In the Spotlight

Italian TV Program Features Primary

The national Italian television network, RAI, recently aired a program, “Let’s Protect Our Children,” which featured the Church and its Primary organization. The program, aired on 11 April, was part of an ongoing series, Ten Minutes Of.

Moderator Carlo Fontana spoke with Sergio Belforti, president of the Milan Italy Stake and a pediatrician and father of four children; Emanuela De Matteis, a Primary teacher; and Giuseppe Pasta, the Church’s national director of public affairs.

Issues such as the fight against child abuse were discussed. The Church’s Primary programs were described as a way of protecting children, and the LDS panelists were able to explain Church teachings about children and families.

Cambodian King Receives Church Representatives

Church representatives met on 6 May with the king of Cambodia. Among other things, they talked about the Church’s activities in Cambodia and about its emphasis on families.

King Norodom Sihanouk and his wife, Mony Neat Sihanouk, received President John P. Colton of the Cambodia Phnom Penh Mission and his wife, Barbara; President Colton’s counselor Elder Gordon Haight and his wife, Emma; Elder Ralph and Sister Charla Francis, representing LDS charities; Elder David Rasmussen, assistant to the president; and Elder Tol Koim, a native Cambodian missionary.

The visitors presented the king with two copies of the Book of Mormon, one newly translated in Khmer and one in French, along with a record documenting Church activities in the country, including the delivery of humanitarian aid and the providing of educational help through the Latter-day Saint Charities learning center.

Soldier in the Spotlight

The face on the cover of a national magazine the day before Memorial Day in the United States was that of a young soldier from Morgan, Utah. Specialist Matthew L. Hinck was chosen to represent U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan for a story in the 26 May issue of Parade, a Sunday supplement for many newspapers. Brother Hinck is stationed in Fort Campbell, Kentucky. He and his wife, Ann, also from Morgan, are members of the branch in Princeton, Kentucky.

Food for Famine Relief

Humanitarian volunteers gathered at Welfare Square in Salt Lake City on 29 and 30 May to pack nearly 7,000 boxes of emergency food supplies for the suffering people of drought-stricken Malawi, Zimbabwe, and Madagascar.

The worst drought in 50 years is affecting some 20 million Africans in Malawi alone.

More than 300 Church members took part in preparing the emergency food boxes. The Church also sent four large containers of clothing and purchased 250 tons of grain from surrounding countries to help people in the drought areas.

Home Storage: Catching the Spirit

Members of four stakes in American Samoa have enthusiastically welcomed a new emphasis on home storage. They packed 40,000 pounds of food in three months, using foil pouches that protect rice, sugar, and flour in the warm temperatures and humid environment of the tropics.

The procuring of two sealing machines helped spur the storage drive, with the effort being assisted by Elder Ronald and Sister Rose Harvey, welfare service missionaries from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Local priesthood leaders have directed and helped give impetus to the efforts. President Falema’o M. Pili of the Pago Pago West Stake, chairman of the welfare committee in American Samoa, helped seal and pack the first 50 pounds of rice. Saints from the Pago Pago Samoa, Pago Pago Samoa Central, Pago Pago Samoa Mapusaga, and Pago Pago Samoa West Stakes have come to the bishops’ storehouse as families, ward groups, and individuals to take part in packing food for home storage.

Mission president John P. Colton presents gifts to King Norodom Sihanouk.

Volunteers pack food boxes.