Missionary Church

""Teach them the word of God with all diligence." (Jacob 1:19) That was what I wanted to do so very much. In the summer of 1971 I was ordained an Elder in the Melchizedek Priesthood of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by Elder Rex D. Pinegar, then President of the North Carolina -Virginia Mission  and later a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy: a General Authority. I worked to save for my mission, but it wasn't nearly enough. My parents could contribute little. So both the branch where I joined the LDS Church and the branch I attended in college helped support me. I was called to serve in the Italy Rome South Mission. I was thrilled. I loved foreign languages already having studied French, Spanish and German. I was looking forward to learning Italian. I bid Sarah, my family and friends goodbye and boarded a bus in January of 1972 headed for Salt Lake City. Except for two trips to the Hill Cumorah Pageant in Palmyra, New York I had not travelled far from home. This was a great adventure. So I went from the Valley, across the Blue Ridge mountains, the plains, over the Mississippi River and into the Great Rocky Mountains. I listened to the messages of Apostles and other General Authorities. It was like a dream. My assigned companion was Hawaiian. Then along with all the other missionaries I entered the beautiful and majestic Salt Lake City Temple. I was just as beautiful on the inside as out. I participated in a number of ordinances considered necessary to exaltation. It was all very different and much more elaborate than the simple services of local meetinghouses. Parts of the ordinances were to me spiritual and uplifting. Other parts were strange and disturbing. When I met up with my companion in the magnificent Celestial Room he sense my unsettled thoughts and assured me that it would be better the next time through. The Celestial Room symbolizes the highest degree of heaven a faithful Latter-day Saint might obtain. My companion was right. My second time through I was able to concentrate more on the sacred parts of the Endowment service and less so on the parts that disturbed me. I believed that I would come to understand better in time. From Salt Lake City those missionaries who were learning a language went to the Language Training Mission adjacent to the Brigham Young University campus. Those who were not learning a language went straight out into the mission  field. At the LTM I was assigned a new companion, Utah born, and committed  to "viva la lingua" which meant speaking Italian at all times except when speaking English was absolutely necessary. So our small green Italian dictionaries became our other constant companions. Within two months we had a pretty good understanding of some very basic Italian and had learned to teach the first few discusssions. Toward the end of that time period I became sick and it was decided that I would not be going to Italy. The doctors recommended that I be sent home. However, after a trip to Salt Lake City and meeting with Elder Loren C. Dunn, another member of the First Quorum of the Seventy it was decided that I would continue to serve; just in a different location. Although it was disappointing at first, all I wanted was to be a missionary. I was sent back east to the North Carolina-Carolina Virignia Mission where Elder Rex D. Pinegar was serving as Mission President and just south of the mission where my home was located. I flew to Roanoke and began my mission service there with another Utah - born compannion. We rode bicycles and did a lot of tracting (going from door-to-door). We met a lot of wonderful people, but made no converts. Then in late spring I was transferred to Marion, North Carolina; a small town in the western part of the state. Once again my companion was from Utah and we had a car that spent more time in the shop than on the road. Being a missionary in Marion was also quite an adventure and I loved every minute of it. We were partnered in our work with a missionary couple from the Pacific Northwest. They would be strength and joy to us. The people we worked with were humble and hardworking. It was a good place to be. We did a lot of tracting and converted three people while we were together. My Utah companion was transferred and he was replaced by one from California. I had a harder time adjusting to him as he did to me. So our time together was short. He was replaced by a "greenie", a brand new missionary from Utah and I was to be his trainer. We got along well and became good friends. So much so that I named my youngest son after him. We also did a lot of tracting and had a great time. Then I became sick again. I had lost a lot of weight. Finally it was decided I would be released early from my missionary service, because of my health. It was hard, but necessary. Fortunately, I had the opportunity of seeing my companion baptize his first convert. The LDS Church still guided me on my faith journey, but a new experience was about to com to pass..