International Magazine reaching far and wide
Publication helps connect LDS faithful to fellow members
By Carrie A. Moore
Deseret News religion editor
Bouncing along a dirt road in the desert of Paraguay, Marvin Gardner's anxiety climbed along with the temperature as he prayed for a miracle. The tiny town he had just entered was hours from civilization, in an area known as the Gran Chaco, and he wasn't sure residents would even speak to an unannounced visitor.
 President Hinckley looks over a recent edition of the LDS International Magazine. International Magazine |
The corner of his eye caught movement outside one small shanty, and they pulled over. Was this the right place? Would these people talk to him? Could he understand them? What did they know about the LDS Church?
As he approached the children, his eye was drawn to a nearby tree, shading the figure of their father. Propped against the tree trunk, the man was reading from Gardner's own work — the International Magazine of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
"That's when I knew for a certainty that what we're doing here makes a difference," said Gardner, managing editor of the publication that is loved by church members worldwide but is little-known in the geographical heart of Mormonism.
"I'm literally out in the middle of nowhere, and I find this man reading it." Yet when he speaks occasionally to local church groups "hardly anyone has even heard of it," said Gardner, who is quick to point the spotlight for the magazine's growing success everywhere but at himself.
The story is yet another illustration of the LDS Church's increasingly pervasive global reach, as members worldwide tune in today to the 168th Semiannual General Conference from the Tabernacle on Temple Square.
The magazine itself is a testament to that growth.
No longer a stepchild of the church's three English-language magazines — the Ensign for adults, the New Era for youths and The Friend for children — the International Magazine has come of age as the LDS Church has gone global.
Now published in 31 languages, including English, its growth seems virtually assured as the number of English-speaking church members is being eclipsed by foreign-language converts on every continent. Having a "piece" of the church show up in their mailboxes each month — or even once a year, depending on location — provides members in far-flung areas an invaluable connection with their church, written in their own language with news about their corner of the world, Gardner said.
The magazine's name alludes to its mission, no matter the language. "Actually, there is no one magazine called the International Magazine," Gardner explains. "That's an umbrella title for all of these publications."
While 18 editions are called the Liahona, a Book of Mormon word meaning "compass," that particular word doesn't translate well into other languages. So 10 other editions incorporate the words "star," "light" or "torch" in their titles, while others use "voice" "path" or "friend."
And as the number of readers worldwide grows, so does the number of potential stories to share, in every language.
"For a while, the International Magazine was basically a pickup, where we were just reprinting things from the other three magazines. But as it's progressed and readership continues to increase, people around the world are writing their own stories and sending them to us. We get lots of articles that don't appear in the other three."
For example, a talk Gardner heard given by Elder Dennis Neuenschwander at Brigham Young University several months ago appears in the magazine's current issue, written in text form at Gardner's request. It hasn't been printed in any of the other magazines, though "such articles can certainly be reprinted by the others."
Other original stories in the current issue include a profile of a young woman in Russia and another of a young Primary boy in Kiribati, a tiny island in the Pacific.
Each issue mimics the Ensign in that the First Presidency message that anchors every issue and the visiting teaching message are the same. That makes those features standard throughout the church. Some of the other material is taken from the other magazines as well, but as time, technology and church growth provide editorial expertise in other areas of the world, Gardner sees an increasingly "localized" version of the magazine in each language.
In fact, plans for the May 1999 issue, now on the drawing board, include original articles featuring members in Madagascar, the Dominican Republic, the Philippines, Guatemala, Colombia, Portugal, Mexico, Brazil, Jamaica and Kenya.
At 80 pages, the International Magazine is the same size as the Ensign but is broken into specialized sections:
• Youth and adult articles comprising 48 pages. They include reprints from the Ensign and New Era, as well as original material.
• A 16-page pullout section called "The Friend" in English or the "The Little Star," depending on the area of the world. The section has its own cover and unique page-binding system that allows members to "pull it right out and hand it to the kids, just like other kids get their version of The Friend," Gardner said. "They don't have loose pages floating all over the house because it's bound as its own separate unit, but inserted into the center of the magazine."
• A 16-page "News of the Church" section. This allows distinct "localization" for each language and area of the world in which the magazine is distributed. Area presidencies, and in some cases local members, write news items about local happenings that are included in this section, along with churchwide announcements and news about the First Presidency and other general authorities.
Circulated in areas outside North America, Great Britain, Australia and New Zealand, where the Ensign, New Era and The Friend are English-language staples, the International Magazine is one of the only outside links that thousands of members have with their church, Gardner said.
One letter, written by the church's Europe Area Presidency in 1994, describes the value many members place on their magazines:
"Sister Nelson
That fact is not lost on the church's greatest foreign ambassador.
President Gordon B. Hinckley's constant travels to far-flung parts of the world during his administration put him in a unique position to judge the importance of helping members worldwide feel a part of the rapidly growing church.
A statement issued April 1 by the First Presidency urges members "throughout the world to subscribe to and read the church magazines. We encourage priesthood leaders to see to it that every Latter-day Saint home has this opportunity."
While the international magazine circulates to 220,000 members at present, Gardner believes that number will continue to grow as "priesthood leaders help members understand what a vital resource the magazine can be."
With more than 10 million members worldwide and membership projections that skyrocket into the next century, the magazine's potential circulation base could be the envy of most secular magazines.
In fact, by January the magazine will be published in six additional languages, for a total of 37. Gardner said the magazine has added "from five to eight new languages per year in the recent past" and he sees the trend continuing as membership in areas where different languages are spoken continues to grow.
Such efforts are well under way. For example, while the First Presidency and visiting teaching messages are now printed in the 31 different language magazines, they're also translated and printed in 32 additional languages in a non-magazine format.
As with any multilingual publication, production of the magazine is no small undertaking. A core editorial and design staff at church headquarters is augmented by people in the translation department, materials management employees, printing and circulation personnel, along with church service news writers and gatherers, many of whom are volunteers.
To streamline the process, the magazine's cover, artwork, pictures, text and graphics remain constant for every issue, no matter the language. The process is streamlined through use of a software program that allows editors and production artists to pull up any given story, push a button, and replace the English text with any other language in which the magazine is currently published.
Story columns or "galleys" are spaced accordingly because some languages require many more — or sometimes fewer — characters and words to convey the same message as the English language edition. Thus what may look like wasted space between lines in one language allows all of the story to be included in another.
Gardner said the stories about how the magazine has inspired readers and opened the way for new converts are legion, though some Utah members have a hard time appreciating the magazine's importance to those abroad. "There is no Deseret Book out there for them to go to," he said. "We're the only 'lifestyle' link that many of them have to the church."
Finally, he said, the magazine serves as a missionary tool, both for full-time proselyting missionaries and in a variety of other situations.
"I talked to a mission president from Eastern Europe who said it was exactly what they needed to help get the church into his nation." During a meeting with a government official about the church's efforts there, negotiations weren't progressing very well.
"But then he pulled out a copy of the magazine — in the man's own language — and showed him something of what we're about. It gave the church stature, and helped this official realize that we are not a little fly-by-night sect. The whole tide of the meeting shifted after that," Gardner said, and the church was officially accepted in that country.
"It's exciting to think it can and does have that kind of influence."
