Jubilee year for Saints gathered in Texas

When John and Margaret Porter first moved from Fort Worth, Texas, 45 miles

north to Denton, Texas, they didn't know of any other Mormons in the area.

The Porters got to work, said George Hubbard, who authored \"When the Saints

Came Marching In: A History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

in Denton, Texas 1958-2008.\"

\"The Porters found missing people,\" Hubbard said of the Porters' efforts as

they found LDS Church members in the area, including those at two local

universities. Other members of the LDS Church had previously lived in the area;

some had attended church in Fort Worth, and a Sunday School class met for less

than a year in 1956 and 1957 after several of the families providing leadership

moved.

\"They personally gathered them in. ... The Porters brought in families who were

talented and had a lot to give,\" Hubbard added.

They organized a Sunday School class, and on Nov. 1, 1959, 23 people met for

their first class in the Porters' home.

Now, 50 years later, there are about 10,000 members in nine wards and

branches in Denton and the surrounding area, and they are celebrating a Jubilee

Year, which includes service projects and missionaries who previously served in

the area, including recently released General Sunday School President A. Roger

Merrill and Stephen Dalton, husband of General Young Women President Elaine S.

Dalton.

\"We want to remember the pioneers of our area and honor the sacrifices they

made to establish the church here,\" said Ann Andrus, a member of the steering

committee, which has been meeting since last year to plan and organize the

service and other activities, including the celebrations on July 24-25.