassan used to do

[01:05:31] is that he used to bring these politicians to his house that's across the street from the from the big white temple and when the holy supper would come around you know you had hundreds and thousands of people that would come from different parts of the world

[01:05:44] and he would show these politicians all of these people so politicians are thinking ooh numbers right right course they're thinking wow the masses this guy's really got it so he has the president of El Salvador this guy I mean LDM goes way back to Pablo Escobar these ties

[01:06:02] with politics with corruption in LDM and politics it goes century I mean it goes back a hundred years and so that just led the corruption to be so big that now doesn't matter how many people are coming forward Mexico is literally I mean the justice system

[01:06:20] it's gotten to the president now now it's not just the governor of Guadalajara well in a lot of ways they're the same governing body absolutely they're their ties so Nassan Joaquin was given a birthday party at Palacio de Bellas Artes not anybody

[01:06:36] can be in Palacio de Bellas Artes that is you would say like the White House right something similar to the White House in Mexico or I don't know some it's a building that belongs to the government and these politicians and celebrities were there

[01:06:51] and I'm not sure if it was the Navy who gave Nassan an orchestra performance alongside with other organizations that are there with La Luz del Mundo these companies that are tied with him and they all gave him a little birthday party in Palacio de Bellas Artes

[01:07:06] and then a week later he was arrested damn there's a few nexium loyalists who live in Guadalajara I think I'm going to connect them and they can all have a big party together couple quick questions for you I know your

[01:07:17] your advocacy is a key part of what you're doing now what is the main thing you want people to know about that journey for you and where they can find you and what you're what you're doing now all the projects thank you I have a baby right now

[01:07:29] my my baby is well besides my actual baby but it is an education program it's a mental health education program and its roots are teaching children to understand their senses it is key for a child to understand how to detect what's happening to their body

[01:07:49] and by understanding your senses and your bodily anatomy will lead a child to become confident of yourself and to trust yourself something I did not have as a little girl so I wish I could have had that somebody teach me in my school or anywhere and say

[01:08:06] hey, sochee if this feels wrong like when I'm telling you the time at paper you know if I would have been taught at school by teachers something completely different from my religious world my spiritual world then I would have said hey, this feels a lot like abuse

[01:08:23] well, I was taught that if I'm feeling this way if I'm feeling scared and if I'm shaking and if I'm sweating and if it makes me feel sad you know and I'm anxious oh, these are all red flags that I'm I'm going through abuse

[01:08:37] and this is causing trauma and then then after that I would have understood that all those times while I was growing up I always was picturing myself well, what if I what if I stopped breathing you know or what if I didn't have my life

[01:08:52] or what if my life wasn't at my home and I could just live under a tree or live between the bushes and I would have rather to have lived like a dog than to feel what I was feeling that I didn't even know how to

[01:09:08] I didn't even know how to put a language to that for myself so I do believe it's extremely important for children to understand and I'm talking about first grade to fifth grade this is where babies are barely they're evolving their little bodies are barely understanding

[01:09:27] what it's like to you know, those senses and you have that Disney movie what is it called the inside out? I love that movie it's our favorite yeah, her world right? her world is falling apart because she moved and all of these emotions are going on

[01:09:42] yeah, children need to understand what those emotions are and so that's one and then legislation it is very important legislation and we are going to be launching a podcast soon called The Elephant in the Room and we're going to be talking about the three phases of criminal enterprises

[01:10:00] or institutions like LDM you know, the phases phase one, the crime and having subject matter experts on that particular subject and then we would have the trauma which is the second phase and have neuroscientists and subject matter experts on that and then the third phase

[01:10:17] and that would be the change which is the solution and that is bringing legislation and bringing nonprofits, organizations these people that are fighting to get these laws out there and then bringing on legislators onto the show and asking them questions and seeing if they will help us

[01:10:35] and if you know they're out there promising other stuff like why not if you're going to if you're going to promise something well, why don't you promise to actually do something to change this country? Good for you because we're rotting If there's anything we can do

[01:10:48] to support you in the podcast journey we've been doing it a couple years and we've learned a few things do's and don'ts Yes to reach please do reach out any time and if there's anything well, I'm going to I'm going to plant some seeds about the HBO idea

[01:11:00] because Yes, please There's a there's a throughline of an imbalance here that I feel like we could tap into Thank you so much Well, just the audio with Elisa who's one of the survivors at LDM Is she one of the Jane Doe's or she wants She's public

[01:11:14] No, she's public I remember her Yeah, she's public Yeah, she actually worked in finances and commission in the church She worked at the ranch in Texas It's a big one and she also served and saw abuse happen in the institution by Samuel and but more than that

[01:11:31] since she works in mental health she understands all the trauma that goes on behind all of this and so like she's been very vocal because I asked them Hey, you guys I'm going to be on a little bit Coltie. I'm so excited

[01:11:42] Like so I go back to my team and I'm like What do you guys like throw stuff at me? Like what should we talk about? Like where the like what are the like the subjects that you really want us to touch base on And so she sent

[01:11:53] an audio clip and I was listening to Yeah, so awesome like I'm going to ask Sarah It's great because it applies I think to all the groups that we've looked at called some organizations in terms of the recovery and it's a mixture so many things.

[01:12:05] Please let them know questioning your faith takes courage leaving your religion is life-shattering you experience various stages of doubt crisis and recovery We suffer from an emotional rollercoasters on highs of freedom followed by loads of depression we fell elated after leaving the faith because we're thrilled

[01:12:26] that we can do where learn do whatever we want only to be crashed with grief and anger a moment later because we've lost our families and friends and our community To wrap I had one question that I couldn't find the answer to the other woman

[01:12:42] blanking on her name right now is accomplice How many years did she get? Alondra Yeah She's not in prison anymore but because she pled guilty and she pled guilty even before they had offered her so and I'm sure you know her story but she's not the danger anymore

[01:12:57] because she saw that it was wrong but Susie Oaxaca the one that's in house arrest she's being treated by the congregation as a saint and she still believes in her mind that what was being done is a blessing and so that is the ick factor of fuck

[01:13:17] like you have a sociopath out there who is a pedophile and she's surrounded by children even in her home in her church You're at a point now where anything that happens becomes proof of their narrative Exactly Not anything that can flicks with it It's like see

[01:13:32] we're being tested or see you know it's a prison I think the older you are in this thing the harder it is for you to admit that your whole life was wasted I believe so too That's kind of been my take on an observation on this

[01:13:43] if you're past a certain age you're just you're just not going to pivot Yeah That's sad It is It is sad It's also you know what keeps more abuse in place And I do give shout outs to like the people who are elders and they've decided to say

[01:13:57] you know what I'm not going to finish my last 10 years of life or you know 20 years of life in this in this place No I'm I'm going to live my life to to its fullest Yeah Likewise Likewise But usually it is leave me alone I'm happy here

[01:14:12] and I don't want to hear about it There's no other place for me to go at this age Yeah Anything else you guys wanted to ask me? You know just how we can help other than just giving you a platform I'm super motivated

[01:14:23] I mean I hate to say it but like I'm against this church but I think it needs to be more probed something but right now my impulse is to go to walk into the the Atlanta Georgia take that church down facility and lay down some some books Yeah

[01:14:38] Right? Exactly I'm fired up so but keep us posted on everything you're doing and please lean on us if there's something we can do I know Sarah and I were would be happy to do it Thank you for sharing your story

[01:14:49] and thank you for being as brave as you were You remind me of my wife Hey Aww Thank you High five Sarah Big high five I have no words out for this one That's fair It's just religious stuff that and it was all in Spanish and

[01:15:17] I didn't want to read it in Spanish I know it's also like sometimes the devastation of these groups is just like It's not the right pivot Yeah we can't go there Please follow what social is doing She's a powerhouse She is

[01:15:30] She reminds me of you a little bit That's a compliment because I think she's incredible It was intended for that And she is somebody who I know that we're going to be aligned with and keep an eye on her because she's very She's in her activist mode

[01:15:44] She's going to do great things and I'm really proud of her for speaking up She's really putting herself out there and in a way that most people would never because it's too scary Because it's also too humiliating Absolutely too humiliating So check out the doc on Veil

[01:15:58] Surviving La Luz del Mundo It's on HBO We'll include the link in our show notes And don't forget Stolen Youth on Hulu for next week And Daniel Levin's book Slolyn Nine And while you're there don't forget to check out our Instagram or even join us over on Patreon

[01:16:13] where we have more bonus content than you would ever believe and where to come And we don't mean that in a culty false promise way There's really tons of dope stuff over there Including some pictures of Nibbie following asleep in class in next year

[01:16:27] and I just found those Nibbie I'm gonna post those Yeah, I found those pictures of you like passed out Yeah Nibbie was always just like asleep I had to cop my z's man I had to cop my z's We all get through it in different ways

[01:16:37] We have our coping mechanisms Till next time Thanks everyone Sinking down to the depths of the ocean I'm hanging on to the wind in my love And find that girl of it all I could leave But I know I won't Hope you liked this episode

[01:17:01] Let's keep the conversation going and come hang out with us on Patreon where we keep the tape rolling each week with special episodes just for Patreon subscribers and where we get deep into the weeds of unpacking every episode of The Val

[01:17:12] And if you're looking for our show notes or some sweet, sweet swag or official ALBC podcast merch or a list of our most recommended cult recovery resources visit our website at A Little Bit Culty dot com And for more background on what brought us here

[01:17:25] check out Sarah's page turning memoir It's called Scarred True story of how I escaped Nexium The Cult that Bound My Life It's available on Amazon, Audible, Narrated by My Life and at most bookstores A Little Bit Culty is a talkhouse podcast and a Trace 120 production

[01:17:41] We're executive produced by Sarah Edmondson and Anthony Nippy Ames with writing, research and additional production support by senior producer Jess Tardy We're edited, mixed and mastered by our rocking producer Will Rutherford of Citizens of Sound And our amazing theme song Cultivated is by John Bryant

[01:17:57] and co-written by Nigel Asselin Thank you for listening