LDS leaders praise progress

A decade after being named to lead The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, members of the First Presidency reflected on their tenure and expressed hope for the future on Friday.

Addressing questions from local broadcast reporters, the trio detailed some of what has been accomplished during the administration of President Gordon B. Hinckley, both at home and abroad, since they were named as First Presidency of the church on March 12, 1995.

President Hinckley noted several initiatives during the past 10 years, including the formation and expansion of the Perpetual Education Fund. "When we announced that, we didn't have a thing. But through the generosity of our people, that corpus has grown to a point where we can now educate some 18,000 young people," he said, "lifting them out of a place of poverty to rise above what they've known all their lives to a far better position."

Construction of the Conference Center downtown has been a "very significant thing. We didn't know the Tabernacle was as worn out as it is," he said. The world-famous home of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir was closed recently for a seismic upgrade and restoration work.

President Hinckley noted the growing dispersal of the Book of Mormon, some 51 million copies of which have been distributed in the past 10 years, including a hardback version released late last year in conjunction with a commercial publisher and geared toward a general audience.

The church has also distributed $641 million in humanitarian aid during the past decade, he said, to assist those in need — the majority of them not members of the LDS Church. Millions of children have been vaccinated against measles in the past couple of years through a donation by the church in partnership with the American Red Cross.

President Thomas S. Monson, first counselor in the First Presidency, said the church has expanded its cooperative efforts with people of other faiths to help the less fortunate. He detailed LDS cooperation with Catholics, Jews, Muslims and those of other faiths to supply food and volunteers for a local soup kitchen, provide tsunami relief and provide clothing and relief supplies at home and abroad.

He and President Hinckley agreed that such efforts have helped ameliorate Utah's religious divide, and all three agreed they are committed to continuing to encourage people to serve each other as the basis for greater understanding.

President James E. Faust, second counselor in the First Presidency, said he sees a wider acceptance and understanding about Latter-day Saints reflected in the growing number of congressional representatives who are LDS — three U.S. senators and nine congressmen from outside Utah.