In 1910, the Mexican Revolution began as an uprising led by Francisco Madero against longtime autocrat Porfirio Díaz. This struggle evolved into a multi-sided civil war which lasted until about 1920, though sporadic fighting still broke out after that. In 1912, many members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (which church is often misnamed the “Mormon Church”) fled Mexico for their safety because they had no desire to be part of the civil war.

In what has become known as the Mormon Exodus from Mexico, about 4,500 Latter-day Saints (“Mormons”) fled their homes in several colonies in northern Chihuahua and Sonora. These refugees fled to El Paso, Texas. Some of them stayed in El Paso, some moved to other parts of the United States, and some moved back to Mexico after the war ended.

This group of Latter-day Saints had originally fled intense religious persecution in the United States in the mid 1880s. In the early days of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, select people were asked to live the law of plural marriage, in which a man married more than one wife. (Read more on Mormon polygamy.) The Saints felt this was a law given by God, but the citizens of the United States were violently opposed to the practice and made sure it was outlawed. Though The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints later ceased the practice (also under a direct commandment from God) and came to an agreement with the government regarding those who had already entered plural marriages, a large number of those who had already fled persecution stayed in Mexico with their families.

The first Latter-day Saint (“Mormon”) settlements in Mexico were established in 1885 in the state of Chihuahua at Colonia Diaz and Colonia Juarez. In 1887, two more colonies were built in Cave Valley and Pacheco. A colony in Dublan followed in 1888, and during the 1890s, two more colonies were established in Garcia and Chuichupa.

Settlers in these “Mormon” colonies came from all over: New England, the Atlantic States, the Midwest and South, Scandinavia, the British Isles, and other countries of Western Europe. Their lives began quite humbly. Most families had only a wagon of personal belongings they could haul with them. However, as a community, they came together to dig wells, build dams, survey and build irrigation canals, erect churches and schools, and establish businesses such as tanneries, stores, grist mills, and lumber mills.

As expected, religion was central to these settlers’ lives. Each colony was led by a bishop who served as the presiding ecclesiastical authority in charge of both religious and social activities.

The Latter-day Saints in these Mexican colonies lived peaceful, quiet lives, until the outbreak of the Mexican Revolution. They tried to remain neutral, but soldiers from both sides of the civil war would show up expecting the “Mormons” to feed them and give them whatever supplies were needed.

In 1912, followers of General Pascual Orozco had made life nearly unbearable for those who lived in the Mormon colonies in Mexico by placing exorbitant demands on them and even murdering them on occasion. In July of that year, one of Orozco’s subordinates demanded the Latter-day Saints’ guns and ammunition, but refused to promise them protection. It was then that the colonies’ leaders decided to send women and children to El Paso for their protection. Refugees travelled to train stations and took the train to Union Depot in El Paso, Texas. The first group arrived on July 28, 1912.

The community of El Paso welcomed the refugees with open arms. About 2,500 of the refugees who first took a train to El Paso stayed in temporary housing in a local lumberyard which had been made into a tent city. Only about 10 percent of these refugees stayed in El Paso, where they established the first Mormon congregation (ward) in Texas in 1918. They also built the first LDS chapel in Texas in 1931, which has been recognized and protected by the Texas Historical Commission. Most of the Latter-day Saints moved to other areas of the United States, but some returned to Mexico after the fighting, where two of the original colonies still survive.

Several significant Latter-day Saints have ties to the Mormon Exodus from Mexico. Anthony W. Ivins later served in the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Henry Eyring (11 years old at the time of the exodus), who became a renowned physical chemist, was among the refugees, as was George W. Romney (5 years old at the time), future American Motors Corporation CEO, Michigan governor, and father of Mitt Romney.

On July 28, 2012, a centennial celebration recognized the charity which the citizens of El Paso offered the Mormon refugees.

“This is a remarkable story, one that deserves retelling,” said Steven Olsen, senior curator for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake City, Utah, one of many Mormon Church officials who expressed gratitude to descendants of Fort Bliss and El Paso residents who participated in “a historic and not forgotten act of charity.”

The centennial hosted a series of events including an exhibit at the El Paso Museum of History and the screening of a new documentary, “Finding Refuge in El Paso.”

“For me, this exhibit tells the story of three different communities coming together to address a crisis,” Olsen said. “The military community, the residential community and the refugee community were all very different in terms of their background and value structure, but each one of them figured out how they could contribute to the solution.”

“We don’t mind extending to others the same kind of charity and help that we received coming to El Paso,” Olsen said. “Charity is the essence of humanity. That gets at the heart of what it means to be a human being, serving and extending charity to those in need.”

Today, El Paso has an estimated 9,000 Mormons, and Mexico has an estimated 1 million Latter-day Saints.

Fred Woods, a professor of religious education at Brigham Young University, and producer of “Finding Refuge in El Paso,” said, “To me, this is not just a Mormon story. It’s a story about humanity, a very moving story about community and about serving people in need.”

Learn more about the Mormon Exodus from Mexico

Keith L. Brown

Keith L. Brown is a convert to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, having been born and raised Baptist. He was studying to be a Baptist minister at the time of his conversion to the LDS faith. He was baptized on 10 March 1998 in Reykjavik, Iceland while serving on active duty in the United States Navy in Keflavic, Iceland. He currently serves as the First Assistant to the High Priest Group for the Annapolis, Maryland Ward. He is a 30-year honorably retired United States Navy Veteran.

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Mormon Captain Moroni

Russell M. Nelson said of the subject, “During the Second World War, when members of the Church were forced to fight on opposing sides, the First Presidency affirmed that ‘the state is responsible for the civil control of its citizens or subjects, for their political welfare, and for the carrying forward of political policies, domestic and foreign. . . . But the Church itself, as such, has no responsibility for these policies, [other] than urging its members fully to render . . . loyalty to their country'” (“Blessed Are the Peacemakers,” Ensign, Nov 2002, 39).

Despite the necessity that sometimes arises for countries to go to war with one another, the Savior’s teachings still command His followers to “renounce war and proclaim peace” (D&C 98:16). Several Church leaders have given counsel on how to obey both the commandment to “renounce war and proclaim peace” as well as to be subject to governments which may require their citizens to go to war. President Gordon B. Hinckley said of the Church and war, “First, let it be understood that we have no quarrel with the Muslim people or with those of any other faith. We recognize and teach that all the people of the earth are of the family of God. And as He is our Father, so are we brothers and sisters with family obligations one to another” (“War and Peace,” Ensign, 2003, 78). The gospel of Jesus Christ clearly teaches that all members of the human race are children of the same Heavenly Father and that we should love one another and recognize in each other our brothers and sisters. Why should we not, then, try every possible way to establish peace?

Elder Dallin H. Oaks points out, though, that “peace is more than the absence of war” and “can only come through the gospel of Jesus Christ” (“World Peace,” Ensign, May 1990, 71). He explains, “Gospel peace is the opposite of any conflict, armed or unarmed. It is the opposite of national or ethnic hostilities, of civil or family strife.”

President David O. McKay said, during World War II, “Peace will come and be maintained only through the triumph of the principles of peace, and by the consequent subjection of the enemies of peace, which are hatred, envy, ill-gotten gain, the exercise of unrighteous dominion of men. Yielding to these evils brings misery to the individual, unhappiness to the home, war among nations” (Gospel Ideals, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1953, p. 280).

“Peace is the product of righteousness,” Elder Oaks further declares. “We cannot have peace among nations without achieving general righteousness among the people who comprise them” (“World Peace,” Ensign, May 1990, 71).

Elder John A. Widtsoe elaborates: “The only way to build a peaceful community is to build men and women who are lovers and makers of peace. Each individual, by that doctrine of Christ and His Church, holds in his own hands the peace of the world.

“That makes me reponsible for the peace of the world, and makes you individually responsible for the peace of the world. The responsibility cannot be shifted to someone else” (In Conference Report, Oct. 1943, p. 113).

These teachings put into persepective how members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints can cope with going to war for their own countries. A sad consequence of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints being an international church is that its members sometimes find themselves on opposing sides of an international conflict. These people do not delight in the shedding of blood of their fellowmen, but, as President Hinckley declared, are at times “justified, in fact have an obligation, to fight for family, for liberty, and against tyranny, threat, and oppression” (“War and Peace,” Ensign, 2003, 78). There are many moving stories, from all sides of recent and past conflicts, of Saints who have gone to war and have brought the gospel and love of their fellowman with them:

LDS chaplains in World War II speak of their experiences serving in the military and how they saw the works of God manifest despite the horrible conditions of war.

German LDS Saints speak of their experiences and faith during and after World War II, as they lived in Eastern Germany and had limited access to Church headquarters.

LDS servicemen and -women speak of the love they have received for the people whose countries they are at war with in Iraq and Afghanistan and how they have been able to serve them.

General Roland R. Wright pilots his “Mormon Mustang” in three different wars, serving his country and his religion.

These amazing people, like countless others, know for themselves the truth Elder Oaks taught, “What can one person do to promote world peace? The answer is simple: keep God’s commandments and serve his children” (“World Peace,” Ensign, May 1990, 71). In times of war, when their countries and lives have been tortured by hate, strong Christians have been able to live this truth.

Elder Nelson declared, “Jesus taught people how to live with one another. He declared the two great commandments: first, to ‘love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind,’ (Matt. 22:37) and the second, to ‘love thy neighbour as thyself’ (Matt. 22:39).

“Then He added, ‘Love your enemies, [and] bless them that curse you’ (Matt. 5:44)” (“Blessed Are the Peacemakers,” Ensign, Nov 2002, 39).

Though war is a reality of our world in its current state, the gospel of Jesus Christ teaches us how to “renounce war and proclaim peace.” We can do this in whatever situation we are in, even if we are part of the battle, by loving those around us, by serving our fellowmen, and by forgiving and loving our enemies.

Chief Warrant Officer 2 Jared Kimber relates his experiences of bringing toys to the children of desolate villages.

Civilian Mentor to Ministry of Defense and Afghan National Police, Eugene J. Wikle tells of his participation in a service project where he got to know some of the children in Afghanistan.

Major Michael Howard brings comfort and symbols of peace to victims of a car bombing in Kirkuk, Iraq.

Major Bruce Flint, an optometrist, serves both friend and foe in Iraq.

Chief Warrant Officer 5 Layne Pace finds ways to get suffering Afghan children critical surgery.

Mormon Help Strabismus Patient

After our arrival in Bagram Air Base in north-central Afghanistan, our unit developed a unique relationship with the Egyptian military personnel who ran the Egyptian military hospital on the base. The Egyptian and Korean hospitals were the only sources the Afghanistan people had for medical treatment. Our soldiers routinely visited these hospitals, taking boxes of coats, shoes, clothing, and hygiene items our families had shipped over through the U.S. mail. The local Afghanis were overjoyed when we handed out these items through both hospitals.

I desired to assist Afghan villagers on a larger scale. Through persistence and a series of true miracles, I received permission for my unit to “adopt” two orphanages and two remote villages. Both orphanages and villages had numerous girls and boys. Family members in Utah shipped large quantities of goods, which we loaded in trucks and drove to the orphanages. There we handed out coats, shoes, clothing, and various humanitarian items. We also flew humanitarian items to the villages of Jegdalek and Mohammaday. The villagers thanked us profusely every time we made a trip. We also received many expressions from them about how grateful they were that America provided them with protection. They said, “We would still be under the bondage of the Taliban if America did not help.”

Whenever we flew aid to these villages, it affected us deeply to see children without shoes and coats in the wintertime. On our first trip to one of the villages, it also became painfully obvious that the villagers were suffering from medical tragedies in every category. They lined up with their sons, daughters, fathers, and brothers (but never with their wives) and asked us for help with one medical emergency after another. We reminded them that we were helicopter pilots and not medical personnel. They still lined up and unceasingly asked for help.

As I reviewed digital photos I took during one recent mission, a certain picture caught my eye. It was of a little girl with her eyes crossed. I studied her face and eyes and had the impression that I might be able to help her condition. I printed the photo and took it to Dr. Gobram, an Egyptian ophthalmologist who recognized the problem to be strabismus, a muscular disorder that prevents accurate focusing. If left untreated, her crossed eyes and resulting blurred sight would become permanent. We made surgical arrangements and scheduled our next trip to this village in one week to pick the girl up. The U.S. hospital generally does not treat Afghani locals. But with some determined persuasion on our part, it agreed to assist Dr. Gobram with the eye surgery. On our next rip we showed the village elders a picture of the young girl and asked if we could take her with us. We did not know what their reaction would be. We found a very gleeful father bringing his daughter in her “best” clothing for their CH47 (Chinook) ride back to Bagram. We then learned that this precious girl’s name was Halima. She was eight years old.

Prior to surgery, Halima needed to be cleaned up, so we took her to the on-base beauty salon operated by Russian women. All we asked them to do was wash her hair. They not only washed, curled, and styled her hair, but they also washed her feet, cleaned her shoes, gave her a pedicure, painted her toenails with flowers, and manicured and painted her fingernails. Considering the violent history between the Afghans and Russians, this tender sight was truly amazing to behold. The women would not accept any money, so we gave them generous tips. Halima’s face glowed with a nonstop smile.

A few hours after the surgery, we learned it had been a success. Her father woke her up, and she sat up with her unbandaged eyes closed. When she heard our voices, she squinted her eyes open and burst into a huge smile. This was our first hint that she could see. After one day of recovery, Halima was already seeing well, alert and ready to explore. Soldiers treated Halima and her father to lunch and dinner every day, including trips to the chow hall and the on-base Burger King. During her recovery, she watched all the Disney movies we had at our aviation chapel.

As the weeks and months went by, every time I visited her village this little girl broke ranks through the other girls, boys, men, and fathers and into the midst of the soldiers, taking turns holding our hands. Without words, this innocent child showed us her loving gratitude. During several of our visits, she would never leave my side.

Ultimately we were able to provide surgical aid to about ten other children. We also helped save the leg of one adult after the Taliban attempted to kill him by rolling a large boulder over him. One of the children we helped was a twelve-year-old boy who had never been able to simply run and play. When we first met Asadullah, a nickel-sized hole in his heart prevented him from running more than a few steps at a time. His skin was tinted blue. He was always hunkered over, trying to catch his breath. He would collapse on us. An army cardiologist diagnosed his heart defect to be VST (ventricle septal defect) and estimated he had only a few years to live. This problem required delicate heart surgery using advanced medical equipment, neither of which is available in Afghanistan.

I didn’t have a clue how we could help. But I had to begin somewhere, so I started emailing family and friends back home in Utah, seeking donated skills and money. This simple effort began a series of many miracles. My request made its way to a support group called AnySoldier.Com and was read by Chad and Shelby Everett (who are well-known actors from California). Chad Everett contacted Dr. Leonard L. Bailey (the famous doctor who implanted a baboon heart into Baby Fay). Dr. Bailey agreed to do the surgery and contacted Loma Linda Children’s Hospital, which also agreed to provide the facility for the surgery. Another letter found its way to JetBlue airlines, who contacted us and said they would like to fly Asadullah from New York to Loma Linda, California. JetBlue also contacted Pakistani Airlines and worked out free airfare from Islamabad, Pakistan, to New York. All of this, along with procuring the necessary travel visas and passports, took place in about ten days!

On February 4, 2005, a medical team led by Dr. Bailey successfully repaired the hole in Asadullah’s heart. The hospital and other charitable groups provided for the boy’s remaining expenses, as well as those of his father. After two months, Asadullah returned to his native Afghanistan, where he rejoined his mother and eight siblings.

On our last visit to the village, we said our heartfelt good-byes and boarded the CH47s for our last trip back to Bagram. As our helicopters began to lift off the ground, we looked out the windows and truly could not believe our eyes. We saw our friends in an Islamic community honoring us by flying an American flag!

These experiences have changed me and several of those with whom I served. Although we have since come home from our tours in Afghanistan, several of us are now working with Afghan locals to build an orphanage and school with capacity for a thousand children. . . .

I have often reflected on how and why the Lord allowed these wonderful events to transpire. It all started with our desire to assist children who had no shoes or coats. As we saw the people endure their severe medical calamities, our efforts quickly focused on offering medical attention. After our last trip, it was sadly clear to me that all our efforts could not clothe or heal everyone we came in contact with. But my understanding deepened when I realized how clothing and medical aid were used as tools to build lasting relationships. We were building relationships. I am convinced that when we have all passed on and we are on the other side, there will be a glorious reunion. The relationships we have created in this life will set the stage for mass conversions in the life to come.

Chief Warrant Officer 5 Layne S. Pace, Utah Army National Guard, Faith in the Service, p73–78.

Jesus Christ Mormon

Once I agreed, I was told that my patients were going to be HVDs (High Value Detainees)—prisoners of special importance. Some of the eyes I examined belong to those featured on the “Most-wanted Iraqi playing cards.” These cards were issued by the U.S. military to help troops identify the most-wanted members of President Saddam Hussein’s government.

To meet with these people and provide them with medical care was a very interesting experience. I had to ponder what I was about to do in my own mind prior to seeing them. At one time I thought, “Should I help these people?” I finally came to the conclusion that regardless of who they are and what atrocities they have done, they are still human beings. They are still children of our Father in Heaven. Without rationalizing their actions, I do not believe they should be treated like animals. The actions of others don’t determine how you must react to them. With that in mind, it was not hard for me to perform my duty.

When I first arrived, not many patients had signed up to see me. My first few patients went back and told the other prisoner-patients that I was a nice doctor who cared. The next day I had more patients, and my numbers tripled the third day. I put in some long hours. One of my final patients was Saddam Hussein. When I was examining him I did not want him to think he was getting any notoriety, and so I treated him with the same courtesy I did all my patients. He was respectful to me but seemed very old and depressed. Considering the background of those whom I examined, I was pleasantly surprised at the courtesy and politeness shown to me.

I will never forget what they all did after the examination. Before leaving the room, each prisoner placed his right hand over his heart and bowed. Each one, without fail, made this sincere expression of gratitude .They did not have to do this, but they did. That really had an impact on me. One prisoner expressed his gratitude in a very unique way. The prisoners were not allowed to have anything to write with. So he created watercolors form the MREs (Meal, Ready-to-Eat), placed them in a drop of water, and used the dye as watercolor paint. Using “Skittles paint” and a stick, he painted a picture for me as a way to say “thank you.”

I was there to provide medical attention, not to judge them. However, in the back of my mind I thought about how the Lamanites were at times a “blood-thirsty people” (Mosiah 10:12). Their traditions, culture, and teachings led many astray, and yet when they were taught the gospel many embraced it wholly. Maybe under different circumstances some of these people may have turned out differently.

Major Bruce G. Flint, Washington Army National Guard, Faith in the Service, p55–57.

Mormon Blankets

The location of the families posed a real and dangerous threat. Kirkuk can be an unpredictable, menacing city. This mission was unique because my team was going to rely on the police chief to guide and escort our convoy without us knowing beforehand exactly where our route would take us. We had to trust him. Most of my men were uneasy about not being in complete control and not inclined to trust an Iraqi official completely. As we gathered and prepared to leave the base, I had to make a judgment call. I was in command, and it was up to me to decide whether to proceed or not. I relied on inspiration from the Holy Ghost, and I believed we were going to be fine. I felt we were going to return safely and that we needed to accomplish this mission. I went from Humvee to Humvee and said, “Guys, I know you are uncomfortable, but we are going to be fine on this mission. Trust me on this one. We are going to be safe.” The Holy Ghost’s comfort enabled me to gain the confidence of these tremendous men.

The mission took us through the narrow city streets, around piles of rubble, and under dropping telephone wires strung like spaghetti between the old buildings. We knocked on the dwelling doors and were introduced through our Iraqi linguists as “Americans who would like to provide your family with comfort.” We proceeded to give those blankets of love to families who had lost a loved one in the attacks. If there were children in the home, we also gave them backpacks filled with school supplies, soccer balls, and stuffed animals. I would take as many as I could by the hand, look at them, and say, “May God bless and protect you.” It was my way to exercise my priesthood and bless them in a small way. Frequently, other children would swarm us, and so we were prepared to share the supplies, Beanie Babies, and soccer balls with them, too.

I have always trusted the Lord and learned to rely on the Holy Ghost, especially as a young missionary in Italy. Now, like then, the reassurance of the Spirit came to me. I was able to safely lead my men while serving the people of Kirkuk.

To end my deployment on such a high note, with a humanitarian mission, was very special. We were doing what we could to give hope and comfort to these children of our Heavenly Father who were so tragically deprived of their husbands, brothers, and fathers in this war. I will never forget their tears and their gratitude and encouragement to us. They pleaded with us to keep on fighting for their freedom and give them hope that their country would someday be like America.

Major Michael Burton Howard, U.S. Air Force, Faith in the Service, p41–43.

Afghan Children Mormon

The refugee camp is located west of Kabul. We departed at 0830 and arrived at the camp at 0900. We had to wear body armor while traveling to and from the camp. When we arrived at the camp, we were allowed to remove our body armor. I was assigned to the second convoy team. Our mission was to deliver toys to the children and play with them while the donated food was delivered to the adult refugees by the third convoy team.

Many of the refugees live in a bombed-out multistory building, although some live in tents. They have no electricity. Their water is located outside the building.

We estimated that there were between seventy-five to one hundred children in the camp. We delivered coloring books, crayons, soccer balls, soft footballs, soft rubber balls, dolls, balloons, kites, and bubble soap toys. When we arrived and the children saw that we had toys, we were mobbed. To say they were excited would be an understatement. But even though they appreciated the toys, what they wanted most was to play with us and to be held by us. The children just clung to us, held our hands, wanted to be picked up and held. Many of them gave me a kiss on the cheek. It was a very humbling experience.

We spent an hour distributing the toys, playing with the children, and delivering the food. When it was time to leave, the children lined up along the road to wave good-bye. Most of the children gave our team members a kiss on the cheek and a bouquet of flowered grass they had picked from the field. No translation was necessary when I held these sweet children in my arms. Their smiles and hugs said it all.

This experience was another testimony of the cruelty of war and of how Satan has brought about so much destruction and disparity into the lives of our Father in Heaven’s children. Life for these refugees is a day-to-day struggle for survival. I hope the continued donations of food and clothing will eventually lead these good people to a better life.

I have come to appreciate that the good people of Iraq and Afghanistan are children of our Father in Heaven. I have grown to love these people. I continue to hope and pray for their safety and success in becoming a self-sustaining nation, a nation that will allow the gospel of Jesus Christ to roll forth from border to border. As I have lived with these good people for over two years, I have come to appreciate and understand how much they need the gospel. Every day it is a blessing to serve the Lord and his children. This is truly one of the most satisfying experiences in my life. I am a servant of the Lord, and I am humbly going about my Father in Heaven’s business in his vineyard of Afghanistan.

Civilian Mentor to Ministry of Defense and Afghan National Police, Eugene J. Wikle, Faith in the Service, p24–26.

One day as the children played, my partner and I walked over to the fence and threw a few toys over the tall barrier. The kids were very excited for the gifts and amazed that anyone would give them toys.

We shared with our friends on base what we had done, along with the touching reaction of the children. The word of our experience began to spread. It was not long before we were approached by authorities in the air force. They explained that the military had been working to improve U.S. relations with a strategic small town. The military had gone to great lengths to foster and maintain a high level of public support among those living in the village. We were asked to assist with this objective by gathering and delivering toys in our Blackhawk to the children living there. I loved the idea because I knew it would bless and bring joy to the lives of children living in desperate circumstances. We gathered toys by spreading word of our project on base and also back home. Our families back in the States collected toys in creative ways and then sent them to us.

Blackhawk Mormon Toy Giving

After only a few weeks we were ready to go on our first “toy bombing” mission. A team of special forces was first sent to secure a location in the town. A translator was among the first on the scene to inform locals what was about to transpire. We circled up above until everyone on the ground was in position and we were cleared to land. I then landed my helicopter into the secured zone. It was wonderful to watch the children’s expressions as I unloaded the cargo with my crew.

We had every kind of toy you could imagine—Frisbees, stuffed animals, soccer balls, and footballs—along with some clothes and shoes. We were allowed to play with the kids for about thirty minutes. They knew what to do with soccer balls, but we had to show them how to catch and throw the footballs. The best part of our mission was taking a few minutes to play with them. The kids had a great time. The parents told us through translators how much they appreciated us thinking of their children.

This first “toy drop” was a huge success, and we continued to get shipments of toys from back home. I guess word spread, and loving people back in the States continued to send us toys. Shipments came in “from sea to shining sea.”  The toys filled our building and hallways. It seemed that we could not deliver them fast enough to keep up with the toys coming in. Depending on our mission, we would sometimes fly low and drop the toys without landing. We were able to do this in several villages throughout Iraq. It was not long before we noticed a difference. Before, when we had flown over towns, people would run indoors and hide. Now, however, the villagers would come out and greet us with waves, even when we did not have anything to give. I know we made a difference in building trusting relationships.

Chief Warrant Officer 2 Jared Kimber, U.S. Army, Blackhawk Pilot, Faith in the Service, p3–5.

Mormon Angel Moroni Visited Joseph Smith

This was on a cold Sunday in February, and because I was so interested, she invited me to attend a church service that very afternoon. I hesitated for a moment, thinking of another event I wanted to attend, but then I went with her to the church service.

It was very cold, and the simple room in the tavern where we held sacrament meeting at that time was not terribly inviting, but the friendliness with which I was welcomed by the members made a great impression on me. Although everything was so different, I was very taken by the procedure as far as I could observe them in my first sacrament meeting.

The two elders, Franz Meyer and Walter Schmeichel, spoke with great conviction, and it seemed to me as if I had heard this all sometime once before. I felt so insignificant and imperfect that tear after tear ran down my face. I was so impressed by all I had heard that I thought about it all the way home, and when I arrived home, I immediately had to discuss this experience with some friends.

I visited the sacrament meeting as often as I could, and I began to learn. Among other things, I learned that alongside the good there was an evil power and that this power was doing everything possible to prevent me from accepting this newly found gospel. Every time I sat in a sacrament meeting to listen and to learn, there seemed to be an unknown power trying to hinder me. I could actually feel it, and it was frightening.

A few months later, in 1953, our newly called counselor in the mission, Henry Burkhardt, visited our branch for the first time. Once again I was overcome by this strange power which I could not explain. I fought against it with all my strength, and I prayed fervently that the Lord would free me from this power so I could understand the gospel and in particular so I could follow the words of Brother Burkhardt. Then something happened that I will never forget. A new skin almost seemed to be drawn over me. It began with the top of my head and went down over my shoulders and over my entire body right down to the tips of my toes. At first, I was somewhat frightened, but a feeling of freedom came over me, a lightness, and a deep feeling of gratitude, which I cannot express in words. The Lord had heard my prayer and had given me a witness of his help and his nearness. From that moment on, I had no more problems concentrating, and I felt joy in understanding and learning the gospel.

On October 22, I made a covenant [of baptism] with my Father in Heaven, and I was happy that I had before that time been able to overcome many things and set many things in order which had been a hindrance to me. As an investigator, I had already borne my testimony in a testimony meeting, but on the day of my baptism at an MIA meeting which followed, I was able to pray before the entire branch. That experience filled me with great joy.

Because the rooms in which we held church meetings were not very satisfactory and because we were often disturbed in an unpleasant way by the people in the tavern, our branch presidency, under the leadership of Brother Hans Polzin, began a diligent search for another meeting place. In 1954 we were able to rent a room in a hotel at 64 Goethe Street. It was at the back of the hotel, and we could not hear the noise from the street or from the bar. We went through a great deal of trouble to arrange the room for our purposes, and everyone helped. The branch was not obliged to share this room with anyone else, and everyone was happy to have found a peaceful place where we could hold our church services undisturbed. Activity in the branch increased, and the auxiliary organizations could hold their meetings at the normal times. It was a time of activity and progress in the branch.

Through a series of fortuitous circumstances, I was able to get a little two-room apartment at the front of the same building just shortly after the branch moved into the room on Goethe Street. From that time on, my life was closely tied to the life of the branch. Unfortunately, this joy over our new meeting place was not to last for long. After about three years, a new problem emerged for the branch.
The daughter of the woman who owned the hotel and tavern wanted to get married, and in those postwar days, she could not get an apartment. Consequently, the owner wanted the branch room back so the members were very distressed, and the branch presidency had several conversations with her to find another solution. So the owner offered us the following exchange: if I would give up my little two-room apartment, with kitchen, on the third floor and move into a basement apartment just beneath the area where the branch met, she would let us continue to use the back room.

As a new member of the Church, that was not an easy decision for me. The basement rooms were dark and damp, and I had to think about my thirteen-year-old son for whom it would also be difficult. But I knew how much the branch needed this room, so I agreed to the exchange. Everything was promised, and the arrangements were made, even though several members could not understand my decision. But I had promised and was determined not to go back on my word in the firm conviction that my Father in Heaven would prepare another apartment for me.

When our branch president, Hans Polzin, announced this in a sacrament meeting, he said that our Father in Heaven would accept my sacrifice and that this decision should go down in our branch history. But I did not see it as a sacrifice myself. In my heart, I was happy that through this little deed I was able to thank the Lord for his help.

Our Father in Heaven must have considered my determination to go through with this exchange to be sufficient, because, before the move took place, the young bride and groom one foggy night escaped across the border into Hamburg. So the problem was solved, and I could stay in my apartment. Everyone was happy that it had turned out this way and that I did not have to move into the basement apartment. For me it was once again proof of the love the Lord had for me.

Elfriede Pawlowski, Behind the Iron Curtain: Recollections of Latter-day Saints in East Germany, 1945–1989, p71–74.

Mormon Temple

It was very hard for these Saints to communicate with Church headquarters because nearly all communication had been stopped by the occupation. All citizens of the occupied area could no longer travel freely. The literature they were able to distribute and receive was monitored and severely restricted. All other resources were also limited. At times many people were near starvation, they had little clothing, and at times almost no shelter. Many lost their homes in the bombings and work was scarce. Everyone struggled to provide for their families and themselves.

In such conditions these people rose above their trials. They were blessed for their faith. Church leaders did all they could to bring aid and comfort (both physical and spiritual) to their fellow brothers and sisters. Despite the fact war had just waged between their countries, many Church members donated food and clothing to be sent to the suffering European Saints, including the Germans.

As the Germans struggled to find places to hold their Church services they often had to build from scratch or clean up the remnants of a bombed-out building. They made huge sacrifices to help one another and to help build the kindgom of God where they were. Their faith was and is staggering and inspiring. Here are just two examples of the kind of faith and commitment these Saints had to the gospel. The peaceful examples they set by remaining obedient to their government over several years, while still living their religion, gave the German Democratic Republic (GDR) the confidence it needed to allow the Saints to build a temple behind the Iron Curtain in the ’80s. Such strong examples can still be a strength to us today.

Let’s Follow Dad—He Holds the Priesthood: Dorothea Condie relates her experience in the bombing of Dresden, Germany, and how her mother, sister, and herself were inspired to follow the priesthood, which obedience saved their lives.

If God Is for Us, Who Can Be against Us? Elfriede Pawlowski tells of her conversion to the Church after the war and of her willingness to sacrifice for the benefit of her ward, resulting in numerous blessings.