Temple Square: Utah's tourist magnet

The most-visited 35 acres in Utah call to tourists year-round, but especially in the summer.

And if there's a tourist who fails to set foot on Temple Square before leaving the state, it isn't because the LDS Church's Visitor Activities Coordinating Committee hasn't tried.

The committee, an arm of the church's Missionary Department, has a broad spectrum of processes all geared toward getting visitors to call on the sites that epitomize the history and ongoing activities of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

One effort is a free shuttle service from Salt Lake City International Airport that allows air travelers with a stopover in Utah's capital to buzz into town, see Temple Square and return to the airport, relieving them of the mind-numbing frustration of waiting to board the next plane.

"We meet very interesting people. It's an opportunity to show off our city. Most have never been here before," said Burke Tangren, of Bountiful, dean of the shuttle drivers, who has made "easily 4,500 round trips" from the west gate of Temple Square to the airport and back.

"I'm starting my ninth year," he said.

AS HIS CELL phone rings, he responds, "Handcart Number One," in recognition of his longevity on the job. Like all of those who work on the church tourism program, he is a volunteer, a service missionary.

On this particular warm and sunny day in July, members of the Wondraczek family of Cologne,

Germany, are among his passengers. Marcus and his son, Tom, are making a second trip to Utah, but for his wife, Britt, it's a first.

"We enjoy the Temple Square buildings very much," Marcus Wondraczek said. "My wife is very interested in them."

The family was staying at the KOA campground on North Temple, another of the stops Tangren routinely makes. They took a little side trip up the hill to the Utah state Capitol and were waiting for Tangren when he made the return trip.

The Wondraczek family did not need the assistance of a language translator, but for those who do, the van drivers have access to missionaries who speak about three dozen languages, Tangren said. All he needs to do is make a call and a translator will be waiting at the gate of Temple Square to enhance the visit.

Coming and going, Tangren and other drivers give their passengers mini-history talks about the city.