Temple Square is still top tourist draw in Utah

About 150 young women missionaries, speaking more than 30 languages, lead the tours. Visitors will stop outside the grand Salt Lake Temple (non-Mormons are not allowed inside because it is considered sacred ground) and the Tabernacle (traditional home to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, it is closed until 2007 for renovations). But they can enter the 1882 Assembly Hall, the 1854 Beehive House of Brigham Young, art galleries and visitors centers.

Among the most popular attractions is the Family History Library, which holds the largest genealogical research collection of its kind, according to church literature. Here, millions of records are open to anyone to trace family roots, and people travel from all over the world to do so.

On walking tours, visitors will hear the missionaries mention frequently that Mormons believe "families are forever" — that grandparents, parents and children are united in the afterlife.

Mormons believe that people can be baptized into the faith after death, and genealogical records help them to identify those non-Mormons who are offered the sacrament. Church officials say the dead are free to choose whether to accept Mormon gospel. But the collection is open to anyone who's just curious about their lineage.

You will also be reminded that Mormons are Christians and study the Bible — and that church members believe the Book of Mormon offers additional teachings of Jesus Christ, revealed through Smith. One of the key stops on the general tour is the 11-foot-tall marble statue of Christ, centered before a huge circular mural depicting the stars and heavens.

"There is proselytizing, but it's a combination of both proselytizing and church history," Farah said. Farah noted that visitors are also free to take self-guided tours of the grounds.