This is The World Report of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, October, 2010. Their individual stories tell of different walks of life but also singleness of faith for all to see and read. The new mormon.org website reaches out online. Plus, a prolific American writer is remembered for his life's work, while the museum that tells his story develops a unique partnership of discovery for a new generation. And we follow President Thomas S. Monson to the dedications of four new temples and hear the impressions of the people in Kyiv, Ukraine. But first, we take you to the largest nation on earth, with borders stretching from Eastern Europe to Asia, and see the faces and hear the stories of faith and family of Latter-day Saints living and making a difference in Russia, a nation with a centuries-long history of Orthodox Christianity, passing through periods of great political change in modern times. It's been a religious people whose devotion to their faith has survived anything beyond what we would ever have experienced or even imagined. There's a light here. There's a brightness, a hope and excitement. For Latter-day Saint converts, like psychologist Galina Goncharova, martial arts instructor Vanik Arutyunyan and university student, Timur Kodirov, their individual stories are connected to a time and place few are familiar with. When, in 1903, Elder Francis Lyman of the Twelve arrived here inside the gates of the Summer Garden park in Saint Petersburg and offered a dedicatory prayer for the gospel to be preached in Russia. It was dedicated again in 1990 by Elder Russell M. Nelson after significant political reforms had come to Russia. [SPEAKING RUSSIAN] The relationship of the government toward believers has now changed, and I believe for the better. In any way, people don't have to be afraid to go to church anymore.

Galina says she was touched by her exposure to the Church and the kindness of the members she met. She became the first convert to the Church after it was reestablished. [SPEAKING RUSSIAN] My life changed the moment I was baptized fundamentally because I found out that God loves me.

And in a bustling city like Moscow, with a population of more than 10 million, there would be others receptive to the Church's message, including Vanik Arutyunyan. Today, he works as a martial arts instructor. He first made contact with Mormon missionaries in the city after leaving his home in Armenia in the early 1990s. [SPEAKING RUSSIAN] When I came here to the city of Moscow, I was alone, without my family. I was just a young guy when I left my family and my parents. My mother gave me a gift-- a Bible-- and said, my son, I won't be with you in person, but know this. When you read this book, you will feel my love. Vanik says that experience prepared him for the message of the missionaries. He now serves as a branch president in Central Moscow and shares his life experiences with members as a lay leader in the Church. You wouldn't know it from appearances, but Timur Kodirov was on a path toward delinquency on the streets of Rostov before his uncle interrupted a dangerous pattern and introduced him to the Church. [SPEAKING RUSSIAN] I have a great appreciation to God that I had the opportunity to start everything anew, who I can become, and see what I want to see in myself.

Timur turned away from his former life on the streets, served a mission in Russia, and now studies international affairs.

It's not always easy to make time for nurturing family life in large metropolitan cities. But for the [? McKee ?] family in Moscow and the [? Leostrins ?] of Saint Petersburg, the Church's message of family togetherness resonates in Russia. [SPEAKING RUSSIAN] We'd like to share with our friends that there are a lot of wonderful families in the Church. And of course, we'd like to share with them that families can be eternal. [SPEAKING RUSSIAN] We build our family relationships and our relationship with our kids on the foundation of Jesus Christ. It's also a quest to rediscover families that have gone on before in Russia. Mormon convert, [? Yevgeni Numerov ?], speaks four languages and has traced his passion in family history back 14 generations, discovering that some of his forebears lost their lives in defense of their Christian faith. I felt that finding the gospel now when the Church was restored, that they're all looking at me and they know that I'm doing the right thing. I'm grateful that they left this legacy for me. I'm grateful that I am a Church member. And now, with the dedication of the temple in neighboring Ukraine, Church members in Russia say they are finding renewed optimism as they continue to live and serve.

In the Western Pacific and the island chains of Micronesia, Chuuk Island welcomes a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles for the very first time. On May 12, Elder D. Todd Christofferson arrived to dedicate the recently-completed Namoneas Chuuk District Center. The building is located on the picturesque shore of Chuuk Lagoon and offers a place of worship for Latter-day Saints. Unique to its design is a boat landing for the many members who travel from the outer islands to attend church services and other meetings. It is great honor for me to be here today. Elder Christofferson thanked the Saints for their kindness and encouraged them to be examples holding up the light of Christ. He then offered the dedicatory prayer on the building, blessing it as a place of meeting and worship. During Elder Christofferson's visit to Chuuk, he toured the area where the Church donated a mobile desalination unit. Its purpose is to convert salt water into fresh. Until the unit was installed, island residents had to rely completely on rain water alone.

Senior leadership meetings between The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the People's Republic of China have led to regularized operations. The designation formally acknowledges the Church while understanding the Church does not anticipate sending missionaries to China, nor has it considered doing so in these recent meetings. Church spokesman Michael Otterson announced, "The Church deeply appreciates the courtesy of the Chinese leadership in opening up a way to better define how the Church and its members can proceed with daily activities, all in harmony with Chinese law." A redesigned mormon.org website launched by the Church on July 15, 2010, has taken the Latter-day Saint experience to a new place of accessibility online. You know, there's really never a dull moment. Hi, dad. Hey, bug. Hi. Being a mom, another reason why we're busy-- The site is filled with video and written profiles encouraging people who are curious about the Mormon faith to take a closer look at the lives of members of the Church-- in a way, knock on their door, and learn firsthand how their beliefs impact their lives. I'm an artist. My name is Rose Datoc Dall, and I'm a Mormon. And my phone is buzzing. When you read these profiles, you get inside people's hearts. And it's pretty obvious right from the get go that people are sharing their own beliefs and their own values, that the institutional Church hasn't said, we'll, say this, or say that. Because it hasn't. People have total freedom to write what they want. My mom is up here. This is my dad. This is my grandmother, [UNINTELLIGIBLE]. This is actually the woman that I'm named after. It is very, very important to know your history. With dozens of media profiles, more than 5,000 written profiles, and 25,000 more to come, it's expected the new website will soon be filled with nearly 100,000 Church member profiles. I'm so polarized in my love of motorcycling and sculpting and that motorcycle culture that I find refuge in the Church and in my family. With test markets in US cities like Jacksonville, Florida, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and Rochester, New York, and network and cable news coverage on ABC and MSNBC, mormon.org has seen traffic increase by nearly 50% in online visitors. The momentum has generated interested beyond North America. At this point, the entire English-speaking world will have access to all of these materials. Now, of course, as soon as and as rapidly as we can get there, other languages and other cultures will be manifest as well. To see and experience more, log on to mormon.org. Straight ahead, in the capital city of Ukraine, a new temple graces the land and causes the people of Kyiv to reflect on a new day for the Church in Eastern Europe. Plus, more temples are dedicated in North America and the Pacific. And a temple visitors' center in California takes on a special mission to declare the central message of the Church, when we come right back.

A blessing of God be upon you. Four new temples are dedicated before summer's end this year. And most recently, President Monson traveled to Eastern Europe, dedicating the Kyiv Ukraine Temple, and guiding the youthful participation of the cornerstone ceremony. How about the boy in the blue tie? Come under the rail. Underneath. You look like a missionary already. Three years in the making, and under the watchful eyes of Ukrainian Saints, and the entire city for that matter, the Kyiv, Ukraine temple opened its doors to the public, three weeks before its dedication, during the last weekend of August, 2010. The occasion grants a unique opportunity to friends of the Church to take a guided tour into the rooms of the temple, ask questions about the Latter-day Saint faith growing in Eastern Europe, and consider its unifying family message, which is at the heart of Latter-day Saint temples. You see, we're not members of the Church. We were curious to find out what is going on here. It's difficult to express our opinion, but I feel very nice being there. It's really beautiful. I felt inside comfortable and calm. It was a really special feeling which I haven't experienced before, and I'm just amazed. The public invitation brought hundreds to the temple grounds who otherwise know very little about the Church. But for [? David Yevenko, ?] a convert to the Mormon faith, the temple open house gave him a chance to share his newfound beliefs with his father, who joined him for the day. I'm hoping to show him what I feel, because everything inside explains exactly the feelings in my heart, and it explains why I'm here, why I'm a member of the Church. [SPEAKING RUSSIAN] I asked my son if we could come here together today. He'd already been to the temple before, so this morning I said to him, let's go. I want to see it. I am happy my son is a member of the Church. Another special guest to attend the temple open house was Kateryna Yuschenko, the former first lady of Ukraine, who arrived with members of her family. I'm very proud that the temple has been built here. I think it's going to serve a great need for the people of our country. It's a beautiful building. It's something very special. It's light. It's clean. It's good. And I think it's something that we need here. And a very important aspect of what I learned today is the importance of knowing where you came from, who were your ancestors, and where you're going. And I think that this temple will serve that purpose. The Kyiv Ukraine Temple is the Church's second to be built in Eastern Europe. Its completion reminds many here of the time when Elder Boyd K. Packer stood at this site above the Dnieper river and the city below and blessed the land in the fall of 1991. [SPEAKING RUSSIAN] For the members of the Church here, this means finally there's a place where we can come and feel peace. It's a place where we can come and feel the love of God and the influence of the Holy Ghost. From the Ukraine in Eastern Europe to the Pacific Rim and the site of the Cebu Philippines Temple. It's been a remarkable period of temple dedications for the Church and a busy season for President Thomas S. Monson, traveling to the Philippines to dedicate the 133rd temple of the Church in Cebu on June 13. This is the second temple to be built in the Philippines after the Manila Temple was built in 1984. The Cebu City Temple will serve more than 200,000 members of the Church living in the Visayas and Mindanao areas. East across the Pacific to Canada and to the Vancouver British Columbia Temple. On May 2, 2010, President Monson dedicated this temple, which had been open for public tours just over a month after the city of Vancouver hosted the Olympic Winter Games in February. The temple is located on the Trans-Canada Highway on the eastern side of the metro area. As the 131st operating temple in the Church, and the seventh in Canada, it will serve the members of the Church living in British Columbia and northern Washington state. From the moist climate of the Pacific Northwest, we move to the desert Southwest, to the Gila Valley Arizona Temple. Dedicated on May 24, President Monson greeted hundreds in attendance during the cornerstone ceremony before it became 132nd operating temple in this remote part of the Arizona landscape. During the ceremony, President Monson invited the youth to take part in applying mortar to the cornerstone. One more little push. You've got it. Oh, he's good. You're an expert. He is an expert. Arizona has temples operating in Mesa and Snowflake, and two other temples have been announced in the cities of Gilbert and Phoenix.

Thousands gathered early in the morning on Saturday, July 31, at the location of the future temple in Brigham City, Utah. They came to witness the dedication of the site by President Boyd K. Packer of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and celebrate in the groundbreaking ceremony led by Elder Russell M. Nelson of the Twelve, Elder William R. Walker of the Seventy, along with local Church and civic leaders. Clearly, today we now stand in a holy place. The occasion was especially meaningful for Elder Packer as he shared with the people some of his memories growing up in the pioneer community of Brigham City, and how over the years, on this plot of temple land once stood a school that had long been vacated. The temple site, ideally situated across from the historic Brigham City Tabernacle, actually came as something of a surprise to Elder Packer. You may wonder-- and this may surprise you-- I had nothing to do, deliberately, with locating the temple here in Brigham City. I was too busy to think about it. And I wasn't aware there was going to be a temple in Brigham City until it was announced that President Monson was coming up here to choose a site. He called and said, I'd like you to go with me. We're leaving in about 30 minutes. That's about the notice we get. If we're going overseas, we'll get an hour. Following Elder Packer's dedicatory prayer, the image of the future temple was revealed-- a twin-spire building that shares some of its exterior design features with the historic Salt Lake Temple. Completion of the Brigham City Utah Temple is scheduled for 2012. The Los Angeles Temple, long seen as a beacon of faith to Latter-day Saints in Southern California and a landmark on the city's west side is attracting people from every walk of life to its completely renovated visitors' center, which sits just north of the temple itself. It's open to welcome everybody-- all of our friends, everyone that's just around here. Each of the visitors' centers that we do are unique. And each one has a local feel and a local personality that makes it part of the community. The new visitors' center greets every guest with a panoramic view of the Christus statue standing before a scene familiar to many in the West-- a sunset over the Pacific Ocean. Once inside, visitors are drawn to a wide array of deeply-held Mormon beliefs and values. Central to them all is a special venue-- Savior of the World, where the life and ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ are retold amid the biblical backdrop of old Jerusalem. We tell a great story, and people are always surprised. They always come to these visitors centers, and you always hear comments like, I didn't know that. And the story continues as guests can visit media-driven exhibits that offer messages from the Book of Mormon. Hear personal perspectives from individual Latter-day Saints, discover a new appreciation for the purpose of families, and see the examples of services taught by the Church in an exhibit entitled Love Thy Neighbor. It's a place where you want to be. It's a place where you feel better. It's a place where not just that you have peace, or that you feel peaceful, but you definitely want to be able to share this with their friends. And so they just go, I just want to hang out. So you'll find people meandering about and wandering just for the sake of the fact that it feels so good. This is a place where you feel the peace. And families are going to be ready to come and listen to that message. For more than a century, the Salt Lake Temple has been an icon in downtown Salt Lake City, its exterior matched only by the reverence for what transpires inside by members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. A first-of-its-kind, scaled replica has been created to allow visitors a glimpse inside the Salt Lake temple. We think it'll be wonderful for a non-member to help dispel misperceptions and for member alike to renew their faith and renew their desire to go to the temple. From the layout to the furnishings, the artwork, and architecture, the general public now has an opportunity to experience something similar to what visitors to the original Salt Lake Temple open house would have experienced. Extensive open houses have been held prior to the dedication of newly-constructed temples throughout the world and allow visitors to walk through and experience the sacred structures before being dedicated. Once dedicated, temples are in continual, even daily, use by members of the Church for religious purposes. Peter McCann Architectural Models of Toronto, Canada was brought in to create a miniaturized version of the Salt Lake temple. Over a five-month period, thousands of still photographs were used. High-tech, computer-aided tools were used, and 16 modelers crafted the miniature Mormon temple. The walls of the model have been cut away to show rooms that are replicas of those in the actual temple. From the large assembly hall to the baptistery, the detail includes paintings, furniture, and wall murals. The replica is on display inside the south visitors center on Temple Square. It weighs over 600 pounds. The model itself is 88 inches tall and stands nearly 12 feet tall on its pedestal. It's a perfect setting here with the tremendous number of people that come to Temple Square. And with this beautiful room where they look at the Salt Lake Temple, to have this model on display right here where they're actually looking at the temple is just perfect. Interactive kiosks allow visitors to understand the temple through a series of narrated still photos and video. I think it's unbeatable. I've never seen anything like it. We're so excited we can hardly sleep. Straight ahead-- at first glance, it's a new chapel built to accommodate the growing Church. But wait until you see how its construction harnesses the power of the sun and smart technology for a new generation. And the 2010 National Genealogical Society's Annual Conference comes to Salt Lake City. And the Church helps celebrate while sharing the latest tools in the search of family history. In late April of 2010, the Presiding Bishopric introduced the completion of a meeting house powered by the sun in Farmington, Utah. It's the latest environmentally-friendly construction effort and the first solar-powered meeting house built by the Church in the Northern Hemisphere. When you operate an inventory in excess of 17,000 buildings, you can understand that environmental issues are extremely important. The meeting house is part of a pilot program created to demonstrate the Church's ongoing commitment to stewardship and conservation. On April 27, media representatives were given a tour of the facility in order to see first hand its conservation features. The building has a highly-efficient heating and cooling system that interfaces with the solar power equipment, landscaping designs, and plumbing fixtures. The result will cut water use by more than 50%. Special-treated windows keep cool air in during the summer months and promote solar warmth in the winter. Each building is designed to last and will use the latest advancements in efficiency. These technologies also extend into the landscaping of the grounds surrounding the chapel. Moisture sensors monitor weather conditions and shut off sprinkler systems during rainfall, while other landscape design requires no water at all. We're anxious to be good stewards of that which the Lord has blessed us with. And we have always been anxious to be good stewards. Over the years, examples of conservation efforts by the Church include capture systems of rain water in the Pacific, wellwater cooling systems in the Church office building, geothermal heat for chapels, and motion sensors to cut electricity use in Church buildings. Along with the Farmington location, there are four other meeting house prototypes currently under construction in Utah, Arizona, and two locations in Nevada. The downtown City Creek development sponsored by the Church is a vast undertaking. Forbes magazine calls the Salt Lake City project "the ancient ideal of building a city around it's essential 'sacred space,'" referring to its close proximity to the worldwide headquarters of the Church and historic Temple Square. That unique motivation to city revitalization brought in news cameras in the spring of 2010 when it captured the latest benchmark in the five-year development, the placement of the sky bridge over Main Street. Rather than doing a shoring system across, it's the least impact to the traffic on Main Street, whether it's pedestrian, light rail, or vehicular. The heavy-duty task was highlighted by the connection of this 140-foot steel expanse to a pair of retail centers that anchor the City Creek project. This is a big step, but it's only one of the steps. Clearly, as good looking as the steel structure is behind us, there's a lot more work still left to do. It's anticipated for completion in late 2011. On April 28 to May 1, the National Genealogical Society held its Annual Family History Conference at the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City, Utah. Thousands of genealogical researchers gathered to learn new methods and discover the resources to search family ancestry. We have appreciated very much the work that's been provided by FamilySearch and all the volunteers here in Salt Lake City. During the week-long event, the Church's Conference Center played host to a celebration of family history, which was produced by FamilySearch, a division of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Also, workshops were held to assist genealogists conduct further research on its free FamilySearch website. We're just trying to help the community come together. We're trying to help the community produce these records. We're in a great place to help the work go forward. Salt Lake City is home to the world's largest genealogical resource center. Founded in 1894, the Family History Library is open to the public and contains a collection of nearly 2 and 1/2 million rolls of microfilm and more than a million other records, books, and official publications. It's the love of learning, and it never dies. That's what this is all about-- the love of learning. Throughout the conference, video presentations shared personal journeys and dramatic discoveries of individuals as they sought out their ancestors. It's all about learning who your family is, and therefore, who you are. The relationship between the Church and Jewish leaders has established more common ground and mutual respect in the area of genealogical research and proxy baptisms. The Church has undertaken far-reaching measures to ensure that names of Jewish individuals who perished in the Holocaust are not used in ordinance work practiced by Latter-day Saints. The Church announced in September, "It is gratifying that the good faith efforts undertaken over the years to deal with an important issue of sensitivity to the Jewish Holocaust survivor community have eliminated a source of tension between our two groups, enhancing our ability to cooperate, including in important programs of humanitarian aid across the world." When you know your heritage and history, it allows you to be more loving and more kind and get along with people. It's that message of goodwill that inaugurated the opening of the Alex Haley Museum and Interpretive Center in Henning, Tennessee. It's located on the grounds of the historic boyhood home of the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Roots. Alex Haley's story of a family during the tragic era of slavery motivated millions to understand their own heritage. The book and television of Roots brought an awareness of American history to our country and many parts of the world. Slavery divided families. Genealogy will unite families. Inside the museum are some of the timeless messages of Haley's work, and for those who find themselves moved by it all, an immediate way to channel their interests. We found something today. Yes. Something that you didn't have. FamilySearch, the world's largest genealogical database, and sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, has partnered with the Haley Center and Museum to provide free and immediate access to its global database inside the Haley Center. So it's an opportunity to simply bring people in and help them understand their heritage the way that Mr. Haley did. I always send them to the LDS Church. I say, find an LDS Church with a history portion and go in there, and they'll help you find out who you are. And it doesn't matter what country or anything. They can help you. So folks are very surprised that that is true. And true for 17-year-old violinist Joseph Matthews who, after performing in the grand opening ceremonies, learned of his own family history with FamilySearch. I just think that the whole idea of researching your family lineage is really interesting. And if I'm able to discover more about how they were and what their actual dreams were, I'd like to see myself being and living the dreams that they once had. When we return, President Monson delivers a cheerful challenge to college graduates. Plus, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir celebrates a 100-year milestone of recording and shares the joy of looking back with a live performance.

President Thomas S. Monson made several campus visits last spring to wish graduates well during commencement exercises. On this day, April 23, at Weber State University in Ogden, Utah, President Monson was invited to speak to 2,300 graduates and their families. He encouraged the students to seek the abundant life, to face their fears with a hopeful and positive attitude. Remember your ABCs as you journey through life, that you may cultivate a positive attitude. Believe that you can achieve your goals and have the courage to face whatever challenges may come your way. Then the abundant life will be yours.

In mid-September, a special public forum commemorating the signing of the US Constitution took place at Temple Square inside the historic Tabernacle in Salt Lake City, Utah. Organized by the University of Utah's Hinckley Institute of Politics. Those who attended heard the keynote address of Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. He is a former law professor and state supreme court justice. Elder Oaks spoke of the US Constitution, its purpose and protections in a present climate of antagonism toward religion. Some of the things said by various persons in recent public discourse cause me to urge that we be more careful in the way we throw around the idea that something is unconstitutional. A constitution should not be used as a weapon to end debate. Elder Oaks urged citizens to understand the Constitution, support the law, practice civic virtue, maintain civility in political discourse, and promote patriotism. It is proposed that we sustain-- New leadership changes have come to the Primary general presidency. During a Saturday afternoon General Conference session on April 3, President Dieter F. Uchtdorf announced that Sister Rosemary M. Wixom was called to be president, along with Sister Jean A. Stevens as first counselor, and sister Cheryl A. Esplin as second counselor. Following the announcement, Sister Wixom and her counselors met with the news media to talk about the role of the Primary and the spiritual development of children around the world. But our foundation will always be to support the parents and to help a child identify who he or she is and let them discover for themselves what it feels like to feel the Holy Ghost. Sister Wixom becomes 12th Primary general president following five years of service by sister Cheryl C. Lant. With the artwork of a lifetime adorning artist Arnold Friberg's public memorial at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City, Utah, his admirers came to say goodbye. The 96-year-old painter and illustrator passed away July 1. His life's work spanned the decades and became internationally known during the 1950s when his paintings depicted characters and events from the Book of Mormon. The work was originally commissioned to serve as covers for 12 editions of The Children's Friend, a Latter-day Saint magazine, but would later be published in paperback copies of the Book of Mormon, and remain to this day, while his paintings are on constant display. He had no idea that it would end up to be this. Who would've ever imagined that there would be a room called the Friberg Gallery and millions of people from around the world would stand and weep at his paintings? Arnold had the ability to be seer-- a visionary who could look back into the scriptures and visualize and bring to us those moments that are just quite remarkable.

It may be hard to picture given this modern setting at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City, but this Pioneer Day performance last July celebrates the 100-year anniversary of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir's first recording in 1910. In doing so, the choir stepped into the American history books as the first of its kind to record its music for untold numbers of people to hear for generations to come. There were no microphones, no digital recording equipment. If you can believe it, the recording was laid down on a wax disc kept warm by a light bulb. And it was from that, you might say, that a recording tradition was born.

The concert, entitled 100 Years of Excellence, took time amid the music to look back on the foundations of those early recording years and the surprising successes of the choir's record sales. Its debut in 1930s radio as Music and the Spoken Word is the nation's longest-running live broadcast. In more recent years, the choir developed its own recording label in 2003, and in the process, creating an even greater outreach. With our own label, we're unfettered as ambassadors to the Church to be able to reach out around the globe. We're on iPads in Mexico and ringtones in the Far East. President Thomas S. Monson summoned the pioneer spirit of the Church and brought that missionary message of tribute to the Tabernacle Choir during his closing remarks on the night of the concert. No missionary effort at the Church has brought greater spirit to the work of the Lord than the singing and playing of these Saints behind me and the tens of thousands who filled the choir seats before them. Tonight, we praise our music pioneers.

Still to come, from the inner city to the countryside, lending a hand in the Golden State sends a message of unity everyone can applaud. California-- an American state known worldwide for its natural beauty, thriving commerce, and home base for the movie-making industry, is also home to more than one million members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. On a bright Saturday morning in early May, from the Bay Area up north and down south to Los Angeles, an estimated 70,000 members met at dawn, organized work parties, put on their yellow Helping Hands vest, and rolled up their sleeves to make a positive impact on their neighboring communities. You have everything from young to old, from Beverly Hills to South Central LA. Everyone is here. In places like Griffith Park, well known for its horse trails and hiking paths, these Mormon Helping Hands volunteers scattered about 4,200 acres of forested area to rake, clean, trim, and restore the recreation spots loved by many of the city's residents, a feeling shared by the youngest volunteers.

Look at us here, and kids are the ones who work the hardest here. Here you go. You're doing that fence right over there. OK, great. All right. South of Los Angeles, in the community of Inglewood, Jesse Owens Memorial Park is a hub for inner-city sports teams and youth programs. Here, hundreds of Latter-day Saint volunteers arrived early to plant trees, paint the administration building, and spruce up the park before the start of the busy summer season. To see 350 people come out and donate their time to give back to the community tells a community that people care. And it's infectious. That contagious desire to pitch in also showed up in California's San Gabriel Valley, and in San Dimas where the McKinley Children's Center provides care to abused children. On this day, Mormon Helping Hands painted the buildings of this campus inside and out and gave a major boost to a special place that cares for children who've been neglected. What we did with over 200 people here today would have taken me several years to get accomplished. I just couldn't have got that done. It takes volunteers to do that. And to have a group within four hours clean it all up, it just makes this place look beautiful. And it's warming to my heart. Kurt Turner brought his talents to the Helping Hands workforce and for some very special reasons. As a teenager, Kurt lived here at the center himself. He knows firsthand what it's like to experience neglect and then be comforted when people openly demonstrate how much they care. Once I got to this facility-- McKinley Children's Center here-- I was given an opportunity-- people that cared about me, people that sent me to school, people to make sure I was fed. And that was what was so important about this facility for me, that I was given a chance. Just an awesome thing to see everybody come out here and give their time. And they did a great job. Their hearts were in it, and they really focused on what they were doing. By the end of the day, tens of thousands of volunteers from 154 stakes fanned out across California and donated more than 200,000 hours of service. This has been The World Report of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, October, 2010. For a copy of The World Report on DVD, please visit this website or watch it online at videos.lds.org. We welcome your comments or story ideas. Please contact us at worldreport@ldschurch.org.