“If I hadn’t come to my own conclusion that God had called me to practice polygamy, I would never have agreed to it. And Stephen was serious when he told me that I had to agree or he wouldn’t do it,” she said earnestly.
“What are your thoughts about Emma Smith?” I said, going back to the history of Mormon polygamy, where my opinions were more solid. “She didn’t agree and Joseph married other women anyway.” Emma Smith had hated polygamy so much that when she learned Brigham Young planned to continue the practice even after Joseph Smith’s death, she refused to follow him and the Saints west to Utah—instead, she left and created the first offshoot of the Mormon church, now called the Community of Christ. Rebecca had done what Emma Smith had not—condoned her husband’s desire to marry other women. But Stephen Carter had done what Joseph Smith had not—waited until his first wife agreed.
“Joseph Smith was a prophet of God who was asked to do a nearly impossible thing,” Kurt had said almost automatically. He always tensed when people mentioned Joseph Smith in a way that was less than reverential.
“Well, at least we can agree on that,” said Rebecca, and at that, the back door opened and Stephen Carter himself was home.
Chapter 7
Standing up to shake his hand, I was immediately impressed by the energy of Stephen Carter’s presence even though he was probably only five foot nine or ten, average height. He was a handsome man, with dark hair containing only a hint of gray, a strong chin, a Roman nose just like Naomi’s, and bright, penetrating blue eyes. I could understand why some women might find him very attractive.
“But what about Kenneth and Naomi?” Stephen asked, looking around the room after we had made the necessary introductions. “I thought they were going to be here, as well.”
I looked at Kurt, hoping no one would blame us for this change in plans.
“Naomi texted and said that she had a test she had to study for,” Rebecca said calmly. “She and Kenneth will be here as soon as they can make it.”
“All right, then. I suppose we don’t need them to explain our way of life to you,” said Stephen. “Has Rebecca already talked about our conversion to the Principle?”
He turned to face Kurt and the question seemed addressed to him alone, almost as if Rebecca and I were not in the room. It wasn’t the first time I’d been ignored by another Mormon man talking to my husband, and it probably wouldn’t be the last, but it was still annoying. I glanced at Rebecca and she met my eyes with apology.
“Yes, she did,” said Kurt diffidently. His chin was lifted, making the difference in their heights clearer. He was several inches taller than Stephen.
“Sit, sit,” Stephen said, waving his hands to include me this time.
After a moment, we complied. I regretted accepting his invitation to sit almost immediately because Stephen stepped forward and loomed over us, as if speaking on a pulpit. “Do you know what Brigham Young said when he first heard about the Principle?”
I watched as Kurt twitched. He was used to being in control of the pulpit every Sunday. But he remained seated by me and shook his head. “I don’t,” he said.
That seemed to give Stephen full license to expand, and expand he did. “He said that he saw a hearse passing and wished most fervently to trade places with the man in the coffin. That was how much he hated the idea of plural marriage. But he was converted to it because God spoke to him. It was a restoration of an ancient and holy practice.” A grand gesture with outstretched arms. “Abraham and Jacob had multiple wives, and if the true church was to be restored, it had to include all of the tenets from the past.”
“I know why Joseph Smith restored polygamy,” Kurt said tartly.
But Stephen continued the lecture anyway, going all the way back to the 1830s, adding in details I’d never heard of before, including a promise to Joseph in the First Vision that he would become like Abraham, that Joseph’s seed would also “number as the sands of the sea” through his progeny, and the claim that all of the prophets of the Book of Mormon had practiced polygamy, from Lehi and Nephi to Alma and Samuel the Lamanite, who had prophesied the birth of Christ.
“Have you never wondered why so few women are named in The Book of Mormon?” Stephen asked, turning to me.