In the Spotlight

BYU Announces Institute for Study and Preservation of Ancient Religious Texts

Elder Merrill J. Bateman of the Seventy, president of Brigham Young University, has announced the creation of the university’s Institute for the Study and Preservation of Ancient Religious Texts. The new institute includes within it BYU’s Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies (FARMS). It will deal with translation and publishing of the Middle Eastern texts as well as the preservation of ancient religious texts.

President Bateman said the institute was created to increase public access to ancient religious records. The production of the Dead Sea Scrolls on CD-ROM, the Islamic Translation Series, and image-acquisition and electronic publication are examples of the work being done at the BYU institute.

Washington D.C. Stake Relief Society Aids Zimbabwe

Some 200 Relief Society sisters and other members of the Washington D.C. Stake worked together in March to produce thousands of humanitarian aid items to be sent to Zimbabwe. The stake made quilts, leper bandages, dresses, newborn kits, sewing kits, and hygiene kits.

Ambassador Simbi Veke Mubako from the Republic of Zimbabwe and his wife, Dr. Hazel Mubako, attended the final day of the service project and spoke about the tremendous need for help in their country. The ambassador noted that 25 percent of his nation’s 12 million population are AIDS patients. Most of these are orphan babies whose parents died from the disease.

Iowa Museum Features Danish Latter-day Saint Immigration

The Danish Immigrant Museum, located in the Danish community of Elk Horn, Iowa, is running a new exhibit, “Wilderness Exodus: The Danish Mormon Experience in America,” from 7 May through 28 October 2001.

The exhibit documents missionary work in Denmark, the arduous journey from Denmark to Utah, and the activities of the settlers in their new home. The museum will also sponsor a series of lectures about the experiences of early Latter-day Saints as they traveled across Iowa.

The gospel was first taught in Denmark in 1850.