Scripture readers in a rush

As Christmas 2005 becomes a memory and New Year's celebrations loom large, some Utahns may be more anxious than usual about the stroke of midnight on Dec. 31.

You may spot them in a corner, nose in a Book of Mormon, trying to finish its 500-plus pages before the ball drops in Times Square. "The end of the year" is the time President Gordon B. Hinckley of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has asked that Latter-day Saints be finished reading a book they consider to be scripture, but some will acknowledge they've never read through before.

And if you're reading this, it's likely: a) you've already finished your reading; b) you weren't planning to read it; c) this is the first time you've ever heard about President Hinckley's "Book of Mormon challenge," or d) none of the above. (If you're still trying to finish, you don't have time to read the newspaper.)

Or maybe you're one of those who opened the Book of Mormon on CD or DVD Christmas morning, thinking it may be the Beatles collection you'd been longing for, only to have your spouse smile and say, "There's still time!"

In fact, there may be thousands of you out there, according to Melissa Stockdale with American Fork-based Covenant Communications, which produces and distributes all things Book of Mormon to area bookstores.

She told the Deseret Morning News in the days before Christmas that "Book of Mormon product sales (including the Book of Mormon on cassette, CD, DVD, VHS, Book of Mormon Heritage Edition, and the Book of Mormon in triple combination on CD, and MP3) from August through December are at approximately 28,000 pieces," more than double the 11,000 sold in the same period last year.

"It's been tough to keep up with demand. The orders have been coming in non-stop since that day" last summer when President Hinckley issued the challenge, meaning the company has had to hire extra people in its shipping and marketing departments.

Pre-Christmas sales were hot, "especially since the end of year has come and those that have put if off are trying to catch up. Listening for them is a lot faster than reading — listening on the way to work or traveling to shop, so they do it at times they wouldn't be able to read."

The hottest product this year is the DVD, narrated by Rex Campbell as the words of the book scroll across the screen on your new TV, personal computer, DVD player or iPod. "Our sales for the Book of Mormon on DVD are 10 times higher then they were this time last year," Stockdale said. "It really helps people focus better to both see and hear the words."