Runnells grew up as a sixth-generation member of the LDS Church with pioneer ancestry,[3] which traces back to Nauvoo, Illinois.[4]
Runnells was born in Whittier, California and grew up in various cities across Southern California. He was diagnosed with hearing loss at age 3 or 4, and wore hearing aids over the course of his youth. In the same timeframe as his diagnose, his parents divorced. He served a mission for the church in New York City to teach the deaf in American Sign Language. He knew some ASL before his mission, but really learned the language properly during his mission. He got his left cochlear implant when he returned from his mission, and a right one seven years later. After his mission, Runnells attended and graduated from church-owned Brigham Young University with a major in marketing. He met his wife in his junior year, and they got married in the San Diego California Temple.[4]
In 2012, he began to experience doubts over his faith. A director of institute of the LDS Church's Church Educational System (CES) asked him to write his concerns, and in response Runnells sent an 84-page letter with his concerns.[5]
