LOWELL, Mass. — In this once thriving textile town where threads of different colors were woven to make new kinds of cloth, the Lowell Ward has become something of a cross-section of cultures woven together in a fabric of faith.

Photos by Jeff Adams

Jose and Shirley Alejandro with four of their nine children.

Photo by Jeff Adams

After years of moving to different locations, a new edifice was dedicated last October.

Photo by Jeff Adams

Members in the Lowell, Mass., area cleaned and painted this barn many years ago, where they held meetings.

Located roughly 35 miles north of Boston, the huge textile mills that were at the heart of the Industrial Revolution in the early 1800s are now mostly quiet — the buildings renovated into apartments and small businesses.

Church history has a chapter in Lowell. Brigham Young and Wilford Woodruff were waiting in Lowell, Mass., for a train on June 27, 1844, when, according to Elder Woodruff, "There seemed to be a dark cloud and sorrowful gloom come over us, which we could not comprehend at the time." They later learned of the martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum Smith.

Elders Brigham Young and Orson Pratt returned to Lowell several weeks later to console the members. Later that month, according to a local newspaper, a conference was held where 50-100 attended.

The branch was discontinued in 1845 when members followed Jesse Crosby, a missionary who served as branch president, when he immigrated west. It was not organized again until 1909. The branch faltered, however, and was not established again until 1921 when five missionaries were assigned to the area.

Today, the Lowell Ward is comprised of members from every continent, except Antarctica, and after years of wandering from facility to facility, members here are commemorating their first year in their new meetinghouse.

Members consider the variety of nationalities a blessing — where a testimony given in Portuguese is followed by a testimony in Cambodian, which is followed by a testimony in English. "It is so diverse," said Paolo Battezzato from the Italian city of Sicily. "But at the same time, it's very united."

Many serve in the ward while maintaining ties to their countries, such as Joyce Zekiya, who recently died, from Zimbabwe who assisted with the translation of the Doctrine and Covenants into Shona, and Bindu Dukuly, whose late father served as secretary of state in Liberia. She donated land to the Church in her native country.

One of the area's longtime members is Margaret Brow who joined in March 1959. After she and her husband and youngest son were baptized, they traveled about an hour to attend meetings which were then held in Georgetown, Mass. They later drove about 45 minutes to Cambridge for meetings.

As Church membership grew, they met in various locations, including an old red barn in Billerica, Mass.

"There was manure in the basement and cobwebs all over [the barn]," said Sister Brow. "The men painted it. Some were upset about being moved from the nice meetinghouse in Cambridge, but we had a very spiritual first meeting that made it easier for everyone to meet there. We had fairs and food sales to earn money to put toward building a chapel in Billerica. There was a wonderful spirit working together."

Sister Brow recalled the missionaries speaking of a day when a temple would be built in New England.

"I never thought I'd see the day," she said.

Over the years, the Church continued to grow, leaving members to continually find new places to meet. Beginning in 1987, thousands of refugees from southeast Asia began fleeing political unrest in their countries and settling near Lowell.

One of those refugees was Yoeuth Yem. "When I was young," she said, "Cambodia was peaceful and happy. There were no wars. Families were strong. When the war started, most families separated. My first husband was killed by the communists. When the Vietnamese came, we tried to find our families again. When I found my family, many had been killed. Sopheap, my daughter, and I had to give up everything we had. I didn't know anything about God and church."

Sister Yem found refuge in a camp, but when communists started bombing, she fled to another across the Thailand border. During the next two years she met her second husband who had permission to live in the United States. They lived in several different states before settling in Lowell. They felt a desire to join a church, but were disappointed with their first choice.

Soon, her husband received a copy of the Book of Mormon. He wanted to join and asked her to also join. Her first concern was that joining a Christian church would offend her Buddhist parents who had died in Cambodia. After a month of prayer, she gained her testimony and was baptized.

Hundreds of other Asians joined the Church during these years as they struggled to make their way in a new country. On Jan. 29, 1989, the Lowell Asian Branch was organized with Norris Mills as branch president. He was among the first African-Americans to preside over a branch of the Church.

During these same years, Cathy Squires was wondering where God was in her life. "A lot of things didn't make sense," she said. In a prayer of desperation, she called out, "I've been looking for you my whole life. Come and get me if you want me."

Two months later, missionaries knocked on her door. She attended Church regularly, and was fellowshipped by Irene Danjoy, a stalwart convert in Lowell. She gained her testimony and, four months after meeting the missionaries, she was baptized in September 1987.

"It didn't matter to me where we met," she said, describing years of searching for a place to worship. Eventually, the branch met in the Napping Building in Mass Mills, Mass. Sister Squires recalled meetings where 250 Primary children and 100 young men and young women attended.

As membership grew, new facilities were found in a middle school, and a few years later, in the Temple Beth El, a Jewish synagogue.

By October 2002, a new Lowell Ward meetinghouse had been built. "Members were exuberant about having their own home," said then Bishop Jeff Adams. "We had satellite broadcast capabilities in English, Spanish, Cambodian (Khmer) and Portuguese. It felt like we were in the Promised Land after wandering in the desert for 40 years."