In the Spotlight

Church Recognized in Kazakhstan

The Church recently received official recognition in Kazakhstan, a country that borders Russia and China in the Europe East Area. There are now more than 25 Latter-day Saints in the capital city of Astana.

Elder Wayne M. Hancock of the Seventy, President of the Europe East Area, met with Kazakhstani government officials in February to express appreciation for the official recognition.

Geographically, Kazakhstan is the ninth largest nation in the world. Once a part of the former Soviet Union, Kazakhstan was long deprived of religious freedoms, but its current constitution guarantees religious freedom and protection for all faiths.

Fort at Martin’s Cove to Be Excavated

During the month of June the Wyoming State Archaeologist’s Office and the University of Wyoming Department of Anthropology will conduct site excavations at Seminoe’s Fort, near Devil’s Gate and Independence Rock in central Wyoming. Members of the Martin Handcart Company, Latter-day Saint pioneers, took refuge in the abandoned fort in 1856 when they were caught in early snows en route to the Salt Lake Valley.

The fort was subsequently used as a stagecoach and mail station until it was abandoned and burned in 1858, but the foundation of the structure, located near the Mormon Handcart Historic Site at Martin’s Cove, was discovered in 1997.

Swiss Branch Aids Romanian Orphanage

Members of the Schaffhausen Branch, Zurich Switzerland Stake, worked with others in their community recently to gather small gifts for children in a Baia-Mare, Romania, orphanage. Branch members packed 100 gift boxes full of toys, chocolate, and toiletry items. A family in the branch used their van to deliver the gifts to the orphanage, driving through Austria and Hungary to reach Romania.