In the Spotlight

BYU—Idaho’s Enrollment Hits Record High

Enrollment at Brigham Young University—Idaho hit an all-time high with 9,893 students during the 2002 winter semester. The enrollment included 2,529 students classified as juniors or seniors.

BYU—Idaho began offering bachelor’s degrees along with its traditional associate degrees last fall.

Kansas City Stake Helps Put on Family Week

Members of the Kansas City Missouri Stake joined their community to put on the fourth annual “Family Week” in Blue Springs, Missouri, 20–26 January.

The weeklong community celebration included various religious services focusing on the importance of the family; a sacred music festival; the selection of a “family of the year”; family time improvement contests; family-centered activities; family-themed photo, art, and essay contests; and a drawing that could be entered by completing a pedigree chart and writing a story from family history.

Young people of the stake cut and distributed gold ribbons throughout the community for people to display as a reminder of the importance of families.

Government leaders, including Missouri Governor Bob Holden, praised the project. The week culminated with Blue Springs Mayor Greg Grounds designating every Tuesday night as “family night.”

Blue Springs’s family week started four years ago when Kansas City stake member Diane Mack presented the idea to officials at her son’s elementary school. The idea was so successful at the school that it has now turned into a community-wide celebration.

Finnish Relief Society Sends Aid to Russian Women

Sisters of the Tampere Ward, Tampere Finland Stake, recently provided dozens of maternity aid packages to a hospital in the Russian republic of Karelia. The packages contained 58 hand-knit blankets, diapers, baby clothes, and other baby supplies, with a letter in Russian explaining the Finnish women’s desire to send something made with their own hands to their unknown friends in Russia. The sisters hope the packages will help break barriers between Finland and Russia.

Members of other faiths and less-active and new members of the Relief Society also took part in the project. Kristiina Kalliomäki, who was baptized shortly before the project began, said participating helped her form roots in the Church and the Relief Society. A young woman who had just entered Relief Society, Annastiina Ruuskanen, said, “I have gained a feeling for what Relief Society is. I feel I have joined a circle of sisters.”