Stolen Innocence (31 page)

Celebrating my eighth-grade graduation with my mom. I was so proud when I graduated, but later that summer Warren would order all FLDS members to leave the Colorado City public school. Eighth grade would be the last I would complete.

The morning of my wedding day, the worst day of my life. My face is so red from all the crying I’d been doing.

Here I am with Allen on our wedding day. My stepsisters and the other mothers at Fred’s house worked for hours to turn my old bedroom into a “Honeymoon Hideout.” It was a nice gesture, but their effort only emphasized the darkness I felt inside.

This picture was snapped right as Allen picked me up to carry me across the threshold. I covered my face to hide my tears.

“Allen and Elissa sealed for time and all eternity.”

Several weeks after my wedding I received an encouragement box from Fred for my fifteenth birthday. Inside was a baby doll, and though no one said a word, the message was clear: the pressure was on for me to have children.

I often took refuge from Allen with my sisters and my mom, staying with them whenever I could so that I would not have to see him.

This photo of me and my sister was taken on my sixteenth birthday.

Here I am in my Ford Ranger truck driving around some of my stepsisters and some other girls. Eventually that truck would become my home, and I would spend my nights there to avoid sharing a bed with Allen.

By my seventeenth birthday, things with Allen had grown increasingly unstable. While my mom tried to cheer me up, little could distract me from my problems.

My first Christmas morning shared with Lamont in Oregon.

The last time I saw my mother was the day after Fred’s funeral, where she met and spent a few stolen moments with her grandchild. This photo was taken a few short months after I left the FLDS.

This picture, taken with Lamont and our two children, was snapped not long before Warren’s trial began.