Local social media influencer shares childhood experiences on FLDS polygamist compound

April Orgill, a social media influencer with over 2 million YouTube followers and 120K Instagram followers, shared her experiences growing up on a Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS) polygamist compound in the 1980s and ’90s. Her revelations came through the “April and Davey Podcast,” co-hosted with her husband, Davey Orgill. Unlike some recent disclosures about FLDS life, Orgill focused on her childhood before the leadership of Warren Jeffs, who is currently serving a life sentence plus 20 years for sexual offenses against minors.

The podcast featured an episode with her husband and a follow-up with her mother, Hannah Weis, who provided additional context. Orgill explained that her decision to speak publicly was driven by two motivations: to help her audience distinguish between the FLDS faith and her current faith in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and to offer support to current and former FLDS members, whom she credits for shaping her identity.

Orgill described growing up in West Jordan, attending an FLDS-run school called Alta Academy. She recalled wearing homemade pioneer-like dresses, keeping her hair long and braided. However, unlike many in the compound, she and her siblings were allowed by their mother, who was a single parent after a divorce when Orgill was five, to change into play clothes at home.

“We were what you would call an inactive FLDS family,” Orgill said. “My mom was single, and remained in the church because it’s what she knew. She was also being supported as a single mother of six kids. We’d come home and change out of our dresses into play clothes, which was frowned upon by church leaders.”

Orgill noted that the FLDS faith teaches being in the world but not of the world. However, she and her family faced reprimands for being seen in public in what the church deemed worldly attire. She recounted an incident in fourth grade when she was summoned to see Warren Jeffs, the compound’s principal at the time, for wearing ordinary clothes at a store.

“I remember after being seen at the store wearing ordinary clothes, I was called up to Warren Jeffs’ office,” she said. “I didn’t wear tights under my dress that day, and thought that was why I was in trouble. When I got there, Warren Jeffs asked if it was true that I was seen in the grocery store in worldly clothes, and then he gave me a lecture. I remember feeling very uncomfortable, and I’m not sure if it was because I was in trouble or another reason I wasn’t aware of.”

According to Orgill, there would have been further consequences had she not been allowed to change into more appropriate attire before meeting with Jeffs. Her account highlights the strict adherence to dress codes and the potential for disciplinary action within the FLDS community.

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