Scout Leaders from the Virgin River Valley District of the BSA were honored at Round Table Meeting on Thursday, Dec. 4, 2014 for their service to the scouts in our district. The awards were presented by Joe Schaffer of the Las Vegas Area Council BSA. Jennifer Tichenor received the Distinguished Commissioner Award for 5 years as a commissioner in the district and a member of the Key Three for the Virgin River Valley District BSA. Brent Hughes, activities chairman, received the District Commissioner Key and the Commissioner Award of Merit. Brent has been a scoutmaster in Troop for 18 years, serving for a total of 30 years in the scouting program. Keith Belnap received the Commission’s Key and the Arrowhead Honor certificate and badge for his work with re-chartering the units in our district. He has served in scouting for 65 years. Jill Empy, Susan Frehner, Roger Gessell received the Commissioner’s Arrowhead Key Award for training, service and visits to their units. Kyle Memmott and Art Shaner received Unit Commissioner Arrowhead Honor Award for serving on the Eagle Board of Review. There are 11 scout units sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and Troop 60 and Pack 8 sponsored by the Elks Lodge of Mesquite.

The Reber twins returned to Mesquite after serving their missions for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Kristofor McKay Reber served in the Denver Colorado South Mission. Kyle Lee Reber served in the Oklahoma Tulsa Mission. They are the sons of Larry and Jennifer Reber. Elder Kristofer Reber and Elder Kyle Reber will be speaking in the Mesquite 6th Ward on November 30, 2014, at 1:00 PM in the Whipple Chapel in Mesquite.

Elder Jacob Mikkelsen has been called to serve a two year mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. His area of service is Cancun Mexico. He will give his departing remarks at the Bunkerville 2nd Ward at 11:00 AM on Sunday November 30, 2014. On December 10, 2014, Elder Mikkelsen will depart and travel to Mexico City for six weeks of language training. He will then report to the Cancun Mexico Mission. Jacob is the youngest son of Ned and Janet Mikkelsen. Jacob is an Eagle Scout, a 2014 graduate of Virgin Valley High School and has been accepted to attend Utah State University when he returns home. Ned and Janet Mikkelsen have been called to serve in the Kyiv Ukraine Mission. They will depart for the Provo Mission Training Center on February 9, 2015, and will report two weeks later to the Kyiv, Ukraine Mission. They will be serving as a Member Leadership Support couple. They will be joining their Son, Jacob on November 30, 2014, to give their departing remarks at 11:00 AM in the Bunkerville Chapel.

Elder Matt Adamson returned from serving a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on November 4th. He served in the Oregon Portland Mission. Matt plans to stay home, work through the holidays and in January, attend Dixie State University. On Sunday, November 30th at 10am, Elder Adamson will be speaking at the LDS Stake Center, 100 N. Arrowhead Ln. in the Mesquite 1st Ward.

The aspects of being prepared to take care of our families during emergencies were addressed last week by Doug Adams, a preparedness specialist from Utah. The program was organized by Victoria Hafen, President of the Mesquite 5th Ward Relief Society of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. "We had this program planned before the recent floods and power outage so when that happened and many people had emergencies we realized it really was timely. That event was short lived but it showed us that we really could have a situation where our families would need to be prepared." Among the subjects covered in the presentation were cooking without electricity, family health, emergency food supplies, water purification, and meals using food storage items. Among the more than 70 people attending were leaders from other Relief Society groups in the valley who are taking the things they learned back to their home wards. Victoria concluded "Mr. Adams was so generous with his time and information. We learned so much and were inspired to start immediately to prepare for those emergencies that we know will come."

Brian Wursten, Petra Jones and Beth King were awarded the Silver Beaver Award at the Las Vegas Area Council Annual Recognition Banquet March. The Silver Beaver Award is the highest national award presented by a local council of individuals for noteworthy service to youth. Brian Wursten is District Member at Large. He has been the camp director of the Virgin River Valley Scout Camp for 5 years and over the merit Badge PowWow for a number of years. Petra Jones is Scoutmaster for Troop 60 and on the Mountain Man Rendezvous Staff. Beth King has been a Den Leader, the Cubmaster for Pack 42 and the District Roundtable chairman.

The stirring setting of the 1000 Flags display at the Mesquite Recreation Center was the gathering place for more than 200 local young people. A program organized by the Young Men and Young Women Youth Council of the Mesquite Nevada Stake of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was presented on November 13, 2014 in the evening. The Virgin Valley High School Marching Band lead the crowd in singing The Star Spangled Banner after hearing the moving story of its composition at Fort McHenry. Two military Veterans, Robb Stepp and Ron Wall spoke of their personal experiences serving the country and lessons that they passed on to the youth about appreciating and respecting their freedoms. Their heartfelt witnesses of the sacrifices made by many to preserve our country was very moving. As the program ended the young people walked the length of the field among the rows and rows of American flags and had the opportunity to reflect on what they had seen and heard. The Exchange Club have done a wonderful job of presenting this visual display of our beloved American flag and providing a place to reflect on what it means to each of us. God Bless America and all the Veterans!

Many of those that gathered October 26, 2014 for the Genealogy Jamboree at the Mesquite Nevada Stake Center of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints were old hands at research. They had come to learn more methods and improve their skills at finding their ancestors and filling out their family trees. Among the 170 attendees were those who wanted to try new areas of research like the class on Descendancy. It opens the way to find cousins you never knew you had. One participant was excited about this aspect of research and couldn't wait to get home to follow up on his ancestral line. A variety of classes helped the students learn things like how to fill in the family trees with photos, store their information via the Cloud, start a blog to find links to other's research, how to use web sites that deal in genealogy, and tips on using census records for Great Britain and Ireland. While being served lunch the attendees were able to visit booths set up around the hall that dealt with resources available locally to aid in their research. The Daughters of the American Revolution shared information dealing with early families of New England. The Virgin Valley Heritage Museum displayed some of their vintage family photos, information of original valley families, and introduced their online catalog of historical materials which can be found at www.mesquitenv.pastperfect-online.com. The Family Search Center showed how to make a family fan chart and offered to help all those interested to come to the center at 100 North Arrowhead Street. The center can be reached by calling 702-346-2342. Researching ones family history has never been so easy. It can be done right from your own home with just a little help and instruction from the knowledgeable researchers at the Family Search Center. This information is free to the public. There is an ever expanding resource of records that are being indexed and made available to use in research. If at one time you felt you could not find members of your family tree it may well have changed because of the millions of records coming out of archives and storage and being made available online. Ushers: Brian Haviland and Barclay Smith

Michael and Jolynn Gubler returned to Mesquite after serving a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They served a Member and Leader Service Mission in the West Indies for 18 months. Sister and Elder Gubler served in Trinidad, an Island in the Caribbean, for 3 1/2 months and worked in the Mission Office and also assisted the Missionaries and a local Branch (a smaller group of members) in the LDS Church. They also served in Suriname, a small country in South America, for 3 months. Their last area was in St. Lucia, a small Island in the Caribbean. Elder Gubler served as a Branch President of the Vieux Fort Branch in St. Lucia the last five months of their mission. They grew to love the people they worked with in all the areas and were glad to be a representative of the Lord in His great work. The Gublers are members of the Mesquite 1st Ward. Welcome home!

Sister Ehrin Pollock, returned home on August18, 2014 from her mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She served in the Ohio Columbus Mission for 18 months in the Columbus, Ohio Mission. Ehrin is the daughter of Vernon W. and Bonnie Pollock of Bunkerville. She will be speaking in the Bunkerville 1st Ward on Sunday August 24, 2014, at 9am.

Taylen David Lee, a member of the Troop 488 of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, was presented the highest rank in the Boy Scouts, the Eagle Scout Award. Only 2% of Boy Scouts earn their Eagle, so it is indeed a great accomplishment! The Eagle Court of Honor was held on August 19, 2014. Taylen was given the Eagle charge, then presented with his Eagle and invited to join the "Eagle Nest", an elite group. With 21 merit badges required, Taylen went above and beyond earning 28. His favorite merit badge is camping because he loves the outdoors. Taylen attended Boy Scout Camp in Utah this summer as a youth leader. He enjoyed helping the younger Scouts earn merit badges. Taylen joined the scouting program in 2007 and earned his Arrow of Light in 2010, the highest award for a Webelo. To earn his Eagle, Taylen had to complete many steps and appear before the Eagle Board several times for approval. He fulfilled his service hours with projects such as the Scouts for Food drives and giving service as needed to his church and community. Taylen’s Eagle Project was achieved by removing, scrubbing and power washing all the tables and chairs in the Whipple Chapel of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. After which, the tables and chairs were hand dried and returned back to their place in the building. Taylen Lee is 15 years old and is a sophomore at Virgin Valley High School. He is the son of Dawn and Charlie Lee. Taylen's grandparents are Steve and Dena Hoff and Katie Lee and the late John Lee.

Boy Scout Troops from Virgin Valley went to various summer camps including Bear Lake Aquatics, Thunder Ridge Scout Camp near Brian Head, Maple Dell near Payson, Scofield near Price and Havasupai Falls in the Grand Canyon. The troops are sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and Troop 60 sponsored by the Mesquite Resort Association. Troop 2087 Virgin Valley Spanish Branch of the LDS Church went to Maple Dell along with Troop 2041 of Bunkerville 1st Ward. Edward Ponce, scout leader, from the Spanish Branch Troop 2087 said they had 3 scouts go and Chris Allen, scoutmaster of Troop 2041, said 7 scouts went from his troop. “The scouts completed a total of 37 merit badges,” said Chris Allen. Mr. Ponce said, “We participated in Flag retirement ceremony and every morning and evening a raising and lowering of the American Flag. Some of the merit badges earned were Geology, Soil and Conservation, Environmental Science, Indian lore, Emergency Preparedness, and Rifle.” Troop 2640 of the Mesquite 6th Ward and 2488 of the Mesquite 3rd Ward of the LDS Church with leaders Richard Jensen and Charlie Lee went to Maple Dell. “There were 600 scouts at camp the week we went. A Samoan Troop from Salt Lake City challenged the other scouts to a game of rugby. This drew quite a crowd as the scouts had never seen a rugby game,” Mr. Jensen said. The scouts participated in a triathlon involving canoeing, swimming and races. Bunkerville Ward also went to Maple Dell with 15 scouts. Meb Hollingshead said, “The white water rafting was the most exciting! We got to go down the Provo River in canoes and rafts twice. We also got to go climbing and rappelling.” Scouts earned merit badges in Climbing, Movie Making and Wilderness Survival. Meb said, “I had fun building a shelter and sleeping in it by myself for that merit badge.” Troop 2040 of the Mesquite 1st Ward of the LDS Church with Bevan Reber, scoutmaster, took 3 scouts to Thunder Ridge Camp. Brent Hughes, scoutmaster of Troop 2493of the Mesquite 4th ward and Troop 2082 of the Mesquite 2nd Ward of the LDS Church took a total of 17 scouts to Thunder Ridge also. Ray Toombs, scoutmaster said they completed 19 merit badges. “They played dodge ball, baseball, soccer and slip sticks,” Mr. Toombs said. “Leather Work, Basketry, Wood Carving, Environmental Science and Wilderness Survival were some of the merit badges they completed.” Troop 2060 sponsored by the Mesquite Resort Association with Petra Jones, scoutmaster, took 12 scouts and 3 leaders to Thunder Ridge and completed many merit badges. Troop 2998 sponsored by the Mesquite 7th Ward of the LDS Church with Ryan Toone, scoutmaster took 3 leaders and 9 scouts to Thunder Ridge. Troop 2042 sponsored by the Littlefield Ward of the LDS Church took 5 scouts and 2 leaders to Scofield Camp. Trent Reber, scoutmaster said, “The scouts learned to do search and rescue in the area around the lake. They did lake activities and shooting.” Troop 2596 of the Mesquite 5th Ward of the LDS Church with Duane Thurston, scoutmaster, went to Bear Lake Aquatics Camp. They had 5 scouts and 3 leaders. “The scouts especially enjoyed Sail Boating merit badge. They also earned Water Skiing, Motor Boating, Swimming and Canoeing merit badges,” Mr. Thurston said. Twenty-three Varsity and Venture scouts from Bunkerville 2nd Ward of the LDS Church went to Havasupai Falls for 3 days. Trevon Hollingshead said, “We hiked 10 miles into the canyon. The hardest part was the switch back at the beginning of the trail. The water was a beautiful turquoise. We jumped off the cliff and went swimming. We had to pack our own food into camp. On Wednesday morning at 2:00 a.m. we started our hike out to avoid the heat. It was great fun!”