MANTI -- Summer is the ideal time to watch outdoor productions.
And, as far as outdoor entertainment goes, it is hard to find one more highly attended than the Mormon Miracle Pageant, an annual production that takes place on the temple grounds of the Manti temple.
Every June for eight nights, a cast of more than 500 sing, dance and perform three intertwining stories: the restoration of the gospel, the witness of the Book of Mormon and the pioneer trek to Sanpete Valley.
All of the action takes place on the slope of the steep temple mount where, pageant tradition claims, Moroni stopped during his years of wandering and dedicated the hill to the building of a temple.
The pageant, in its 37th year of production, continues to be popular with BYU students who bring blankets and pillows to cuddle with on the temple grounds.
Each year, more than 100,000 attendees fill the 14,000 seats available on temple grounds, and people and blankets cover the open grass.
Ali Welch, a junior majoring in early childhood education, said that the pageant had 'a good theme and message. Going once was enough, but should go ... It's like going to Salt Lake to see Temple Square; it's part of being Mormon.'
Daniel Dorr, a UVSC student, said, 'I nodded off a little bit, but it was great. I would see it again.'
Not all students, though, have such positive experiences at the pageant.
'I was unimpressed and thought it treated too lightly and glossed over too many important events in church history to have any real impact,' said David Johnson, a senior majoring in philosophy.
Since the pageant's conception in 1967, the production has continued to grow and change. According to the annual Mormon Miracle Pageant newspaper, the pageant began as nothing more than a series of short vignettes put on by Helen Dyreng and her husband, Morgan, on the Sanpete County Fairgrounds in Manti.
The show was only performed once that year, but proved so popular that a local stake president issued a calling to Dyreng to begin preparing for the pageant again the next year.
Local members of the church helped by contributing clothing for costumes and sound equipment so the actors could be heard.
The very next year, the production found a home on temple hill. As the audience continued to grow, trees at the base of the hill were removed to clear room and increase visibility.
Although the script has altered very little in the past 20 years, one of the largest changes took place in 2000, when scenes depicting Christ's visit to the Americas were added.
This year the production run began on June 19 and will continue to show through tomorrow.
Attendance is free and seating is provided, but blankets and warm clothing are recommended. Gates open at 6 p.m. The pageant begins at approximately 9:30 - about the time that the sun sets.
Manti is about an hour and a half's drive south of Provo. Directions can be obtained from the church Web site at www.lds.org.