Elder M. Russell Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve dedicated a garden here April 11 as a memorial "to the mentally and physically challenged and as a place of peace for those whose burdens are heavy."

In addition to dedicating the garden, Elder Ballard dedicated 15 previously unmarked graves of those who had died while in residence at the Utah State Developmental Center and are buried in the American Fork Cemetery. (The center is the former Utah State Training School.)A sesquicentennial-year project in 1997 of the Developmental Center Ward led to the discovery that at least 22 graves of former residents had never been marked. Now that 15 have been identified and marked, research is being done to do the same for the remaining graves. Markers have been fashioned from surplus stones from the construction of the Mount Timpanogos Utah Temple, which is across the street from the Developmental Center Ward meetinghouse.

The dedicatory ceremony took place in two parts. First, some 800 people, including many residents of the Developmental Center and relatives; members of 22 stakes in the area that serve the Developmental Center Ward; and people from the community, attended a ceremony in the meetinghouse. Second, about 350 people traveled several blocks to the American Fork Cemetery where Elder Ballard dedicated the garden and the graves.

Participating with Elder Ballard at the ceremony in the meetinghouse were Stephen M. Studdert, president of the Highland Utah East Stake; Ted B. Barratt, American Fork mayor; Joseph Gordon, Developmental Center superintendent; and Judy Price, Developmental Center Ward Primary president. Brent Harrison, bishop of the Developmental Center Ward, conducted.

Elder Ballard spoke of having met a few years ago a young adult woman in Brazil who had a severe handicap. He said that she asked him, "Why do I have this handicap? What have I done that it would cause me to have this kind of challenge in life?"

Elder Ballard said, "My response was - as I would say to those of you who work with these wonderful people who are having a temporal struggle - that I don't know. But I did say to her, `You really are a beautiful girl.' She said, `No, you can't mean that.' I said, `Yes, I see in your eyes a beautiful spirit daughter of God. That's the real you. Let the inner part of you shine forth through your challenge, because you are a daughter of God and He loves you. Why you're having this challenge and this difficulty of getting through mortality I don't know. But I can promise you this: If you will keep your spirit burning brightly, if you will keep the eternal perspective of the real you, then all of the blessings that our Heavenly Father has for His faithful sons and daughters will surely be given to you. You will not miss one.' "

Elder Ballard said that although life seems long on some days, it is but a moment in relationship to eternity.

"The Savior of the world, the Lord Jesus Christ really does understand . . . the difficulties and challenges [of those who have disabilities]," Elder Ballard declared. "He understands the challenges you parents are facing. I don't know what it is that we have to learn through this. May God grant us the good judgment and the sense to learn whatever it is that we have to learn as we work with our disadvantaged brothers and sisters.

"One thing I think we will learn is patience. . . . That's a God-like attribute, patience. No one has greater patience than our Heavenly Father has. . . . His beloved Son, His only Begotten Son, understands everything that has occurred here. There is no trial, there is no tribulation, there is no challenge in mortality that the Lord Jesus Christ does not understand. `And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people.

" `And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities.' " (Alma 7:11-12.)

Elder Ballard commended those who have been involved with the project to identify and mark the graves of the previously "forgotten" residents.

Pres. Studdert said that some of the deceased residents have lain in unmarked graves for as long as 50 years. "Like those children who died along the trail from Nauvoo to Salt Lake, and were buried in unmarked places, these children, too, have lain in unmarked graves," he said, noting that is fitting to have their headstones fashioned from the surplus stones of the temple.

Pres. Studdert said: "How grateful I am for the power and blessing of the resurrection. I know that therein lies the restoration of all things for these special people that we honor today. . . . I know that He knows these special people as His friends."

Mayor Barratt spoke of the "great opportunity to have this [the Developmental Center] as part of our community."

"In this tiny spot we call American Fork and in that little spot we call the Developmental Center, each and every one of us has an opportunity and a blessing to render service," he said.

Supt. Gordon said, "I've decided that we all suffer from disabilities of one type or another. They may be physical, they may be mental. Often they are emotional or social, or sometimes spiritual. We have been sent here really to help one another.

Sister Price was the driving force behind the project, which began when she and her family members decided to erect a statue in the likeness of Trisha Jean Price, who died in 1995 at age 22, having had mental and physical challenges all her life. Sister Price and her husband, Bill, took in Trisha, a resident of the Developmental Center, as a foster child and later adopted her.

Sister Price said that as the family commissioned sculptor Stephen Hadlock to work on the statue she felt that Trisha would have wanted those in unmarked graves to be remembered. Sister Price began searching for the burial places of those she calls "forgotten children."

The Developmental Center Ward became involved in the project to identify and mark the graves. Pres. Studdert said: "As the project progressed, it was determined to create `The Garden' in memory and honor of these special children of Heavenly Father who reside at this institution or who attend this unique ward. The project has involved much community and civic support. Funds to accomplish this project have been generously donated by loving members of the stake and community." Daniel Copper was architect for designing "The Garden."

Participants at the dedicatory events included a Primary children's choir, which provided music in the chapel. Developmental Center resident Sharon Christman sang "In the Garden," and a chorus of women from the ward sang "I Am a Child of God." The invocation and benediction were offered by Stephen Hatch and George Haslam Jr., respectively.

At the cemetery, prelude and postlude hymns were sung by a chorus from the American Fork Hillcrest 27th Ward. Lisa Liberatore, Miss American Fork, sang a solo in tribute to individuals who have disabilities, "Beautiful to You." Scout Troop 278 conducted a flag ceremony.

Blue and white balloons were anchored next to headstones of the graves that had been marked by the project, as well as graves of those who had been buried in family plots.

The Developmental Center Ward was created by direct action of the First Presidency. On Nov. 8, 1967, President N. Eldon Tanner, a counselor in the First Presidency, held a meeting for all stake presidents in north Utah County to encourage their support for residents at what was then the State Training School. On Nov. 12, 1967, President Hugh B. Brown, then a counselor in the First Presidency, dedicated the meetinghouse. He returned on Oct. 23, 1973, for a tribute to him on his 89th birthday. Pres. Studdert said that Elder Ballard was the first apostle to have visited the meetinghouse in nearly 25 years.