Did you know Vancouver Island off the southwestern coast of mainland Canada was once considered a settlement site for early Latter-day Saints?
In 1845, according to the Deseret News 1997-98 Church Almanac, Brigham Young published an open letter to members of the Church where he mentioned the 400-mile-long, 80-mile wide island as "one of the many good locations for settlement on the Pacific."That letter, the Almanac explained, sparked members in England to petition Queen Victoria for settlement of the island, but the petition was ignored and it was three decades before the first LDS family immigrated to the area.
Today, more than 4,000 members are "settled" on Vancouver Island in two stakes - Victoria and Nanaimo. Victoria, the provincial capital of British Columbia, is situated on the southern end of Vancouver Island, on what is called the Saanich Peninsula. Greater Victoria, which includes several small adjacent communities, has a population of about 350,000, of which about 2,200 are LDS.
Though small in numbers, their roots in the community run deep. Members here - in five wards and two branches - can be found working for the provincial government or in the booming tourist industry, serving on local military bases or building small businesses. At the University of Victoria, eight Latter-day Saints serve on the faculty, with as many as a dozen in the past.
It's not surprising the area was once considered for a Mormon settlement and that members today want to rear families here. Known as the "City of Gardens," Victoria is abundant with flowers of every kind, many growing in baskets hanging from light posts along streets. The Inner Harbour (inside Victoria Harbour), with the world renowned Empress Hotel and legislative buildings, buzzes during the day with boats, ferries and planes. At night, thousands of tiny lights strung on the legislative buildings twinkle and reflect on the harbour. Thickly forested mountains tower above the city, providing camping and hiking. Inland lakes dot the land. Sandy beaches rim the island.
There are only two ways to reach Vancouver Island - by boat or plane. Every day, all day, ferries from mainland Canada across the Strait of Georgia or from Seattle across the Puget Sound arrive at numerous ferry landings. Latter-day Saints here love what they call home.
But that love is second to their love for the gospel.
"We have a stake of active, enthusiastic members," stake Pres. Jackson E. Ellis said. "There is a sense of appreciation for the gospel. You hear that all the way from the way members sing hymns to their amens at the ends of talks and prayers."
Pres. Ellis and his counselors, Grant R. Gainor and Brent Herrington recently spoke to the Church News about the Church in Victoria. Pres. Ellis, the first stake president born in the area, was reared in the inner island at Port Alberni, which is now part of the Nanaimo stake. His father, Eldon Ellis, was the first president of the Port Alberni Branch and served in the first presidency of the Victoria British Columbia District.
Pres. Ellis, who now lives in Duncan, north of Victoria, recalled: "I remember going to priesthood meeting
in my youthT, and we didn't have quorums divided. I simply sat with the older men. We didn't have seminary. The Church
essentiallyT happened here on the island in the last 50 years from 1945-47. That's really when the growth began to happen all over the island."
One of the biggest growth spurts occurred in the late 1960s and early 1970s, which included a number of LDS professors who were hired at the university. One such, a history professor and local Church historian, was Robert J. McCue, who served as a counselor in the first Victoria stake presidency when it was organized in 1975 by then-Elder Boyd K. Packer of the Quorum of the Twelve.
Pres. Ellis described the growth of the Church at the time as the work of the "hand of the Lord." Now, the stake presidency is not only focusing on sharing the gospel with neighbors but also with strengthening the members - on individual and group levels. For example, for a year now, Pres. Ellis and his counselors have been personally visiting the less-active in the stake and urging ward and branch leaders to do the same. (Please see related article on page 10.)
In addition, the young single adult program here has been strengthened, especially with the recent creation of the Victoria 4th Singles Branch. "They are wonderful, and we haven't lost a convert baptism for probably 21/2 years," said branch Pres. Larry Pedersen. "They just love each other."
That love has sometimes grown to marriage, such as in the case of Ross and Holly Flower, now of the Victoria 1st Ward. They were married about a year ago in the Seattle Temple and have a two-month-old son, Jacob. Together, they run a kayak business for tourists in the Inner Harbour.
Sister Flower was about 19 years old when she moved to Victoria, and she was less-active at the time. Her parents, who also live here, held family home evenings in their home for young single adults, most of whom attended the University of Victoria. The young woman's parents talked their daughter into participating.
"It was a really positive experience, and I started reading the Book of Mormon," she related.
Sister Flower ended up serving a mission to Portugal. Upon returning home, she was called as the branch Relief Society president and met her husband-to-be.
"There's something about Victoria that's very special," Sister Flower said. "I don't exactly know what it is, but I know I'm not the only one here who's come and healed spiritually. It's the beauty around us. It's hard to say what it is. It's just a special place."
The support Sister Flower spoke of is also felt among the youth of the stake. Martin Hall, Young Men president in the Victoria 3rd Ward, explained that when the youth have consistent activities together, they bond and develop friendships that help them in non-Church settings.
Victoria 3rd Ward Laurel class Pres. Charlotte Hughes agreed: " The group I hang out with, they stick together. They are drawn to each other, because they have the same morals."
To the members in Victoria, British Columbia, they feel they just about have it all - the gospel and the beauty of their surroundings. Carey Barnard, public affairs specialist for the Victoria 1st Ward, probably said it best.
Speaking of the many times she has to travel by ferry to Vancouver on business, she said: "When the tires of my vehicle touch the pavement off the ferry ramp upon my return, my heart flutters to be home again on Vancouver Island."
