Elder Jack and Sister Cheryl Rochford of the East Stake are called as service missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They will serve as group leaders in the Church’s Addiction Recovery Program. Weekly meetings are held Monday evenings at 6:00 PM in the Seminary Building and Wednesday evenings at 7:00 PM AZ time (6:00 PM NV time).  If addiction of any type affects your life or the life of other loved ones, we invite you to join with others with similar experiences in safe and discreet weekly meetings. “Through the atonement of Jesus Christ we are healed”, ARP Manual

January 27, 2024 work day, Ladies were scraping paint on window frames Sydney Rowley, Shane and Conner Zarate West Carter and John Zarate fixing joists in the kitchen area which used to be over the cellar.

President Cindy Barnard 1st Counselor Ashlie Cowley 2nd Counselor Tiffany Porter Secretary Jennifer Brotherson

The restoration project of the Relief Society House will be on Saturday morning, January 27, starting at 8:00 am.  and continuing through the morning. The house is located on Yucca Street in Mesquite. Volunteers are need to help with the restoration work which includes patching drywall and stucco, stripping paint on the window frames, painting, roof repairs, and some electrical work. All the materials and tools will be provided; it is suggested to wear work clothes and bring gloves.

The YSA eating after their scavenger hunt activity.

A program to commemorate the 137th anniversary of the settling of Virgin Valley was held at the site of the first home on the hill overlooking the Virgin River on Saturday, January 20. Jeff Jensen life-time resident of the valley spoke about growing up on a farm, milking cows, ranching, playing in the river, and being among friends – “the population was small and all the families looked out for each other and were helpful.” The program started with a flag raising by Shea, Adler, and Ammon Shaner and Adron Klug, cousins and brothers. It was followed by the hymn, ‘Come, Come Ye Saint’s and a prayer. It was on January 7, 1877 that 23 people held the first church service on the hill with Edward Bunker, Jr. holding a handful of soil in one hand and wheat in the other dedicated the valley to the building of a peaceful settlement. Jeff Jensen, son of Melburn and Leah Jensen, grew up on a farm on Riverside and Hafen Lane. He graduated from Virgin Valley in a class of 15, served 15 months in in the U.S. Army in Vietnam and served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Colorado. He is the father of two daughters, grandfather to eleven and great-grandfather to one. He told about dairy farming saying, “After the war the government encouraged more people to go into the dairy business and so my dad built a new barn behind the house. When the barn was finished, I remember driving the cows west on the main street to get them to their new home. We used to have a town milking barn that the community used for milking which is still on First South. Times were rough for a lot of families and my dad wanted to expand his dairy business. My dad bought 100 acres in three different places – Willard Leavitt’s field, Angie Barnum’s field and the Hunt field – they were all named and so we knew which field needed water or hay bailing. The dairy business didn’t pay as much as expected. You had to go bigger and bigger and therefore my dad dropped out of the dairy business. My dad worked construction to pay the bills and my brothers and I had to do the farm work. “Meb, my dad, also had a range on the mountain that ran clear to Key West. The cows were running in common with Bill Pulsipher and others. In order to separate the areas, we had to build a fence. We were over in the area of Scenic and the truck wouldn’t start so we couldn’t drive home. We had always parked it on a hill so we could get it started but this time it was parked in a wash. Why? We had a gallon jug of water but one of the boys dropped it. No truck! No water! We started to walk home and I was so thirsty that I finally took a drink of the Virgin River bloat!! It was awful to say the least! He laughed as he talked about the silage pit across the river and how his dad was tossing silage on the bed of the trailer hooked to the old Ford tractor – “as my dad tossed a big pile up from the pit it landed squarely on the back of my sister, Christine! We all laughed but she was hopping mad!” “There were sad times too,” he said as he related the story of the house fire that totally destroyed their old adobe home. “There was no air conditioner and we had a swamp cooler. We think the stand fell over and started the fire which then caught the wallpaper on fire. All of the kids were on sleeping on the front lawn because it was so hot, so all my brothers and sister were safe but we lost everything – it was burnt! We had no clothes! My parents saved the set of encyclopedias, the radio and some pictures. The fire truck was in the old building that is next to what is now the museum. The truck was old, wouldn’t start and so they drug it out and down to the homestead, but the pump wouldn’t start! By that time the house was gone! We walked up the street and slept at our grandparent’s home.” “It was sad, “he continued.” But the worst part was that I lost my frog feet I had received for my birthday a few weeks before. I hardly had a chance to use them to learn to swim!” Jeff finally did learn to swim the hard way – being tossed into the big ditch by his brothers. “We used to go down and easily cross the river as there were no tamaracks and get to the big irrigation ditch. The boys would lift the sand gate to clean it out – but they just threw me in! But I can’t swim! They yelled, just swim like a dog!” The ditch was dirt back then and my brothers and I were assigned to clean out a section of the ditch just as other families were assigned to clean a part of the 2.5-mile irrigation ditch. Jeff also told stories of the three horses they owned. “We had Brownie and a quarter horse named Kokomo Star and a gray mustang. These horses loved to race and got very competitive. Sometimes you couldn’t get them to stop racing. We were riding along Smoky Lane when they picked up speed and we couldn’t stop them. They turned into the Easton’s yard and went right under her clothes line, hit the fence and stopped! She came out and was worried about us, gave us water and asked if we were ok.” Another horse story he told was about his sister, Christine. “My sister had ridden over to the Reber’s and Faught’s and then the mustang refused to return home. Ken, my older brother, went over and got to whipping the horse with the reins. The horse took off and ran all the way to our house and beyond before he threw on his brakes sending Ken over the top of the horse! The mustang, having expended his energy plodded slowly home. “ Some past-times during the summer were “sampling the watermelons from various fields, he said. “We had gone to every patch except one and it had a lot of elephant grass where we saw a huge watermelon! I made a low crawl out through the grass to get it but the big dog started barking and the owner turned on the light! I slowly backed out and left that big watermelon! It was not worth it!” There were lots of rabbits and one of my favorite things to do was to chase them. Another favorite was the steak sandwiches my mother made us for school lunch. We were too poor to buy school lunch so she made us steak sandwiches and milk. Sometimes it was from road kill. Another past time was sliding down the big hill on an old car hood. I built a “car” and attached a rope to the back and when it got going, I cut the rope and went flying downhill and rolled, “he said. We listened to the radio on the evenings and later we watched TV. Homemade bread and butter with jam and honey was served to the attendees along with donuts, hot chocolate and juice. Thank you to those that set up chairs and to the many boy scouts who made the site a place to visit. Eagle project have included building the stairs, the rock fence around the foundation, flag pole and the sign to commemorate the site of the first home in Virgin Valley.

The Mesquite Nevada East Stake of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints held their conference on Sunday, January 14, 2024 and a new Stake Presidency was selected to serve. Ryan W. Toone is the Stake President, with Travis L. Wakefield and Darrell L. Garlick as Counselors. Elder Ahmad S. Corbitt, a General Authority Seventy presided with Elder Emerson B. Carnavle, an Area Seventy accompanying him. The Mesquite Nevada Stake was formed on February 13, 1994. Subsequently on Sunday, January 15, 2023, the stake was divided into the East Stake and West Stake with David J. Anderson as president of the East Stake and Jared M. Hollingshead, president of the West Stake. There are 2,754 members of the East Stake in the Virgin Valley. The first church that was held in Virgin Valley was on January 7, 1877 on a hill overlooking the valley and the river with 23 in attendance. “These men were chosen by the law of common consent and not voted on. Raising the hand is a symbol from ancient times when Moses’ held up his arms,” Pres. Anderson stated. This is God’s church and not man’s. “We will be victorious as we hold up the hands of the Lord’s servants. If you want to see the church in the valley grow, be there for Pres. Toone and his counselors. Be united, listen, pay attention to their voices and admonitions and you will see members exalted and sealed as families in the Kingdom of God.” President Anderson spoke about his service over the past many years, being a seminary teacher, bishop, counselor in the stake presidency and then as stake president. He spoke about the joy of Jesus Christ quoting Luke 2:10, “Fear not I bring you tidings of great joy unto all people.” He said, “Seminary has made all the difference in my life as an adult teaching the youth in Virgin Valley. It was never in my plan to teach seminary; in fact, I threw the letter in the trash inviting me to apply. My wife retrieved it and said, ‘I always wanted to be the wife of a seminary teacher!’ After that my focus changed and my trajectory changed.” It was at his request that all the seminary youth 14 – 18 formed a choir to sing the hymn, ‘How Firm a Foundation.’ Filing the choir seats they sang with great enthusiasm the words, “The soul that on Jesus hath leaned for repose, I will not, I cannot, desert to his foes.” Anderson reminded the audience of his quote, “I give you permission to be good all the time!” He continued with the request,” Look for opportunities to strengthen, to edify and love one another. Be patient, kind and loving.” President Wakefield recalled the thirty-six months, of the picket line in front of the porn store – 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Continuing the story, he said, “As a result of the picketing, our landscape is not one dotted with billboards as other towns. It was Pres. Anderson who wielded the sword of justice and as a direct result the store was closed. The seminary building across from the Virgin Valley High School also became a reality.” Pres. Garlick has served as a seminary teacher and bishop of the Littlefield Ward. He spoke of the perfect organization of the church and testified that Jesus Christ is at the head of the church. President Toone spoke of Father Lehi’s dream of the tree of life which invited us to go and receive and then invite others to come and receive the blessings of the temple. While serving a mission in Norway he was taught by Pres. Nelson about prayer – to pour out our hearts with the challenges we face. He said, “Prayer had made all the difference in my life and every day since we were married our family has knelt in prayer daily.” While at a judges’ conference many of the attendees were visiting and telling funny stories about their family and they asked him to tell a story of his family. His humble and unassuming reply was, “My family kneels in prayer every day and reads the scriptures - it has brought great blessings to our family because of it.” Pres. Toone spoke of Christ coming to the Nephites and He wanted them to see and feel the prints in his hands and feet. Christ wants each of us to have the same opportunity to know and see and feel him as we read and study and attend the temple. Keith Reber, President of the St. George Temple, spoke about his choice to go to a leadership conference instead of going on a skiing trip and how that benefited him the rest of his life. Others he met there expanded view of his community and civic responsibilities and had an impact on him. “The principal, David Anderson, looked at the potential benefits in my going to the conference. God see each of us and our potential.” Elder Corbitt spoke about looking forward and not backward as did Lot’s wife. “Looking backwards is the thief of joy,” he said. “Some are unduly depressed and have lost faith and hope. Look forward to the promises of the Lord.” He further asked, “If you are in a crisis of faith and doubt your faith, your leaders, - murmur not! Label these as deceptions and label them for future review, put these doubts on the shelf and let the Lord work it out in His own due time!” Elder Corbitt told the story of being a new convert and as such he had decided never to serve a mission. After he attended Ricks College and saw his friends going on missions, he decided he would go. He approached his bishop, a retired marine. The gruff retired marine asked him if he had saved the money to be able to go and when he said no, the bishop said, “get a job and save the money!” Elder Corbitt said, “that challenge made me set and achieve some goals which zi had never done before having grown up in a ghetto area in Philly. I could have been offended and said I am not going back! But I got a job and saved money for a year and half but still did not have enough. Who made up the rest? The abrasive had edged man, the marine, the bishop! He paid the rest and wrote me on my mission.” Elder Corbitt also spoke about the culture of today and how critical it is of others faults and imperfections. He admonished all to not condemn but to give thanks that we can learn to be more wise than others have been. “Condemn not others for their imperfections but learn from them,” he stated. He was able to see the painting of the founding fathers as they appeared to Wilford Woodruf in the St. George Temple. “Some would condemn them for the events in their past that we find unacceptable today.” He admonished us to, “remember Moroni’s words, give thanks unto God that he hath made manifest unto you our imperfections that ye may learn to be more wise.” Mormon 9:31 Travis L. Wakefield, 1st Counselor, President Ryan W. Toone, Darrell L. Garlick 2nd Counselor Elder Ahmad S. Corbitt, Travis Wakefield, President Ryan W. Toone, Darrell L. Garlick, Elder Emerson B. Carnavale

Sister Jordan Memmott has been called to serve a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She will serve in the Texas Fort Worth Mission, English speaking for 18 months. Jordan will start her Home Missionary Training Monday, February 6th. Kyle and Christine Memmott of the Vistas Ward, are her parents. Sister Jordan Memmott will speak Sunday February 12, 2023 at 10:30 in the Whipple Chapel, 121 Whipple Way, Mesquite.