Faith still fuels Christ's welfare principles
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WEST JORDAN, Utah — The Church and its members today follow welfare principles taught by the Savior Himself, said Elder Merrill J. Bateman March 23, before dedicating the Church's new West Jordan Welfare Center.
"I marvel at the faith of people," said Elder Bateman of the Presidency of the Seventy. "It is the faith of people that makes this whole (welfare) process work."
Hundreds attended the dedication of the 43,000-square-foot welfare center, located at 7166 South Redwood Road in West Jordan, Utah. The building now houses one of the Church's 46 Deseret Industries stores and one of 259 centers for LDS Employment Resource Services.
Elder Bateman dedicated the facility as a place that can "service and bless those who have special need of help at critical times" and as a place where people can "be taught ways in which they can become self-reliant."
During his remarks, Elder Bateman said as he walked into the new Deseret Industries store and looked at the clothing he thought that almost everything he saw was new.
"They told me it is not," he said. "Almost everything here has been donated. Almost everything has been used. I encourage you to walk around and look at the clothing. Look how well it has been displayed. Look how well it has been refurbished. And how well it is presented. I think you will be amazed."
Deseret Industries is founded on principles taught by Joseph Smith and the Savior, he continued.
"It stuns me to think about what was revealed to the Prophet Joseph Smith in such a short period of time — approximately 20 years," Elder Bateman said. "One of the most important pieces, I think, of the truths that were restored, was the concept of helping the poor and the needy."
Elder Bateman reminded the bishops in attendance that the Doctrine and Covenants tells them they are to not just care for the poor and needy but that they should also search for the poor and the needy (Doctrine and Covenants 84:112).
He said that years earlier, as a stake president, he learned of a family in his stake whose children had no shoes. "How bad the bishop and I felt when we learned there was an opportunity to bless people's lives. We just didn't know about it," he said. "That responsibility to seek out is real."
He then noted that Latter-day Saints around the world have made a difference by serving others. After Hurricane Andrew devastated Florida in August of 1992, 75 percent of 12,000 volunteers who worked to clean up were Latter-day Saints, he said.
Volunteers also made a difference in Georgia during heavy flooding, after earthquakes in California, and this year when four consecutive hurricanes hit Florida, he added.
"We are a different people, brothers and sisters. I am so grateful for the truths that the Prophet Joseph restored. I'm so grateful for the faith that people have. This facility is a way in which we help people."
Curtis Ravsten, Church director of Deseret Industries, said after the dedication that the new building replaces an existing structure located about a mile away.
Whenever possible, he said, the Church builds multi-function welfare centers that combine Deseret Industries with employment services or other Church offices.
Combining Deseret Industries with employment services only makes sense, added Tim Sloan, director of LDS Employment Resources Services.
"The target audience is the same," he said, noting that many people who shop at Deseret Industries are those who are underemployed or unemployed.
Tom Ericksen, store manager, said employees have been working at the store since Jan. 1 to prepare for the March 24 ribbon cutting and grand opening. Currently, he said, eight full-time employees and 50 paid trainees work at the store. In coming months, he added, the number of trainees should increase to more than 70.
"I think the most significant part of the new facility is that it will enable more people to find a job than ever before," said the agent stake president, Jeff Russell of the West Jordan Utah East Stake.
The new store, he added, stands in dramatic contrast to the old facility, which was out-of-date and hard to locate. "These facilities provide a very professional, warm atmosphere," he said.
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