Several events of interest to local Latter-day Saints are planned within the coming week:

• Tonight at 7, a PBS documentary about two ill-fated handcart companies will premiere locally on KBYU, Channel 11. "Sweetwater Rescue: The Willie and Martin Handcart Story" was directed by local documentary filmmaker Lee Groberg and written by historian Heidi Swinton. Another film explaining the documentary, called "The Making of Sweetwater Rescue," will also be shown today at 4 p.m. on KSL-TV, Channel 5.

• Today at noon on BYU-TV, the premiere of "Sisterz in Zion," an hourlong documentary about a group of young women from New York City who come to Brigham Young University to take part in a weeklong, church-sponsored "Especially for Youth" program.

As converts to the church from a different culture, they find themselves wondering if they're "on a different planet" as they observe other LDS youths, but by the end of the week they come to feel a part of the larger group. The film will air again on the same station on Wednesday, Oct. 4, at 9 a.m.

• On Monday and Tuesday, the BYU Conference Center will host the annual "Families Under Fire" conference. This year's theme, "In the Quiet Heart is Hidden Sorrow That the Eye Can't See," is the topic for presenters, who provide "specific, hands-on information and hope to families and church leaders who are struggling or dealing with different, real and even tragic problems attacking society, families and individuals." Presenters are experts in the fields of therapy, counseling and family issues.

Registration is $70 per person or $105 per married couple. For information, see the Web at ce.byu.edu/cw/fuf or call 801-422-8925.

• A regional Family History Conference will be held Oct. 6 and 7 at the Eccles Conference Center in Ogden. Elder Marlin K. Jensen, LDS Church historian and the executive director of the Family and Church History Department, will give the keynote address on Friday at 9 a.m. That session is free to the public; registration for the remaining conference is $45 if pre-registered by Tuesday, or $50 at the door. For information, see www.myancestorsfound.com/NorthUtah/northutah.htm.