When You Served Your Mission Did You Inform About Polygamy?

[_Inconceivable]

Beastie, all the rest of the deception below the tip of the iceberg did it for me too. I had no idea it ran so wide and so deep. I'm from pioneer stock but I considered myself fully converted by the end of the full time mission.

When I thought (or spoke) of what little I knew about Joseph Smith poligamy, I was very reverent about the subject. I assumed that somehow he treated his relationships with virtue, integrity, deep sacredness and respect - just as I was taught God viewed His own wife/wives. Just as I viewed my own marriage covenant.

After all, Joseph Smith was my hero, my mentor, God's best friend and mine too. He was next to Jesus in his contribution to mankind.

So why would I not view all that I studied about him through these rose colored goggles? Looking at his life and the church from any other perspective was disrespectful to a righteous man and to God Himself.

The reality of it all is such a sickening contrast isn't it?

[_Scottie]

Was this the beginning of the end for you?

Yes, it was. That book began a process that lasted several years. I was so shocked and stunned by the information in the book I could barely process it, so read it immediately over again. My sister and mother also read the book and were equally shocked and stunned, even though they remained in the church, for different reasons, at the end. We were all converts - my oldest sister converted first, 1974, after being tracted out by sister missionaries. She then introduced me to the church, and I was baptized in 1976. I worked on another sister, who was baptized about a year later, and we all worked on our parents, who were baptized two years after me. None of us knew anything about Joseph Smith' polygamy, and were all shocked to discover the truth. This was all prior to the internet, and living back east, we don't have access to Mormon topic research, so this book was really our first opportunity to know the truth. I was so shocked and had such difficulty processing it (obviously I knew about BY and polygamy in general, so what was shocking wasn't polygamy per se, but rather Joseph Smith' deception and marrying other men's wives) that I talked to other members of my ward about it, and none of them knew about it, either, with one exception, possibly two.

So I began studying church history in general to find out what ELSE I didn't know about, and of course found a LOT. All of this combined to create doubt and anxiety in my mind, which I tried to resolve, for a long time, by praying to God to let me know Joseph Smith was a true prophet, or the church was true (the only prayer I had answered affirmatively as a convert was "is the Book of Mormon the word of God?"). I never received any answer to those prayers, and finally decided the silence WAS the answer. But it was a long and painful journey. So I can't say I lost faith over Joseph Smith' polygamy, but it certainly did START the process.

Thanks, Beastie.

This sounds very similar to my exit story.

[_krose]

Absolutely not. I never told anyone about Joseph Smith polygamy (75-77), mainly because I didn't really know myself. But then again, we didn't even tell anyone about Brigham and others, either, or about blacks and the priesthood. For all I know, they still don't have any idea (especially since it's unlikely that any of the converts made it to their first anniversary, given the averages).

Nobody ever brought it up, either, and I don't even remember ever learning the word for polygamy (although I could have just forgotten, it's been so long).

[_Ren]

I think I was vaguely aware that Joseph Smith has more than 1 wife whilst on my mission, but I didn't know the kind of numbers involved, or many of the details.
I don't think I ever talked about it at all. But then, I don't think I was ever asked about it either...

Polygamy itself was mentioned a lot, and we had 'stock' answers for it. But I don't remember it being asked about directly in relation to Joseph Smith...

[_Who Knows]

I think I was vaguely aware that Joseph Smith has more than 1 wife whilst on my mission, but I didn't know the kind of numbers involved, or many of the details.
I don't think I ever talked about it at all. But then, I don't think I was ever asked about it either...

Polygamy itself was mentioned a lot, and we had 'stock' answers for it. But I don't remember it being asked about directly in relation to Joseph Smith...

Same here.

Our stock answers were something along the lines of "the saints were being persecuted and many men were killed, so the remaining men took on additional wives to be able to take care of them. It was only practiced for that short time."

Man, was I a fool.

[_Scottie]

I think I was vaguely aware that Joseph Smith has more than 1 wife whilst on my mission, but I didn't know the kind of numbers involved, or many of the details.
I don't think I ever talked about it at all. But then, I don't think I was ever asked about it either...

Polygamy itself was mentioned a lot, and we had 'stock' answers for it. But I don't remember it being asked about directly in relation to Joseph Smith...

I'm curious. Was your 'stock' answer the old "it had to be instituted because so many men died crossing the plains" gem?

[_Ren]

I'm curious. Was your 'stock' answer the old "it had to be instituted because so many men died crossing the plains" gem?

I used the 'It was practiced in the Old Testament' routine usually...
But that point was made sometimes as well too... (If someone was really 'going for ya').

[_Jason Bourne]

Everyone I baptized knew about polygamy. I believe (but am not sure) that they brought it up each time. I never taught that Emma was Joseph's only wife. I generally taught them as much or as little as they wanted to know up to my knowledge at that time of course.

]
Did you bring it up if they did not?