The area leadership of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, nicknamed the Mormons, has reorganized the Blairsville leadership.
   
 The new president of the Blairsville Branch is Mark Miller.  He has selected Joe Stansel as his 1st Counselor and David Legg as his 2nd Counselor.  Released as president is James Burgess along with his counselor Nelson Locke who have served for 7 years.

These men, though volunteers, have work experience and religious training through church attendance, and church counsel which encourages study and learning for life.  The quality and extent of religious knowledge of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is well known and documented.  For example in 2010 a survey of U.S. religious knowledge by the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion and Public Life, determined that the Mormons had a better knowledge than all other Christian Church members about 1. The core teachings of the world’s religions. 2. The history of the world’s religions. 3. The leading figures of the world’s religions. 4. The Bible. and 5. Christianity.
 
President Mark Miller was born in Denver, CO and lived on the western slopes of the Colorado mountains before coming to Blairsville.  He and Rochelle, his wife, have served in leadership, missionary work, and food pantry positions in the church, and have been involved in community service.  He did missionary work in Louisiana as a young man.  President Miller, an entrepreneur, managed businesses in Colorado and now has the business Live Oak Professional Lawn Care in Blairsville.
 
Counselor Joe Stansel was born and grew up in Valdosta, GA.  He enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1973.  He served in the Infantry 101st Airborne Division and in Berlin, Germany in the 6th Infantry Division for a total of 4 years.  He worked as a fire fighter for the City of Valdosta for 34 years.  He retired in 2011.  He and Anita, his wife of 37 years, have 3 children, 15 grand-children, and 5 great-grandchildren.  They moved to Young Harris in 2017 where they love being in the mountains.  Counselor Stansel has enjoyed serving in church leadership positions for many years.
 
Counselor David Legg was born in Young Cane, Union County, GA.  His family later moved to Marietta, GA where he grew up and graduated from Sprayberry High School.  After graduation he started work at Lockheed Georgia Co. and worked there for 43 years.  He built 2 houses in Blairsville and commuted to Marietta, GA for 12 years before he retired.  Counselor Legg comes from a family of religious leaders who love and seek truth.  He joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at age 23.  He and Cherie, his wife, are Genealogy Director and Assistant for the Blairsville congregation.
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For members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons), self-reliance is a way of life. We are encouraged to prepare for whatever may come our way and to become increasingly more self-reliant in every aspect of our lives, including health, education, employment, finances, spiritual fortitude, and home production and food storage. Adversity may come our way, but we believe that being prepared will alleviate any fears we may have.

The more temporally and spiritually prepared we are, the stronger we will be to withstand any unexpected challenge. Our law of health, the Word of Wisdom, helps us to live healthy lives. Education is an investment in our future for gaining knowledge and wisdom and in qualifying for employment. We seek fulfilling employment that brings us satisfaction and a sustaining lifestyle. Serving in our communities helps us to improve the lives of others and the areas in which we live.

Preparedness need not be expensive and Mormons strive to stay out of debt. Proper planning is key in temporal preparedness. Gathering basic commodities necessary to sustain life is critical, particularly in times of crisis. Buying a few extra cans of food we normally eat helps us to set aside a supply for use in an emergency. Such an emergency could be a long-term illness, loss of a job, care for a family member or friend in crisis, or recovery from a weather-related event.
Of course, the foundation of preparedness is our relationship with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We strive to learn of Him, draw nearer to Him, and to live our lives preparing to return to Him in the life after this one. Spiritual strength is a constant area of growth for members of the Church.
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If you are interested in learning more and know anyone else who is, we will have a free Preparedness Fair sponsored by the Blairsville Branch of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on March 24, 2018, 9:30am-4:00pm at the LDS Church, 656 NC-141, Murphy, NC. For detailed information, view and share our flyer at http://bit.ly/2Goo3mK.

Every one assembled at the police station  at 8am to get their assignments and a  bite to eat.

Our  first assignment was on Rosenwald Lane. This was the home of an elderly  lady. She asked us to rack leaves,take away a couch,and pick up a  lot  of old tree limbs. We took all the junk to the dumpster and helped unload the trucks.That took about 2.5 hours. There were about 15 people there from different churches.

Our next assignment was at the Safe house. There was about 2 truck loadsof old lumber. We had 2 trucks there  so  we loaded both of them and went to the county land fill. The chief set it up ahead of time so the bill for the land fill would come to him. THat took about 2 hours.

Every one was thankful for all that we did to clean things up.The chief was very happy and appreciative  for all that the volunteers did.From what I saw every one was working hard along with talking a laughing a lot.Also from what I saw I think it is better to let the  police dept do the scheduling so there is a lot less for people to complain about.