What I Never Learned in Primary
I grew up in Cache Valley, Utah. We liked to call it a bubble within the Utah bubble--bubble inception if you will. I remember warm Sundays, white shirts that I could never button quite right, and exciting escapades to the cultural hall during sacrament meetings. I remember idealized lessons of Joseph Smith, a 14 year-old boy with questions and miraculous visions. Most Mormons are familiar and comfortable with the bare bones, simplified version of Joseph Smith's story and the history of the Church. Coming out of the warm glow of the simple to the complex reality of unfiltered history can be a shock. It was on my mission for the LDS church that I was first exposed to some things I had never learned in Primary. What! Joseph Smith had 27 wives !? No way, he only had his precious Emma...right? I guess not. What! Mountain Meadow Massacre ? A group of Saints would never dress up like Indians and murder men, women and children, right? What do you mean that Joseph Smith had a Seer Stone