A Talk by Demar Gale

Talk given by DeMar Gale while on his mission to Arkansas

Since I have been here in the branch I have been reminiscing over some of the branches I have been in. It brought to mind the Relief Society song at the twenty-fourth of July celebration, the "Beer Barrel Polka". It was one of the popular tunes of the day. We had about twelve to fifteen percent attendance here in Pocahontas Branch. You have an attendance of seventy five percent. We were in St. Louis this past week to a missionary conference and President Tate told us that Pocohontas was the most active branch in the mission and had the strongest leadership in the mission. It made me real proud even if I hadn't had anything to do with it.

Well, I guess I had better get to the subject I had planned to talk about. I hope I don't sound like I am bragging, but the thoughts I have to present I feel I can do with a few personal examples talking some about prayer and telling you a bit about our missionary experiences.

I think it was the spring of 1958 that I was called as a counselor in the Moses Lake Fourth Ward. President Henry D. Moyle, counselor to President McKay, set me apart and gave me a wonderful blessing. I can't remember much what was said but one thing struck out so plain that my family, the bishop and the other counselors commented on it later.

President Moyle told me that I would have a great influence on the missionary work of the Church. At the time I thought I would sure have seven boys. I really wasn't that interested in doing missionary work and I think I tried to forget about it so I wouldn't have to do any thing about it. It wasn't long after this until our oldest son was called on a mission to Toronto, Canada and I thought at the time Doug will make an excellent missionary. Maybe I will have some influence on the missionary work of the Church. Then in a few months our daughter DeLoris was called ot go to the Central States Mission. She was quite an out going girl so I thought again I guess I am having some influence on the missionary work of the Church. But I thought this better stop, I can't afford any more missionaries.

Then one of the Church Building Committee members came by where I was building the Othello Ward Chapel and asked if I would consider going to Hazelton, Idaho to supervise a chapel there. I told him we would talk it over. It wasn't a mission call and figured I would move the family down. So after talking it over as a family, we decided to accept. I went down and spent three weeks getting bids and getting things ready for construction, but I couldn't find a place to move the family into, so I decided to tell them I couldn't do it.

Then the Stake President called me in and told me of some of the problems they were having and told me that he was sure the Lord had called me to come and that I would do a great missionary work there. Well, after that I couldn't stand there and tell him to his face I wasn't going to do it. I decided to go home, write him a letter and tell him I couldn't find housing for the family and I couldn't leave them for a year. Well, when I got home and told Dorothy what I had in mind, she told me I couldn't quit when I was just getting started.

So I took Leon, my number two son, with me. He had just gotten out of high school. He made a great hit in the ward, especially with the young girls. As we went along with the building a fellow in his sixties would come over and watch us. Leon would kid with him, so I told the bishop, say there is a neighbor who lives across the street from the church that seems real interested in what we are doing. Maybe you should get the stake missionaries after him. He said, oh that is Uncle Fred, he has been a member all his life but he hasn't been the church for thirty years. His wife comes all the time. Well, I was a bit disappointed. I thought we were going to get a new member. A day or two after this Uncle Fred came by and said he would do some work if we wanted him to. So I said, sure, and he got his hammer and started to work every day. As soon as we would start here he would be. He as nailing sub floor and I noticed blood marks on the boards. I thought he had hit his thumb. He had rubbed the skin off both knees until everyplace he kneeled there was blood stains. I couldn't get him to quit. He said it would grow back.

We couldn't get him to church. Leon kept after him and finally one day he came. He never missed another meeting. About a year later I got a letter telling us he had gone to the temple and was the ward custodian. This was a job he kept until he died.

In the early spring Leon got a mission call to West Virginia. So after high school graduation I took my number three son, Ken, with me. I figured I had at least a couple of years before I had to think any more about having an influence on the mission program of the Church. But along towards fall the Bishop and the Stake President called Ken in and asked where his brothers were and told him the church had lowered the missionary age from twenty to nineteen. Well Ken spent his nineteenth birthday in the mission home. So I thought well you have fulfilled President Moyles prayer. I don't have to send anymore missionaries out for awhile. I had moved to Richland Washington and built a Stake center for the church and gone into a Building Business with a fellow from Richland. All four of our children were home and we had another son neering the age to go we figured we could send him alright. When out of the Church Building Committe came to see me and wondered if I would go on a building mission. He said I would have to be out of debt, I owed more than four thousand dollars so I knew I would be safe. I think I was about like Jonah trying to hide from the Lord. So I told him if we could get out of debt we would be glad to go. I told Dorthy, she quoted me 1 Nephi 3-1, where Nephi told his father The lord giveth no commandment unto men save he shall prepare a way for them to accomplish it. Within a couple of months we had sold two homes, paid all our debts had a thousand dollars in the bank to get our next son, Marvin, started on his mission and we left Richland for Houston Texas about first of October. I would like to tell you a little experience that I think was an answer to prayer. As we came into Texas right at quitting time, Dorthy was driving the car and I was driving the pickup, cars were traveling bumper to bumper when all at once there was an interchange where five highways came together. I had no idea where I was suppose to go. I didn't know what to do when I looked up and there was a dirt road on my right side. I pulled off, I have never been so thankfull for a dirt road. I stopped and went back to the car and talked to Dorthy, we decided we better have a word of prayer. When we had finished we drove about a mile when we came to another paved road with a service station about a block up the street. So we stopped and I went in and asked the station attendent if I could use his phone. I had Bishop Webbs number, I called and a lady on the other end said Sister Webb speaking. I told her who I was and that I was lost the service station man helped me to tell her where I was. She said " You are not lost just come down that street about one mile you will come to a shopping center pull into the south end and you will see and old dirty Buick with a fat lady sitting in it, that will be me." She was going to go pick up Bishop Webb there where he got off the bus. I drove to the south end there was a buick, not old maybe a little dirty, no fat lady in it but I pulled along side in a minute a lady came out and got in the car. She wasn't fat, maybe just a little pleasently plump. I ask "Are you Sister Webb." She was. About that time Bishop Webb came and they took us to our new home about two blocks away. I know the Lord heard our prayers. Well we built the church, went back to Richland got back in the Building Business sent two more bous on missions one to New Zealand and one to Sa Pallo, Brazil. They both did a wonderfull job. I retired moved out in the country and said to myself, well President Moyle prayer has been fullfilled unless the hradn children do something about it. It seemed that everyone I saw asked me when I and Sister Gale were going on our mission. About that time the Seattle temple was built so I decided maybe we better go be temple workers, to get these people out of our hair. We were interviewed by the temple president. I asked President Kay," How long is this call for." He said, "Brother Gale I don't know how long you are going to live." So I felt we had found our place when one day our son from Portland Oregon was visiting and our son who is our Bishop were tolking and the one from Portland said Dad when are you and Mother going on a mission. Well I was only joking and I said Ron if you can promise that we can be sent to New Zealand to the visitors center and then when our mission is over you will come and get us and we will tour your mission, we will go. He said, "Dad is that the king of a guy you are, I will go where you want me to go dear lord just so you send me where I want to go. We were only kidding but I had a hard time sleeping just thinking about it and thinking about leaving our home, my nice shop and all the kids and grandchildren. When I got to thinking about the 12 section of D&C, where it says many are called but few are choosen why are they not chosen because their hearts are set so much upon the things of this world. And I decided I guess this is me and I had better repent and get my self in line to be chosen. We called the Bishop and told him to het the papers on their way. Well here we are thankfull to be called to Pacahontas and ready to help you folks further the work of our Lord here in his Vineyard. I know that the Gospel is true, Joseph Smith did translate the Book of Mormon and he is a latter day prophetand President Kimball is a prophet and that President Cates was chosen to lead this Branch and I say this is the name of Jesus Christ Amen.