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Show 158 Utah Historical Quarterly the speeding automobile. Most people assume that the hitchhiker was one of the Three Nephites. 28 Although most of the temple stories are uplifting narratives designed principally to edify, a few take on a somber tone of warning for those who do not take sacred things seriously. For example, one story tells that two boys who w7ere cleaning the baptismal font in the temple began to "horse around" and to conduct mock baptisms. One of them was struck dead by lightning. T h e General Authorities of the Mormon church supposedly w7ould not allow him a regular funeral. 29 These temple stories, like the settlement accounts, reveal a God who is deeply interested in his people and takes a strong personal hand in directing their affairs, rewarding the righteous and punishing the sinful. More specifically, they persuade the faithful that genealogical research and temple work must be important to them and that if they are to be worthy church members they must actively engage in such pursuits. STORIES OF POLYGAMY Moving from stories like these to stories about polygamy, we enter into a different world. Not many of these can be called faith-promoting. A few accounts do emphasize harmonious polygamous relationships, 30 though some of them in a rather humorous way. For example, the undertaker in one Sanpete town was quite a drinking man. "Every Saturday night he would come home in his mortuary rig and attempt to get down. At this point his three wives would emerge from inside the house and carry him in." 31 Another story tells that when the wives of one polygamist heard he was coming to town to pay them a visit, they would make a big pot of beef stew and then boil it down until only pure vitamins remained. H e would then eat this rich food and have strength enough for them all.32 More often than not, however, the stories tend to reflect the disharmony and heartache that grew out of polygamy. Some focus on the bickering of wives trying to live together in the same household. 33 Others stress the struggles of wives competing for the sexual favors of the husband. -"Shirley Green, Manti, U t a h , 1961; William A. Wilson, Bloomington, Indiana 1964 • D a u n a Morgan, Provo, U t a h , 1969; Anita Abbott, Provo, Utah, 1970. For further discussion of this particular legend, see William A. Wilson, " T h e Vanishing Hitchhiker Amone the Mormons," Indiana Folklore 8 (1975) : 79-97. ""David Lee Jones, Manti, Utah, 1965. 30 Peggy Hansen, Salt Lake City, 1971. 31 Ibid. 32 Blaine M. Yorgason, Fountain Green, U t a h , 1974. 33 Susan Christensen and Doris Blackham, Mount Pleasant, U t a h , 1971. |
