Ryan Williams, executive director of BMAF, said the group's first conference at Thanksgiving Point last year drew a few hundred participants, but he is anticipating a much larger crowd this year. He believes more Latter-day Saints are studying the Book of Mormon in depth than ever before, resulting in questions about the archaeology, anthropology and history of Central America, where the events chronicled in the book purportedly took place.

Yet more important than the facts themselves is the faith of those who are studying, researching and writing about their findings, he said. The group's board of directors includes three emeritus general authorities of the LDS Church: Elders William Bradford, Ted E. Brewerton and Robert E. Wells. The three have served the church as mission and area presidents in Central America and have a long history of living and working in the region.

Participants are believers rather than skeptics, Williams said, adding that rather than drawing hard and fast conclusions the group simply seeks to expand understanding for those who attend. The group also has a humanitarian outreach component, which supports LDS dentists who travel to provide care for LDS missionaries preparing to leave from Central America.

A major goal of the forum is planning and construction of a Mexican American Cultural Center in Mexico City, to be patterned after the LDS Church's Polynesian Cultural Center in Hawaii. While the church doesn't have a college in Mexico like it does in Hawaii to support such a center, it does sponsor a high school in the Mexican capital.

The forum wants to raise funds and build the center not only as a tourist attraction centered in the LDS faith, but to provide employment and "preserve the talents and culture of the area," Williams said.

For more information, see the Web sites www.fairlds.org, www.sunstoneonline.com, www.byu.edu (click on "continuing education"), and www.bmaf.org.

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E-mail: carrie@desnews.com