Prior
to receiving a mission call, this impressive young returned missionary told his friends he was going to serve in
Pocatello, ID so when he was actually called to Boise, he says “no one believed
me.” What made him decide to serve a
mission? “I was into some ‘bad things’
in high school, so when I decided to turn my life around, a mission seemed like
a beneficial thing to do,” states the young elder. "It was everything I had hoped for and getting to learn a language was an added bonus."
His
future plans include playing “Red Storm” football for Dixie State University
while working toward a degree in Physical Therapy. He also plans to find work and eventually get
married, although he has no prospects in sight for either at the moment.
In
1855, Church President Brigham Young asked 26 early members of The Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to settle among the Native Americans on the
Salmon River, where they established Fort Lemhi in June 1855. Latter-day Saint
settlers came to the Franklin area in 1860, where they dug canals in the winter
snows to be ready for summer irrigation. Church members taught agriculture,
preached the gospel, and shared supplies with the Native Americans. A prominent
chief, Shoshone Chief Washakie, was baptized during the early colonization
efforts.
When
Idaho was given statehood in 1890, Latter-day Saints comprised about one-fifth
of the state's population; and through the years the state has been the
birthplace of several Church presidents (Harold B. Lee, Ezra Taft Benson, and
Howard W. Hunter). It is also the
location of BYU-Idaho, a four-year university in Rexburg, originally known as
Ricks College.
Today,
Idaho has nearly 431,000 members; 4 missions (Idaho Boise, Idaho Twin Falls,
Idaho Nampa and Idaho Pocatello Missions) and 4 operating temples (Boise, Idaho
Falls, Rexburg and Twin Falls Temples … with a 5th currently under
construction (to be called the Meridian Temple).
The Forsyth family are recent transplants to the Bloomington 7th Ward from St. George’s Boulder Ridge Stake. Welcome to the Forsyth family and welcome home to Elder Gunner Forsyth.
The Forsyth family are recent transplants to the Bloomington 7th Ward from St. George’s Boulder Ridge Stake. Welcome to the Forsyth family and welcome home to Elder Gunner Forsyth.