Many of the early settlers of the Lease Country were members
of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. As a
result some of their first thoughts were concerned with a
place to meet. They adhered to Matthew 18:20 "Where two
or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the
midst of them." Materials were scarce and money that was
available went for food, clothing, and shelter. Many of the
first meetings and Sunday Schools were held in the homes
of the members from 1912 to 1916, under the leadership of
Eugene Robinson, Tom Wilson, Earl Scoville, and Edward
Williams.

In September 1916 an organization took place under the
direction of President Edward J. Wood of the Alberta Stake.
Andrew M. Spence was chosen as Presiding Elder. They were
dependent of the Taylorville Ward.

In 1922 the Branch became independent and Eugene Robinson
was chosen as the Branch President. He served for three years
and in 1925 Harry J. Orcutt became Branch President with
Henry W. Walburger and John R. Wiggill as councilors.

In 1926 Arthur T. Carter replaced Henry Walburger as councilor
and was also chosen to serve as Branch President of a newly
formed dependent branch at Twin River, with Sam O'Bray and
Fredrick Gibb as councilors. William G. Bennett later served
as a councilor. The Tom Carter family were very faithful and
many times walked a distance of six or eight miles. There
was also a Relief Society organized in Twin River on 17 Dec.,
1939 with Mabel Jones as president, Maleta Carter as first
councilor, Venice Allen as second councilor, and Pauline Sibley
as secretary. This branch continued to function until 1940 when
they joined the Del Bonita Branch.

Fred Gibb was Presiding Elder over the branch at Rinard and was
released July 2, 1933, and Bruno Sommerfeldt was sustained
as the new Branch President. He was released in September of
1936 and Harry J. Orcutt was called to preside. At this time
church was held in many schools; Rinard, Lens, Twin River,
Shanks Lake, and Del Bonita and also in the members' homes.
Several families moved away from the district and in 1940 the
Rinard Branch was discontinued. They then met with the Del
Bonita Branch.

President Harry J. Orcutt was released 14 Jan., 1945 and Elmer
P. Carter was called as Branch President. He served until Oct. 15,
1950, when Winslow Sommerfeldt was called to be Branch
President.

In 1950, on the advice of Stake President Brewerton, it was
decided to move the church building at Kimball to Del Bonita.
The estimated cost of moving and renovating was thirteen
thousand dollars. The Branch share of the money was raised
by the spring of 1953. A site was next chosen and approved
and the land was donated by Elder Celdar Collet. Ground
breaking began immediately. The excavation of the basement
took place in February of 1953, with the help of practically
every family in the district. All the cement was poured August
24, 1953 with forty-one men participating. The sisters of the
Relief Society served hot meals during these special work days.

Henry Roeloff of Lethbridge received the contract to move the
building for twenty-five hundred dollars. Adverse weather and
mechanical trouble resulted in the chapel being left on the truck
at Taylorville for three months. The building was set on the
foundation in the spring of 1954 and then the real work began.
The work proceeded rapidly until harvest time and then
stopped.

Small projects were undertaken when time permitted. An office
and five classrooms were built in the basement. In the spring
of 1960 we decided to put forth a special effort to have our
building dedicated. After many days and nights of work the
building neared completion. Reithman and Hudson came to
put on the last finishing touches and the drapes were hung
Friday morning August 26, 1960.

President Harold B. Lee, of the Counsel of the Twelve, came
to give the dedicatorial prayer. The meeting was to have
started at 8 p.m. We waited until midnight for Brother Lee,
as his plane didn't arrive in Great Falls on time. Our time
was well worth our wait. It was a very spiritual meeting.

Winslow Sommerfeldt was released November 1, 1954, and
Hubert L. West was called to preside over the branch. He
served until September 12, 1965 when Louis Secretan was
sustained as Branch President.

While Louis was in the presidency the Branch was officially
transferred from the Alberta Stake to the Raymond Stake,
on 9 March 1969. Louis also decided to move to Cardston.
He sold his farm and moved in June 1972.

Melvin Thomson was then called as the new Branch
President. More yard work was done. New lawn, shrubs,
and flowers were planted, and a new sidewalk was put in.
Melvin sold his farm and moved to the Aetna ward so
Robert Campbell, a school principal at Del Bonita, was
called as Branch President, August 24, 1974, and presided
over the branch until August 10, 1975, when he accepted
a teaching position at the college in Vermillion. George
Foggin was sustained as Branch President 17 August 1975.

In the early days the auxiliaries of the church were also
organized. Sunday School was always held with the
Sacrament Service. The first Primary on record was an
organizational meeting held at Julia Wiggill's home in the
Rinard district 27 August 1933.

In 1951 there were sixty children enrolled in primary and
fourteen were L. D. S.; Mildred Jensen was the president.
In 1952 Mabel Secretan was president, with fifty-two
children enrolled, twelve of them L.D.S. May 16, 1948
Primary was held with the United Church on Mother's
Day. The following year Primary Conference was held in
the Foggin Hall. A plant was given to all mothers as this
was Mother's Day, May 8, 1949. On 2 March 1980 the
primary was discontinued on week days and is now held
on Sundays to save on energy and to have mothers in
the homes more.

The young men and young women from twelve to eighteen
years have M. I. A. They put on one or two act plays and
held a Green and Gold Ball each year. Some of the young
people participated in the dance festivals held in Raymond,
and the Sportsplex in Lethbridge. One year some went to
the last dance festival held in Salt Lake City.

Relief Society is the sisters' organization and was started in
the early years. Julia Wiggill, Reta Talbot, and Martha Strate
were some of the first ones in the presidency in the Rinard
Branch. Relief Society has been held throughout the years.

Our church is a missionary church and the following are the
ones who have been called on missions for the Del Bonita
Branch. In 1933, February, three young people were called
from the Rinard Branch on a three week stake mission, Rose
Talbot went to Cardston first ward, June Wiggill to the
Cardston second ward and Roland Wiley to the Leavitt
Ward. LeRoy Rasmussen was the first missionary to be
called on a foreign mission and he served in the New Zealand
mission from January 1955 to 1957. Gordon West went to the
British mission in January 1959. Darwin Carter went to the
New Zealand mission in January 1959. Allen West went to
Eastern Canada in January 1962. Vernon Carter went to
Columbus, Ohio in November 1963. Ronald Rasmussen went
to South Carolina in March 1965. Wendel Carter went to
London, England in April 1968. Evan Bennett went to the
South Texas mission in January 1970. James Holladay went
to the Colorado Denver mission in March 1975 and John
Holladay went to the Arkansas Little Rock mission in
October 1975.

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