Content Warning: This section contains descriptions of child sexual abuse and neglect, domestic violence, graphically depicted deaths, and religious abuse and trauma.

Ruth Wariner stands in her wedding gown, “convincingly regal” (1) as she is dressed and gawked at by what seems like far too many people. It feels like a dream, but she hears birds singing in a blossoming tree outside. Ruth feels something that goes beyond nerves as she asks herself if she’s ready for this day. She always dreamed of getting married, and now, surrounded by her sisters, she is transported back to her childhood.

Ruth Wariner was raised in Colonia LeBaron, a Mormon colony in northern Mexico that was founded by her grandfather, Alma Dayer LeBaron, after he had a vision while walking through the desert. Alma saw lush farms, orchards, and families growing and flourishing in their righteous lives, and moved from the US state of Utah to Mexico with his wife in 1944 to begin the colony. Other families followed, and it grew. It was there that Ruth was born, her pale, soft skin no match for the harsh desert environment. She and her family always tried to live up to her grandfather’s legacy, although he died before she was born.