Deseret Digest April 2025

THE DIGEST

APRIL 2025 VOL. 3 / NO. 4

Church News

Deseret Magazine

General Conference

Elder and Sister Bednar share lessons learned from 50 years of marriage

How Utah’s gondola controversy may set the stage for future conservation battles

A look back at 100 years of missionary training centers

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Happy anniversary!

University of Utah celebrates 175 years Utah’s flagship college — the oldest state university west of the Missouri River — marks a historic birthday

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We are pleased to introduce you to The Digest, a sampling of some of the best stories written every day by the dedicated journalists at the Deseret News, Deseret Magazine and Church News. Our hope is that you will make us your trusted news source each day at a time when there is confusion and contention in the nation.

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Figure 1: Notice the very small blood vessels surrounding each nerve.

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Figure 3: The blood vessels will grow back around the nerves much like a plant’s roots grow when watered.

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Happy anniversary!

University of Utah celebrates 175 years Utah’s flagship college — the oldest state university west of the Missouri River — marks a historic birthday

Laura Seitz, Deseret News

Students walk on the University of Utah campus in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Feb. 27, 2025. February marks the 175th anniversary of the U.

By Jason Swensen Deseret News

It’s unlikely that University of Utah founding regent William Ivans Appleby — 175 years ago — envisioned legions of laptop-toting students hustling from class to class across today’s sprawling, 1,500-plus acre campus.

And Appleby’s mind’s eye surely never witnessed lifesaving medical research being performed at the Huntsman Cancer Institute. Or modern dance, music and comedy being performed on the Kingsbury Hall stage. Or student-entrepreneurs launching start-ups at the business school’s Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute.

The founding regent never knew the names of future University of Utah alums such as Pulitzer Prize-winning writers Wallace Stegner or Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, astronauts Don Lind and Jake Garn, Pixar co-founder Edwin Catmull; or heart surgery pioneers William DeVries and Latter-day Saint President Russell M. Nelson.

And Appleby surely never envisaged 50,000-plus crimson-clad Ute football fans squeezing into Rice-Eccles Stadium and going wild on crisp November afternoons during Big 12 gridiron battles.

But William Ivan Appleby’s words — recorded in 1850 — reveal a clear vision of today’s University of Utah: “We wish … (to) lay the foundation of a glorious institution …,

where knowledge may be disseminated in all its various branches, where literature, arts and sciences can be taught in all their present perfection and improved thereon.”

It’s a historic moment up on The Hill: The University of Utah’s demisemiseptcentennial. (That’s a fancy word for 175th anniversary.)

On Feb. 28, 1850, the University of Utah (chartered as the University of Deseret) was founded under the direction of Latter-day Saint prophet Brigham Young — becoming the first state university west of the Missouri River.

An auspicious desire that began a 175 years ago to build a serious institution of higher learning in the shadows of the Wasatch Mountain is still evolving, said University of Utah President Taylor Randall.

“The work of our founders is the bedrock for the student-focused teaching, innovative research, world-class healthcare and thoughtful service performed every day by our campus community,” declared the school’s 17th president in a university statement.

Humble campus beginnings

When the University of Deseret was founded in 1850, it was led

by Randall’s distant presidential ancestor, chancellor Orson Spencer, who had been the president of the University of Nauvoo, according to Fred Esplin, a retired University of Utah vice president who spent over four decades at the school.

“When the University of Deseret was originally established, it met in the John Pack home in downtown Salt Lake City — and a replica of that home is in the This Is the Place Heritage Park,” said Esplin.

The tiny school’s charter student body included 25 students — and tuition was $8 for the quarter, according to the university. Private donations supported teacher salaries and supplies.

Some interesting University of Deseret trivia, revealing the institution’s earliest impulse to innovate: It produced a primer of the Deseret alphabet — a phonetic writing system developed

by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to help immigrants and children learn English.

Alas, continual operations at the original iteration of what would later be known as the University of Utah were relatively short-lived.

“The University of Deseret went into hibernation in 1853 because of the difficult economic situation, the Walker War, and the (Utah Territory’s) emerging conflict with the federal government,” said Esplin.

Several years later, Brigham Young “brought it back into being” with the 1869 appointment of John R. Park as the University of Deseret’s first official president.

President Park, noted Esplin, “was arguably the intellectual father of the University of Utah — an Ohio man from Ohio Wesleyan University that had a medical degree from NYU.” Park had settled in Utah in 1861 and became a Latter-day Saint a year later. He was elected Utah Superintendent of Education in 1895.

The school’s forward-thinking leader also established branches in areas across the state, including one in Provo — the Timpanogos Branch — that would later become Brigham Young Academy and, eventually, Brigham Young University, noted Esplin.

The fledgling institution of higher education was housed for several years in the Council House on the corner of Salt Lake City’s Main Street and South Temple before moving, in 1884, into its very own building called Union Square, located at the current location of West High School (241 N. 300 West).

“By 1886, they were awarding degrees, and they organized the alumni association and so forth,” said Esplin.

In 1892, the school was formally renamed the University of Utah — and the Utah Territorial Legislature petitioned Congress for 60 acres to be utilized for a new campus. That request was granted in 1894, landing the university on the east bench of the Salt Lake Valley where it operates today.

Some key Utah/University of Utah history: In the mid-19th century, the federal government claimed land that would become the Fort Douglas Reservation. That land provided the basis for the current University of Utah campus and Research Park.

“That’s significant because of most urban universities don’t have a campus like the University of Utah does,” Esplin observed.

In its effort to secure statehood, territory leader separated its public eduction system from the church, and the institution became a secular school.

Utah became a state in 1896.

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Science-driven leaders

The University of Utah’s global identity as an institution of scientific inquiry and research is intrinsically linked to the influence of its early leaders, beginning with the medically-trained John R. Park, and continuing through subsequent presidents such as James E. Talmage and John A. Widtsoe — both scientists and academics who would later became Latter-day Saint apostles.

“At the time, there was a lot of tension between science and religion — and James Talmage and John Widtsoe didn’t see that,” said Esplin. “They really built up the sciences at the University of Utah, and laid a strong foundation.”

Those science-driven campus sensibilities further evolved with scientists/university presidents such as A. Ray Olpin and James C. Fletcher.

During the Olpin administration, the University of Utah enjoyed historic growth in the years following World War II as veterans began utilizing the GI Bill and baby boomers began reaching college age.

Olpin led major efforts to expand the university — and the campus quadrupled in size during his time in office, according to the university.

Nearly 200 buildings and 450 acres of land were acquired from Fort Douglas. Olpin started a 10-year building program in which 30 buildings were completed — including the Merrill Engineering Building, several dorm buildings and student family housing and the Union Building, which was named after him.

Fletcher, meanwhile, would go on to become the administrator of NASA.

A world-renowned medical school

During World War II, the university developed a four-year medical program that today is the multidisciplinary Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine.

One of the medical school’s first leaders was Dr. Maxwell Wintrobe, a Jewish physician.

“At that time, there was a lot of discrimination against Jewish faculty members at some of the better schools back East,” said Esplin. “Wintrobe, very successfully, hired a number of brilliant Jewish professors physicians to come out to Utah. ...

We developed a really, really good faculty in the School of Medicine because the University of Utah was open to hiring Jewish faculty members, quite frankly.”

The school’s research chops would blossom into what it is today — fueled by academics and visionaries such as the chemist Henry Eyring and the molecular geneticist Mario Capecchi, who would claim the 2007 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine.

The university’s medical school enjoys acclaim in its leading-edge research in fields such as the genetics of disease, cancer, biomedical informatics and infectious diseases. Meanwhile, the Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah is recognized as worldwide leader for its broad efforts to understand cancer, discover breakthroughs, and improve lives.

An aerial view of the University of Utah campus in Salt Lake City is pictured in 1939.

Championing the arts

Beyond its deepening scientific and academic footprint, the 175-year-old University of Utah has played an elemental role in the region’s cultural landscape.

Many of the state’s performing arts institutions enjoy connections to the University of Utah — including the Utah Symphony, Ballet West, Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company and Pioneer Theatre Company.

“And, of course, you still have the Museum of Natural History and the Museum of Fine Arts — and you have public broadcasting, which began under Olpin in the 1950s at the University of Utah,” said Esplin.

For many Utahns, their multigenerational tie to the University of Utah is linked to Ute athletics.

“Chris Hill, the former athletic director, called athletics the ‘Front door of the university,’” said Esplin. “The main connection at the University of Utah, for most people in the state, is either athletics or the health sciences.”

Despite being relatively hidden in the Mountain West, Ute athletes have often punched above their institutional weight — claiming national titles and now competing in the Big 12 Conference, a so-called Power Four conference.

Navigating a turbulent future

Of course no institution can advance for 175 year without encountering a few bumps, roadblocks and detours.

One of the “huge challenges” for higher education institutions today, said Esplin, “Is that the relative share of state funding, nationwide, has decreased — and the cost of tuition has gone up. It’s made it increasingly difficult for students to find their way through.”

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It’s impossible to operate a massive, research-anchored institution on the cheap — and securing cash will continue to be one of the school’s primary challenges moving forward.

Utah’s Legislature is considering a bill to withhold a sizable amount of state funds from the University of Utah — along with the other public colleges — until is formulates a detailed reallocation plan in the coming months.

Meanwhile, the National Institutes of Health recently announced plans to modify its federal grant procedures at medical research institutions such as the University of Utah. The new policy could draw millions away from campus research.

But like many of his predecessors, Randall is determined to take an innovative lead in higher education and research — and emerge from the challenges of the day.

For example, the university recently hired Manish Parashar to be its first-ever “AI czar” to direct the school’s various artificial intelligence initiatives.

The school, added Randall, also intends to further invest in the school’s nuclear engineer program and enhance campus opportunities in the field of genetics.

Much of the school’s future reallocation efforts directed by the Legislature, he added, will go to increasing the university’s pool of STEM graduates.

Speaking recently to Utah lawmakers, the university’s 17th president echoed the visionary words uttered 175 years ago by founding regent Appleby.

“We hope that our vision today,” said Randall, “is one that takes those initial thoughts from those initial founders and actually accelerates them.”

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University of Utah students participate in commencement exercises in 1946.

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CHURCH NEWS

Elder and Sister Bednar share lessons learned from 50 years of marriage ‘You do not find the marriage you want to have. You create it,’ Elder Bednar teaches during BYU–Idaho devotional

By Rachel Sterzer Gibson Church News

REXBURG, Idaho — One of the things that impressed BYU–Idaho students about the Sunday, March 9, devotional with Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and his wife, Sister Susan Bednar, was the format.

Instead of standing behind the pulpit and delivering remarks one at a time, the couple sat side by side in chairs near the I-Center auditorium’s large rostrum.

Without the aid of a script, teleprompter or notes, Elder and Sister Bednar simply engaged in a conversation with one another. With the Sunday evening devotional on the Rexburg, Idaho, campus taking place roughly a week prior to their 50th wedding anniversary, Elder and Sister Bednar recounted experiences — some tender, some lighthearted — and shared lessons they’ve learned about marriage and family over the last five decades.

“I really felt like I was just in their living room, and they were giving me advice and telling me about their lives,” said Dylan Nielsen, a junior studying business marketing.

The less-formal setup made the devotional feel “very close and personal,” despite there being roughly 12,000 people in the audience, commented BYU–Idaho student Savannah Cordray, a junior studying health psychology.

“They spoke to us as if we were their grandchildren, and they were reminiscing on all of the precious memories they’ve made over their 50 years of marriage,” said Cordray.

It was under Elder Bednar’s tenure as president that BYU– Idaho transitioned from a two-year college to a four-year university more than 20 years ago. The couple noted they were serving as the president and first lady of the school when they celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary.

Elder Bednar, who was ordained and set apart as an Apostle in 2004, told students, “Being here so close to our 50th anniversary, we could think of no place where we would feel more comfortable talking about these kinds of important, mortal and eternal issues than with all of you.”

Throughout the evening, the couple bore witness of the central role of the family in God’s plan, the importance of creating a marriage and a home that are centered on Jesus Christ, and the joy that can be found in those relationships.

Elder Bednar repeatedly emphasized that happiness in marriage and family life is not found. It is created. “My prayer is that every single one of you can hear that simple statement, that it will be confirmed in your heart as true by the power of the Holy Ghost, because it applies to you,” he said, once again emphasizing, “It is true, and it is for you.”

Creating happiness in marriage

Each Monday night for nearly eight years, the Bednars hosted student home evenings in Rexburg. Elder Bednar said they estimate they met with approximately 80,000 students during their tenure. A question that appeared nearly every week in some form centered around the “universal yearning” for a happy marriage and family life. Having witnessed or experienced the heartache of divorce and the breaking of covenants, many young people want hope or reassurance

Lauren Dominguez, BYU–Idaho

Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and Sister Susan Bednar share lessons they've learned from 50 years of marriage, during a BYU-Idaho devotional on Sunday, March 9, 2025.

that such happiness is possible for them.

“We have learned that because you are afraid of that heartache, you search and search for the person who will guarantee that you will never again have that kind of heartache,” Elder Bednar observed.

Many people function under the false assumption that if they find the “right” person, they will be happy. “You do not find the marriage you want to have. You create it,” Elder Bednar declared.

Sister Bednar said marriage is both wonderful and, at times, challenging. When life gets hard, she said, she thinks back to their sealing in the house of the Lord. “I remember the excitement that we had, the hope that we had, the desires that we had to create a happy home.” Turning to her husband, Sister Bednar continued, “And I remember looking at you during that ceremony, and you looking at me, and then all the things that we are fussing about go away.”

Added Elder Bednar: “The house of the Lord — the sealing that takes place — is an opportunity. It is not a guarantee. It is predicated upon our faithfulness in honoring the covenants, keeping the commandments and becoming ever more devoted disciples of Jesus Christ. Returning often to participate in that holy ordinance is one of the greatest reminders of what we are trying to establish and to become.”

That was a principle that resonated with Cordray, who is engaged and preparing to marry. “I could recognize myself in what [Elder Bednar] had to say about searching for someone who will never make me feel heartache and doubt again.”

Sunday’s devotional reinforced to her that such an expec-

tation is unrealistic. “I feel so much better taking the next step,” she said. Elder and Sister Bednar’s counsel reminded her that she and her soon-to-be spouse can turn to the Savior when they experience heartache, doubt or strife. “[He is] the firm foundation a marriage can stand on.”

Emmanuel Kissi, a senior majoring in business analytics and finance, was struck by the emphasis on being proactive in relationships. “It served as a reminder that successful relationships are built on mutual respect and continuous effort, not just mere luck,” he said.

The devotional has inspired him to be more mindful of how he contributes to healthy and respectful dynamics in all areas of his life, Kissi said.

Simple joys

Elder Bednar noted that creating a happy marriage is demanding work. “Sometimes it is frustrating. It is also the most deliriously joyful and happy thing you can experience in mortality.”

To create a happy family life, Elder and Sister Bednar encouraged listeners to find joy in simple activities and moments.

To illustrate, they showed a battered, well-used game of Scrabble they received as a wedding present. Sister Bednar explained that instead of playing for points and competing against each other, the two of them work together to try to use up all the letter tiles.

At times when they are frustrated or “fussy” with each other, one of them will invite the other to play Scrabble, and soon the two are cooperating and working together and in

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harmony once more.

“Sometimes [marriage] is frustrating. It is also the most deliriously joyful and happy thing you can experience in mortality.”

“Marriage is not big vacations. It is not big, grandiose outings. It is little, simple, oftentimes silly things that you do that you always remember,” Elder Bednar commented.

Nielsen, who was married just two months ago, said he loved Elder and Sister Bednar’s Scrabble game example. “I want to do that with [my wife], Miriam — maybe for us it’s not Scrabble, maybe it’s something else — but just having something that we do together on a regular basis that will bring us closer together.”

Listening to Elder and Sister Bednar, Esther Faria, a senior studying child development and marriage and family studies, said she also appreciated the reminder that money does not buy happiness. “[Elder Bednar] said it was through simple and silly things that they found joy in their family when they were in their stage of young children and university costs. They didn’t need money to create fun memories with their children.”

Press into uncertainty

Sister Bednar said they never could have predicted the trajectory of their life together.

“What happened along the way has been a never-ending series of surprises,” said Elder Bednar.

Plan, work, study, ponder and then press forward and do your best, he counseled. “Faith in the Savior is a principle of action. You act first in accordance with the teachings of the gospel of Jesus Christ, then and only then does the witness come. So if you are honoring covenants, keeping commandments, pressing forward, you will be where you are supposed to be, and you will be doing what you are supposed to do.”

Those who “press forward with steadfastness in Christ”

Hans Koepsell, BYU–Idaho

Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and his wife, Sister Susan Bednar, speak to thousands of young adults gathered in the I-Center in Rexburg, Idaho, on Sunday, March 9, 2025 — just one week prior to their 50th wedding anniversary.

cannot go amiss, he added.

God will never override agency or micromanage individuals’ lives. But those who give their whole souls to Him, who allow Him to be in control, will find “life is better than you can ever imagine,” Elder Bednar promised.

Cordray said she is a planner. “I like to know what will happen and what I can do to make sure everything goes right.”

During the devotional, Elder Bednar said, “If we were to

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write a script for our life knowing what we know now, it could not have been as good as what actually happened.”

Applying that to herself, Cordray said, “That’s such a beautiful promise.” She now wants to be better at turning “the plan” over to the Lord and seeing what He has in store.

“Something that stuck with me is when Elder Bednar said that it takes two to create a covenant connection. I know that [my relationship with my husband] will become so much stronger if we give control to Him,” she said.

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Up, up and away How Utah’s gondola controversy may set the stage for future conservation battles

By Kevin Lind Deseret Magazine

In 1644, a Dutch engineer named Adam Wiebe built a suspension transport system in Gdańsk, Poland, using cable and wicker baskets to move the earth that was needed to fortify the city perimeter. From a nearby hill, it carried tons of soil across the Motława River, using the descending weight of the baskets and pulleys to power their cycle. Welcome, a humble contraption: the world’s first gondola lift.

It took over 200 years, but Wiebe’s engineering marvel eventually transformed into the gondola we know today, complete with cable cars full of wide-eyed passengers, suspended through mountain terrain steep enough to give you butterflies.

The first passenger gondola opened in the Dolomite mountains of South Tyrol, Italy, in 1908. It was a hit. Reliable, easy to service, safe — and a wonder to behold. In the decades to come, gondolas became a staple mode of transportation in European mountain towns. American ski resorts followed.

To float above the canyons, the rivers, the teetering ridgelines leading to mountain peaks — it’s a magical experience for passengers. And out of harm’s way — for the most part — when it comes to mountain travel. Gondolas aren’t at risk for avalanches or black ice or backed-up traffic. This is one of several reasons Utah’s Department of Transportation wants to build a gondola to take passengers up Little Cottonwood Canyon in Utah’s Wasatch Mountains.

But this wouldn’t be any gondola. When constructed, it will be the world’s longest — nearly one-and-a-half times longer than the current title holder in Serbia (which stretches over five miles itself ). The official reasoning for constructing this gondola is to alleviate congested traffic — and the resulting emissions — that pile up nearly every weekend in the winter on the one road leading in and out of the canyon.

However, that’s not the entire picture. From a bird’s-eye view, certain aspects of the gondola project aren’t as simple as they first seem. The roughly $700 million endeavor would be funded by taxpayers, but the gondola will service two private businesses (Alta and Snowbird resorts) during the winter months (aka ski season). No stops will be made for passengers to access trailheads and public lands. Then there’s the threat to the conservation of public lands. The 22 towers (stretching as high as 262 feet) that carry the gondola will forever change the protected public lands of Little Cottonwood Canyon. Those opposing the gondola claim that visible towers will redefine the view of the canyon, recreation areas will be destroyed, and access to public lands will be more limited than before.

Critics of the project say UDOT conducted a questionable National Environmental Protection Act process to get the gondola construction approved. NEPA is a federal law that mandates all large governmental developments investigate the environmental impacts before a project can break ground.

The final environmental impact statements and Record of Decision that Utah’s transportation department produced are now the subject of three separate lawsuits that could halt the project. The suits, which have been combined by the federal court, allege that UDOT pushed the gondola option through without meeting NEPA requirements — failing to thoroughly consider other possible solutions to ease traffic and neglecting to acknowledge all the potential negative environmental

Michael Waraksa for the Deseret News

impacts should the gondola construction begin.

When UDOT received approval to conduct and oversee its own environmental impact studies from the Federal Highway Administration, it became only one of seven state municipalities in the country ever to be granted the privilege. Should UDOT win in court, the implications could reverberate far beyond Utah. It could set a new standard where states would be allowed to make far-reaching decisions about development in protected federal lands with limited review safeguards. If this happened, the environmental protection that NEPA provides could be curtailed on thousands of current and future development projects on public lands.

“If this EIS stands, it provides a roadmap for states who want to completely bypass 30 years of NEPA process,” says Bob Douglass, a board member of the advocacy group Friends of Little Cottonwood Canyon, a plaintiff in one of the lawsuits. In other words, this could inspire future developers and agencies to skimp on environmental reviews knowing that a less thorough review will still stand in court.

The problem started with a line of traffic. On busy days, cars sit bumper-to-bumper on Little Cottonwood Canyon’s state Route 210. What should be a 30-minute drive from Salt Lake City stretches on for hours during peak winter travel days. For years, a handful of solutions have been discussed: Avalanche tunnels? Widening the road? Tolling? More public bus transportation? But when UDOT completed the multiyear NEPA review in 2023, it recommended a gondola.

According to UDOT, it seems like the most reliable solution. A gondola can float above avalanche paths and wouldn’t

be fazed by snowy conditions, barring extreme winter storms.

It would feasibly have low maintenance costs over 30 years (despite an estimated initial investment of $729 million).

And, importantly, it can accommodate a growing population.

The gondola, per UDOT’s data, will help transport nearly 3,300 people per hour via combined transportation with buses and cars, too, and has the potential to reduce traffic in the canyon by 30 percent, eliminating the need to expand the highway with an additional two lanes. Alongside the reduction in car emissions, once up and running, developers have assured that the gondola will be carbon neutral. That’s a strong environmental claim. But local stakeholders point out that preserving public lands and natural resources should be step one for conserving Little Cottonwood Canyon.

By December 2023, three different federal lawsuits against UDOT hit the courts. Though the details of each plaintiff ’s arguments differ, they were similar enough to be combined into a single case last April. The aim is to prevent the gondola from being built until the impacts are more thoroughly reviewed, at the very least.

The first suit was filed by six named individuals and two advocacy groups — Friends of Alta, a local nonprofit, and the International Outdoor Recreation Asset Alliance, a Utahbased nonprofit focused on protecting public land against development. It argues that UDOT stepped outside its delegated authority from the Federal Highway Authority by approving a solution to the transportation issue with something that is not technically a highway.

Salt Lake City, the town of Sandy and their shared Metro-

DESERET NEWS | APRIL 2025 politan Water District filed the second suit together, requesting that the environmental impact studies be expanded to include what building a gondola might do to the region’s water supply, the majority of which comes from the Wasatch Mountains. “Given that these canyons and the neighboring canyons provide so much of the public water supply, we wanted the actual purpose and need of the … process to include not only solving the transportation problem, but also protecting the water supply,” says Laura Briefer, the director of Salt Lake City Department of Public Utilities. “That did not happen.”

The third suit was filed by the Citizens’ Committee to Save Our Canyons. It not only names UDOT, but also its executive director, Carlos Braceras, and the U.S. Forest Service.

The U.S. Forest Service is included as a defendant because, as the administrators of the public land where the gondola would sit, it’s a federal agency with a specific responsibility to consider what the towering structures would do to the “character” of the wilderness. Conflict of interest makes an appearance, too. The suit suggests that the reason the NEPA process was unusually limited and “arbitrary” is because “the private developer who proposed the … gondola alternative … was in fact the former President of the State Senate, who was closely involved with state legislation authorizing and funding this project.”

Wayne Niederhauser, the former state Senate president named in the lawsuit, says those claims are “interesting but inaccurate.”

“My involvement in the NEPA process was no different from that of any other individual or organization, and any information I provided was through the public comment process as a citizen,” he wrote in a statement to Deseret Magazine. “The assertion that I had a preconceived stance on the gondola as an elected official is also false.” Niederhauser says that during his time as a state senator, his efforts to find solutions for Little Cottonwood Canyon’s traffic problem focused

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“We have to fix this problem, or the people in the future will look back at those of us who have passed and say mean things about us.” on smaller, practical implementations — like avalanche control and increased busing. These are some of the same solutions that critics of the project are pointing to now as necessary precursors to the gondola.

Catherine Kanter, Salt Lake County’s deputy mayor of regional operations, says that the lawsuits intend to force UDOT to implement “common sense solutions” to the transportation problem first and foremost. These include tolling, or any number of increased busing options, which don’t cost the environment or taxpayers nearly as much. “We believe that (the gondola) is not necessary,” Kanter says. “And it certainly isn’t the most practical or … adaptable.”

Developers and supporters of the gondola suggest the same common sense applies to the proven, efficient method of moving people up mountains across the world. Aside from UDOT itself — which only responded to requests for comment on this article with publicly available documents — these supporters are represented by a group of entities calling itself Gondola Works. The coalition includes the ski resorts Snowbird and Alta, two PR companies and CW Management, founded by two former Utah politicians, including

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Niederhauser. Snowbird — the resort — bought several acres of property at the base of the canyon. Snowbird’s president and general manager, Dave Fields, says it’s just enough land for the base station and the requisite parking.

This blurring of the lines between public and private interest is raised in the lawsuits as a prelude to how future private development projects on public lands may be carried out. For those in support of the project, it’s a small sticking point that obscures the potential for a viable solution to a long-standing issue. “Gondolas are worldwide renowned as the solution to transportation problems,” says Chris McCandless, a former Sandy city councilman and president of CW Management.

“Only here in Utah are we condemning them.”

But as the case unfolds, the tensions of private development vs. public lands and conservation vs. urban planning won’t be a matter of public opinion, it will be a decision of the law. Bill Eubanks, owner of Eubanks & Associates — a public interest law firm focused on environmental issues — CONTINUES ON PG. 12

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“Gondolas are worldwide renowned as the solution to transportation problems.”

Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

Trying to find a solution to bumper-to-bumper traffic in Little Cottonwood Canyon has turned into a federal court battle over how best to protect the canyon while easing congestion.

says that the decision of a court or federal judge hinges on the thoroughness of the NEPA review process.

“As long as they have checked off all their boxes and the agency has done a detailed look at all the things that they should have looked at, then they typically win in court if they’re challenged,” he says. But “if they gave short shrift to something at any of those stages, then they’re vulnerable to having a setback for further review.”

If UDOT loses the case, the court will vacate the gondola decision, meaning “it’s no longer on the books, it’s not operative, no work can be done under it because it’s now unlawful,” says Eubanks. If this happens, UDOT will be at a crossroads.

It could start the entire review process over from the beginning, which would mean several more years of administrative processing and the subsequent costs to taxpayers, or it could do nothing and let the traffic problem continue.

Eubanks believes there is ample evidence that there wasn’t a thorough environmental review to meet federal law. But how the court rules will be based on what is found in the nearly 200,000 pages of administrative records UDOT provides to the courts. If those documents prove to the court that UDOT did perform a thorough environmental review, then it would be given the green light to move forward with the project and build the gondola. In that reality, it becomes clear to federal and state agencies — as well as potential developers — that reviews with limited scope and less thorough impact studies for future developments are not only allowable but defensible in court.

Take a drive up Little Cottonwood Canyon today, and you probably wouldn’t guess that anything’s afoot. The traffic backs up. The red glow of brake lights stretches on. That’s because the current lawsuit had an unintended consequence: UDOT has halted its mitigation efforts in the canyon. It seems that the efforts to implement tolling, increase busing and any of the other low-cost solutions identified in the original plan for phased implementation are at a standstill. Though UDOT

has funding and approval from the state Legislature to spend money on the more “common sense” solutions, they’ve stated publicly that they won’t do any traffic mitigation until the lawsuits are resolved. Maybe that’s an effort to save tax dollars. Maybe it’s a symptom of a bureaucratic zero-sum game that, to some, seems completely out of step with the good intentions of trying to find a solution in the first place.

With growing populations, expanding metropolitan areas and a growing economy, the tensions between conservation and development, such as those occurring in Little Cottonwood Canyon, are becoming increasingly urgent and intense across the nation. These conflicts are crucial as they establish the groundwork for the future of protected lands and the burgeoning economies in the West.

This is why Douglass, from Friends of Little Cottonwood Canyon, is so concerned about the ruling on the lawsuit. If the defense wins, he worries a less thorough approach to environmental review could become common among developers.

On a warm, sunny November day, a small group from UDOT Traffic and Trails and U.S. Forest Service officials arrived in the canyon. Carrying maps on clipboards with pens at the ready, they passed a few folks chalking up and cheering each other on through climbs at the Secret Garden Boulders, which sit just a stone’s throw off SR-210. One official remarked on how close the boulders were to the road.

Julia Geisler was here to show the UDOT team just that.

As the executive director of the Salt Lake Climbers Alliance, Geisler strives for her organization to maintain a good relationship with UDOT because her ultimate goal is to ensure these public lands remain accessible to climbers and other recreationists. Walking from boulder to boulder, she pointed out all the ways that different solutions — a gondola, increased bus service, widening the highway in the canyon — might impact these beloved recreational areas in Little Cottonwood Canyon.

After a short walk, the group arrived at the Alpenbock Loop.

Located near the mouth of the canyon, it’s part of a popular climbing area, where steep, gray granite walls stretch upward and small parking lots are filled with climbers when the weather is right. In August, the Alpenbock Loop became the first group of climbing routes in history to be added to the National Register of Historic Places. The designation means its historical significance for its relevance to the culture and growth of the sport of climbing is officially recognized and protected. But if the gondola is built, two climbing boulders in the area might be destroyed to house one of the 22 towers.

Every 30 seconds, as climbers ascend, a cable car will travel behind them, suspended for miles up the canyon. The entire experience of climbing along the Alpenbock Loop, Geisler says, will be changed.

Geisler says UDOT didn’t consider the gondola’s impact on recreational views as important in its EIS. Yet, when Geiser’s team hired outside consultants to read the thousands of public comments made during the review, she says they found that every comment submitted by climbers mentioned the importance of the view.

To some, it’s a small price to pay. McCandless, of CW Management, says that the gondola will carry more people, more quickly, and be less environmentally damaging to run than the number of cars and buses needed to meet the ever-growing demand on the canyon. He believes that, over time, the impact of building a carbonneutral gondola will be far less damaging than the pollution from increased traffic and wider highways. He’s quick to point out, too, that there are more than 60 avalanche paths along Little Cottonwood Canyon’s highway. No matter how wide the road or how many buses are in transit, when the snow slides, only a gondola would be able to keep running.

McCandless thinks that if nothing significant is done to address the traffic issue, it will persist long after anyone discussing it today is gone. “We have to fix this problem, or the people in the future will look back at those of us who have passed and say mean things about us,” he says. “And rightfully so.”

For those on the other side of the lawsuit, that wisdom works both ways. As Geisler says, there will always be a new condo, a housing project or a new road that’s encroaching, and so someone has to advocate for public lands, for undeveloped natural resources and for the places where nature is our greatest asset. “Because once it’s gone, it’s gone. You can save a place a thousand times, but you can lose it only once.”

This story appears in the March 2025 issue of Deseret Magazine. Learn more about how to subscribe.

DESERET NEWS | APRIL 2025

13

GENERAL CONFERENCE

THE DESERET DIGEST 2025

April 2025 General Conference

Scott G Winterton, Deseret News

14 DESERET NEWS | APRIL 2025

GENERAL CONFERENCE

A look back at 100 years of missionary training centers Missionary training has grown from 1 missionary home in Salt Lake City to training centers around the world

By Aimee Cobabe Church News

March 2025 marks 100 years since the dedication of what came to be known as the Salt Lake Mission Home, a predecessor to what became missionary training centers around the world for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Missionary training dates back to the Church’s early days with the School of the Prophets organized in the 1830s so elders could “teach one another” the gospel and “be prepared in all things” (Doctrine and Covenants 88:77-80).

The Salt Lake Mission Home

The Salt Lake Mission Home began training around 100 missionaries for a week at a time in 1925. Missionaries learning a new language learned that new language in the mission field.

Although the instruction and training new missionaries received continue to evolve over time, an article in the Church News in 1973, titled “Missionary Home: Place of Learning,” gave a full itinerary of what life was like then for training missionaries at the Salt Lake Mission Home.

New missionaries checked into the home on Saturday mornings. Many general authorities gave talks with titles such as “Your Potential for Success,” “Organization of Time” and “Spirituality, Key to Success.”

Sundays included a one-hour sacrament meeting during the day. On Monday, missionaries would go to the temple for two sessions, ending at 4:15 p.m., then back to the mission home for more classwork. Tuesday was taken up with studies most of the day, and on Wednesday evenings, missionaries received a performance evaluation to review what they had learned.

Much of the study for missionaries at this time was focused on learning the missionary discussions and “flip charts” with pictures to use alongside the discussions.

On Thursdays, missionaries would leave and go either directly to the mission field or to one of the language training missions at Brigham Young University, Ricks College (later BYU–Idaho) or Church College of Hawaii (later BYU–Hawaii).

The Church History Biographical Database has a searchable record of missionaries who went through the Salt Lake Mission Home from June 1924 through 1957. Part of the mission of the biographical database is to connect descendants to their missionary ancestors.

Language learning

By the late 1950s, missionaries called to Mexico were having difficulty obtaining permits to enter the country, with arrivals sometimes delayed months. This prompted consideration of a language-training facility at BYU in Provo, Utah.

The first class of missionaries — 14 going to Argentina and 16 to Mexico — began the language-learning program in the BYU Alumni building on the BYU campus in December 1961.

The First Presidency changed the name of the Missionary Language Institute to the Language Training Mission in June 1963. It also added training in Portuguese and German.

The Language Learning Centers at Ricks College and the

Church History Biographical Database

A group of missionaries poses for a photo outside the Salt Lake Mission Home in Salt Lake City on June 7, 1927.

Church College of Hawaii were opened for Dutch and Scandinavian languages and Polynesian and Oriental languages, respectively, in 1968.

The Church created plans in 1971 for a separate Provo Language Training Mission complex, which began housing missionaries in August 1976. When completed, the complex included 37 offices, 22 chapels, 290 classrooms and 12 observation rooms and enough housing for 2,974 missionaries.

During the same period, a former elementary school just north of the Church Office Building in Salt Lake City functioned as the Salt Lake Mission Home from 1971 to 1978. The Salt Lake Mission Home was closed in 1978 as the facility was no longer large enough to accommodate missionaries for an extended time.

A Church News article from August 1975 noted that 100 to 150 missionaries went through the Language Training Mission each week, with sister missionaries accounting for 10% to 15%.

The preparation of new missionaries followed three main goals: “One, to teach them to become disciples of Christ; two, to teach them the culture of the country they will labor in and to learn to love the people they will serve; and three, to teach them to preach the gospel in another language.”

Missionaries spent their first three weeks at the Language Training Mission studying their new language full time. The remaining weeks were focused on memorizing discussions.

The 1975 article notes that elders and sisters would stand in line for food in the cafeteria “reading scriptures and studying discussions while waiting. No one stands idle in the queue.”

Elder Mark Hale of Provo, Utah, who was preparing for a mission in Mexico, told the Church News: “I can’t believe the Spirit here. I’ve never worked so hard and learned so much in so little time.”

International training centers

The first international missionary training facilities were established in São Paulo, Brazil, and Hamilton, New Zealand in 1977.

The next year, missionaries called to English-speaking missions were added to the Language Training Mission in Provo, and the name was changed to the Missionary Training Center.

After more than four decades, and with the growth of the Church internationally, more languages have been added at the Provo Missionary Training Center, and more missionary training centers were opened around the world.

There are currently 11 MTCs globally:

DESERET NEWS | APRIL 2025

15

• Brazil Missionary Training Center, in São Paulo, Brazil.

• Democratic Republic of the Congo Missionary Training Center, in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo.

• England Missionary Training Center, in Preston, England.

• Ghana Missionary Training Center, in Accra, Ghana.

• Mexico Missionary Training Center, in Mexico City, Mexico.

• New Zealand Missionary Training Center, in Auckland, New Zealand.

• Peru Missionary Training Center, in Lima, Peru.

• Philippines Missionary Training Center, in Manila, Philippines.

• Provo Missionary Training Center, in Provo, Utah.

• South Africa Missionary Training Center, in Johannesburg, South Africa.

• Thailand Missionary Training Center, in Bangkok, Thailand.

Missionary training in the digital age

The COVID-19 pandemic forced the closure of missionary training centers worldwide in March 2020, and the Church transitioned training of new missionaries to online instruction. Even with MTCs resuming on-site training in June 2021, many missionaries will still begin their training online at home for a third of their training, then travel to an MTC. Elder Jarom Michael Moody, who was called to serve in the Massachusetts Boston Mission, told the Church News in September 2021 that he was able to share his at-home MTC experience with his family.

“There are a lot of invitations to involve our family in our training. From sharing what we have been learning to introducing ourselves in Spanish to them, we have had numerous opportunities to make them a part of the experience. One of the biggest benefits of at-home MTC is seeing my family. It separates being a missionary from leaving your family. I have been able to train without any homesickness, and that lets me become a more effective missionary.”

A group of missionaries poses for a photo outside the Salt Lake Mission Home in Salt Lake City in the mid 1920s.

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16 DESERET NEWS | APRIL 2025

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18 DESERET NEWS | APRIL 2025

GENERAL CONFERENCE

What Latter-day Saints should know about temple, family history work ‘Everybody can do this,’ Elder Hamilton says of family history work

By Trent Toone Church News

There was a time in the not so distant past when Latter-day Saints often perceived family history as a hobby or task for every family’s “Aunt Sally.”

With today’s technology and online tools, those days are officially gone, said Elder Kevin S. Hamilton, a General Authority Seventy who serves as executive director of the Family History Department of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

“This is not just ‘Aunt Sally’s’ project anymore,” he said.

“Everybody can do this. Our goal at FamilySearch has been to make it so easy that even children can do it. Everybody can do it.”

It’s the one message that Elder Hamilton wishes every Latter-day Saint could know and understand about temple and family history work, he told the Church News in an interview at RootsTech 2025 on Thursday, March 6.

The same question — what do you wish more Church members understood about temple and family history work — was asked of other General Authority Seventies who serve as assistant executive directors in the Family History Department. Here are their responses:

A more meaningful temple experience

Elder K. Brett Nattress recently accompanied a group of nonmember archivists from Fiji for a tour of the Auckland New Zealand Temple. He said the archivists had a powerful spiritual experience inside the new house of the Lord because they came thinking about their families and the Holy Ghost bore witness of the eternal nature of the family.

“When we attend the temple, it makes such a difference when you bring a relative with you, somebody who has gone before, who had done hard things, but didn’t have a chance to receive the gospel of Jesus Christ [in their lifetime]. When you bring them with you to the temple, it brings more meaning, more significance,” he said.

“Temple and family history work, it is the same. It enhances our understanding of where we came from, why we are here, and where we are going. It is understanding that we have a loving Heavenly Father who loves all of His children and allows us to have an eternal connection. ... That connection is a way for us to open the heavens in our own lives and seek something higher than what we see in this world today.”

Names for the house of the Lord

Elder Mark A. Bragg agreed that family history and the work in the house of the Lord go hand in hand.

“It’s such a joy to hear temples being announced, but what that means is we need to make sure we have sufficient family names so people can take them to the temple. That was an ‘Aha’ moment for me,” said Elder Bragg, who is in his first year of service with the Family History Department. He also serves as president of the Church’s North America West Area.

Elder Bragg said FamilySearch is collaborating with archives worldwide — providing materials, resources and oth-

Isaac Hale, Deseret News

Barry Bundy, of St. George, Utah, checks out the Family ChartMasters booth in the expo hall during the final day of RootsTech 2025, held at the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City, Utah, from March 6-8, 2025.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

From left to right: Elder Kevin S. Hamilton, General Authority Seventy; Elder K. Brett Nattress, General Authority Seventy; Elder Mark A. Bragg, General Authority Seventy; and Elder Jorge M. Alvarado, General Authority Seventy.

er assistance — to help digitize records.

“We see the announcement of all the these temples and the need for family names. We are out there in all of these homelands helping them capture their archives so that it can lead to temple ready names that can be taken to the temple eventually by their family members.”

Discover your heritage

Elder Jorge M. Alvarado said that temple and family history work is more than just pedigree charts, it’s discovering one’s roots, heritage and history. When members learn more know their ancestors, they will have a desire to help them

receive ordinances of salvation and exaltation.

For those getting started, RootsTech.org and FamilySearch.org are valuable online resources available in multiple languages.

“At RootsTech, you can connect with people worldwide.

No matter where you come from, you can connect with and learn about your relatives,” said Elder Alvarado, adding that he first became interested in family history at RootsTech.

“It’s fantastic. Come and see, come and experience. I had no interest in family history until a few years ago. RootsTech ignited the fire for me and it’s been burning ever since. Come and enjoy.”

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GENERAL CONFERENCE

Dedication, open house dates announced for Syracuse Utah Temple 1 of 31 houses of the Lord in Utah, the Syracuse temple will be dedicated on June 8

By Scott Taylor Church News

The First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has set dedication and open house dates for the Syracuse Utah Temple, one of 31 total houses of the Lord in Utah.

The Syracuse Utah Temple will be dedicated in a single session on Sunday, June 8. The dedicatory session will be broadcast to all units within the temple district.

Prior to the dedication of the house of the Lord, a media day will be held Wednesday, May 7, followed by tours for invited guests on May 8 and 9. The public open house of the Syracuse temple begins Saturday, May 10, and runs through Saturday, May 31, excluding Sundays.

The three-story temple of approximately 89,000 square feet sits on a 12-acre site at the intersection of 2500 West and 1025 South in Syracuse.

The dedication and open house dates were first published Tuesday, Jan. 28, on ChurchofJesusChrist.org.

President Russell M. Nelson announced a temple for Syracuse, Utah, on April 5, 2020. It was one of eight new locations for future houses of the Lord identified in the concluding session of the April 2020 general conference.

The temple’s site was released on Aug. 28, 2020, and an exterior rendering on Feb. 16, 2021.

Elder Kevin R. Duncan, a General Authority Seventy and executive director of the Church’s Temple Department, presided at the Syracuse temple’s June 12, 2021, groundbreaking, speaking and offering a prayer dedicating the site and construction process. His great-grandfather was the first bishop of the Syracuse Ward, and Elder Duncan grew up less than a

mile and half north of the temple site.

When it began construction, the Syracuse Utah Temple became the Church’s 38th house of the Lord under construction, with 168 dedicated temples worldwide. Today, the Church has 202 dedicated temples, with the Syracuse temple one of four additional houses of the Lord with announced upcoming dedications.

Of the Church’s total 367 temples dedicated, under construction or announced and in planning, 48 are under construction.

Nearly 2.2 million Latter-day Saints reside in Utah, accounting for just under two-thirds of the state’s population of over 3.4 million residents. The state is home to more than 630 stakes, more than 5,400 congregations and 10 missions.

Utah has 23 dedicated temples, with 21 operating and two closed — the Salt Lake Temple for ongoing renovations and the Provo Utah Rock Canyon Temple for reconstruction.

Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News The Syracuse temple will be the Church’s 24th dedicated Elder Kevin R. Duncan, General Authority Seventy, speaks during temple in the state, joining the operating Bountiful, Brigham groundbreaking for the Syracuse Utah Temple of The Church of City, Cedar City, Deseret Peak, Draper, Jordan River, LayJesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Syracuse on Saturday, June ton, Logan, Manti, Monticello, Mount Timpanogos, Ogden, 12, 2021.

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Must be at least 62 years old with monthly income of $2,800.00!

See our virtual tours at: www.friendship-manor.com Call Wendy today at: 801-582-3100 TTY: 711 wendy@friendship-manor.com

April 30– May 2, 2025

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1320 East 500 South, SLC, UT 84102

Join Us This Summer • Special Edition • Adventure • Campus

DESERET NEWS | APRIL 2025

25

26 DESERET NEWS | APRIL 2025

Temples dotting the

Russia (Site yet to be announced)

ALASKA

world

Temples dotting Asia

Sapporo Japan

Ulaanbaatar Mongolia Seoul Korea Shanghai People’s Republic of China

Busan Korea

Tokyo Japan Osaka Japan Fukuoka Japan

Okinawa Japan Taipei Taiwan Kaohsiung Taiwan Tuguegarao City Philippines Laoag Santiago Philippines Yigo Bangkok Philippines Guam Alabang Philippines Thailand Urdaneta Naga Philippines Philippines Tacloban City Philippines Manila Philippines Cebu City Philippines Iloilo Philippines Cagayan de Oro Philippines Phnom Penh Davao Philippines Bacolod Cambodia Philippines Port Moresby Papua New Guinea

Temples dotting the Pacific

Hong Kong

Dubai United Arab Emirates

Bengaluru India

Singapore

Laie Hawaii

Honolulu Hawaii Kona Hawaii

Tarawa Kiribati

Jakarta Indonesia Suva Fiji

Temples announced Under construction or scheduled for groundbreaking Operating or scheduled for dedication/rededication Under renovation or scheduled for renovation

Adelaide Australia

Melbourne Australia

Savai’i Apia Samoa Samoa

Uturoa French Polynesia Pago Pago American Samoa

Neiafu Tonga Nuku’alofa Tonga

Port Vila Brisbane Vanuatu Australia Brisbane Australia South

Perth Australia

Kahului Hawaii

Sydney Australia Hamilton New Zealand

Auckland New Zealand Wellington New Zealand

Papeete Tahiti

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$1,000 SCHOLARSHIP

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28 DESERET NEWS | APRIL 2025

Temples dotting the United States and Canada

Edmonton Alberta

Calgary Alberta

Victoria British Columbia Vancouver British Columbia

Seattle Washington Tacoma Washington Vancouver Washington Portland Oregon Willamette Valley Oregon

Moses Lake Spokane Washington Washington

Columbia River Washington

Regina Saskatchewan

Lethbridge Alberta Cardston Alberta Coeur d’Alene Idaho Missoula Montana Helena Montana Billings Montana

Teton River Idaho

Rexburg Idaho

Winnipeg Manitoba Bismarck North Dakota

St. Paul Minnesota

Cody Wyoming

Montreal Quebec

Halifax Nova Scotia

Toronto Grand Rapids Idaho Falls Meridian Idaho Ontario Michigan Idaho Boise Idaho Milwaukee Medford Oregon Star Valley Twin Falls Idaho Wisconsin Des Moines Wyoming Casper Palmyra New Detroit Burley Idaho Pocatello Montpelier Iowa Wyoming York Michigan Idaho Boston Massachusetts Idaho Nauvoo Winter Quarters Nebraska Chicago Reno Hartford Connecticut Illinois Cleveland Ohio Fort Collins Indianapolis Illinois Nevada Colorado Indiana Columbus Ohio Pittsburgh Elko Manhattan New York Feather River California Denver Pennsylvania Nevada Kansas City Summit New Jersey Colorado Sacramento California Cincinnati Missouri Modesto California Philadelphia Pennsylvania Oakland California Ohio Grand Junction Colorado Springs Harrisburg Pennsylvania San Jose California Lone Mountain Colorado Winchester Wichita Kansas St. Louis Colorado Washington D.C. Nevada Fresno California Missouri Louisville Kentucky Virginia Springfield Missouri Richmond Virginia Bakersfield California Phoenix Snowflake Farmington New Mexico Knoxville Tennessee Tulsa Oklahoma Roanoke Virginia Redlands California Arizona Arizona Bentonville Yorba Linda California Mesa Raleigh North Carolina Las Vegas Oklahoma City Nashville Tennessee Arkansas Lubbock Arizona Los Angeles California Nevada Charlotte North Carolina Albuquerque New Mexico Oklahoma Texas Yuma Memphis Memphis Newport Beach California Queen Creek Arizona Arizona Tennessee Tennessee San Diego California McKinney Texas Dallas The Gila Valley Huntsville Birmingham Gilbert Texas Arizona Columbia South Carolina Alabama Alabama Atlanta Arizona Tucson Fort Worth Georgia Arizona El Paso Texas Texas Houston Texas Austin Texas Smithfield Utah San Antonio Logan Utah Jacksonville Florida Brigham City Utah Texas Tallahassee Ogden Utah Baton Rouge Florida Houston Texas McAllen Louisiana Orlando Florida UTAH Syracuse Utah Layton Utah South Texas Tampa Florida Bountiful Utah Taylorsville Utah Salt Lake Vernal West Jordan Utah Fort Lauderdale Florida Utah Draper Utah Jordan River Utah Heber Valley Utah Deseret Peak Utah Mount Timpanogos Utah Oquirrh Mountain Utah Lindon Utah Lehi Utah Saratoga Springs Utah Provo ProvoUtah UtahRock Canyon Provo City Center Provo City Center Orem Utah Payson Utah Price Utah

ALASKA

Ephraim Utah Manti Utah

Fairbanks Vernal Utah Alaska

Cedar City Utah

St. George Utah Red Cliffs Utah

Monticello Utah Anchorage Alaska

HAWAII See Pacific map for 4 temples

Temples announced Under construction or scheduled for groundbreaking Operating or scheduled for dedication/rededication Under renovation or scheduled for renovation

DESERET NEWS | APRIL 2025

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30 DESERET NEWS | APRIL 2025 Tijuana Mexico

Temples dotting Latin America

Hermosillo Sonora Mexico Ciudad Juárez Mexico Colonia Juárez Chihuahua Mexico Chihuahua Mexico Torreón Mexico

Culiacán Mexico Guadalajara Mexico Querétaro Mexico Tula Mexico Toluca Mexico Cuernavaca Mexico Mexico City Mexico

Temples dotting Europe

Puebla Mexico Tegucigalpa Oaxaca Mexico Honduras Juchitán de Zaragoza Mexico Managua Tuxtla Gutiérrez Mexico Nicaragua Retalhuleu Guatemala Quetzaltenango Guatemala Miraflores Guatemala City Guatemala Guatemala City Guatemala Santa Ana El Salvador San Salvador El Salvador San José Costa Rica Panama City Panama

Madrid Spain Lisbon Portugal

Maracaibo Venezuela Caracas Venezuela

Belém Brazil

Quito Ecuador

Manaus Brazil Iquitos Peru

Piura Peru

Teresina Brazil

Chiclayo Peru Trujillo Peru

Praia Cape Verde

Fortaleza Brazil

Natal Brazil João Pessoa Brazil Recife Brazil Maceió Brazil

Lima Peru Los Olivos Cusco Peru Arequipa Peru La Paz Bolivia

Brasília Brazil

Cochabamba Bolivia

Ribeirão Preto Brazil Asunción Paraguay

Antofagasta Chile Salta Argentina

Córdoba Argentina Rosario Argentina

Temples announced Under construction or scheduled for groundbreaking Operating or scheduled for dedication/rededication Under renovation or scheduled for renovation

Monrovia Liberia

Mendoza Argentina

Buenos Aires Argentina

Bahía Blanca Argentina

Campinas Brazil

Benin City Nigeria Lagos Nigeria

Abidjan Ivory Coast Accra Ghana

Calabar Nigeria

Vitória Brazil

Rio de Janeiro Brazil Santos Brazil São Paulo East Brazil São Paulo Brazil Curitiba Brazil Florianópolis Brazil Porto Alegre Brazil

Montevideo Uruguay Buenos Aires City Center Argentina

Luanda Angola

educationweek.byu.edu

Nairobi Kenya

Mbuji-Mayi Democratic Republic of the Congo

Kampal Uganda

Lubumbashi Democratic Republic of the Congo

Harare Zimbabwe

Temples announced Under construction or scheduled for groundbreaking Operating or scheduled for dedication/rededication Under renovation or scheduled for renovation

Johannesburg South Africa

Beira Mozambique

Maputo Mozambique Durban South Africa

Puerto Montt Chile

Choose from more than 1,000 classes on a variety of subjects that renew, refresh, and recharge.

Rome Italy

Kananga Democratic Republic of the Congo

Aba Nigeria Eket Nigeria

Brazzaville Republic of the Congo Kinshasa Democratic Republic of the Congo

Belo Horizonte Brazil

Santa Cruz Bolivia

Concepción Chile

Salvador Brazil

Goiânia Brazil

Londrina Brazil

Viña del Mar Chile Santiago West Chile Santiago Chile

Freetown Sierra Leone

Milan Italy

Temples dotting Africa

Abuja Nigeria

Kumasi Ghana

Cape Coast Ghana

Huancayo Peru

Lima Peru

Copenhagen Budapest Hungary Denmark

Barcelona Spain

Bogotá Colombia Cali Colombia

Guayaquil Ecuador

Vienna Austria

Paris France Bern Switzerland

Barranquilla Colombia

Freiberg Germany Kyiv Ukraine

Brussels Belgium

Port-au-Prince Santo Domingo Haiti Dominican Republic

Russia (City yet to be announced)

Hamburg Germany

Frankfurt Germany

San Juan Puerto Rico

Medellín Colombia

Copenhagen Denmark

The Hague Netherlands

Dublin Ireland Birmingham England London England

Santiago Dominican Republic

Helsinki Finland Stockholm Sweden

Edinburgh Scotland

Preston England

Monterrey Mexico San Luis Potosí Mexico Tampico Mexico Pachuca Mexico Mexico City Benemérito Mexico Veracruz Mexico Cancún Mexico Villahermosa Mérida Mexico Mexico Huehuetenango Guatemala Cobán Guatemala San Pedro Sula Honduras

Oslo Norway

Cape Town South Africa

Discover the Joy of Dance

Antananarivo Madagascar

DESERET NEWS | APRIL 2025

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BOO K 2

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34 DESERET NEWS | APRIL 2025

© 2025

41, No. 18

=D =E =F =H =I

Blink!

Blink! Blink!

Camels have lovely, long lashes to help keep sand out of their eyes. But that’s not all. Camels have another interesting eye feature that helps keep the sand out of their eyes. Circle every other letter to find out what it is.

Standards Link: Science: Animals have features that aid in survival.

A camel’s hump is not filled with water.

Hold this page up to a mirror to see what’s inside a camel’s hump.

=O =P =R =S =T

Standards Link: Reading Comprehension: Follow simple written directions.

CSABMTE JLMSQHVAHVLE WAC TBHNIYRKDBEQY XEMLOITDH

What’s in the Hump?

For centuries, humans have used camels as transportation and to carry goods across the desert. For this reason, they have earned a famous nickname. Use the code to reveal it.

One Hump, Two Humps

Do the math. The camel with an even-numbered answer is a BACTRIAN camel. The one with an odd-numbered answer is a DROMEDARY. 2+3

4+4 Standards Link: Science: Variations exist within a species.

Desert Description Look through today’s newspaper to find 10 adjectives that describe a desert.

Standards Link: Language Arts: Identify adjectives.

CAMEL COOL DESERT DUST ENERGY EYES FOOD HOT HUMPS RUN SAND SOCIAL SUN SWIMMERS WATER

Find the words by looking up, down, backwards, forwards, sideways and diagonally.

S W I M M E R S C T

E O W I K C I V S A L B C A M E L U G Y I H O I T Y D T H G

H Q O Z A E S R M R F U L T P L R E U E

O M M V S D N S Y N O I W P H U H E Z E

D J E F S A N D B K Standards Link: Letter sequencing. Recognize identical words. Skim and scan reading. Recall spelling patterns.

DESERET NEWS | APRIL 2025

35

EVENTS Ballet West's The Rite of Spring

Psychic Fair

Easter Bunny Train 2025

Simple Treasures Spring Boutique

Spring Adult Softball Men's & Coed League

Arizona Wildcats at BYU Cougars Baseball

April 10 - 12 Time: 7:30pm Location: 50 W 200 S - Salt Lake City https://www.saltlakecountyarts.org/events/the-rite-ofspring-2/ April 10 - 19 Time: 4pm Location: 450 South 6th West - Heber City https://nowplayingutah.com/event/easter-bunnytrain-2025/ April 10 - May 8 Time: 6pm-9pm Location: 440 E 8680 S - Sandy https://nowplayingutah.com/event/spring-adult-softballmens-coed-league/

April 16 Time: 6pm-9pm Location: 151 S 500 E - SLC https://www.goldenbraidslc.com/events/psychic-fairapril-2025 April 16 - 19 Time: 8am-9pm Location: 14787 Academy Parkway - Herriman https://festivalnet.com/99765/Herriman-Utah/CraftShows/Simple-Treasures-Spring-Boutique-in-Herriman April 17 - 19 Time: 4:30pm Location: Miller Park - Provo

Farmington Spring Home Expo

2025 Tulip Festival 5K

April 26 Time: 7:30am Location: 3003 N. Thanksgiving Way - Lehi https://nowplayingutah.com/event/2025-tulip-festival-5k/

Beehive Spring Bazaar

April 29 - May 3 Time: 10am-8pm Location: 1555 N. Freedom Boulevard - Provo https://festivalnet.com/77342/Provo-Utah/Indie-Shows/ Beehive-Spring-Bazaar

Holy Cow Mother's Day Boutique

April 29 - May 3 Time: 9am-9pm Location: 25 N. Main - Lindon https://festivalnet.com/7594/Lindon-Utah/HolidayCelebrations/Holy-Cow-Mothers-Day-Boutique

April 18 - 19 Time: 12pm-8pm Location: 151 S. 1100 W - Farmington https://festivalnet.com/98604/Farmington-Utah/TradeShows/Farmington-Spring-Home-Expo

2025 Provo Art Stroll

2025 Children's Easter Egg Hunt

The Daybreak Home & Garden Show

Camp Floyd Egg Scramble 2025

Salt Lake Spring Home Expo

April 11 Time: 6pm-9pm Location: 2011 1100 E, - SLC

April 19 Time: 1pm Location: 18035 West 1540 North, Cedar Valley - SLC https://nowplayingutah.com/event/camp-floyd-eggscramble-2025/

Salt Lake Bees vs. Reno Aces

Utah Wellness Expo

Spring Fling Boutique

Video Games Live

SoJo Art in the Park 2025

Thanksgiving Point Tulip Festival 2025

April 10 - May 9 Time: 9am Location: 3003 N. Thanksgiving Way - Lehi https://nowplayingutah.com/event/thanksgiving-pointtulip-festival-2025/

Layton Spring Home Show

April 11 - 12 Time: 12pm-8pm Location: 1651 N 700 W - Layton https://festivalnet.com/98631/Layton-Utah/Trade-Shows/ Layton-Spring-Home-Show

Sugar House Art Walk and Open Mic

April 12 Time: 1:05pm Location: 11131 S Ballpark Way - South Jordan

Spring Men's Lacrosse Tailgate

April 12 Time: 11:30am-1pm Location: Kim T. Adamson Alumni House - SLC https://westminsteru.edu/calendar.html#event-details/ d0e3eff3-6b51-4aa8 -b36c-24d5b1e1a475

Fair Housing Education Conference & Tradeshow April 15 Location: 9575 S. State Street - Sandy https://www.visitsaltlake.com/event/fair-housingeducation-conference-%26-tradeshow/64425/

Utah Valley Wolverines at BYU Cougars Baseball April 15 Time: 6pm Location: Miller Park - Provo

April 19 Time: 9am Location: 6351 South 900 East - Murray https://nowplayingutah.com/event/2025-childrens-easteregg-hunt/

April 20 Time: 3pm-1am Location: 1249 E 3300 S - Millcreek https://liquidjoes.ticketsauce.com/e/utah-wellnessexpo?aff=cityspark April 22 - 23 Time: 7:30pm Location: 123 W South Temple - SLC https://utahsymphony.org/event/id/33801

Pirates of the Caribbean - The Curse of the Black Pearl in Concert

April 25 - 26 Timel: 7pm Location: 123 West South Temple - SLC https://www.saltlakecountyarts.org/events/pirates-of-thecaribbean-the-curse-of-the-black-pearl-in-concert/

Rocky Mountain Rodeo Challenge

April 25 - 26 Time: 7:30pm Location: 3200 S. Decker Lake Dr. - West Valley City https://www.maverikcenter.com/events-tickets/upcomingevents/details/?event_id=10514

May 2 Time: 6pm-9pm Location: - Provo https://nowplayingutah.com/event/2025-provo-art-stroll/ May 2 - 4 Time: 12pm-8pm Location: 11400 S. Mountain View Corridor- South Jordan https://festivalnet.com/99513/South-Jordan-Utah/Homeand-Garden-Shows/The-Daybreak-Home-Garden-Show May 2 - 4 Time: 12pm-8pm Location: 9575 S. State Street - Sandy https://festivalnet.com/91496/Sandy-Utah/Trade-Shows/ Salt-Lake-Spring-Home-Expo May 2 - 3 Time: 1pm-7pm Location: 1630 W. 4800 S - Ogden https://festivalnet.com/80423/Ogden-Utah/Craft-Shows/ Spring-Fling-Boutique May 3 Time: 10am-1pm Location: 10004 S 4800 W - South Jordan https://nowplayingutah.com/event/sojo-art-in-thepark-2025/

Utah Royals FC vs. North Carolina Courage May 3 Time: 8pm Location: America First Field - SLC

Latin Festival - Maurice Ravel's Boléro

May 5 Time: 7pm-8pm Location: 50 S Main St - Springville https://nowplayingutah.com/event/latin-festival-mauriceravels-bolero-2/

*Events and details are subject to change. Please visit the event websites for the most up to date and correct information.

36 DESERET NEWS | APRIL 2025

RETIREMENT i n 2025 LIVING YOUR BEST LIFE!

RETIRED OR RETIRING SOON?

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