"The reason everyone is terrified of the Mormons is the reason why everyone is terrified of me: I am Brigham Young; I am Genghis Khan." If the world is divided into explorers and empire-builders, visionaries and organizers, then this dichotomy is certainly at play in the Mormon religion. The pageant at Hill Cumorah truly celebrates the poet and mystic – Joseph Smith was blessed with several visions of the messenger Moroni, and the restoration of the gospel depends on a series of interactions between Smith and the divine.
A brilliant strategist and gifted orator, Brigham Young led the fledgling faithful to Salt Lake City, where they settled after Smith's death in Missouri. By all accounts, he was a charismatic leader credited with the growth and resiliency of the young Mormon church. His story is not part of the narrative told at Hill Cumorah, Joseph Smith's family's farm or the visitors center. However, without Young, few people would return to Palmyra each year to celebrate the birth of one of the world's great modern religions.
What makes you an empire-builder rather than an explorer or a poet? If Joy is any indication, empire-builders do not indulge in whims of fancy or dalliances in sacred groves, or tend to listen to voices emanating from bright lights. But then again, she had her first revelation on this trip – what's next?
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