Hand of the Cause William Sears and his wife visited Iceland and marked the anniversary of the martyrdom of the Báb followed by attending a youth conference. And later in 1975 various leaders of the Baháʼís met as a delegation with the President of Iceland as well as the Bishop of Iceland and Rev. Arelius Nielsson. The December 1977 and February 1979 Adib Taherzadeh presented workshops to Baháʼís of Iceland in his role as a Continental Counselor. In 1978 a revised translation of John Esslemont's Baháʼu'lláh and the New Era published as Baháʼu'lláh og nýi tíminn : kynning á Baháʼí trúnni by Edvard T. Jónsson. The 1979 convention noted there were nine assemblies in the country. In 1980 more than 50 Baháʼís from Iceland and the Faroe Islands gathered for a winter school at Olfusborgir. In 1981 Baháʼís from Iceland traveled to the Faroe Islands for a conference on the progress of the religion on the islands. In August 1982 following a Native American Council of Baháʼís Hand of the Cause Rúhíyyih Khanum then traveled across Canada and into Greenland and Iceland visiting civic leaders and Baháʼí communities. In February 1983 Baha'u'llah, His Life and Revelation was published, the first book on the religion to be written by an Icelandic Baháʼí (Edvard T. Jónsson), in the Icelandic language. Modern Community Since its inception the religion has had involvement in socio-economic development beginning by giving greater freedom to women, promulgating the promotion of female education as a priority concern, and that involvement was given practical expression by creating schools, agricultural coops, and clinics. The religion entered a new phase of activity when a message of the Universal House of Justice dated 20 October 1983 was released. Baháʼís were urged to seek out ways, compatible with the Baháʼí teachings, in which they could become involved in the social and economic development of the communities in which they lived. Worldwide in 1979 there were 129 officially recognized Baháʼí socio-economic development projects. By 1987, the number of officially recognized development projects had increased to 1482. In 1984 the national assembly began a forestation project on the land of its endowment, (containing the birthplace of Matthias Jochumsson and see above in 1964.) In 1986 Baháʼí Icelandic youth published a special magazine for the International Youth Year. In 2000, Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson, then president of Iceland, his family and a delegation of about 30 Icelandic dignitaries