Another interesting responsibility I was called to was Counselor in the Alberta Branch Presidency to President Pulsipher, who was 1st Counselor to President Smith. I was also clerk of the branch and handled the mailed in tithing and membership records. It was a branch organized to provide a sponsor for the many little dependent branches and family Sunday schools scattered from a little outpost on the shore of the Artic Sea to isolated locations in Alberta and Saskatchewan. I occasionally traveled to the dependent branches to audit them and conduct a branch conference. All of the Elders in the Mission Home wanted to go with me to the Banff Branch.
One of the most interesting was when Elder Wilford Griggs accompanied me to the little Drumheller, Alberta dependent branch. It was a long trip. We each gave talks, Elder Griggs, then Assist to Pres., was a concert pianist and played a special number and I sang a solo. We made a mistake and called for testimonies and the meeting went way overtime. There were about 6 wonderful sisters a few children and one older man with the Priesthood that usually did the entire Sacrament by himself. After the meeting we had no time to eat the lunch they had prepared but had to immediately leave to travel across country on gravel roads to Olds, Alberta. Someone had some crackers, prunes and water for us to eat on the way. When we arrived about three hours later, they had a farm wagon rigged as a sleigh with a tractor to pull us miles out into the country where a member family had homesteaded by a road built to access oil development. They had a big pile of quilts to keep us warm. They were one of about ten families within a 5 mile radius and the only members. They had built their home of logs cleared from the land with a large living room and bedrooms all arranged to make a Sunday meeting house. They had invited about 6 non-member families over to hear discussions with the Elders (us). They were determined to convert neighbors and have a branch. We did not yet have any Elders assigned to the area. The town of Olds was very small and these were the only members in the area. We were assigned to do the initial teaching and assess whether we should send Elders to follow-up.
Well, it went splendidly. However, when were about halfway through the first discussion the prunes hit and I suddenly and immediately had to make a trip to the outhouse. Pain of pains, I had to jump over a row of plowed snow but made it. Just as I was through, and headed back, here came Elder Griggs. He yelled to me where he was in the discussion and I continued from that point. We had to continue to take turns and, thus, had to explain our problem. This caused great laughter and, never the less, it turned out to be a special night. We did send in Elders and they baptized many of them. I was thrilled to find out that this seed grew to be the Olds Stake by the time we went to Canada for Shae and Darren’s reception.
I must interject here that one of our best teaching tools was a recording of President Hugh B Brown’s incredible talk, “Profile of a Prophet,” where he tells the story of his discussion with a high court judge in England. So powerful and inspiring and is still available to listen to online.
In Feb of 1964 one of the persons we baptized was David Ibbetson. He was a young man that had left home when he was about 17 because he did not feel love from his adoptive parents in Toronto. He joined the Canadian navy and was discharged 3 years later in Vancouver, BC. He then went part time to school but when we met him he was drifting around, playing with a band in bars. He began to feel that there was something he needed. He attended different churches but felt no spirit. He quit drinking and tried to clean up his life but kept falling back. One day, he was in a car with some of his friends as the passed a LDS chapel. He had them stop and leave him there. He found the door open, went in and listened to a young woman practicing the organ. He finally began to feel what he was looking for and asked her where he could learn more. She, a young, pregnant woman had the courage and inspiration to put him in her car and take him to the Mission Home. Elder Hardy and I taught him and he just blossomed. He was baptized and later married a young woman that helped fellowship him. We wound up in the same ward at BYU where he served in the Elders Quorum Presidency and I as Ward Clerk. This was after Judy and I were married. He went to Law School in BC and I in Fla. They liked the name Shae Lee so much they named their first daughter Shalee. The later visited us in Weiser and I visited him in BC in 2012. His served as Biranch President and District President in East BC and other callings but his wife lost it and they divorced. So sad but he remarried and is doing wonderfully now. Some of the children have stayed true but some not.
Well, in June of 1964 President Smith called me into his office and expressed his love and appreciation for my work in and from the Mission Home and told me that within three months, he would be released. He wanted to get me out of the Mission Home before our new Mission President arrived or he would surely want to keep me there for continuity. He gave me a rare privilege and showed me some of the leadership opportunities that were going to be filled. He asked me for input on where I would like to serve. Amongst the options was a rare opportunity to go up to the Alcan Highway/Peace River area and open much of the potential area to Missionary work. He told me that it would include some very difficult tasks. I said that I felt that I would love to work in that country and would be willing to help any way I could. At that, President Smith happily pulled out a letter he had already written to me wherein he authorizing me to represent and advise him in dealing with a very difficult matter in the Ft. St. John branch. See, he already knew what I would say but because of the extraordinary nature of the task, he preferred to let me participate in the call.
We would have a District too small to be a zone, thus an independent Missionary District. There were already Elders in Grande Prairie and Dawson Creek (mile 1 of the Alcan Highway). I would open with my new companion, Ft. St. John and we would add elders to Peace River, about 6 hours from Ft. St. John via gravel road. I was both sad and excited as I left my long sojourn at the Mission home. These were all independent branches in the Alberta District presided over by our Mission President.
I immediately loved the North Country. The elders in Dawson Creek and Grande Prairie were a bit unfocused and lacked fire. We soon fixed that. In Ft St John there was a great member of the Church that recognized that because of the oil boom in the area, there was a huge lack of housing. So, he bought a little 20 foot camp trailer that had been in a fire and restored it and set it up on his home lot. My first companion was a huge guy, new on his Mission, who had just won the Utah State HS heavy weight wrestling championship. Whenever he got a little down, I just let him throw me around that tiny trailer for a while. We had immediate proselyting success and began to grow the branch. The Branch President was named Law and, as I recall, somehow related to Bishop Law in Medicine Hat. He managed a dairy processing plant in town, which seemed unlikely to me in that far north area. We met in the clapboard Masonic “Lodge”. There were some terrific members of the Church there but few in number. I soon got another companion, Elder Morrell, who had been a zone leader to give me more support. We came out together and had always wanted to work together. He was a terrific Companion. Once he arrived I was directed to deal with the difficult matter.
A member of the Church and branch had persuaded the business department the Church to invest in a geothermal green house venture near Ft St John and by the Peace River. With all of the oil activity in the area he proposed that there would be a great market for the produce he would raise. He came into the branch with a great family and started his venture. Soon, however, he found the soft spot in his plan. There was a huge labor shortage in the area and those he could hire demanded the higher pay rates of the area. He was called to be Branch President shortly after he arrived and, with his dilemma, he began to treat his project as though it was a welfare farm and expected members to volunteer to serve at the farm. This lead to great strife in the branch and President Smith had to replace him as Branch President. The man then collapsed into inactivity and effectively apostatized.
President Smith assigned me the task of determining if he might come back and amend the error of his ways of if I recommended that President invite him to a disciplinary council. Without going into any greater detail, he left me no choice but to recommend the Council. So sad and there was much to do to help mend the branch. They were great people, however and came back together with much enthusiasm. They were so pleased to have Elders assigned to their rapidly growing frontier town. One of the members built a baptismal fount in his basement and we used it regularly.
Briefly, here are a few of the experiences:
We had district meetings with and split with the closer elders frequently and often did baptismal interviews for them. They had wonderful success.
Northern lights were fantastic.
In the summer months we only had about 2 hours of darkness.
The folks and kids were often grumpy for lack of sleep.
The dad of one terrific families was home steading a place and had imported Scottish highlander bulls that still formed a circle with the calves in the middle and horns out to beat off wolves. The family held many positions in the branch, including the 14-15 year old son as branch clerk. We got to go on a cattle drive with them when they were moving their herd. Way fun!
Bro and Sister Bear took use on a P-day outing on his WWII French army four tractor-wheel-drive artillery puller used in desert warfare. He had rigged winches in front and back and a hoist on the side and used it to place steel pipe he was welding for the oil line. He had dual tractor sized tires on each corner and four wheel drive. We forded a small river and went over into territory where the elk, moose and caribou were everywhere. We saw huge elk, caribou herds and many moose. The Bears were there to get their meat for the winter and preferred young moose. Sister Bear spotted a female getting up with twin calves. So, she asked Bro. Bear to shoot one of the calves and the mother would still have one calf to raise. It was a long shot but it was true. When we pulled up, he tied its back legs to the hoist and pulled it up to gut it. I was amazed that this young moose, whose head came to the height of his mother’s shoulder, was the size of a medium quarter horse. They were right, that meat was thee best.
One investigator had wheat ready to harvest. That far north, because the growing season was short, they relied upon the long days of sunlight to mature the grain quicker and then, while the kernels were still in the milk stage, they would cut it and tie it into bundles and lean them together in stooks like you see in old pictures. The juice in the green stalks would then be drawn up into the kernels and finish them out. Once dry, they would haul them to a stationary threshing machine. We helped with his harvest. It was great and they were actively investigating the Gospel when I left. They were a wonderful, hardworking family. BTW, they served the crew a great lunch and Elder Morell and I had special permission to fish so we stopped at a river on the road home that they recommended and each caught several huge trout right from the bridge.
A guy in a VW bug on the Alcan HW stopped to take a picture of a huge bull moose and he attacked the bug and tipped it over. They said that the further north you got the bigger the moose.
Then, a very sad story about the Elders in Peace River. We started with a great elder as senior companion and they had great success. I had only traveled there once because it was so far. We drove on the gravel road until we met and split with me and the senior comp going back to work in his area. He was having great success and the branch was thriving. Then we switched again. His Jr comp was from California and seemed to be doing very well. Then, we transferred out the Sr comp and brought in a very new and shy elder. I called them each week and began to get a bad feeling about what I was hearing, including lots of light-mindedness and sarcasm. We prayed about it and decided that we had better travel over there unannounced. When we got there we went to their little apartment in midafternoon, and knocked. The young junior comp came to the door and, upon seeing us, burst into tears. I asked where his companion was and he pointed to an apartment. We went there and knocked and found a drunken elder in a fully immoral situation. Despite the threatening from the group, I demanded that he come with me and, thankfully, he did. I called President Smith, who was then in last one or two weeks with the bad news and my recommendations, he spoke with them and I put them on a bus to Calgary. We stayed and cleaned out the apartment and met with the Branch President. We caught it soon enough that it seemed to avoid much negative effect on the Branch. President Smith did send the transgressor home immediately, without his membership but gave the poor younger Elder another chance because he refused to participate and, by threatenings, was intimidated to not tell. The poor guy was in hell for over a month. Seemed like a Book of Mormon story. Please remember, the evil one is constantly looking for any way to hurt and destroy the work and the workers.
Well, when November came, I was scheduled to go home a week early so I could enroll in BYU for the mid-semester session. I had refused to allow myself to even think about what I wanted to pursue when I enrolled, but I did know that it was not engineering.
Our new Mission President was touring the Mission with Elder Thomas S Monson and had a local conference for the Ft St John, Grand Prairie and Dawson Creek Branches. We had seen such growth in Grande Prairie that a new building was announced at the conference, which was held in a rented school auditorium. Afterward, they met with us, the missionaries, in the current chapel. At the conclusion of that meeting, in which we all heard face to face from an Apostle of the Lord, we all bore testimonies. I was scheduled to be driven to Calgary by the APs the next day. Elder Monson knew this and that I had just first met President Jones so, he asked if he might give me my going home interview, since we had a prior acquaintance. We sat out in the enclosed entry way, partly under the hanging coats. He asked me many searching questions about my service, my testimony and my plans. When he asked about my education plans, I told him that I had refused to consider such plans until I had totally finished my beloved mission. However, in the conference that day a Counselor to President Jones had spoken and told stories about how his lawyer experience related to the Gospel. I told Elder Monson that, for the first time, I had a feeling that I should consider becoming a lawyer. With that, Elder Monson looked deeply into my eyes for quite a while and then proclaimed that, yes, I should become a lawyer and that I should work to be a very good one.
That long drive to Calgary was hard but, never the less, did not seem long enough. At one point the sun performed one of its amazing Alberta sunsets which seemed especially for me and I had the car stopped while I got out and watched it as I wept. My Mission was over.
More than 5 years later, Elder Monson spoke in the Jacksonville Stake Conference and we attended from our little ward in Gainesville, Florida. We waited in a long line to shake his hand. When our turn came, he took one look at me and said, “Well, Elder Sanders, are you in law school?” How happy I was to say, “Yes”!