[5] In January 1831,[5] while on a business trip to Lisle, New York,[2] Carter was introduced to the Book of Mormon by John Peck.

[4] He was reportedly "so warmed by the spirit of God that he didn't feel the cold of the water on him at that winter season during the half-mile walk to shelter and a change of clothing.

[5] In June 1831, Carter was made a priest in the church[2] after a revelation given in Doctrine and Covenants 52:38 urged him to be ordained to this calling.

[2] He recorded witnessing healing miracles throughout his early years in the church, and these experiences apparently strengthened his faith.

Twenty-seven people in the area chose to join the church, and their chapel, which had been a part of the Free Will Baptist denomination, "soon became a Latter-day Saint meeting place.

[5] Between 1831 and 1834, Carter served missions in New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Vermont,[6] Michigan Territory, and Upper Canada.

[3]: 119–120  Carter and his brothers baptized approximately half of the converts from New England and eastern New York at the time.

[3]: 139–40 In May 1833, Carter became a high priest[8] and was tasked, alongside Hyrum Smith and Reynolds Cahoon, with accumulating building supplies for a school in Kirtland.

[4] When the organization of Latter Day Saints known as Zion's Camp left for Missouri, Carter stayed behind to oversee the Kirtland Temple building committee's efforts.

On February 17, 1834, Carter became one of the inaugural members of the first presiding high council of the church in Kirtland, Ohio.

In this capacity, he testified in favor of the accused in the excommunication trials of Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer, and Lyman E.