About the Author
Les F. Kartchner
I have the duty, honor, and privilege to spend my time caring and providing for my wife and two wonderful children. I was raised in rural Utah by parents who held a belief in God, but were leery of any religious system.
I reached my teenage years with little to no understanding of Christ, the Bible, or Christian theology. In my sophomore year of high school, a scheduling error resulted in me being enrolled in release time seminary. In Utah, this is an opportunity for high school students to leave the school during one period to attend seminary in a nearby Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints owned facility. My immediate reaction was to have my schedule fixed, but a close friend convinced me that attending seminary would give me a period during the day where there were no negative academic repercussions for putting forth no effort in the class.
As I attended the seminary classes, I found myself enthralled learning about our Lord from the New Testament. Several months passed and I felt moved upon to be baptized. I had no intention of joining a religion, I did not prefer one Christian sect over another, and I had no conviction that priestly authority was critical to salvation. I did, however, feel an urgency to be baptized promptly. Given my parents’ skepticism of religion and my lack of familiarity with how one would request baptism, I approached my seminary teacher to inquire about baptism. This led to the LDS missionaries coming to my home to teach me about Mormon theology, a requirement the church holds for one to be baptized.
The missionaries convinced me to read the Book of Mormon. I could not put the book down. After school, I would rush home to read the book. I finished the book in seventeen days. After finishing, I moved onto the Pearl of Great Price and then to the Doctrine and Covenants. I was captivated by this new world of religion I had discovered.
As I neared the completion of reading the Doctrine and Covenants, I came across section 132. I was horrified. I read it again. This was not of God. It was not consistent with the rest of the scriptures I had been reading. My first reaction was this could not have come from the same author as the rest of the Doctrine and Covenants. My second reaction was that I had made a horrible mistake by joining the LDS faith. Though my interest in the scriptures to this point had led to weekly church attendance, I now immediately ceased to attend LDS services.
Over time, I reflected on what had brought me along this path. I could not deny the truths I had encountered. This led to me tabling the issue of polygamy. I returned to church attendance, eventually served an LDS mission, and was married in the temple. My aversion to polygamy remained and I struggled with the cognitive dissonance it created for me.
Life continued on and I ebbed and flowed in my interest in the church. In 2014, through a series of experiences, encounters, and life events I found my faith in the Lord greatly expanded. I turned my life completely over to the Lord. This led to a baptism of fire experience that I cannot fully describe in words. It transformed me, my way of thought, and my outlook on eternity. A short time after going through this experience, I decided to inquire of the Lord about polygamy. Had I misunderstood? Was there something there that deserved to be reevaluated? I was prompted to let it go. I didn’t fully understand it at the time, but in hindsight I now understand that I was not ready for exploration of the topic at that point in my life.
A few months later, I became friends with a gentleman who was authoring a paper on Joseph Smith’s monogamy. I was skeptical. Over the years, I had given some study to the topic, but had not seen the path forward. I now saw items I had never considered, but again I tabled the issue because it did not seem like the right time for me to explore it further.
In late 2023 and early 2024, with no intention of doing so I stumbled upon successive resources proclaiming Joseph’s innocence of the practice of polygamy. I felt a divine guidance on the topic. I knew it was now time to research the primary source material myself and determine Joseph’s involvement in the practice.
I have become convinced that Joseph was the victim of those whom he thought of as his friends using his name to justify their misdeeds. After countless hours of study and research, I felt moved upon to join the growing throng declaring Joseph’s innocence. This site is dedicated to clearing Joseph’s name and proclaiming the holiness of God’s system of marriage – monogamy.