This is Mount Assiniboine in the BC Rockies.
The following is from Presidents Preece's history on how the mission became
the Mountain Top Mission
CHOOSING A MISSION SYMBOL REMEMBERED
Soon after getting settled in the mission field, I felt the need to discover
and adopt a mission symbol suitable for us to rally around-one that would build
unity within the mission and foster esprit d'corps with the missionaries. I made
the quest a matter of prayer. While reading section 112 of the Doctrine and
Covenants as I flew back to Vancouver from Cranbrook following a Kootenay
District Conference, I came to verses 7 and 8 which read: "I, the Lord
have a great work for thee to do, in publishing my name among the children of
men. Therefore, gird up thy loins for the work. Let thy feet be shod also, for
thou are chosen, and thy path lieth among the mountains." As I gazed
out of the plane window at the rugged towering mountains below, so
characteristic of British Columbia, I felt a warm spirit confirm this scripture
as our motto and that we should use mountains as the symbol for the mission.
I enthusastically presented the idea to my assistants, Elders Jackson and
Deaton, who endorsed the concept wholeheartedly, as did eventually the entire
mission. By choosing lofty Mt. Assiniboine, an 11,870 foot peak located in the
eastern part of the province, as the specific mountain to feature, we took on
the name of the Mountain Top Mission. We related to a sentiment expressed by
James Outran, the first man to climb Mount Assiniboine. Said he, "there
is a wonderful fascination about mountains. Their massive grandeur, mystery of
lofty height, splendor of striking outline-craig, pinnacle and precipice-seem to
appeal both to the intellect and to the immortal soul of man and to compel a
mingling of reverence and love."
Soon most everything we did in the mission reflected the symbolism of
mountains. Our elders and sisters proudly became known as Mountain Top
missionaries; We also renamed the districts with names of local mountains and
all letters and publications bore the new symbol. Soon the elders and sisters
could be heard singing the newly composed mountain top mission song "The
Mountains" at district and zone meetings or while walking the street
tracting. Missionaries learned how to teach naturally and convincingly by a
process termed "Conquest Teaching." We also devised a plan
called "Trail to the Top" to assist missionaries to honorably
conclude their mission experience. Our mission secretary Brian Wight's artistic
mother in Los Angeles, oil painted a large picture of Mt. Assiniboine, donating
it to the mission. When completed, she and her dentist husband flew up to
Vancouver from L.A. to attend the special unveiling ceremony before hanging it
in a prominent place in the mission home. Incidentally, before leaving
California, Sister Wight had the painting appraised at $7,800.
In the monthly mission bulletin, now called The Mountain Top, announcement of
the new symbolism to the elders and sisters began with these words; "most
people feel something vibrant and inspiring about mountains! Since the beginning
of history, mountains have been used as symbols of the great qualities of human
personalities at their best. Samuel Walter Foss had this in mind when he wrote,
'Bring me men to match my mountains; Bring me men to match my plains; Men
with empires in their purpose and new eras in their brains.' In the welcome
letter sent to new missionaries soon to arrive in the great Canada Vancouver
Mission, the concluding paragraph read: "With excitement we anticipate
your arrival! We urgently need missionaries who will match the mountains of
missionary work and who will master the challenges of teaching the gospel of
Jesus Christ to the people who live beneath the lofty peaks of our beautiful
British Columbia. Come now, and join our valiant band of Mountain-top
Missionaries!"