A few weeks ago on social media we asked the question, what questions do you have about

polygamy? Well let me just say you did not disappoint or lack in questions on this topic.

It was so awesome. And so in today's in Monday Study Group, a Desert Book Shell Plus Original, brought to you by

LDS Living. For today's bonus episode we have invited Jenny Reader and

Brittany Chapman Nash.

Hi Jenny! Now for those of you who don't know who these women are, let me just praise their names.

Jenny Reader is a 19th century women's history specialist at the LDS Church History Department and she is an author as well.

She has a PhD in American history from George Mason University with an emphasis in

women's history, religious history, memory, and material culture.

Oh, big breath.

Then we have Brittany Chapman Nash and she is a specialist in Latter-day St. Women's History and she is the author of the new book Let's Talk about Polygamy.

She received her master's degree from University of Leicester in Leicester England. How cool is this?

So they both have paid the price

to have the answers to your questions today,

and I could not be more excited about this.

So here's the first question.

Not an easy one. Why did the church practice polygamy?

Give us the why? That's a very good place to start, Tammy. And I think we need to start where it began in the Old Testament and I think it's interesting that everything that revolves around the restoration, because it's a restoration, it comes from something that had happened previously.

And so we see that happening in the Old Testament, particularly with Abraham and the

Abrahamic Covenant and the House of Israel.

And I think this is all really interesting because Abraham came from an unhappy family situation where he had to leave and start over.

And he took his wife Sarah and they made covenants

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