Marshall Mormons grow in faith as they build on to chapel

MARSHALL, Minn. — They started with 25 people in one small chapel. Now, the Marshall branch of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has outgrown its worship space for the second time since the 1980s. It was definitely time to expand, church members and leaders said at a gathering this weekend.Local and area church leaders, as well as a good crowd of church members, gathered at the LDS chapel on East Lyon Street on Saturday morning to break ground for a new addition.\"We are excited,\" said Don Jones, the branch president, or pastor, of the Marshall LDS church. The building addition will renovate classrooms and increase the chapel's overall size to 12,000 square feet, to better accommodate the 130 people who attend church there now.M. Timothy Steele, the area stake president, or regional LDS church leader, said the Marshall congregation's growth is an encouraging sign. The region around southwest Minnesota has one of the smallest Mormon populations in the country. Jones said growing families are one reason the building addition is needed.