Hi, I am Tyler Meesom.

Five years ago I began production on a documentary with a partner, Jenny Lynn Merton and it's a film called Sons of Perdition. And it's a documentary, a feature length documentary that follows three boys who are kicked out or leave their polygamous faith. The FLDS, the Warren Jeffs group down in southern Utah.

I had to go through and cut all the swear words out for the Oprah network. We followed three boys who were brave enough and had the courage to leave this community. No knowledge of the outside world. Very little education. And most importantly, they're told they're going to hell. And that's a very exhausting and difficult weight for a 16 year old to carry around.

That's one of the main characters, Sam, in the film. It's a beautiful moment. And a strong kid. They're so good. They're such good kids and they're so brave. That's Bruce. This is Joe. We followed them for two and a half years and watched them adjust to a world they didn't know anything about.

And so this film, which is a beautiful story about kids trying to figure out who they are, is really important to me and Jenny Lin, the co director, because we both left the Mormon faith. The film Sons of Perdition is not antagonistic towards the Mormon faith. And it doesn't vilify religion in any way.

It's more about a coming of age story about kids who decide that this religion isn't for them. And for me Especially I was able to really relate because of the struggle I went through in leaving the Mormon faith and how difficult it was for me. And it wasn't a weekend decision. It wasn't an instant decision.

It was a long, exhausting and difficult trying process. I'm so proud of these kids, I just to see their journey and to witness and to see in an hour and a half their decisions. and their thought process of overcoming religion condensed. It's so amazing to see the change in somebody. And there's moments in it when these kids, these boys who are so wonderful, they really become aware of who they are and they really become happy.

And they really say, I didn't know how happy I could be. Because I didn't know what happiness really was until I found it on my own. And me personally, in my story, and having left the faith, and having battled and coming to that true understanding that I'm not supposed to be a part of this, I will say that since that time, I have grown exponentially.

Mentally, emotionally, spiritually I've just grown. That was something that I figured out. I am this person and when I did, the world opened up a little bit. And I've been able to unabashedly learn without a thing. I think that's one of the most confining things we as a human being have, is this fear and guilt.

I think it keeps us from really being who we really should be. And that's the one thing that I think I'm the most grateful of. Is that I don't carry around that guilt anymore. If I make a mistake, it's my mistake. And I will learn from it and grow from it and not do it again, hopefully. I hear a lot of people say, If I left the church, I would party and I'd drink and I'd smoke and I'd have sex.

And to which I reply that's like saying that if you stopped on your diet, that you'd do nothing but eat Twinkies, for the rest of your life, which is asinine. Yes, if you do have the faith and courage and belief that you should leave the faith, the Mormon Church, yeah, you may do stupid things for a while.

But you're not going to eat Twinkies for the rest of your life, you're going to find a middle ground and find out who you are exactly. Find out where you fit in the spectrometer of religion and spirituality. I ramble, don't I? I go all over the place. It may sound a bit of an oversell, an altruistic, but I truly am happy every day that I left the Mormon faith.

I really am. I'm very happy that I found out who I am. And that's a blessing and a joy that that I personally am grateful for every day of my life. I am Tyler Meesom. I'm a searcher. I'm a wanderer. I'm a filmmaker, and I am happy to be an ex Mormon.