News of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

April 2008 World Report segment covering The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the news. In early January, in one of his last public appearances, President Gordon B. Hinckley accepted the invitation to offer the dedicatory prayer for the recently remodeled Utah State Capitol. The building was first dedicated in 1916 by President Joseph F. Smith. The feature film the Testaments, produced by the Church and made available on DVD over a year ago, has now sold more copies than any other Church production, nearly one million worldwide. The movie portrays the life and ministry of Jesus Christ as recorded in the Bible and the Book of Mormon and follows the experiences of a fictionalized family who witness the appearance of the resurrected Christ in ancient America. Devastating wildfires along the southern coast of California last October burned thousands of buildings and homes. San Diego County one of the hardest hit. In response to the fires, volunteers from 23 stakes and three missions participated in the clean up and recovery efforts, donating over 45,000 hours of service. The small town of Wells, Nevada, was shaken to the core in the early morning of February 21, 2008, by a powerful earthquake that was felt nearly 200 miles away in Salt Lake City. Many buildings and homes were damaged. Wearing yellow Mormon Helping Hands T-shirts, volunteers from Nevada, Idaho, and Utah pulled over damaged chimneys, repaired roofs, and hauled off debris. Meanwhile, the Church donated supplies to the cleanup crews and money to the Red Cross to speed the recovery efforts. Church members helped distribute school kits to children in El Salvador. The supplies arrived in late February. Through the Church and the San Salvadoran Secretary of the Family, hundreds of children received school supplies to help further their education. http://newsroom.lds.org © 2008 Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.