A pre-Christmas survey showed "without exception they have either finished reading or are nearing completion and expect to finish by Dec. 31. We all want to qualify for the blessings President Hinckley promised those who would respond to his request," Sid Price wrote in an e-mail response to the newspaper's query.

Scot and Maurine Proctor, who operate a Web site for Latter-day Saints called Meridian Magazine, said they and their 11 children have either finished the book already and are reading it for a second time, or will complete the challenge by year's end.

And members of the local Cottonwood Stake who finish in time will sign the pages of a leather-bound book, to be sent to President Hinckley early next year as a thank you for issuing the challenge, according to Jim Wall, a counselor in the stake presidency and publisher of the Deseret Morning News.

"We've got a lot of signatures so far, but people are scrambling to get it done by the end of the year," he said.

"Basically, it says we did it — we read the Book of Mormon because we were asked to." Every person who reads it gets a new copy of the book, with a request to write inside the front what their reading experience meant to them. The books can either become a memento or a gift for someone who may want to read it, he said. They estimate from 1,000 to 1,200 people will participate.

For those who need a little added incentive to finish, or would rather listen than read but are techno-phobic, Stockdale had a suggestion: the original audio Book of Mormon was produced by Covenant in 1958 on gold LP records.

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E-mail: carrie@desnews.com