LDS Conference

Young missionaries wait anxiously for the mail on Wednesdays, the typical day the large white envelope comes telling them where they will be serving missions for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

But recently those letters have been delayed, so there has been some disappointment, and some plans have had to be changed.

Receiving a mission call is a family affair, and many families plan dinners or refreshments and invite grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins to be there when the envelope is opened. If the call doesn’t come on Wednesday, those plans must be changed.

Van Jacobson, a senior at Fremont High School, received his call for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to serve in the Texas Fort Worth Mission about four weeks ago.

Jacobson turns 19 in July. If the missionary age for men hadn’t been lowered, he might be the only one at school with a call, but with the missionary age for young men now at 18, he says, the discussion of missions is rampant and mission calls at the school are “commonplace.”

SALT LAKE CITY — A monumental announcement came Saturday from Thomas S. Monson, president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: 18-year-old men who have graduated from high school and 19-year-old women will be allowed to be missionaries.

Previously, men had to be 19 to serve and women had to be 21.

The president also emphasized that “every worthy, able young man” should serve.

SALT LAKE CITY – Thomas S. Monson, president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced on Saturday, during the morning session of the faith’s 182st Semiannual General Conference, plans to build temples in Tucson, Ariz., and Arequipa, Peru. Exact locations of the temples will be announced at a later date.

The Tucson Temple will be the sixth in the state.

LAYTON — Students wearing suits and dresses came through the door of Brother Derek Crimin’s seminary class Thursday near the campus of the Northern Utah Academy for Math, Engineering & Science Early College High School.

They were prepared to give talks, read scriptures and perform in musical numbers.

SALT LAKE CITY — The Church History Museum and the Pioneer Heritage Company have partnered again this year to produce “Pioneer Christmas: A Time for Celebration.”