Las Vegas is really two cities.
The first is the largest hotel city in America. It has a reputation as the gaming capital of the world where, by air travel alone, more than 1 million visitors arrive each year.The second city - the real Las Vegas to residents - is composed of the businesses and homes that stand quietly in the background, operating effectively and without fanfare. In this cosmopolitan city of some half a million people live residents who are good people with a strong sense of commitment and community, said Pres. Don Lee Christensen of the Paradise stake.
He and other residents said that after living in Las Vegas for awhile their eyes blank out glaring images of the neon-lit night so they hardly notice them. They see instead the broad sweep of boulevards and palms against a tawny desert horizon. Well-kept lawns and homes of a Spanish architectural influence stretch far back from downtown in one of the nation's fastest growing cities.
This is a city that includes more than 60,000 members in 16 stakes in the greater Las Vegas area. Evidence of the growth of Church membership paralleling the city's growth is the recent division of six stakes and creation of three new stakes.
It is this Las Vegas that welcomed the construction of the Las Vegas Temple, and attended the open house in large numbers. Missionary work progresses well here, as missionaries search the suburbs for people willing to change their lives and accept the high standards of membership.
Pres. George T. Taylor of the Nevada Las Vegas Mission said, "A significant number of the great members of the Church are here. These are some of the strongest stakes in the Church. I now have a completely different view of Las Vegas."
He said missionary work is proceeding with emphasis on teaching through the Book of Mormon, and retaining in activity those who are baptized.
Missionaries are also encouraged to do service projects, such as helping with a community clean-up day that was held last fall at Lake Mead. "Little things like that are important to us." he said. "We want to be part of the community and make our contributions."
While the Church is prominent here, membership comprises only about 12 percent of the population. "But," said Pres. Christensen, "we have a profile higher than the percentage of membership would indicate."
Pres. Christensen, a general surgeon, has been appointed as the spokesman for the Church in the Las Vegas area.
"Our beliefs are challenged and members have learned that they must be willing to stand up and be counted," said Pres. Christensen, who noted that willingness has earned respect for members.
LDS youth who are active in the Church seem to withstand the negative influences of Las Vegas well, he observed. "Evil influences can be found anywhere. We find that if the youth are anchored with a strong family and have other strong influences around them, they do not stray."
Members serve in a number of prominent positions. James K. Seastrand, a former regional representative and vice chairman of the Las Vegas Temple committee, is mayor of North Las Vegas. Paul J. Christensen is a member of the Clark County Commission.
Robert Broadbent is the Clark County director of aviation and as such, is the administrator of McCarran International Airport, as well as small county airports in Jean, Searchlight and Overton.
"We have a tourism-based economy," explained Brother Broadbent. "We will soon have 75,000 hotel rooms." Additonal expansive attractions, including a major theme park, are planned for the future, so "we don't see much change" in the rapid growth rate.
Church members are well-aware that it was Mormon pioneers who first arrived here in the "meadows" on June 14, 1855. They built a fort near warm springs of clear water, and began farming. Although this mission was recalled and eventually abandoned by the Church, the seed had been planted. The old fort became a way station for travelers. Later it became known as "Fort Baker," and still later became the headquarters of a ranch.
In 1905, the city of Las Vegas came into being when a railroad was completed along the old freight road between Los Angeles and Salt Lake City. Up to that point, Church membership in Clark County had been exclusively Mormon settlers in the Muddy River area.
In 1914, an energetic returned missionary, Newell Leavitt, organized the first LDS Sunday School here. A year later a dependent branch was organized.
"When I first moved to Las Vegas in 1923, we held Sunday School and sacrament meeting in a dance hall above Beckley's Clothing Store," states a history of the Church in Las Vegas written by early Church leader Marion B. Earl. "On Sunday mornings we would have to go early and sweep up the cigarette butts and cigar stubs, mop up the beer stains from the floor, and air the place out."
Two years later the branch was made a ward and the first LDS meetinghouse was built, a small frame building with a stage in the center. The building was curtained off inside to form classrooms. Later this building was hauled to Boulder City, where it was the first LDS meetinghouse in that city. Today, the building has been returned to Las Vegas, but is owned by another congregation.
Berkeley L. Bunker, a longtime leader and prominent member, offered insights into the rise of the Church since 1925.
When he moved with his family to Las Vegas in 1925, the Las Vegas Ward had just been created with fewer than 175 members. But by 1930, membership increased to more than 400 members.
Brother Bunker, who returned from a mission in 1930 to marry and earn $75 per month by driving a milk truck, said times were difficult for himself, the ward and the city in those days.
"There was a time we just hoped we'd be bigger than Cedar City, Utah," he said. At that time, the city had about 2,500 residents while Cedar City had about 3,800 people.
Brother Bunker was among the first members to gain local prominence. He later ran for election as a legislator. He won three terms and became well-known in the community and state. In 1941 he was appointed to fill the term of a U.S. senator who died shortly after election.
He recalled that during the 1940s, Las Vegas underwent a transformation. The construction of Hoover Dam brought an influx of people. An aggressive Chamber of Commerce endorsed gaming, and "promoted this town to the hilt," Brother Bunker continued. Outside capital flowed in and the strip was built.
While the members did not support this effort, "We have never, never encouraged confrontation," said Brother Bunker. "We live and let live, and we have always had a very good rapport with others in the city."
The Church grew rapidly as Las Vegas mushroomed as a tourist destination. The Las Vegas Stake was created in 1954 and divided in 1960, forming the Las Vegas North stake (now the North Las Vegas stake). New stakes were added in 1956 (Lake Mead, now Henderson), 1965 (Paradise), 1968 (Central), 1970 (South), 1973 (Lake Mead West, now Henderson West) 1977 (Redrock), 1978 (East), 1983 (West), 1985 (Green Valley, Lakes and Sunrise), and 1990, (Lone Mountain, Sandstone and Warm Springs).
Culminating the growth of the Church was completing and dedicating the Las Vegas Temple in 1989. "The temple raised the level of dedicated service of the average member," said Brother Bunker. "It has increased the esteem and stature of the Church."