Omar Flores received his Eagle Scout Award at a ceremony on Sunday, Nov. 15. He is a member of Venture Crew 2087 sponsored by the Spanish Branch of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Omar built planter boxes at the garden for the Virgin Valley Museum He is a senior at Virgin Valley High School where he is the president of JAG. Omar is a member of the band and plays trombone and trumpet. He also plays the piano and organ. He is the son of Elizabeth Delgado and Jose Flores. Following graduation in June he plans to attend college and go on a mission for his church. Omar said, “I so enjoyed going to all the summer camps and especially Camp Kolob. I went to Maple Dell this past summer as junior staff with Troop 2087. Archery was my favorite merit badge.” Tony Oxborrow, his first scout leader spoke about the standards that an Eagle Scout must live to be an honorable man. “Living with honor is the foundation of the Scouting program. Being honorable is the formation of good character and citizenship. The example you set, Omar, will be a credit to your home, your community, and your church.” Oxborrow said, “The first point of standard is to use your God given agency and have the moral courage to stand for right. The 2nd standard is honesty; honesty gives you peace of mind and self-respect. Give a full day of work for your pay.” Service is the 3rd standard to commit yourself to do; take opportunities to serve in your home, church community and school. The 4th standard to live by is work. Work is honorable and brings a person a feeling of self-worth. “ Oxborrow advised Omar to, “Set goals for yourself, do your best in school and educate your mind. Keep learning in music but make sure you choose music carefully for music has a profound effect on the mind and spirit and behavior.” Mr. Oxborrow also gave Omar the Eagle Charge and reminded him of his duty to God and country and his fellow scouts. “America has many good things and a great past but also a great future. It is only as good as the quality of its citizens. I charge you to lift up every task you do to the finest living and dedicated yourself to the common good, unselfish service and reverence for God. Be a guide to other scouts and an example in your community.” His mother pinned the Eagle Badge on his uniform and Omar presented pins to his mother and father for their support on his trail to Eagle. Omar presented his mentor pins to Tony Oxborrow and Edward Ponce, his scout leaders through the years who have helped him achieve his rank. Ponce said, “Omar is a great scout, determined, hardworking and follows through on what he starts. I helped him with the paper work, but it was his self motivation that got him to the rank of Eagle.” Spanish Branch President David Leavitt said, “Omar didn’t want to miss the last scout summer camp so he signed up to be on the staff so he could still go with his fellow scouts. He is stalwart and I appreciate his dependability in always coming to troop meetings and helping.” Mark Tichenor, Chairman of the Virgin River Valley BSA, presented Omar with a pocket knife engraved with “Eagle Scout” to remind him of his great accomplishment.

A large choir of the Church's Youth sang at the 10th Annual 1000 Flags Over Mesquite in November 2015. The following from the Mesquite Local News; This year’s 10th Annual 1000 Flags Over Mesquite proved to be the biggest one yet, with more participants and spectators than ever before. There were a total of 65 flags that were sponsored by the end of the event. Exchange Club President Pam Gagnon, center, presents a check for $2,000 to Ken Maynard, President of the Mesquite Veterans Center, right, during the Veterans Day Ceremony on Nov. 11. Exchange Club President Pam Gagnon, center, presents a check for $2,000 to Ken Maynard, President of the Mesquite Veterans Center, right, during the Veterans Day Ceremony on Nov. 11. Photo by Stephanie Frehner. “In the ten years of doing this, each year touches my heart more than the last. I am just awestruck by what the community has done. Wednesday night, all the young people were here,” commented Mesquite Exchange Club member Paul Benedict. During the Veterans Day Ceremony on Nov. 11, the attending crowd was fortunate to stand with local Girl Scout Troop 27 as they presented the Pledge of Allegiance. The Mesquite Stake of LDS Youth sang the National Anthem and the Mesquite Veterans Honor Guard presented colors. “Over the past few years, the LDS youth have usually held their own ceremonies to teach about the flags and history of the military. This year, they asked to be part of the Veterans Ceremony on Veterans Day,” commented Benedict. Mesquite Fire Department retired a flag with the help of local Boy Scout Troop 2060. “One of the important traditions of the 1000 Flags Over Mesquite is the Retirement of Colors by the Mesquite Fire Department,” Benedict added. Photo by Stephanie Frehner. Mesquite Fire Captain William Martinez, right, presents pieces of the American Flag he had dismantled to one of the participating members of Boy Scout Troop 2060 during the Retirement of the Colors Ceremony on Sunday, Nov. 15. Members of the local Boy Scouts Troop 2060 assist Captain William Martinez as he dismantles an American Flag stripe by stripe while Firefighter Keith Browning keeps the patch of stars safe. Under the direction of Mesquite Fire Captain William Martinez, the flag was dismantled stripe by stripe as Benedict read the infamous poem by Ruth Apperson Rous “I am the Flag,” which detailed the meaning of each piece. Three of the Troop’s Boy Scouts took the pieces of the flag to its final resting place inside a makeshift fire as Isaac Talahytewa played Taps.

Brother Tony and Sister Marilyn Oxborrow returned to Mesquite September 1st after serving a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Oxborrows served 18 months in the Family History Preservation, Huaraz Peruvian Missions. Brother and Sister Oxborrow will speak in the Spanish Branch on November 8, 2015 at the Stake Center, 100 N. Arrowhead.

W.R.A.P. Week is October 25th - November 1st and our Stake will participate in this national White Ribbons Against Pornography. White Ribbons are provided by H.O.M.E. Take a stand for decency.

Many of those that gathered October 26 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 atwww.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.

Elder Avery Woods has been called to serve a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He will report to the Missionary Training Center on October 21st and the next 24 months, he will serve in the Baltimore Maryland Mission. Avery's parents are John and Jennifer Woods and he is the grandson of Val and Carol Woods and Rita Cox. Elder Woods will speak at 8 a.m.on Sunday, October 18, 2015 in the Stake Center located at 100 N. Arrowhead.

Sister Charlene Bills returned from serving her mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Sister Bills spent 18 months at the Family History Center in the US Canada Zone, serving in the Family and Church History Headquarters Mission. She helped the guests in the library find their ancestors and with any problems they might have with their accounts or research. Sister Charlene Bills will speak in the Littlefield AZ. Chapel, October 18, 2015 at 9am.

The Bunkerville First Ward in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has a new second counselor in their Bishopric as of October 11th. John Gleave will serve as the second Counselor with Bishop Vern Pollock and first Counselor Duane Magoon.

On October 11, 2015, Bunkerville 2nd Ward of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints had a change in their Bishopric. Robert Bunker was sustained as the 2nd Counselor. He will serve with Bishop Jared Hollingshead and 1st Counselor Darryll Dodenbier.

Jared Memmott and Daxon Toone of Varsity Crew 998 sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints received their Eagle Scout Awards at a ceremony at the Heritage Park on October 10, 2015. Daxon built a planter box at the Virgin Valley Heritage Museum to grow cotton plants. Jared added decorative rock to the fire pit at the Heritage Park to make it safer to use. Both are freshmen at Virgin Valley High School. Jared is in football, basketball and on the swim team. Daxon is in the band and on the soccer, basketball and baseball teams. Jared earned 40 merit badges and he is the son of Christine and Kyle Memmott. Daxon earned 49 merit badges.and is the son of Kena and Ryan Toone. Only 21 merit badges are required for the Eagle so they will soon be eligible to receive some Eagle Palms. Both scouts earned the 50 miler award, the Historic Trails Award, Thomas S. Monson Award, Liahona Award, the mile swim, and the Arrow of Light. Greg Toone, Daxon’s grandfather, said, “Receiving the Eagle Scout award is not the end of the trail. Go forth now and visualize what you can do, you have a foundation and base of principles of good character and skills and interests – now go forth knowing that you have accomplished hard things and you can now practice solving more hard things and look for the needs of others. I charge you to go forward to continue to do a good turn daily, to be true to yourself and remember the scout law and oath daily. “ Richard Israelson, their scout leader, gave them the charge, “You have a solemn duty to your fellow scouts to bring honor to yourself and your brother scouts, to your country and to God. America has many good things, but it depends on the quality of its citizens. America has a great past and you can make the future greater by being good citizens. Lift up every task to a high level of service and so live and serve that others will be inspired to the finest living. I challenge you to dedicate yourself to the common good and build America on unselfish service and reverence for God leaving a trail that other scouts will be justly proud to follow. “ Daxon’s father, Ryan Toone, said, “"Scouting has given Daxon and Jared the opportunity to learn important values and gain skills they will be able to use for the rest of their lives. They have been on 50 mile hikes, completed a mile swim, learned about many different careers, and made a lot of friends. Reaching this milestone will help them know that they can accomplish great things in the future." Kyle Memmott, father of Jared, was their scoutmaster through their years of advancing and he said, "We are very proud of Jared for his hard work over the years and his desire to become an Eagle Scout. He is what an Eagle Scout should be." Daxon presented his mentor pin to his Grandfather, Greg Toone, for his encouragement in reaching his goal of Eagle Scout. Jared presented his mentor pin to Richard Israelson who helped him on his project. Daxon and Jared were presented with pocketknives engraved with the words “Eagle Scout” by the Virgin Valley Boy Scouts of America.

Elder Robert Ian Kuta returned to Mesquite after serving a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He served for two years in the Ecuador Guayaquil South Mission. Frank and Elspetha Kuta are Robert's parents. Elder Kuta will speak in the Mesquite 7th Ward on September 27, 2015 at 10am in the Stake Center located at 100 N. Arrowhead.

Elder Christopher Ira Allen has returned after his mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He served in the Resistencia Argentina Mission for twenty four months. Chris and Sara Allen of Bunkerville are his parents. Christopher future plans include furthering his college education. Elder Allen will speak in the Bunkerville Chapel September 20, 2015 at 11 am.