Did You Know?

Netherlands News

On his way to Jerusalem in 1841, Elder Orson Hyde of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles (above) spent more than a week in Rotterdam teaching the gospel. But Latter-day Saint missionaries were not assigned to the Netherlands for another 20 years. The first converts in the Netherlands were baptized on 1 October 1861, near a village called Broek bij Akkerwoude.

Now there are three stakes and about 7,800 Church members in the Netherlands. The Hague Netherlands Temple was dedicated on 8 September 2002.

Book of Mormon Challenge

When students in an institute class in Kreuzlingen, Switzerland (above), began studying the Book of Mormon, they felt a great spirit of peace in their lives, and they decided to share that spirit with the members of their branch. The students bore their testimonies of the Book of Mormon during sacrament meeting. Using Isaiah 12:2 as a theme (right), they encouraged branch members to read one chapter a day for one month.

Even after the month-long challenge was over, the members of the branch kept up their reading habit. And with their reading came the same spirit of peace the institute students felt. Arletta Riesen explains: “The Spirit in our branch is so strong now. Every member is more willing to do what the Lord wants, and we can feel the love we have for each other. It’s the same love Jesus Christ has for each one of us.”

It Happened in October

Following are a few significant events that happened in Church history during the month of October.

5 October 1833: The Prophet Joseph Smith traveled from Kirtland, Ohio, to Canada, where he preached and baptized 16 people.

6 October 1867: The first general conference in the newly completed Tabernacle on Temple Square began. The building was dedicated on 9 October 1875.

8 October 2000: President Gordon B. Hinckley dedicated the new 21,000-seat Conference Center, located one block north of the Tabernacle.

Photograph of Tabernacle by C. R. Savage; photograph of Conference Center by Craig Dimond