SANTA ANA, Calif. — The Laurels in Hilda Leora Durham's class each Sunday aren't old enough to be her daughters — probably not even granddaughters. More likely, great-granddaughters.

Photo by Sergio Equihuas Sr.

Laurel instructor Hilda Leora Durham, at age 89, teaches young women in her Spanish-speaking ward. Though she isn't able to participate with them in their activities, she says she has built a bond of friendship with them.

Sister Durham, at age 89, was recently called to be the Laurel instructor in the Santa Ana 5th (Spanish) Ward of the Santa Ana California South (Spanish) Stake. She welcomed the opportunity and has developed a bond with the young women.

"They love me to pieces," she said of the Laurels during a Church News telephone interview. And from the happy tone in her voice, it was apparent that she loves them too. She said that often she teaches all of the small group of the young women in the ward; usually about eight attend.

Her bishop, Gerardo Manriquez, confirmed that all of the young women in the ward love Sister Durham and have even asked her out to the movies with them. "She's always willing to serve," Bishop Manriquez said.

Some of the Laurels already had a good relationship with their new teacher because she was called to be their Beehive instructor when she was in her mid-80s. She had to give up that calling two years ago to battle pancreatic cancer. She credits a priesthood blessing from her home teacher for her recovery which has enabled her and the young women to be together again.

Although she is serving in a Spanish-speaking ward, Sister Durham admits she doesn't speak Spanish very well. "I'm the only English-speaking teacher in the stake," she said. That doesn't hurt in teaching, she continued, because the young women all know English. Neither is her language deficiency a problem in her other calling; she has played the organ in the ward for the past 17 years.

Sister Durham landed in the Spanish-speaking environment when, as a 72-year-old widow, she married Lynn Durham. Brother Durham was fluent in Spanish after serving two missions in Mexico and was called to be the stake patriarch as well as to work with the Santa Ana 5th Ward. After Brother Durham died, Sister Durham stayed in the ward.

She was born Dec. 3, 1916, in Vermont, just a short distance from Joseph Smith's birthplace. But she said she never heard of the Prophet or the Church until she moved with her husband, Stephen Huard, to California in 1948.

Sister Durham said while her family lived in Azusa, they provided a meal each week for the "misguided" Mormon missionaries in the area. After a few years, her husband made a trip to Salt Lake City and returned with tales about how the people up there were "different." That sparked new interest in his wife. She called the local Church meetinghouse and asked for missionaries. Six months later, missionaries rang her doorbell, she listened and she and her son, Stephen Carl, were baptized.

She has since served faithfully wherever called, including in the Primary, Sunday School and Relief Society, and as a temple ordinance worker. She has been very productive in family history work, and also fills her time with reading and doing "fancy knitting" at her home in Santa Ana where she still lives alone.

Her patriarchal blessing, she said, told her she would work with the youth and children of the Church, so she isn't surprised by her calling. She enjoys all the members of the ward, but is pleased that the young women pay most attention to her. "We're good friends," she concluded. — Greg Hill