1. An uncertain destination
2. Who cares what Brigham Young said? I certainly don't!

• (character chart)
• (polygamy note)

1. Young Women's
2. Youth Conference
3. Saturday's Warrior
4. Brigham Young University
• Gratuitous Love Scene
5. Polygamist
6. Temple Wedding
7. Orem High
8. Bordeaux Mission
9. Exmo Conference

"I don't know," I said. "I didn't have much of a plan after coming here."

"Well, you can probably stay with us until you think of something," said Sam. Seeing me looking at their bag of chips on the coffee table, he asked "You want something to eat?"

"Um, yeah, if you have something..."

So Sam led me into the kitchen and made me a sandwich which I ate immediately.

"Would you like another one?" he asked.

"Well, if it's not too much trouble..."

As I was eating the second sandwich, Sam said "Wow, you're pretty hungry."

Just then Sam's brother walked into the kitchen. Seeing him standing like that, I was surprised at how big he was, tall and broad like a wall with huge arms and shoulders. Taking another look at Sam, I could see that he was already almost as tall, and even though he was still a skinny fifteen-year-old kid like me, it looked like he might be heading in that same direction.

Getting a can marked "caffiene-free cola" out of the refrigerator, Sam's brother asked me "Do you want some pop?" I could see that there was a whole stack of cases of the same piled next to the kitchen counter.

"No thanks," I said, "could I just have some water?"

Sam got out a glass and filled it with water from the tap and handed it to me.

<- previous page

I then followed them back to the living room where I noticed a bunch of family portraits that were displayed next to a large embroidered wall-hanging that said "Love at Home." It was clear from the portraits that the mystery brother was Spencer. There was a picture of a young couple dressed for their wedding standing in front of a building I figured must be one of their temples. Then the individual portraits of the kids were arranged in an inverted "V" shape: first the two girls -- the twins, Laura and Linda -- then at the top point a guy who must have been Matt, then going down the other side Spencer and finally Sam. It reminded me a bit of the walls of portraits at my own house, with a separate wall for each of my dad's three wives, each surrounded by the portraits of her children.

Continuing along another wall, I saw some pictures of guys in football gear that looked like more shots of Matt and maybe also Spencer, and then a really old one that was probably my Uncle Wes.

Sam and Spencer went back to watching television and paid no further attention to me, so I couldn't think of anything to do but sit in the chair and watch with them. It was a little strange since we weren't allowed to watch television at our house -- we didn't even have a T.V.

next page ->