In his review of my book, Danel Bachman suggests that the doctrine of "kindred spirits" (spirits matched in the pre-existence, then finding their mate on earth) was an anti-Mormon doctrine. To do this, he tries to explain away, or he simply ignores, a great deal of sympathetic evidence showing that conservative nineteenth-century Mormons believed in the doctrine and used the phrase. Here is one more piece of evidence, from an apostle who knew Joseph Smith, dating thirteen years after Smith's death.

John Taylor, "The Origin and Destiny of Women," in The The Mormon (Aug. 29, 1857). An LDS woman asked John Taylor questions on her origin and destiny.

"Lady -- whence comest thou? . . . "Knowest thou not that eternities ago, thy spirit, pure and holy, dwelt in thy Heavenly Father's bosom, and in his presence, and with thy mother, one of the Queens of heaven, surrounded by thy brother and sister spir[i]ts in the spirit world, among the Gods. That as thy spirit beheld the scenes transpiring there, and thou growing in intelligence, thou sawest worlds upon worlds organized and peopled with thy kindred spirits, took upon them tabernacles, died, were resurrected, and received their exalt[at]ion on the redeemed worlds they once dwelt upon. Thou being willing and anxious to imitate them, waiting and desirous to obtain a body, a resurrection and exaltation also, and having obtained permission, thou made a covenant with one of thy kindred spirits to be thy guardian angel while in mortality, also with two others, male and female spirits, that thou wouldst come and take a tabernacle through their lineage, and become one of their offspring. You also choose [chose] a kindred spirit whom you loved in the spirit world, (and had permission to come to this planet and take a tabernacle,) to be your head, stay, husband, and protector on the earth, and to exalt you in the eternal worlds. All these were arranged, likewise the spirits that should tabernacle through your lineage. Thou longed, thou sighed, and thou prayed to thy Father in heaven for the time to arrive when thou couldst come to this earth, which had fled and fell from where it was first organized, near the planet Kolob. Leave thy father and mother's bosoms, and all thy kindred spirits, come to earth, take a tabernacle, and imitate the deeds of those you had seen exalted before you.

At length the time arrived, and thou heard the voice of thy Father, saying, "go daughter to yonder lower world, and take upon thee a tabernacle . . . Daughter, go, and be faithful in your second estate, keep it as faithful as thou hast, thy first estate.["]

Thy spirit filled with joy and thanksgiving rejoiced in thy Father . . . Thou bade father, mother, and all, farewell and along with thy guardian angel, thou came on this terraqueous globe. [(]The spirits thou had chosen to come and tabernacle through their lineage, and your Head having left the spirit world some years previous.) Thou came a spirit pure and holy, thou hast taken upon thee a tabernacle, thou hast obeyed the truth, and thy guardian angel ministers unto thee and watches over thee. Thou hast chosen him you loved in the spirit world to be thy companion. Now, crowns, thrones, exaltations and dominions are in reserve for thee in the eternal worlds . . . That when mortality is laid in the tomb, you may go down to your grave in peace, arise in glory, and receive your everlasting reward in the resurrection of the just, along with thy Head and husband. Thou will be permitted to pass by the Gods and angels who guard the gates, and onward, upward to thy exaltation in a celestial world among the Gods. To be a Priestess Queen unto thy Heavenly Father, and a glory to thy husband and offspring, to bear the souls of men, to people other worlds, (as thou didst bear their tabernacles in mortality,) while eternity goes and eternity comes . . .