After the success of last year's all-Spanish Christmas celebration at the Conference Center, leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will host a second such gathering — this time in Provo.

Elder M. Russell Ballard of the church's Quorum of the Twelve will offer a Christmas message at the event scheduled for 7 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 14, in the Marriott Center at Brigham Young University. Presented entirely in Spanish, the event will also feature Lydia Acuna, Miss Latina USA, as a speaker and music by BYU's Living Legends, the Young Ambassadors and a Hispanic choir.

The meeting is "a reflection of the growing importance of the Spanish language within the church as Hispanic membership increases," according to a press release announcing the event.

Elder John H. Groberg, president of the Utah South Area, said leaders are "inviting the entire Hispanic community and anyone else interested in enjoying a program of music and inspirational Christmas messages in Spanish."

Thousands of Hispanic Latter-day Saints filled the Conference Center in Salt Lake City last year after all tickets for the event — originally scheduled for the Tabernacle on Temple Square — had been handed out, and there was a continuing demand. Many participants said they traveled several hours to attend the celebration, believed to be the largest and first of its kind held in Utah.

"Based on last year's historic gathering, we expect attendance to be well into the thousands this year at the Marriott Center," Elder Groberg said.

Participants nearly filled two of the three levels of the Conference Center last year, at least doubling the number that would have been able to attend inside the Tabernacle. More than 15,000 tickets were distributed, and it was the first time that thousands of local Hispanics — many of whom have immigrated to Utah in recent years — had heard LDS leaders speak to them in their native tongue outside their own nations.

Speakers urged the audience to not only retain their language and heritage and to search out their ancestors but to share the gospel message with friends and family. The LDS Church is growing faster in Latin America than in any other region of the world, and Spanish is second only to English as the language spoken by a majority of members.

After a story about the first such event appeared in the Deseret Morning News last November, the paper has received inquiries by e-mail from parts of the western United States and as far away as China asking whether the proceedings would be available on tape, via satellite or on the Internet. There was no broadcast or distribution outside the Conference Center, and, at present, there are no plans to broadcast it this year, according to church spokesman Dale Bills. "It is simply a regional event."

Leaders are busy "getting the word out" among members of Hispanic wards along the Wasatch Front, according to Jorge Becerra, a spokesman for the event. "But we want to emphasize that this celebration is for everyone in the Hispanic community — not just Latter-day Saints."

The event is free, and no tickets are required.

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