Orphans meet benefactors
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. -- After sending monthly gifts to young Catholic girls in a Tijuana, Mexico, orphanage for the past four years, many sponsoring families, mostly LDS, were able to greet the girls with hugs.Gathering at the Bakersfield California Stake center earlier in November, the girls, ages 6-15 and who were chaperoned by four Catholic nuns, were treated to ice cream and an early Christmas party with a bilingual Santa Claus. "We can feel of your love, and we know it is from God," said Mother Silvia, one of the nuns through an interpreter.
The sponsorships through which the gifts are sent and the trip to Bakersfield for the girls were organized by Karen Martin of the Meadows Ward, who drives monthly to Mexico to deliver rice, beans, pasta, bed sheets, light bulbs, gifts and hugs. "I was touched when the girls sang to us in appreciation for their gifts; everybody is so generous. Their smiles are infectious," Sister Martin said.
Pioneer restoration continues
CHESTERFIELD, Idaho -- Restoration of this late 19th century Mormon settlement is continuing through the assistance of four missionary couples and one sister missionary, and many volunteers, according to Elder Maurell D. Brown, director.
During the summer of 1999, some 15 youth groups served at the townsite, and it was the location of 14 family reunions. Some 8,600 visitors from 41 states and 12 countries visited. Chesterfield, located on the Oregon Trail in southeastern Idaho, was also visited by the '49ers Gold Rush Wagon Train, which traveled from Missouri to California to re-enact the sesquicentennial of the 1849 gold rush.
The settlement was founded in 1881 and continued until about 1921, when it was abandoned, and subsequently has been largely untouched by the 20th century. The project to restore Chesterfield was started in 1979. Restored are a chapel-museum, a school, two log cabins, one brick home, a tithing office, and a Relief Society granary. Underway are restoration projects of another brick home, a brick store and two more log cabins.
Perform essential service
MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay -- When school resumed recently at the Delta of the Tiger School some 15 miles outside this city, students noticed many improvements. Members of the Montevideo Cerro Uruguay Stake had gathering previously and poured cement for three new rooms, repaired restrooms, painted a mural and generally cleaned the school and grounds.
School leaders said the service was essential for the institution, and expressed their surprise that so many people of all ages worked so long in the cold to complete the projects.
"We do not have words to express our appreciation," they said.