LDS Mission- Pembroke

My LDS Mission

Pembroke, Virginia

July 1988-December 1988

My transfer to Pembroke was a rather humorous event. I had been living in Galax, VA which was not far from Pembroke. The Sister I was serving with in Galax and I had decided to to spend the 4th of July with the Sisters serving in Pembroke. Sister Zohner was just days from going back home to Idaho. We arrived on the 3rd to spend the night and be ready for the events bright and early.

That evening as we were settling in for the night Sister Pintar got a call from the Mission President to let her know who would be transferred in after Sister Zohner went home. She laughed when she learned it was me. We decided to let him know that I was already there.

We had decided to hike up to the Cascade Falls just outside Pembroke for the holiday. On the way back from a very gorgeous and enjoyable hike Sister Pintar slipped and twisted her ankle pretty badly. She was taken to the hospital and patched up and sent home.

I returned back to Galax to get my things and say good-bye to everyone and set off for Pembroke.

Pembroke, Virginia is on the bend of a narrow section of the New River. It is a very small town. When I was there is didn't even have its own grocery store or laundry. We had to go into Pearisburg for those things. It did have its own LDS chapel...which was very surprising considering the size of the place.

When I first arrived we lived 12 miles from the main road in an apartment in the back of a convenience store and had a difficult time keeping under our allotted miles on the car. Sister Pintar and I worked out arrangements to move to a location closer to the main road. About a month after Sister Pintar left and Sister Edwards arrived we moved all our stuff to a trailer right off the main highway (in Hoges Chapel) into the backyard of a LDS member.

I learned very early that most of the people in this area were all related to each other. This created both an obstacle and a asset. Everyone had relatives who were both members and non-members of the LDS faith.

Pembroke can be found in the mountains that connect to West Virginia. It has trees everywhere. I bring this up because one day we were given directions to get to an appointment. The lady told us to go down a certain road until we came to a big tree. We were then directed to turn left. We thought this very funny until we reached the big tree. There was no doubt that we had found the correct tree. It was BIG.

This didn't mean that all the directions we received were always useful. We were once told to drive past the house that used to be yellow or turn right at the house that the Millers used to live in. Luckily, we never got lost in any of the numerous hollers in the area.

Living in this snug little community was a prominent Protestant preacher/mortuary owner by the name of Eddie. We had heard of Eddie from many of the local LDS Church leaders. It was rumored that he used the Book of Mormon in his sermons to his own congregation. We thought they might be just pulling our leg.

One day Sister Pintar and I met him on the street on the main business loop through town. It was then that he told us the story that endeared him to us. As a mortuary owner he often dealt with family coming from out of town. He was rather rushed one day trying to get things all ready for a funeral and realized he only had one guest book available. He lamented that the watermark image on the pages were that of LDS Temples. He didn't know anything about the family coming from out of town and worried that they might object to the choice of guest books. He had no choice, as he had no other books available. So, he put it out and hoped for the best.

The family arrived for the funeral and he had forgotten about the book when one of the family asked if he was LDS. He told them he wasn't and apologized for the book and explained the situation to them. They then told him that they were LDS. He liked to tell us faith promoting accounts like that.

We had one humorous encounter with this same preacher. We had been having a missionary conference in Pembroke. In attendance were the about 30 missionaries and the Mission President. We had forgotten to get the local LDS church to help with a lunch for all of us. The Mission President asked us if there was a fast food establishment nearby. We laughed as we told him about the little tiny Burger Princess on the main loop.

As we all piled into this hole in the wall we seemed to be overwhelming the employees of said establishment when Eddie the preacher came walking in. He stopped for a moment and said, "what a feast of faith!" He then walked to the counter got his order and left. Many of us were still awaiting our orders. He stopped before leaving to say, "the first shall be last and the last shall be first." We all laughed.

The best part of being in that area was meeting David. David was somewhat of a hermit. Actually, he was quite the hermit. He lived all alone, except for his dog. He was confined to a wheel chair and loved to hunt. It was quite obvious by the furs that hung all around the outside of his shanty that he was quite successful at it.

We happened upon his little shanty while driving down a dirt road one day. We knocked on his door and he invited us in. We taught him our message and invited him to church. Though he hated the idea of being around lots of people he did eventually come to church and was baptized.

We didn't always meet with success as we ventured throughout Pembroke and the eastern half of Giles county. We sometimes had to stop and let off some steam with some light heartedness. One day we had been having a rather unsuccessful day. No one would listen to our message.

It was then that we came upon a pasture of cows. As we walked along the fence surround it the cows stopped and looked in our direction. I got out my camera and told Sister Edwards to act like she was preaching to the cows.

There is so much of Pembroke and my experiences in that small community that I would take pages and pages. But the important thing here is that I had grown to love every aspect of that bend in the road. I loved the people, the scenery, the work. I wanted to stay.

About a month before it was time to return to my home in Utah I got a call from the Mission President. He wanted to know how I felt about staying and would I rather go somewhere else for the last month. I told him I couldn't make that choice. Deep down, though, I hoped I would get to stay. I did. I finished out my time as a full time missionary in that beautiful village nestled between the Blue Ridge and the Allegheny Mountains.

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