A beautiful example of a real-world project to improve lives.
Elder Uchtdorf visits Navajo community where the Church is helping bring electricity and water
Project involving the Church, state of Utah, Navajo Nation and others has brought electricity to Westwater, next to Blanding
Excerpt:
Celebrating collaboration
The project — to bring public power and running culinary water — to the residential lots in Westwater is a cooperative effort linking the state of Utah, the city of Blanding, the Navajo Nation, the Navajo Tribal Utility Authority, the Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, with the Church playing a key role in project funding.
Community members and project stakeholders commemorated the completion of the electrical phase with a Friday, Sept. 16, celebration ceremony and dinner. Representing the Church at the event were Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and Elder Jose L. Alonso, first counselor in the North America Southwest Area (southeastern Utah pertains to that area and not the Church’s Utah Area).
Joining Utah Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson and others as keynote speakers, Elder Uchtdorf underscored the collaborative successes by revisiting the message from his well-known “Lift Where You Stand” October 2008 general conference address.
The Apostle told the Church News he was familiar with the project’s past, as it was stalled by divisions, difficulties and obstacles. “It was possible to move closer together … and as we move closer together and lift where we stand, we can move anything in the world.”
...
Involvement of area presidency, Elder Echo Hawk
Elder Uchtdorf praised the lieutenant governor’s persistent effort and working closely with the North America Southwest Area presidency, whom he called “very instrumental here.” He also singled out Elder Larry J. Echo Hawk, an emeritus General Authority Seventy who had served as U.S. Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Indian Affairs and is now working in the Utah governor’s office as special counsel on Native American affairs.
“Elder Echo Hawk was the one who took this to the governor and said, ‘This is a place where we need to do something — it needs to be done,’” Elder Uchtdorf said.
He joined several others who both publicly and privately underscored Elder Echo Hawk’s persistent encouragement of and effort in drawing in the state, city, tribe, utilities and Church as key to the project’s success.