William A Rankin, Jr. ---- Missionary Diary

 In honor of Bill's life I want to share part of his Missionary Journal.  Many of the entries are inspirational and informative.  With the hopes that his experiences will benefit his children,  grandchildren, relatives, and friends, I will share the highlights of Bill's journal, but not all of the 210 pages.  This will be a year long project and I hope you readers will respond with your comments, reflections or questions.  I'm sorry I have only a few photos to add to this blog, but I still feel this is the best way to share privately what was an extraordinary experience and the foundation for the rest of his life. I will add location maps, etc as we go along so you can be advised to the areas where he served.  

Within the pages of the diary, he mentioned many public figures, such as BYU professors, apostles, etc, so I will type out their full names, but I will use only initials for private citizens he met or taught on his mission, and companions he worked with.  

These blogposts will be short, readable, and hopefully shareable with your family members and will include dates of his writing.  It's a treasure to me to see his beautifully flowing handwriting in ball point pen, his deep thoughts, his honest reporting of his own trials and successes, and his strong testimony.  He wrote page after page with very few strike outs, virtually no spelling or grammatical errors, and easy to read sentence structure. 

January 7, 1970

"Tomorrow I enter the Salt Lake Mission Home.  I certainly am excited! It seems hard to believe that I am actually a missionary.  It as been a long road.... 

"A year and a half ago I left the Air Force Academy.  I was full of determination to earn money for college, to finish college quickly , and to make lots more money.  When Bishop M. suggested I was good missionary material, I thought he was kidding.  No two year mission was going to stand between me and success. "

   "In September I went to BYU.   There I roomed with four young men who had all served missions. I also had the chance to audit B.of M. classes taught by C. Terry Warner and   Chauncy Riddle.  My spiritual life began to grow and I seriously wondered if a mission was for me."

    "My prayers seemed ineffectual...then I read the Book of Enos.  I knew how I had to feel before I was ready to go."  

   "In late December, I felt I wanted to serve as a missionary.  I sought my Patriarchal Blessing and the Melchizedek Priesthood.   As the New Year of 1969 came in I had many spiritual blessings.  On Tuesday, January 7, Elder B. gave me my Patriarchal Blessing.  January 19th was a choice day.  I turned 21, Curtis H. ordained me an elder, and S. gave a beautiful talk in Sacrament meeting."  

    "I was studying under Brother George Pace (B of M) and Brother Jay Butler (Missionary Approach) at  his time.  They were fine instructors and spiritual stalwarts.  Brother Butler wrote the six missionary discussions when he served in the Northwest Mission.  He taught many useful doctrinal points.  One of his feelings was that the Lord does nothing for us that we cannot do for ourselves. It fits in well with the idea of growth and free agency."

  "Although I was not entirely prepared, I went to the temple for my endowment on May 1, 1969. I had decided to work in Puerto Rico for the summer and earn money for my mission.   In Puerto Rico I was active in the Ponce Branch.  I came to be close to the missionaries and G.R., the district president. The church gave me life when I felt all was lost.  I caught the missionary spirit and read Articles of Faith and Marvelous Work and a Wonder.   My testimony certainly grew. I did want to go on a mission......I prepared myself to go on a mission. Nothing could stop me now.  I vowed to repent- to clean myself to be a good servant of the Lord." 

..".When I was set apart on Jan 7, 1970 both parents were there.  I was happy.  Pres. Smith. gave me great promises.  I cannot remember all of what he said.  I was ready to go. I spent a few days in Provo.  Layton and Judy brought me to the mission home.  I bade them good by and left the past behind me."

Thoughts when I received my Missionary Call: "I wondered exactly what territory it covered, but I guess I was so excited that President McKay had signed the call, I just had to sit down.  Yes, I think I was most thrilled by the personal touch of our beloved prophet.  Days later, when I found out the boundaries, I wondered about 1) Washington's rain 2) The great reputation of the P.N./W. Mission."

Mission ID Card

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Wikipedia: "The missionary experience prior to the opening of the MTC was quite different from that established later. In 1925, a small building adjacent to Temple Square in downtown Salt Lake City had a dormitory for brand new missionaries. Missionaries arriving here would then be set apart to their missionary service by a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Often they would even be interviewed by these apostles during this time and attend a service in the Salt Lake Temple, staying just a day or two before leaving to their assigned areas. Missionaries who had difficulty trying to get to their assigned areas would then either serve as tour guides on Temple Square or do clerical tasks at LDS Church headquarters."

*notes:  Bill's Mission Home was at 119 North Main, SLC.  I don't think it is still there today. Also by 1970, missionaries were set apart by their Stake Presidents.  In Bill's case it was President Smith of Short Hills, New Jersey. He only stayed one week in the Mission Home.

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