The following is excerpted from the Church Newsroom. To read the full article, CLICK HERE.
After nearly three years of construction and preparation, the 46th Deseret Industries location in Saratoga Springs, Utah, opened to the public on Thursday, September 15.
Bishop W. Christopher Waddell, First Counselor in the Presiding Bishopric, dedicated the 54,000-square foot facility — on Wednesday evening, September 14. The facility includes DI, Family Services, Development Counseling Services and Employment Services. An adjacent building with a bishops’ storehouse and home storage center was also dedicated during the ceremony.
“This new facility — the Saratoga Springs Deseret Industries complex — is all about caring for the one,” Bishop Waddell said in his remarks during the dedication program.
The complex was built on land which for many years was part of the Church’s ongoing farming efforts in the region. It was one of several plots used to supply the bishops’ storehouse, providing food for families in need. Now people in need will be referred to the new storehouse or to counseling or to other services based on their needs.
“All will be received with open arms, without judgment and with Christlike love,” Bishop Waddell said.
The Welfare and Self-Reliance vision speaks of embracing the two great commandments to love God and one’s neighbor by ministering to temporal needs, building spiritual and temporal self-reliance, and blessing both givers and receivers.
Sister Kristin M. Yee, Second Counselor in the Relief Society General Presidency, said: “Before we can truly love God and our neighbor, we must first feel God’s love for us as His children. When we feel God’s love for us, we desire to love Him in return.”
Sister Yee said God’s love permeates the work and people who come to the Welfare and Self-Reliance Centers — the missionaries, employees, job coaches and counselors who “carry the desire in their hearts to love as the Savior would.”
To read the full article, CLICK HERE.
