and grabbed on to the edge of a table to steady himself, then fell into a chair. “You must not read it, Mother,” he said, tears streaming down his face. But Margaret took the missive and read it, her face lined with grief when she was finished, because it was obvious to the others that she blamed herself for Thales’s outburst.
“You are not weak in your faith, Hall,” she insisted. “Thales can have no reason to say that. But he is right in prophesying that the Lord will strengthen me for the journey. We will go ahead. I want no one to question your commitment to the Lord.”
The three agreed not to show the letter to Huldah but instead to say they had changed their minds and were ready to leave. But Huldah found out the contents, because Thales had sent a second letter to the president of the church in New York, warning the elders that they must double their efforts to send the converts to Zion, that even his own family was being seduced by the wickedness of New York City.
My wife’s father, Hall Chetwin, is as close to being an apostate as any man I ever knew. He has convinced my family to remain in that place of sin instead of gathering with the holy in the Salt Lake Valley. I fear the devil has his clutches in him so deep that he will fall into hell.
Thales did not ask the president to show the letter to others. He told Louisa after they were reunited in Iowa City that he had written it only because he was concerned for her father’s soul and hoped the authorities would take him in hand and show him the error of his ways. But that had not been necessary. Hall was so disturbed by the charges that he asked to be rebaptized, and to show his humility, he turned over the responsibility for the family to Thales. The harsh letter accomplished its purpose: The family had gone at once to Boston to await the arrival of the Horizon, and then they had traveled with the converts to Iowa City. Her husband had been right to write such a letter. Louisa did not question that. But then, she never questioned the rightness of Thales’s decisions. After all, his orders came from the Lord.
* * *
Jessie Cooper watched Brother Thales Tanner rush by, his head high, as if he were in charge of the whole world, instead of just one little group of a hundred people. He was a little shorter than average, but he was broad in the back and as strong as the bull the Coopers had left behind on the farm. And if he did not have the fair face of her brothers, he at least was not unpleasant to look at. There was an air of assurance, sometimes of godliness about him. After all, the man had converted the three of them—Jessie and her brothers, Ephraim and Sutter. She felt a thrill when she recalled the way he’d talked that first time, the thunder in his voice, the fire, the cadence of words. His voice was the voice of mighty God, and Jessie felt as if the Lord Himself had been speaking directly to her.
Although a cousin, Rebecca Savage, had joined the strange church years before and gone off to America to live with the Saints, the three Coopers had not expected to be caught up with the Mormons. In fact, Jessie had thought her cousin demented. She and her brothers had attended the meeting out of curiosity, not religious zeal. She had expected to be entertained by the foolishness of the doctrine. It would be fun to laugh at the Mormons later on. The three of them had gone because it was a nice evening to walk down the lane, past the blooming lilacs with their sweet perfume, to the Chetwin cottage. Margaret Chetwin might serve tea and nut scones, and the Coopers were all tired of Jessie’s cooking.
But to their surprise, the three had been intrigued by the missionary. They had been skeptical, had asked questions, had not been converted so quickly as the Chetwins. But they went back, and over many weeks, they were taken up with the Book of Mormon, which told of a church like the one that Jesus had founded, a simple, honest church
“You are not weak in your faith, Hall,” she insisted. “Thales can have no reason to say that. But he is right in prophesying that the Lord will strengthen me for the journey. We will go ahead. I want no one to question your commitment to the Lord.”
The three agreed not to show the letter to Huldah but instead to say they had changed their minds and were ready to leave. But Huldah found out the contents, because Thales had sent a second letter to the president of the church in New York, warning the elders that they must double their efforts to send the converts to Zion, that even his own family was being seduced by the wickedness of New York City.
My wife’s father, Hall Chetwin, is as close to being an apostate as any man I ever knew. He has convinced my family to remain in that place of sin instead of gathering with the holy in the Salt Lake Valley. I fear the devil has his clutches in him so deep that he will fall into hell.
Thales did not ask the president to show the letter to others. He told Louisa after they were reunited in Iowa City that he had written it only because he was concerned for her father’s soul and hoped the authorities would take him in hand and show him the error of his ways. But that had not been necessary. Hall was so disturbed by the charges that he asked to be rebaptized, and to show his humility, he turned over the responsibility for the family to Thales. The harsh letter accomplished its purpose: The family had gone at once to Boston to await the arrival of the Horizon, and then they had traveled with the converts to Iowa City. Her husband had been right to write such a letter. Louisa did not question that. But then, she never questioned the rightness of Thales’s decisions. After all, his orders came from the Lord.
* * *
Jessie Cooper watched Brother Thales Tanner rush by, his head high, as if he were in charge of the whole world, instead of just one little group of a hundred people. He was a little shorter than average, but he was broad in the back and as strong as the bull the Coopers had left behind on the farm. And if he did not have the fair face of her brothers, he at least was not unpleasant to look at. There was an air of assurance, sometimes of godliness about him. After all, the man had converted the three of them—Jessie and her brothers, Ephraim and Sutter. She felt a thrill when she recalled the way he’d talked that first time, the thunder in his voice, the fire, the cadence of words. His voice was the voice of mighty God, and Jessie felt as if the Lord Himself had been speaking directly to her.
Although a cousin, Rebecca Savage, had joined the strange church years before and gone off to America to live with the Saints, the three Coopers had not expected to be caught up with the Mormons. In fact, Jessie had thought her cousin demented. She and her brothers had attended the meeting out of curiosity, not religious zeal. She had expected to be entertained by the foolishness of the doctrine. It would be fun to laugh at the Mormons later on. The three of them had gone because it was a nice evening to walk down the lane, past the blooming lilacs with their sweet perfume, to the Chetwin cottage. Margaret Chetwin might serve tea and nut scones, and the Coopers were all tired of Jessie’s cooking.
But to their surprise, the three had been intrigued by the missionary. They had been skeptical, had asked questions, had not been converted so quickly as the Chetwins. But they went back, and over many weeks, they were taken up with the Book of Mormon, which told of a church like the one that Jesus had founded, a simple, honest church
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