While firefighters throughout the western United States battled roaring forest fires during one of the driest summers on record, a pair of sister missionaries in this small community kindled countless spiritual flames.
Sisters Altha Clark, 71, and Hazel Stills, 61, of the Utah Salt Lake City South Mission were instrumental in bringing 24 people into the Church during the past few months.That is noteworthy considering they are working with a non-member pool of only about 200 people in a rual area in northeastern Utah that is predominently LDS. The largest towns the sisters serve in are Duchesne and Altamont, both with poplations of about 2,500 people.
They cover a vast area by car, and much of their time is spent in outlying rural areas dotted with hayfields, livestock, oil rigs and dusty roads.
"The thing that has impressed us the most about the country has been the mountains," Sister Stills exclaimed. "We see the most beautiful colors in the mountains, and that fascinates us. The farmland, with its cut bales of hay, also is gorgeous. At night, we have to be careful because of the deer and pheasants crossing the roads."
Working closely with leaders and stake missionaries in the Altamont and Duchesne stakes, the sisters have sparked the interest of people who have investigated the Chruch for years, but who needed a firm, loving nudge to accept baptism and embark on pathways of progress.
"I think one of the real strengths of these sisters is they don't take no for an answer," said Jack Barton, second counselor in the Altamont stake missio presidency. "And they do it without offending onyone. They teach with the Spirit, work hard and are great to get along with.
"It seems," added Barton, "we're either baptizing people or they are moving out." It's ont that the missionary thrust has driven people away, but depressed oil prices and a reduction in personnel at the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation office in Duchesne have sapped what little vitality was left in a struggling economy.
Sister Clark and Sister Stills have the knack of reaching people who have been passively interested - or completely uninterested - in the gospel for years and stirring their souls. maybe it's their Southern drawls (Sister Clark is from Vidor, Texas, and Sister Stills from Kissinnee, Fla.) or quick smiles that allow them to testify, challenge and encourage without giving offense.
It is undoubtedly those characteristics couled with their tremendous faith, love for others, dependence upon the Spirit and penchant for hard work that reaps spiritual rewards for themselves and those they teach.
"We just teach with the Spirit," pointed out Sister Stills. "We sometimes pray and fast to decide what to teach people, and how to teach them."
On their way to a recent appointment the sisters were unsettled about the message they had prepared. Sister Stills pulled her silver Mercury Topaz to the side of the road, where they ate a lunch perpared that morning and rested beneath a large shade tree. Upon finishing and before continuing to the home of their investigator, the sisters prayerfully sought guidance form the Lord. They looked through the scriptures and promptly found two helpful references.
"We found just what we needed," said Sister Stills.
Their feelings for people transcend religious lines. "If they don't want the discussions, we still love them," Sister Clark emphasized.
But people not wanting discussions from this pair are few and far between. As missionaries go, this is a genuinely dynamic duo.
"The people in tis area consider them (the sisters) as family," explained David Roberts, mission president of the Duchesne stake. "They run from one end of their area to the other."
"Most of the time we put in about 100 miles a day," said Sister Stills. She has been the designated driver of the pair. The sight of her car going up and down dirt roads throughout Duchesne County is commonplace. And though paved roads in the county are a rarity, dust and rutted roads do little to slow down the sisters.
"I've lost all four hubcaps since being here," said Sisetr Stills, chuckling.
Some weeks through the summer the sisters taught 20 or more discussions, well above the weekly mission average of 13. One week they had 28.
"We'd like to have even more," said Sister Clark, who is scheduled to be released as a missionary Sept. 11. "We taught all of our contacts two or three times a week. Each person we taught all six discussions to was baptized."
Roberts said, "The sisters prepared people for baptism that we've been working with for 10 years or more." Their mission president, V. Dallas Merrell said of them, "These sisters have done a tremendous job. They are a great example."
Roberts, a rancher, said the sisters "have kept us so busy I don't have time to get my hay in. We try to keep them lined up (with people) to teach. In this stake, the full-time missionaries teach very few discussions without a stake missionary or fellowshipper going along."
Cooperation is a significant factor in the success of the missionary work in the Duchesne area.
The Utah Salt Lake City South Mission's Golden Link program, developed by Pres. Merrell, incorporates team teaching with stake and full-time missionaries and fellowshipping by members. Investigators are taught in the homes of members. After baptism, the new converts are friendshipped, under the directions of the ward mission leader, for a year until they attend the temple and are integrated into the mainstream of the Church. Golden Link puts the responsibility on ward and stake leaders and members for keeping the new converts active and advancing.
"Priesthood leaders who walk families through this program never forget it," said Roberts. "The program works. We have lost only a few to inactivity. New members are eternally grateful to those people who stuck with them during difficult times.
"The program is helping change the whole stake. The work is coming together and influencing the less-active as well as non-members. In these small farming communitites, it has a big effect if a less-active family is activated. We will have 12 to 15 families become active and go through the temple this year."
In May, the pair visited the home of Robert and JoAnn Langford. The missionaries asked Sister Langford if there were someone she knew whom they could teach.
"My husband," she replied.
They visited further, when Sister Stills felt prompted to ask langford to take the discussions. "I ignored the prompting, not wanting to be too hasty," Sister Stills said. "That was the first time we had met. The prompting came again. I fought it, but finally figured I had better do what the Spirit said. I asked Brother Langford if he would let us teach him, and he accepted."
He was baptized June 22.
"It was great having them here," expressed Langford. "They were real thorough. I had been taught two or three different times, but they taught me things I hadn't understood. Perhaps I was just ready for it."
Sister Langford said: "The sisters have been just fantastic. The whole area is proud of them."
Another person who agreed to listen to their message was Charles "Chuck" White, an independent drilling consultant who has worked on rigs in Wyoming and northeastern Utah since age 16. White had a lot of exposure to the Church. His wife, Arloa, is a member, and he has two children who are members. His neighbors are 87-year-old Porter Merrell - an uncle of Pres. Merrell - and his wife, Lydia. Merrell is the mission leader in the Duchesne 1st Ward and is, according to Sister Stills, "a stick of dynamite."
The sisters tried to set up a time to meet with White at Merrell's home, but White's schedule wouldn't allow it. He was needed around-the-clock on a drill rig.
"Once they start to drill, they keep going until they're done," White explained. "When you get started, it's a 24-hour deal."
"However, he was temporarily put out of work, giving the sisters about six weeks to teach him and have him baptized.
"My joining the church was something that was a long-time coming," White explained, "I had been to Church a lot, and I had read the Book of Mormon. I talked about it for several years, and I felt it was something I needed to do, but just didn't get it done. You have to feel like you're ready. Sister Stills, Sister Clark and the Merrells gave me the little push I needed."