Rhoda Elnora Moemberg Woonsook was the first Shoshone president of the Washakie Ward Relief Society.¹ She was born in Washakie, Utah, on 20 October 1914 to May Nanakey and Amos Moemberg. Rhoda was a great-granddaughter of John Moemberg, or Ech-up-wy, one of the founders of the Shoshone Latter-day Saint community at Washakie.² She was born and raised in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In December, a month and a half after her birth, she was blessed by George M. Ward, the third Euro-American bishop of the Washakie Ward. On 29 June 1924, at nine years of age, she was baptized by Moroni Timbimboo and later confirmed by Catch Toyahadook.³ Throughout her life, she treasured her identities as a Latter-day Saint and a Shoshone, always retaining a love of leatherwork, beadwork, gathering pinenuts, and dancing.⁴

In Shoshone culture and tradition, women generally married at a very young age, typically shortly after starting menstruation. These marriage customs continued among the Shoshone Saints at Washakie into the twentieth century.⁵ Sometime in 1927, Rhoda, then twelve years old, began a relationship with Henry Woonsook, a fellow Washakie Ward member.⁶ On 22 January 1928, she gave birth to Emily Elizabeth Woonsook.⁷ On 1 March 1928, Rhoda married Henry Woonsook, the father of her child, in a Shoshone customary marriage ceremony.⁸ On multiple occasions, the couple sought and received public forgiveness from the ward.⁹ Public confessions had long been seen as part of the repentance process in the church, and while most of the church generally halted the practice in the early twentieth century, confession remained a regular part of public worship in Washakie.¹⁰ In September 1931, Rhoda and Henry were married civilly by Joseph Parry, the fourth Euro-American bishop of the Washakie Ward, and then on 19 November 1931, they were sealed for time and all eternity in the Logan Temple.¹¹ Together, they had six children, three of whom lived to adulthood: Emily Elizabeth (1928–2012), Wendell Norman (1930–1976), and Gary LeGrande (1943–2014).¹²

Throughout her adult life, Rhoda was an active member and participant in the Washakie Relief Society. On 29 December 1929, she was called and set apart as the Relief Society secretary, serving under Margaret Morgan Parry, the fourth Euro-American Washakie Ward Relief Society president. Rhoda kept the minutes faithfully for nearly nine years until she was called as the first counselor in the Primary presidency in 1938.¹³ During these years, Rhoda regularly bore testimony, taught lessons, and said prayers. However, because of her responsibilities as secretary, she did not record her own words. After her short stint in the Primary presidency, Rhoda was called as the first Shoshone president of the Washakie Ward Relief Society on 17 February 1939.¹⁴

Rhoda’s tenure as Relief Society president was brief. In spring 1940, about a year after she was called, she and Henry moved their family near American Falls on the Fort Hall Reservation.¹⁵ It is unclear whether the family intended for this to be a permanent move. They had previously sought temporary work in Blackfoot, Idaho, in 1934, and this may have been seen as a similar temporary move.¹⁶ Despite her physical absence, Rhoda still attended a Malad Stake Relief Society meeting in July 1940, but the family generally appears to have had limited involvement with the Washakie Ward.¹⁷ In October and November 1940, the stake finally released Rhoda and Henry from their callings.¹⁸ Because of a lack of Washakie Ward records for the early 1940s, it is unclear whether or not Rhoda and Henry remained a part of the ward or whether they moved back to Washakie. Regardless, between 1943 and 1947, when the ward general minutes resume, members of the Woonsook family were consistently present at church meetings in Washakie.¹⁹ Rhoda reportedly served as first counselor in the Relief Society during those years.²⁰

Sometime around 1947, leaders of the West Pocatello Stake met at the home of Henry and Rhoda Woonsook to plan for a more established church presence in the Bannock Creek region of the Fort Hall Reservation. In 1948, after Henry and Rhoda personally lobbied apostle Spencer W. Kimball—who served as chair of the church’s Indian Committee and was a staunch advocate for Native peoples—the church organized the Fort Hall Indian Mission, which was run by the local stakes. Shortly afterward, missionaries began holding church meetings at Bannock Creek and later opened a branch.²¹ Over the next twenty years, Rhoda was an active member of the branch and held several callings, including president of the Young Women’s Mutual Improvement Association and the Relief Society.²²

Around 1950, Rhoda and Henry’s son Gary suffered an accident while riding a horse. After he was thrown from the saddle, Gary’s foot caught in the stirrup and he was dragged along the ground and kicked in the head, suffering terrible injuries to his head, arm, and face. Rhoda and Henry rushed their son to the hospital, but the doctors were skeptical that he would recover. Rhoda and Henry called for the missionaries to come and administer a priesthood blessing. The missionaries and the parents knelt together and repeatedly prayed over Gary. After remaining in a coma for three weeks, Gary woke and eventually recovered. Helen Christensen Tolman, who was serving in the Bannock Creek Mission with her husband, reported that she heard Rhoda and Henry “bear testimony many times how their prayers were answered and how the power of the priesthood healed their son.”²³ Gary later served a mission for the church and was the first Indigenous missionary from Fort Hall.²⁴

Rhoda Moemberg Woonsook died on 28 December 1977.²⁵