[photopress:MountRushmore_710.jpg,thumb,pp_style] By Nettie H. Francis
I served a full-time mission in Japan. The volcanic mountains, speckled with terraced rice paddies and sloping steeply down to the blue ocean, were a new sight to a girl from Utah. I quickly fell in love with the beauty of the islands and the many people there. In the less-populated areas, mountain trails—carefully marked and laid with cement pathways and wooden steps—insured that thousands of visitors could reach the peaks to enjoy precious bits of untouched nature. I soon became accustomed to crowded streets and cities, and tiny houses crammed into every feasible living space.

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[photopress:lv_temple_1108.jpg,thumb,pp_style]by Pam Ellis

There was a time, not so very long ago, that faithful Latter-day Saints traveled to St. George to go to the Temple. Some even served there as ordinance workers. It was a sacrifice, but a sacrifice given freely. Then in 1984, it was announced Las Vegas would be getting its own temple, which was dedicated on December 16-18, 1989.

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