If you have your own story of being in a cult or a high control group or if you've had

experience with manipulation or abuse the power that you'd like to share, leave us a message

on our hotline number at 347-86 Trust. That's 347-868-7878. Or shoot us an e-mail at TrustMePod

at gmail.com. Trust me, do you trust me? Trust me, I'm like a smart person. Yeah, I've never

lied to you. I never have lied. If you think that one person has all the answers, don't!

Welcome to TrustMe, the podcast about cults, extreme belief and manipulation from two frogs,

who've actually experienced that I'm Lola Blanc, and I'm Megan Elizabeth.

Today is part one of our two part interview with Zach Comfort, survivor of the bride of Christ's

Church and creator of the podcast Boiled Frogs, which is all about that group. There are several

cults called the bride of Christ, but Zach's going to tell us all about the man who started this

one, Thomas Clyde Smith Jr. He'll tell us about Tom's background as a convicted child molester who

went to the psych ward and began having visions that led him to start the bride of Christ's church,

which then grew into a full-fledged cult. He'll tell us how Tom started asserting more control,

while the group was in Las Vegas, arranging marriages between people who did not want them,

what Zach's parents were like before they joined, and what Zach remembers from his early childhood,

and how Tom's control and abuse began to grow more extreme once they moved to a commune in organ.

Plus, how the murder, a mutilator named Lawrence Singleton nearly came to live with the cults.

And next week, in part two, we will get into some of the more harrowing parts of Zach's experience,

and also talk about how it all fell apart. Content warning, we will be discussing physical and

sexual abuse in these next two episodes, particularly in next week's episode. So be aware, be warned,

do not listen if you don't want to hear that. Before we dive in with Zach, who I just want to say

is fucking awesome, and I can't believe he made this podcast like on his own about this group that

...