SAN DIEGO-Saturday, Elder D. Todd Christofferson of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ Quorum of Twelve Apostles visited Old Town San Diego State Historic Park to honor the Mormon Battalion.

This band of Latter-day Saints left Fort Leavenworth in Kansas Territory in July 1846 and marched nearly 2,000 miles before arriving at San Diego January 29, 1847.

Elder Christofferson called the Battalion an “apt example of doing hard things and doing them well.”

The Battalion’s legacy also lives on in the Arizona Tucson Mission as during the La Fiesta de los Vaqueros Tucson Rodeo celebration each February, full-time elders stationed in Tucson at the time march in Battalion regalia during the annual parade.

In downtown Tucson, there is a monument known as Exchange at the Presidio-The Mormon Battalion Enters Tucson.

From 1999-2002, new missionaries who flew into Tucson were taken to this monument by then-mission president Lanny J.  Nalder and told of the Battalion’s impact in making Arizona Territory part of the United States.

Elder Christofferson’s brother, Greg, the president of the Mormon Battalion Association, praised Battalion members for their faithfulness.

Latter-day Saint Rosilicie Ochoa Bogh, a member of the California State Senate, presented Elder Christofferson with a resolution to honor the 175th anniversary of the Battalion’s arrival.

Elder Christofferson spoke to California Latter-day Saints in the area Saturday evening and to missionaries in the area Sunday morning.

Additionally, he gave a 45-minute address to the Oregon-California Trails Association symposium Friday afternoon.

Elder Christofferson spoke of the Church’s efforts to preserve more than 26 miles of the Oregon, Mormon Pioneer, California and Pony Express trails it owns.

He said the Church takes its responsibility to preserve their legacy seriously.