(I exit my Time Machine in Brigham Young's Bedroom . . . )

Me:  Brother Brigham (gently shaking him awake), I've come from the future ―

Brigham (rising from his bed):  Has the Council of Fifty established the latter-day kingdom, then?

Me:  Umm . . . not yet.  It really didn't go anywhere after 1884 ―

Brigham:  No, don't tell me!  You might create a time paradox. ​

Me:  Okay, anyway, I came to tell you that if you stay this course, your legacy will result in the Church ―

Brigham:  I said, (cupping his ears) you could cause a chain reaction that unravels the very fabric of the spacetime continuum! 

Me:  Fine.  I won't tell you anything about the future.  

Brigham:  Thank you, Brother . . . 

Me:  Merrill.

Brigham:  Brother Merrill.  I appreciate it.  Well (pause) maybe you could tell me just one thing . . . 

Me:  What do you want to know? 

Brigham:  In the future, does Mark Twain live in infamy?

Me:  Well, sort of, but not for the reasons you would expect.

Brigham:  Very good.  Now, what did you come here for?

​Me:  Do you have a Book of Mormon?

Brigham (reaching to his nightstand): Yes, right here.

Me:  Good, I want you to read Mosiah 18:24-28.

Brigham:  What do you mean, Chapter Eighteen Verses Twenty Four thru Twenty Eight?

Me: Oh, that's right! It doesn't get chapters and verses until 1879, a couple of years after you . . . never mind.

Brigham:  After I what?

Me:  Here, let me find the passage for you (me hastily taking his Book of Mormon):

       . . . the priests whom he had ordained should labor . . .
       . . . not to depend on the people . . .
       . . . receive the grace of God . . .
       . . . teach with power and authority . . .

       . . . impart of their substance . . . 
       . . . everyone according to that which he had . . . 
       . . . to him that had not should be given . . . 

       . . . of their own free will and good desires . . . 
       . . . to those priests that stood in need . . . 

​Brigham:  Yes, that's right.  That's how it should be done.  I work very hard.  It is the way of Deseret.  

Me:  Yes, but, my point is . . . how exactly did you become the richest person in the territory?

Brigham:  What do you mean by that?

Me:  For starters, who determines your wages, and that of your counselors, and your sons, and of the apostles? 

Brigham:  I do. 

Me:  Are you "all equal," as it says in Alma 1:26?

Brigham:  No.  But after all, I am the Trustee in Trust for the Church . . . 

Me:  Hmm.  Yes, you are.  Well . . . I better go.  For now, please bookmark that passage and think about it.   

Brigham:  I don't have a bookmark handy.

Me:  Here, use this (handing him a bookmark).

Brigham:  Whatever is this thing?   

Me:  The wrapper from a Twix bar.  

(Space time continuum explodes)