The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints recently announced the creation of 10 new missions and consolidation of 14 missions across the world.

The formation of the Utah St. George Mission arises out of a need to alleviate the Provo Mission, which extends into southern Utah.

“The St. George Mission was created to support the needs of the growing Church in southern Utah,” said Church spokesman Scott Trotter. “It is important to note that no geographical areas are being closed. Some missions are being consolidated and some new missions are being created.  These changes are being made to meet the evolving needs of the Church around the world.”

With the addition of the St. George Mission, Utah will have six missions: Ogden, Provo, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake City South and Salt Lake City Temple Square Missions.

By Associated Press

SALT LAKE CITY — All of the LDS church’s missionaries serving around Chile have reported in safe after a massive earthquake, church officials said Sunday.

Two young men who helped others move to higher ground on remote Juan Fernandez islands 400 miles off the coast were the last missionaries to report in after Saturday’s magnitude-8.8 quake, according to the Salt Lake City-based Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

A missionary training center in Santiago, Chile’s capital, was undamaged, church spokesman Scott Trotter said.

Missionaries in neighboring Argentina were safe, church officials said. They expected to update their plans later Sunday for reacting to the quake.

In Utah, parents of the missionaries — young men on a two-year tour of duty — said they had not been able to contact their sons but were confident they were OK.

Muslim women wearing their colorful hijabs and men in their traditional Muslim thobes sat with many Christian visitors, covering their heads with winter scarves in the Khadeejah mosque in Salt Lake City recently.

As part of Salt Lake’s Interfaith Week this year, visitors from around the community came to observe the Maghrib and ‘Isha Muslim prayers in Arabic, the last of five prayers Muslims conduct daily.

Imam Mohammed Mehtar from South Africa spoke to the community, presenting the Islamic perspective in the current world while addressing rumors, common misunderstandings and the public’s questions.

Religious Education sponsored its 12th annual student symposium in the Wilkinson Student Center last week.

With four one-hour sessions, the symposium hosted a total of 42 students.

“I saw a couple topics,” said Sabrina Nelson, a junior from San Antonio, Texas. “I thought, ‘Oh that would be good for me to hear.’ ”

The students took turns presenting the topics of their papers they had submitted.

“I’m coming to listen because of my church history class,” said Maggie Sexton, a history major from Danville, Va. “Hopefully I’ll gain more knowledge of church history.”

Topics varied from genealogy in the Book of Mormon to female rights in Islam to the life of Lucy Mack Smith.

In the middle of a Wednesday night in 2005, Andrew Tashjian threw his belongings into suitcases and rushed out the door as he was evacuated out of Haiti for the second and final time.

He left without saying goodbyes, without baptizing two investigators the upcoming Saturday, without having to finish his final two months. Tashjian was the last American missionary to serve in the country of Haiti.

Nearly five years later Tashjian returned, though not in the circumstances he predicted. He did not return with his family, leisurely sipping coconut milk on the beach. Instead, he was part of an emergency task force composed of Latter-day Saint members responding to the need caused by the earthquake in January.

“I was going to go down there no matter what,” Tashjian said. “I know Port-au-Prince like the back of my hand. No Americans can say that. I was looking and praying for an opportunity, and I found it.”

The Missionary Training Center will initiate expansion on one of its buildings.

At a meeting last week with the Provo Planning Commission, BYU received approval to expand building 2M.

The meeting, which lasted about 20 minutes, contained no opposition from the surrounding neighbors.

Richard Nelson, assistant director of facilities at BYU, said the building will help consolidate services from around the MTC campus. 

The MTC bookstore, mail services, medical and counseling services and elderly missionary housing will all be housed in the expanded building.

“It will create a safer and more secure campus that will be more convenient for missionaries,” Nelson said.

The planned expansion is not a result of an increase in missionaries. The purpose is for the MTC to consolidate its services. The number of missionaries is not expected to rise any time soon, he said.

Some of the most influential bloggers in the blogosphere are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — and they aren’t shy about using their blogs to share their faith.

Naomi Reid Davis started her blog, “The Rockstar Diaries,” a few months after she and her husband were married as a way to keep in touch with family and close friends.

Three years later, her blog has more than 3,000 followers.

The blog includes several eye-catching photos of Davis with her husband Josh Davis, their English bulldog Kinsley and short blog posts recording their everyday activities together.

The photos and posts capture how much the Davises enjoy life.