Elder Joe Kazek has returned after serving his mission. Elder Kazek served in Mexico Sonora Mission. He is the son of Mike and Amy Kazek, Heritage Ward, West Stake. Elder Joe Kazek will be speaking Sunday, March 9th, at 9 am in Stake Center. It is located at 100 N. Arrowhead Ln. Welcome Home!

Heritage Days was held with the East and West Stakes Saturday, March 1 at the Heritage Park. The local VFW presented the flag followed by Alana Davis singing the National Anthem.   President Ryan Toone of the East welcomed everyone and told the story of Mary Jane Leavitt whose statue stands in front of city hall. Mary Jane Leavitt is a great example of faith and service in her care for the sick and broken hearts.  She delivered babies and took care of their mothers.  Her door was always open to those who stopped by and she always fed them saying, ‘there is enough such as ‘tis!’ “I hope that same feeling will exist here, and we can use her example to show love and to help one another.” President Jared Hollingshead of the West Stake also spoke of the pioneering spirit.  When they had hardships they soldiered-on. He said,” I see the same grit and determination that was exemplified in the settling of the valley. I have witnessed adversity today in the lives of people in this valley and their strength to overcome adversity and help one another.  Elder Emerson Carnavale at our recent stake conference said, “there is a special spirit here in this valley. “He could feel that spirit of kindness and caring.” Pres. Hollingshead continued, “Let us continue that legacy and help our friends and neighbors. “ Thank you to all those that provided booths, food to taste, crafts, and activities. The kids enjoyed eating cotton candy and kettle corn.  There were numerous pioneer games, stick pulling, horseback rides, or roping “steers”.  The Abbott family had a petting zoo with goats to love, baby rabbits to cuddle, baby chicks, hens and roosters and pigs to feed.  Kids and youth could try milking a cow or making adobe bricks.  The Cox family had their branding irons heating and burned initials in wood for the kids to take home and wear around their neck.   Rag doll making was a favorite activity as well as making small handcarts.  They could also try the ring rolling area.  The Harlachers had small wagon train that took kids around the parking lot to get the feeling of a long journey across the plains.  Leon Gubler brought his team of horses and wooden wagon to give rides.  We appreciate his traveling to Mesquite to help with the Heritage Days celebration and give us the feel of pioneering.   Pioneer stories were related by Elayne Storrs about her great, great, great grandmother, Mary Elizabethe Cox Whiting, and how they lived in dugouts in San Pete County during the winter.  The area was infested with rattle snakes and rattlers would drop down through the ceiling of the dugouts and it terrified the pioneers.  There were rattle snakes in their beds.  The men got torches and weapons and killed over 300 rattlers in a cave or den of the snakes!  This happened night after night.  There was a 2-year-old boy who looked sickly after being in the dugout all winter.  His mother set him out on the stoop to get some sunshine while he ate his morning bread and milk.  But he didn’t seem to get any better, in fact he grew sicklier and had a little blue tint to his skin.  He would dip his spoon in the milk, move his arm to the side for a little and put it to his mouth.   The answer – a rattlesnake was licking the spoon each time he extended his arm and then the boy was getting a little venom with each bite!  When this was discovered, the rattler was killed, and the boy grew and regained his health and color returned to his skin!  Amazingly no one was ever bitten by a ratter! Rosa Zarate and her daughter Isela make authentic fresh tortillas, rolled and cooked them and served them with freshly made salsa.  Rosa is an expert at mixing, rolling the dough and cooking it perfectly on the grill. Terry and Josie of the Summercrest Ward served 3 kinds of lemonade – Raspberry, Strawberry, and just lemonade along with scrumptious homemade cookies.    Homemade ice cream was a favorite as the day grew warmer and it was hard to decide between chocolate, vanilla, or strawberry! Jan & Craig Mitchel and family had their electric ice cream freezer going and it fascinated the kids who wanted to look inside as it turned.   When asked their favorite flavor, Craig said banana and Jan voted for strawberry.  They are carrying on the family tradition of ice cream making.  They remember Sunday afternoons making ice cream and having the neighbors come over to enjoy the sweet treat. History presentations with pictures and slide shows could be viewed inside the building. Aaron Bunker of the Virgin Valley Water District told the history of the water supply from the piping of the springs on the mountains to the water reservoir and new wells and tanks presented through pictures and posters.  The story of the longest running non-union picket line was told with posters, photos and a video slide show, and documents.  It told the story of the Pron Store that was opened in Mesquite in 1993 and the battle to get it finally shut down in 1996. A timeline with pictures showed the chapels built, Camp Helaman and Camp Ruth, three trek enactments for the youth and three recent floods in the valley.  The family history center was open for people to search records of their ancestors.  The Daughters of the Utah Pioneers had a booth to share information about their pioneer ancestors.    Everyone received a punch card and after visiting all 18 stations a drawing was held.  Prizes included Daniell’s popcorn and two quilts which were tied by ladies that morning.   Norman Ray sang and played country music while lunch was served. Dutch Oven chicken and potatoes, salad and rolls, and dessert were enjoyed in the picnic area. Thanks to Wes Carter and his crew who had 40 Dutch Ovens on the fire pit.  Thank you to the chefs -- Jon Meierhoff and sons, Vall Woods and Jos. Thank you! Tietjen for the traditional pioneer food.  Thanks to Krissy and Richard Cook for their committee or organizing the event.   By Cheryl Jensen

Missionary Letters Sister Dantzel Park Read Letter Elder Andrew Maxfield Read Letter Elder Connor Zarate Read Letter Sister Jasmine Bundy Read Letter Elder Cameron Wright Read Letter Elder Braden Harris Read Letter Sister Marian Leavitt Read Letter Elder Drake Wakefield Read Letter Sister Tyra Ludvigson Read Letter Sister Dantzel Park Read Letter Elder Andrew Maxfield Read Letter Elder Cameron Spilker Read Letter

777cb4ae-7dc7-46fb-be52-acfad21fd887 Sister Jasmine Bundy Back to Missionary Letters Twisters 🌪💥 Hola amigós 👩🌾 Bien! 🖐🤌👌 There were some dumb tornadoes this week. Sister hergie and I went knocking while the sirens were going off. It was the most fun I had all week. I no see tornado, I keep working. 🤡 Other than that we had like 90 meetings. I've been thinking that instead of STL (Sister training leader) It should be STM (Sister training mom) I'm no one's leader, but I will happily be their mom. We had a lesson with our friend Larry at the church building. Larry has started his own latter day saint branch off so that's nice. I really can't win. I find one person who has his own testimony of the restoration through his own study, and then he starts his own church?! BROTHA PLEASE #The church of Larry of Latter Day Saints We had a member in the lesson and Larry kept asking questions that neither our member or Sister hergie knew how to answer. So I just made crap up. Hope it's aight. JUST JOKES 🥱 When in doubt, bear testimony of Jesus Christ. I also went on exchanges with a Spanish speaking companionship. It was great! I was the dumb blonde at the fiesta for 24 hours. When we would go finding, Hermana Brunner told me that I had to stop talking to white people and only talk to Latinos. It was cool to see the differences in how they work their area compared to mine. Anyways back to the tornadoes, I've never seen one before and so I prayed that I would and you know what? I still haven't. Coming soon in theaters maybe? BUT! We called up two Elders in our zone and hyped them up to go do missionary work in the rain. I told them, I said: we will pray that you will find someone to teach at 5:25pm. You have 30 minutes. We got off the call, Sister hergie and I immediately prayed that they would find someone at 5:25pm that was ready to hear the gospel. God literally loves us and thinks we are silly because the Elders found someone to teach... at five-twenty-five-pee-em. Spirit thoughts : So yall know how in the scriptures it talks about "The wicked" ? For example: Ezekiel 3:18 "When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die" Wo wo wo unto the wicked! The wicked shall be cut off... The wicked shall surely die... The wicked shall be cast into hell... And so on. Well. Something I've noticed is that whenever Christ is speaking one on one with someone who is what we would consider "wicked" never does He tie wickedness to their identity. (Woman at the well, woman caught in adultery, men with devils, etc) Wickedness is not an identity, it's a possession. This realization has made reading the scriptures a lot brighter for me! When Christ comes again, the wicked in me really will mourn, but I will not. The wicked in me will be cut off, but I will not. The wicked in me WILL die, but I will not. I am not wickedness, neither are you. I am a child of God, redeemed by Christ, saved by His grace. And because of Him, someday there will be no more wicked to even possess. Amen! I love you all more than magpie babies, -sis. Bjazzy Previous Letter Next Letter

c2a2e9f3-de3a-4d9e-918d-20ccca00891f Sister Dantzel Park Back to Missionary Letters Her Foot Is NOT Broken + A Baptism :) Lots of things happened this week. I am actually baffled at some of this. I did learn a few things though… 1. I still don't like public speaking, however it's not as bad as it used to be 2. Baptisms are so special and I will never forget Alexander's baptism! and 3. I do have a fear of people with multiple personalities Bullet Points Guess who spoke in church again? Yay!! #LoveShareInvite Sebastian, another mission call opening from a ward member!! I am so excited for him to go to Lima Central at the end of April :) Awkward situations with saying goodbye… All the members just keep walking up to me and saying “when are you leaving??” It's really awkward… Hermana Capibara, This is what I am called in this ward and it has been such an honor. I hope to never forget my “capibara moments” Bird whistling… I learned how to whistle like a bird! It was so fun because we have a recent convert with a pet bird I was able to confuse it with my whistling haha We had an interesting Friday :D #DoctorsAppointmet #XRays #HerFootIsNotBroken More about our doctor appointment. We took our pension with us to help simplify big words… It's a good thing because she defended us from the scary doctor :) We met someone who told us he has 7 personalities… I was scared the whole time. But, Hermana Mortensen made the joke and said “hey, 7 baptisms?!?” It's a joke… kinda Baptism!!! Alexander was baptized on Saturday :) It was such a special day! I am so excited for him to get to know the ward better! Welcome to the segment of weird foods with Hermana Park :) @ Cow stomach 4/10 (no it is not a noodle its part of the stomach) @ Shark 11/10 (We didn't even know it was a shark until after we finished eating it! Totally recommend!!) @ Squid Sticks 9/10 (kinda chewy… really good just like fishsticks :) *Spiritual thought* I want to share a thought I got from a member this week. I have thought about this a lot but I don't know if I have shared it before. Lets gooo! The sun is very important and very intense when we sit under it. It physically changes us, we use it to see, and helps things live and grow. We are physically changed by the sun! If we don't use sunscreen we become red. Just like how we need to go to the right sources for información. If we are not careful we can be burned. But, with time in the gospel just like the sun we can see our tan line, how we have grown and what we have learned! We use the sun to see. Without the sun we would live in darkness. Just like the gospel of Jesus Christ we don't have to live in darkness. We have the Son to guide us in what we need to do, and the part we need to be on. Without the sun the plants wouldn't be able to grow. We use the heat to grow and comfort us. Just like a warm hug from someone is very welcome, so is the beautiful sun. Even with all these things some people still find ways to complain about the sun. We need to find reason to be grateful, and find the happy parts of the day. Sometimes we find ourselves in a slump. Look for the good! Have a great week and don't forget to smile :) <3 Hermana Park Previous Letter Next Letter