Mormon missionaries
Kirtland and Nauvoo: What happens next week, when tours begin under new LDS management?
By Jana Riess — March 22, 2024
The managing director of the Church History Department answers questions about changes to the tours and the buildings in the recently acquired historic sites.
The top 10 Mormon news stories of 2023
By Jana Riess — December 30, 2023
(RNS) — There's a mix of good news (more missionaries!) and bad news (more sexual and financial scandals).
Changes coming for Mormon service missions
By Jana Riess — September 28, 2023
(RNS) — LDS service missionaries will now be integrated more fully into the Church's overall proselytizing mission structure.
Irish Mormons face dwindling numbers, but researcher finds their community inspirational
By Jana Riess — July 25, 2023
(RNS) — The struggles of Mormonism in a country where to be Irish is to be Catholic.
Vacation Bible School for Mormons could, and probably should, become a thing
By Jana Riess — July 14, 2023
(RNS) — There are few better uses of our time and money in the Church than ramping up our investment in children and youth.
How Mormons are sabotaging marriage and the family
By Jana Riess — June 24, 2022
(RNS) — People rightly object to the hot-wife-as-reward fallacy; it’s sexist, shallow and theologically bankrupt. But here’s another objection I haven’t heard raised: This is a surefire way to torpedo a marriage before it even begins.
Amid Russian invasion, LDS Church issues generic denunciation of ‘armed conflict’
By Jana Riess — February 28, 2022
(RNS) — The LDS Church’s official 'statement on armed conflict' is well-intentioned but vague; Russia and Ukraine are never even mentioned. This is not the time to be Switzerland.
COVID outbreak reported at Mormon missionary training center
By Associated Press — December 31, 2021
PROVO, Utah (AP) — All 588 missionaries at the Provo, Utah missionary training center were tested and a total of 91 tested positive.
Half of US Mormons are COVID-19 ‘vaccine hesitant’ or ‘vaccine refusers,’ study shows
By Jana Riess — May 6, 2021
(RNS) — The study finds Mormons believe in vaccinations in general, and they trust their church leaders to do the right thing. Yet church leaders have been urging members to get the COVID-19 shot, and half don't want to.
Does serving a Mormon mission make people want to help developing countries?
By Jana Riess — September 21, 2020
(RNS) — Does serving a Mormon mission to a place like Africa make someone more supportive of global development? Yes ... and no.
For Mormons, a General Conference to remember–but let’s leave our smugness at the door
By Jana Riess — March 31, 2020
Here is what I’m hoping for this weekend: that we focus on a bigger God and a less grandiose church. That our leaders emphasize how to respond to Covid-19 with Christlike compassion for the world, without indulging in denominational pride.
Please stop meeting Mormon missionaries at the airport
By Jana Riess — March 23, 2020
Last night hundreds of people gathered at the Salt Lake City airport to welcome Mormon missionaries home, despite social distancing instructions from the state of Utah and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
3 ‘glass-half-full’ news items about Mormon growth
By Jana Riess — January 16, 2020
(RNS) — The LDS church's growth may be slowing, but research shows that 2019 saw more missionaries, more temples and more reactivating of lapsed members around the world.
“Which church is true?” isn’t the right question anymore
By Jana Riess — July 11, 2019
Nearly 200 years ago, Joseph Smith asked God which church was true. Today, Mormon missionary work assumes this is still people's most burning question.
20 changes the new Mormon president has made to appeal to Millennials and Generation Z
By Jana Riess — June 18, 2019
Mormon leaders have been hard at work to change missionary expectations, temple rituals, and curriculum to improve the Latter-day Saint experience for Millennials and Generation Z. Will it be enough?
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